[wanabidii] Ebrief; 'REPOA's Recent Publications'

REPOA’s Recent Policy Briefs

Citizen Participation and Local Governance in Tanzania By Amon E. Chaligha   Active participation in local governance is necessary for improving a citizen’s quality of life. Participation is manifested by the citizen’s active role in governance structures (village/neighbourhood (mtaa) assembly meetings), active involvement in public service committees (water management committees, school committees, etc.), and active involvement in preparing village/neighbourhood and ward plans.  Meaningful governance at the local level cannot be imagined without effective citizen participation.   This brief focuses on citizen participation as a key to democratic local governance, as informed by a recent citizen survey. It also compares results from some of the recent citizen surveys with those from previous surveys, to discern whether or not there has been any improvement in citizen participation between 2003 and 2013.   To download a full brief click here   Incomplete Intermediary Coordination and its Effects on Productivity of Sugarcane in Tanzania By Donald Mmari   Raising productivity among cane outgrowers in Tanzania is limited by the industry’s characteristics of production and incomplete intermediary organization. While the existing intermediary organizations have to some extent helped in reducing transaction costs and uncertainties, such transaction cost-reducing functions are necessary but not sufficient for raising productivity and for enhancing efficiency under the current environment of global competition.   This paper examines production and market arrangements in the sugar value chain in Tanzania, an industry that involves a significant number of smallholders producing sugarcane for monopsonic processors.   To download a full brief click here           Reversing Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Decline in Tanzania: Policy Options and Constraints. By Samuel Wangwe, Paula Tibandebage, Edwin Mhede, Caroline Israel, Phares Mujinja, Maureen Mackintosh   Pharmaceutical production has been a Tanzanian industrial success, generating industrial skills and employment and sustaining access to essential medicines for the Tanzanian population, especially in rural areas. However, Tanzania is rapidly losing its pharmaceutical production capability, and therefore its ability to supply one of its population’s basic needs.   The loss undermines Tanzania’s medium-term security of supply of essential medicines. It threatens cumulative industrial and employment decline in one of Tanzania’s few higher-skill sectors and in local suppliers, including plastics and packaging. It increases the trade deficit, and misses opportunities to exploit development synergies between health needs, health financing, and industrial growth. To download a full brief click here   Public Accounts Committees in Eastern Africa: A Comparative Analysis with a Focus on Tanzania By Riccardo Pelizzo and Abel Kinyondo   The Public Accounts Committee (PAC)—one of the standing committees of the Parliament of Tanzania—is an important institution for overseeing the implementation of the national budget and the expenditure of public monies. Properly functioning, the PAC has the capacity to promote good governance, curb corruption and increase the trust of citizens in the political system.   To assess its performance and effectiveness, this brief compares the organizational characteristics and the level of activity of the PAC in Tanzania with the committees of five other countries in Eastern Africa: Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, South Sudan and Seychelles. The evidence presented indicates that the PAC in Tanzania is above regional averages with respect to several organizational features. More importantly, it is the most active PAC in the number of hearings held. To download a full brief click here   Transparency and Accountability in Local Governance in Tanzania By Amon E. Chaligha   Democracy can only grow and thrive where citizens perceive their government to be transparent and accountable to them. Citizens will support and complement government efforts if the government informs them of how decisions that affect them are taken. Most importantly, citizens like to be informed of how much taxes are collected and how the taxes they pay are spent. Such a government can be trusted, and a government has to be trusted if it is to remain legitimate in the eyes of its citizens.   Accountability is the management of relationships between state officials and citizens by disclosing vital and valuable information about government actions to the citizens. Government officials must feel obliged to give and receive feedback regarding any action that is likely to cause change in the welfare of society. Hence, without transparency, accountability will not be achievable.   To download a full brief click here       To request for a hard copy kindly email REPOA’s Communications Officer       To visit REPOA’s library catalogue click here REPOA Resource Centre is open and free to the Public from Monday to Friday, 1000 to 1300, and 1400 to 1700.     Join us on

REPOA P.O. Box 33223, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania • 157 Mgombani Street, Regent Estate Tel: +255 (0) (22) 2700083 / 0784 555 655 • Fax: 255 (0) (22) 2775738 Email: repoa@repoa.or.tz www.repoa.or.tz

 

Hannah Mwandoloma

Communications Officer

 

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REPOA, undertakes and facilitates research, conducts and coordinates training, and promotes dialogue and development of policy for pro-poor growth and poverty reduction.

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