E15m spent on decentralisation
MBABANE – The Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development has so far spent E15 million in the decentralisation of government services.
This was said by the Director of Decentralisation in the ministry, Dumisani Sithole, who said the ministry was working tirelessly in ensuring that people had access to the services they needed, rather than travelling long distances in search of those services.
He said about seven centres across the country were providing decentralised government services such as registration of births, marriages and deaths, applications and collection of travel documents.
“The seven centres where government initially decentralised its services include Lugongolweni, Mhlambanyatsi, Lobamba Inkhundla, Siphofaneni, Matata, Sihlutse and Simunye. Other services which are rendered by the ministry such as social welfare services, revenue collection and electronic library services, provide the most crucial online research skills and knowledge of the functions that government institutions offer. People also have access to computers and internet services,” he said.
Cost
When Sithole was asked how much it would cost to decentralise government services, he said there was no cost associated to such. He said the reason was due to the fact that they were working with other ministries in assisting people in the communities.
“Our ministry engages with relevant ministries who specify their requirements based on the needs of the people, not forgetting to consider the population catchment area,” said the director.
He further indicated that the ministry received financial assistance from government to ensure that they decentralise the services. Sithole said they had also collaborated with other partners who also financially supported the decentralisation.
“Money comes from government coffers and other partners such as United Nations Development Project (UNDP) and Eswatini Communications Commission (ESCCOM) ,” he said.
He said the reason government decided to decentralise its services was due to the fact that most emaSwati used to flock Mbabane offices to get services which were not available in other regions.
He, however, indicated that there were challenges they were facing as a ministry while they continued decentralising government services. Finance constraints were highlighted as one of the major hindrances to effectively do the job. He also touched on the issue of government freezing the hiring process. Sithole said such had affected the ministry to an extent that they could not do their work effectively as a result of being understaffed. He, however, indicated that they were working hard on finalising the Decentralisation Bill, which would give birth to the schedule of decentralising government services.
According to the Director of Decentralisation, Sithole, their main targets were those areas which were found at the epicentre of each inkhundla that would accommodate a large number of people. He said areas like Luve were one of their target areas, which they would decentralise services in. “This will happen once money is available.”
Sithole also pointed out that there were structures which the ministry was renting and those they were using for free. He indicated that government was renting working structures in Simunye, Siphofaneni and Big
Bend. He said it was due to the fact that they had no structures where the ministry could operate at.
“The prices we pay towards those rented structures are quite reasonable. The government monitors the rates,” he said.
Above all, Sithole indicated that decentralisation was not fully-fledged and said the ministry was currently rendering services to the people.
He said they had not touched on the aspect of local authorities constituted in the 2005 Eswatini Constitution.
Authorities
He said the ministry was working hard to ensure that local authorities were being strengthened as per required by the Constitution. “The local authorities will come through where we will look at the political powers and discussion of issues with people in community areas. They will also talk more on the Rural Development Fund (RDF) and empowerment funds. This will be in full operational once the Bill has been passed into a law.”
Worth noting is that decentralisation has brought government closer to the people by allowing the people to govern their own affairs in line with their development priorities. The centres will bring to life what is constitutionally provided for by
Director of Decentralisation Dumisani Sithole. the tinkhundla units of areas, inspired by a policy of decentralisation which is regarded as the engine of development through social services to different parts of the communities where emaSwati live, facilitated and delivered.
Furthermore , the ministry is said to be obligated by ensuring that centres were with aspirations of the country of ‘undertaking even the balanced development and improving the conditions of life in the rural areas and generally redressing and imbalance in development between the rural and urban areas’ as the National Constitution further provided.
Gilgal Member of Parliament (MP) Kenneth Sandla Fakudze said there was an elephant in the room regarding the Decentralisation Bill. He said more power was given to the Minister of Tinkhundla Administration and Development who decided on what should to be done in terms of government services rendered to the people.
“I am seeing the Tinkhundla Minister being given more power as compared to the other ministries yet they are working as a collective. The minister is seen making a final say regarding decision-making. I feel like the Deputy Prime Minister’s (DPM) Office should be the one that should be in control as they were working closely with all ministries,” said Fakudze.
Fakudze said the Ministry of Tinkhundla failed to clearly state whether there were resources to decentralise the services. He said they were told by the ministry that they would make contact with the Ministry of Finance to enquire whether there were any resources towards such a project.
The Decentralisation Policy was implemented in 2006 by the Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development through its Decentralisation Directorate.
However, the pace of implementation remained slow. Importantly, the process has much to do with the devolution, not only the functions but also of power, decision making and policy making.
The intention for government was to use the exercise as a pilot to be replicated to all other tinkhundla and local governments in preparation for implementing an integrated decentralisation process that relies on strong local government institutions and systems.
Limitations
However, due to fiscal limitations, the government could not allocate resource to continue the exercise to all the tinkhundla so that it could ultimately implement the decentralisation policy fully.
The European Union (EU) programme would play a big role in assisting government in the decentralisation and localisation process, especially when it comes to completing the capacity building process and eventually rolling out the decentralisation process.
However, the Decentralisation Policy had some weaknesses. Dependent on meagre subscriptions from members which were insufficient to meet administrative and operational costs of the association was one of its weaknesses. Secondly, there were no clear priorities and strategies in place. Also the policy had no clear platform of engagement with central government.
Looking at the Decentralisation Policy, there was no law which forced ministries to decentralise their services to the people. This meant that there was nothing which was holding them accountable.
The Decentralisation Bill on the other hand comes to ensure that ministries decentralise their services to the communities. The term, ‘decentralisation’means the process of dispensing decision making from the line ministry to local authorities, public enterprises or executive agencies, to enable them to respond better to local needs.