Government decentralization in Tanzania: a case study of Morogoro region
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Date
1975
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Publisher
University of Dar es Salaam
Abstract
The objective of this study is to analyse the basic organisational and administrative strategise Tanzania adopted as a means of improving and speeding up rural development performance. The underlying reason for introducing a Decentralised. Regional system was to strengthen the planning and administrative machineries in the Regions by streamlining rural Government structures and transferring greater power to both the people and senior administrators in the Regions. Decentralisation brought about substantial changes Prior to it, a number of forces operated with little co-operation between themselves. For example, Ministerial representatives had greater vertical allegiance to their Ministries than to the Regional head of the Region the Regional commissioner. Similarly, rural and urban local authorities tended to function at times in isolation of central government’s activities. This left the Regional Administration with the responsibility of realising rural development rapidly but without full powers over those forces directly concerned with providing the people with development services. Accordingly the new rural organisations in the form of Regional Directorates with their sub-organisations, the District Directorates were constituted. The key Government forces were integrated to form this new structure under a single leadership. Those forces which were not formally integrated were informally co-opted in the new structure. All planning and implementation of rural development programmes not rests with public institutions and the Directorates in the Regions and Districts and not with the Centre as was the case prior to Decentralisation. However all allocation of resources is controlled by the centre. This is found necessary in order to ensure a balance development of all Regions by allocating a greater proportion of the nation’s resources to the less well off Regions. Decentralisation also brought a simultaneous increase in administrative powers in the fields of budgeting accounting, manpower planning, development and control, communication and the provision of public services most of these powers were formerly retained by the centre. However the built of the powers went to the Regional Development Directorates instead of going to the District Directorates which are in effect responsible for planning and implementing rural development programmes which the former advise, guide and so-ordinate the activities of the latter.
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Keywords
Decentralization in government, Local goverment, Morogoro, Tanzania
Citation
Fernandes, A. J (1975) Government decentralization in Tanzania: a case study of Morogoro region, masters dissertation, University of Dar es Salaam. Available at (http://41.86.178.3/internetserver3.1.2/detail.aspx )