Decentralization
(i)
Introduction
Encouraged
by the results of the first year of implementation of decentralization policy,
the Royal Government of Cambodia through the National Committee to Support
Communes/Sangkat and with the Department of Local Administration and other
ministries, institutions, and donors, has continued to strengthen and expand
activities during its second year. Among these achievements are the issuance of
legal instruments to guide the implementation of decentralization, the
strengthening of support systems for commune councils, and strengthened
cooperation with donor projects such as the United Nations Development Program
Support to Decentralization Project [UNDP SDP], the Asian Development Bank’s
Commune Council Development Project [CCDP/ADB], GTZ, Konrad Adenauer Foundation,
and the Commune Council Support Project [CCSP].
The
civil society sector had been supportive of the overall implementation of the
decentralization program. Through CCSP,
an NGO Liaison office was established within the Department of Local
Administration. The NGO Liaison Office serves to enhance the exchange and flow
of communication between the government and civil society of decentralization
and local governance reforms issues. It also serves to promote government-civil
society partnerships in decentralization. A promising coalition of NGOs is now
actively involved in the promotion of civil society-commune council partnerships
in the implementation of projects. The Working
Group on the Decentralization Partnerships evolved from a major national
workshop spearheaded by CIDSE to
pilot partnerships among commune councils and community-based organizations in
project implementation. Aside from these, a growing number of NGOs are now
actively involved not just with funding commune projects but in capacity
building of commune council members. Concern
Worldwide is realigning its program to work closely with the government
and other stakeholders in a capacity building program for the commune council. Buddhism
for Development is conducting capacity building initiatives on
decentralization for political parties. Star
Kampuchea has conducted research related to commune council transparency.
Indeed, there is a healthy diversity of NGO initiatives in the decentralization
sector.
(ii) Key Issues
Ensuring
that commune projects lead to poverty reduction
Almost
all communes had developed Commune Development Plans and Commune Investment
Plans in a manner which has been regarded as highly participatory. However, no
measures were set in place to make sure that the projects identified through
participatory processes are those that would have the greatest impact in
reducing poverty. The project identification and prioritization processes were,
in many cases, based on some crude voting procedures both at the village and the
Planning and Budgeting Committee level. Assistance from technical support units
was weak, putting into question the technical feasibility of the chosen projects
and, ultimately, its effects and impact or reducing poverty in the communes.
Needs
from the communes should be fed up to province and national levels to inform
policy and resource allocation
Provincial
plans of national ministries are still developed without prior discussion and
coordination with the communes. Thus, provincial line agency plans are presented
during the District Integration Workshop for communes to consider. This puts
into question the importance of the participatory planning process itself. The
“take it or leave it” principle is pervasive and it would seem that
Provincial representatives of line agencies have not internalized the spirit of
decentralization.
There
is so much emphasis on local planning; other dimensions in decentralization such
as fiscal decentralization and local revenue generation are not pursued with
interest.
Local
planning, and the participatory processes it involves, is a cornerstone in
decentralization. However, sufficient local funds for the implementation of
projects also need to be ensured to sustain interest and faith in the process.
Without adequate funding, decentralization can turn into a hollow dream and
people in the communes will lose interest or even go against it if it does not
lead to concrete results.
Transparency
should be observed, both in decision-making and in financial transactions.
While
some guidelines have been issued to guide financial management in the communes,
systems and responsibilities for auditing have not been established. In some
cases where auditing had taken place, audit reports were not circulated to
concerned institutions.
Commune
chiefs continue to be exclusive decision-makers; traditional authoritarian
decision-making processes continue to prevail in spite of participatory
processes being promoted. In a lot of cases, decisions being made by the commune
chief or commune councils take place without inputs from those affected by them.
Article
23 of Sub-decree 22 of the Ministry of Interior clearly states that the village
chief is a representative of all citizens in the village. Thus, it is very
important that the village chief should be directly chosen by the villagers
themselves, and that they should have the respect and trust of the villagers.
All formal and informal studies conducted so far clearly point out that a great
majority of Cambodian citizens favor the holding of village chief elections by
individual system and not through the party list method. Recognizing these, it
is imperative that village democracy be promoted and institutionalized by having
regular elections to choose village chiefs whom the citizens feel could ably
represent them in commune council affairs and decision-making.
(iii) Recommendations
Recommendations
for the Government:
Increased
technical support should be given to commune development planning processes
to provide options that are technically feasible and responsive to the needs
identified.
Establish
systems with partners to assess the impact of decentralization on poverty
reduction.
Ensure
the congruence between different levels of planning [commune, district,
provincial, and national plans] by setting a system for commune plans to fit
into the framework of higher level plans.
Provide
continuous capacity building not just on development planning, but also on
other aspects that affect governance such as transparency and public
accountability.
Make
regulations to ensure transparency in the disbursement and use of commune
funds. Audit mechanisms for commune funds should be set in place. An
anti-corruption program comprising of education, prevention, and prosecution
should be launched at least at the local, if not all levels of the
government.
Decentralization
should not only focus on local planning but on other aspects of governance
such as the promotion and internalization of concepts like transparency,
public accountability, fiscal decentralization, and capacity building in
these areas.
The
Royal Government of Cambodia should discourage political partisanship at the
grassroots level but instead widen democratic spaces and political choice by
holding individual village chief elections rather than appointing or
dividing among political parties the village chief posts. Direct elections
of village chiefs promotes village level accountability as these chosen
officials will be only directly accountable to the citizens who voted them
into office, and not the political parties whom they represent. In brief,
elected village chiefs can exercise better their function as development
agents rather than becoming tentacles of political parties.
Recommendations
for Donors:
Agree
on a common framework for the long term perspective of decentralization in
Cambodia.
Continue
to support decentralization and local governance initiatives, both by the
government and NGOs.
Follow
where their money goes and establish mechanisms with the government to
ensure financial transparency.
Provide
policy advice to the government and ensure that these are being considered.
Recommendations
for NGOs:
Continue
to improve participation of citizens in local governance processes by
raising their awareness of the rights and responsibilities in the new system
of local governance.
Continue
promoting partnerships between civil society and commune councils, not only
in the implementation of projects but also in building the capacities of
commune councils, community organizations, and other stakeholders in local
governance.
Implement
programs that seek to instill among the citizens the concept that commune
officials are accountable to the citizenry as well. Introduce innovative
approaches or programs which facilitate citizen’s monitoring of the
performance of commune councils, in providing feedback, and in promoting
local civil society and commune council dialogues to institute needed
reforms at the communes.
Avoid developing parallel structures in the communes that could undermine the performance of commune councils.
For more information on the issues raised in this paper, please contact:
The Commune Council Support Project, Tel: 023 427197,
Email: ccsp.pl@online.com.kh , ccsp@online.com.kh