The dynamics of public struggle for local government autonomy in the post-1990 Tanzania: the cases of Muleba and Kinondoni Districts

The adoption of decentralization by devolution (D-by-D) reforms in Tanzania aims at strengthening the autonomy of local governments by transferring the political, administrative and fiscal powers from the central to local government councils (LGCs). However, the process of decentralization of powers has largely remained on paper characterized by policy reversals and sluggish implementation. This study asserts that such a stalled decentralization process is largely a function of the extent to which the public, namely the local government councillors, the citizenry and civil society organizations (CSOs) are exerting pressure for devolution of powers. Based on the data from the interviews with councillors, ordinary citizens and the local government leaders as well as reviews of various documents and reports, it has been observed that it is the councillors, rather than the ordinary citizens and CSOs, who exert a considerable pressure for the devolution of power to LGCs. By employing a comparative case study design of two districts, namely Muleba and Kinondoni, the test of the hypothesis shows that, in the absence of popular/public demand and pressure for local government autonomy, the central government has used the opportunity to stall the decentralization process. The implication of the study findings suggest that with the current dynamics of the public struggle for local government autonomy, the realization of the objectives of D-by-D reforms in Tanzania is likely to take longer than expected. There is need for increased public knowledge and awareness about the mandate of LGCs and taking of collaborative and more strategic approach in demanding for autonomy of local governments.