On 5th of January 2016 the
constitutional amendments were signed into effect. And among the amendments was
the mode of electing mayors into office. One might ask, what is the importance
of such an amendment? But for one to know that they need to understand how
important the office of the mayor is. Allow me to be a bit academical
Its emphatic that the credibility of any
democratic nation depends on the strength of the institutions it builds,
notably its capacity to meet citizens’ demands for service delivery and
accountability. In the process, enhancing the performance capacity of
government decentralizing power from the national level to the municipal level
is cardinal. Decentralization is considered a tool to deliver results shaped by
local needs and market realities, engage citizens in decision making, and
bridge ethnic divisions. And directly-elected mayors assume a primary role in
helping ensure accountability, transparency and responsibility.
The word Mayor pronounced /ˈmɛər/ or /ˈmeɪər/ is from the Latin maior [majˈjɔr], which means "bigger". In
many countries, a mayor is the
highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs
regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor, as well as the means by
which a mayor is elected or otherwise mandated. Depending on the system chosen,
a mayor may be the chief executive officer of the municipal government, may
simply chair a multi-member governing body with little or no independent power,
or may play a solely ceremonial role. Options for selection of a mayor include
direct election by the public, or selection by an elected governing council or
board.
MAYORS are meant to
be guarantors of services, the public good and citizens’ participation in local
life.[1]
Clearly, good governance needs to combine economic policies that support city
prosperity with good social policies. Mayors play
an important role in governance, in fact in “good governance”. This is an
office that, in a fully decentralized unitary state, is a pinnacle point in
bringing about balanced and sustainable development that stems from the grass
roots.
So what creates and
sustains “good governance,” a few things can be attributed to what creates and
sustains ‘good governance’ and these include:
·
elected leaders in local governments;
·
local governments with the capacity to act,
including the resources and powers to allow them to do so (often linked to
decentralization);
·
formal and informal avenues to allow civil society to
influence what governments do and hold them to account;
·
organized urban groups that can work at the
level of the city, that are able and willing to interact with local government
and to whom local government is prepared to listen (otherwise middle- and
upper-income groups are likely to be the key civil society influences on city
policies); and
·
a rule of law not too biased against the less
privileged groups and their informal housing and enterprises. Of course, this
rule of law must also protect community leaders and other citizens from
arbitrary arrest (or worse).
It is however quite
difficult to generalize when the scope for what can be done and what needs to
be changed is so rooted in local contexts and local political forms – as well
as the extent of supportive laws and institutions at higher levels of
government. Local governments have important roles in addressing poverty and inequality.
In cities where low incomes are a reality for a significant proportion of the
population, their access to safe, secure housing, infrastructure, services and
other resources is critical for avoiding poverty.
So WHAT MAYORS DO and
think is obviously an important influence in many cities. Mayors generally head
the political and administrative parts of urban governments that are so
important to low income groups with regard to the potential for getting or
building housing (or land for housing), being able to pursue livelihoods,
having access to water, sanitation, health care and education, and often for
the rule of law. Local governments are particularly relevant to people’s daily
lives as they manage the infrastructure and services that directly influence
quality of life.[2] Mayors generally have some influence on the
form of the city’s current and future development, including its success in
attracting new investment. They are also likely to influence the form and
extent of the urban center's physical expansion (and whose needs are
accommodated in this expansion) by the extent of their commitment to managing
land use in ways that allow low-income groups to get land for housing.
In some contexts,
mayors have considerable importance for the nature of the government’s
relations with urban poor groups – for instance, in opening and maintaining
dialogue with these groups or other groups whose needs have been given
inadequate attention (including women, youth or children), and in piloting
institutionalized change that can transform the ability of an government to
address the needs and interests of the poor – for instance, through introducing
or supporting participatory budgeting[3]
or choosing to support representative organizations of the urban poor.
Local democracy has
been an important feature of most pro-poor city and municipal governments. In
addition, most of the more innovative mayors have been directly elected by city
voters (rather than chosen by elected city Councillors). Perhaps mayors who
depend on voters in their city or municipality are more likely to be responsive
to the needs and priorities of these voters – although it might also be that
such mayors are more visible and that their work and influence is noticed more than
that of mayors or heads of city councils who are chosen by elected city
Councillors. In addition, elected mayors may focus their attention on the
people and urban districts that helped get them elected or, once elected,
become less responsive to civil society demands and pressures as they claim that
their election gave them the right to make decisions. It should be emphasized that
with directly-elected mayors the
chain of responsibilities are clear for executive decisions, and mayors have
full accountability.
In many nations, mayors’ capacity to act is
severely constrained by higher levels of government and by long-established
traditions of clientelism or corrupt practices within local government. In many
low-income nations, it is constrained by very inadequate funds available for
investment in relation to deficits in infrastructure and service provision.
Mayors generally head the political and
administrative parts of local governments so what they do and think influences
government policies and practices. Many mayors have been important for poverty
reduction, as their attitudes towards or relations with low-income groups and
their settlements influence the possibilities of these groups getting or
building housing, being able to pursue livelihoods and having access to water,
sanitation, health care and schools. Successful mayors have balanced the need
to attract new investment and support business expansion with good social and
environmental policies; many have made government agencies more responsive and
accountable to citizens, with particular attention to allowing more voice and
influence to low-income groups or other groups that generally have little
influence. The nations where mayors have had positive roles in development are
mostly nations where local government reforms have strengthened the capacities
of city and municipal governments while also increasing their transparency and
accountability to their citizens. With the new reform in Zambia we hope to see
a positive change that will spur development and improve people’s lives from
the grass roots all the way to the top.
What Do You Think about Elected Mayors, Feel free to share your comments??
[1]
See Diop, Mamadou (2007), “The role and place of mayors in the
process of decentralization and municipal management in Senegal”, in Dickson
Eyoh and Richard Stren (editors), Decentralization
and the Politics of Urban Development in West Africa, Comparative Urban Studies Project, Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars, Washington DC, pages 197–208
[2]
Julio Davila’s interviews with four Colombian mayors
[3]
Marcondes, Claudia and Richard Stren (2001), “A conversation
with Raul Pont, mayor of Porto Alegre”, in Mila Freire and Richard E Stren
(editors), The Challenge of Urban Government:
Policies and Practices, World Bank, Washington DC, pages
145–150.
