Local government and development in Tanzania: a case study of Dar es Salaam City Council

Our discussion of local government and development begins with a discussion of the importance of local government in enhancing popular participation or democracy and in provision of services. We have pointed out that participation is dependent on many factors such as the consciousness of the citizens. Similarly we have pointed out that efficient provision of services is dependent on maximization of internal and external factors in an organisation. The problem of the study was to establish the main reasons behind the poor discharge of services in the City of Dar es Salaam. The dissertation is divided into six chapters. Chapter one presents the problem of the study and the methods used in the collection of the information. The study was carried out through a field survey research supplemented by library research at the University Library and the National Archives of Tanzania at Dar es Salaam. Chapter two discusses local government theory and reviews the literature on this subject. This chapter also elaborates on the terminology used in the study of local government and points out the various kinds of local government in the world including the functions, advantages and limitations of local government. Chapter three discusses the development of local government authority in Tanzania taking the City Council of Dar es Salaam as the study case. This chapter is divided into four sections. The first section explains the system of local government prior to independence, the second deals with the pre-1972 local government system. The third section examines the administration of the city during decentralisation reforms first announced in 1972. The last section deals with the re-establishment of urban local authorities in 1978 which were abolished during decentralisation. The fourth chapter represents and discusses the results of the election of councillors held in November, 1983. In this chapter we discuss generally how the citizens of Dar es Salaam city participated in electing a new local authority. The general observation is that many citizens did not participate in these elections. However,on the contrary many people wanted to stand for councillorship. The fifth chapter discusses the administration of education and health services to assess the effectiveness of local government. The administration of these services is examined at different phases to see when services were administered efficiently and when inefficiently. The pre-decentralisation period was better when compared to the decentralisation period because the City Council had facilities and equipment to carry out the services. The quality of services deteriorated during the services decentralisation and continued during the re-stablishment of the city council period due to a number of factors we have in the chapter. Chapter six, discusses the City Council which undermines the advantages that can be gained by a local government. Resources to administer vital services are misused. This chapter also ends with some recommendations.