Beneficiaries of good governance project, Sanba Njabeh Village/photo:M.S.Joof/Nov2011 |
That is, if the success of a “capacity
building project on good governance” implemented by a local agency is anything
to go by, communities in the three districts would be able to determine which
candidate really deserve to be elected to represent their interest in the
legislature and in at the local government level.
In fact, sources revealed voters
in the Lower Niumi districts are likely to come up with at least “one female
candidate” in the 2012 national assembly elections. Gambia’s Independent Electoral
Commission has schedule parliamentary elections on March 29, 2012 while the
local government elections will wait till 2013.
The 2002 Local Government Act
serves as a guideline for the setting up of local institutions such as Village
Development Committees (VDCs) and Ward Development Committees (WDCs) to
decentralise the governance system of The Gambia at the grassroots.
However, the conspicuous
inadequate capacity of these local institutions means the system has little or
no impact for effective contribution to the good governance of the country and
its fledgling democracy.
Hence implementing a “capacity
building project on good governance” in a country where the literacy rate is
projected around 47 per cent (2010 World Bank report), would generally require better
access to and the sharing of information.
Working against this local
institutional problem is the Agency for the Development of Women and Children
(ADWAC), which has successfully implemented a one-year capacity building
project in three districts: Badibou, Jokadou and Lower Niumi in the North Bank
Region (NBR).
It is aimed at contributing to
good governance and the democratization of local institutions. 22 local
institutions, including 15 VDCs, 6 WDCs and the Kerewan Area Council (KAC) are
beneficiaries to the project. ADWAC hopes the KAC’s capacity would been
enhanced for it to effectively engage the Wards in planning and decision making
processes and contribute to funding strategic village development plans.
Established in 1995 at Kerewan,
the regional administrative capital of NBR, ADWAC is one of 13 civil society
organisations that received a grant last year from the European Union (EU)
under the Non-State Actors Strengthening Programme (NSASP) in The Gambia.
A data collection survey was
carried out by the agency to set a baseline on local peoples’ level
understanding of the governance system of the country and their roles and
responsibilities in national development and decision making processes.
Taking into account the high level
lack of awareness of almost every aspect of government’s policies by Gambians,
it is not surprising that the
findings revealed some communities not knowing why they are paying taxes, how
and why they should hold their elected councilors accountable and to a large
extent, the central government.
ADWAC’s Executive director, Mamsamba Joof/ Photo:M.S.Joof/Nov2011 |
“The project have not
entirely made people to stand up and say “we need our rights”, but their level
of understanding of why they pay tax, and the role of the Area Council and elected
councilors has become clearer to them,” Mr. Joof said.
Benefits
“The good governance project
brought to us by ADWAC has benefited a great deal. It has really built our
capacity and now we have full knowledge of why we pay tax,” the chairman
Kerr Jarga Ward Development Committee (WDC), Mr. Alpha Khan said.
“Prior to the project, we knew little about the importance of paying tax, now
we know that this money is being used by the Government to pay civil servants
and in the country’s development process which is very important”.
ADWAC also
builds the capacities of the WDCs on how to take charge of their own
development aspirations through the development of strategic action plans, and
the Kerr Jarga WDC has already developed its own action plan outlining various
development priority needs for the communities in the Ward.
“They’ve taught
us the roles and responsibilities of good citizens, how to hold the Area
Council accountable and also how to work with it and the Village Development
Committees (VDCs) in achieving our desired development goals,” added Mr Khan.
“We were on a series of errors before they (ADWAC) came. Now we know we have to
be transparent and respect each other’s views in the process of charting about
the Ward development plans”.
Chairman of Samba Njabeh VDC, Mr Wally Ndow/Photo: M.S.Joof/Nov2011 |
The benefit derived from the
project does not solely stops with the beneficiaries; the grantee (ADWAC) also
had a share of it. It strengthens its relationship with local government
authorities (Kerewan Area Council). After all, the agency is implementing a
programme that should have been the primary work of the Area Council.
At the end of the project in
February this year, ADWAC was honored by the EU-NSASP for filing in the best
report on “financial management”. However, the agency fears sustainability of
the gains in the project is threatened by it short-lived period.
“The EU should consider expanding the
project for another year or two to consolidate the achievements at community
level and further strengthen the capacities of the participating organisations.
The NSASP is just a one-year project,
our experience have shown us that you can have a good start to a project but
the sustainable impact require a longer period,” Mr. Joof said. “Sustainability is core in ADWAC’s
activities. For us, we think if no action is sustainable, there is no need to
start such action.”
Author: Modou S. Joof
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