It takes a long time,
effort and commitment to achieve fundamental
reform in the engagement of private sector
provision in municipal service delivery.
The big challenge lies in seizing upon
the mistakes as learning opportunities,
rather than use them as excuses of stifling
reform that can spearhead Tanzania economy.
In the paper presented at Tanzania Global
Development Learning Centre (TGDLC), Mark
Osiche, the Programme Officer Association
of Local Government Authorities of Kenya,
ALGAK, says that lack of coordination
and integration between the municipal
development stakeholders has led many
to question the sustainability of both
the infrastructure and services that are
financed.
According to Osiche, the local government
is expected to perform local governments
either perform or are usually expected
to perform include: refuse collection;
refuse disposal, retail markets, parks
and gardens, recreation, public hygiene
and sanitation, drainage, sewerage, dispensaries
and clinics, roads and bridges, traffic
control, primary education, preventive
health, fire prevention and land-use planning.
He mentioned other services to include
water and electricity supply, municipal
transportation, rural public transport,
vehicle licensing, small industry development,
agricultural extension, community development,
tourism, labour exchange, air and water
pollution control, environmental protection
and police.
From the mid-80s, onwards, structural
adjustment programmes (SAPs) have spearheaded
Tanzanian economy. Under the on-going
public sector performance improvement
reforms, water supply, health and education
have are mandated responsibilities of
local governments.
Third, the Tanzanian experience has aptly
shown that there is a danger that the
international promotion of private sector
participation in municipal service delivery,
particularly when conditional on development
assistance, undermines local polities
to resolve their own service delivery
issues. This dependency not only makes
it difficult for the local governments
to negotiate a “fair deal”,
but effectively overrides local political
processes.
