The local state and urban local government in Zambia
| Published date | 01 January 1988 |
| Author | Carole Rakodi |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/pad.4230080104 |
| Date | 01 January 1988 |
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT,
Vol.
8,
27-46
(1988)
The
local state and urban local
government
in
Zambia
CAROLE RAKODI
University
of
Wales lnstiture
of
Science and Technology
SUMMARY
It
is
argued, with reference to urban local government in Zambia, particularly in Lusaka,
that recent debates on the form and functions
of
the national state in Africa may be used
to illuminate the working of the urban local state. Available evidence on the class interests
represented in the urban local state is reviewed, and these interests and their actions with
respect to personal accumulation and political clientelism are found to be similar to those
found at the national level. The urban local state in Zambia performs functions similar to
those which have been revealed by analyses
of
other countries, although the nature
of
these functions, and the extent to which they are successfully performed, is influenced by
the political and economic context, the institutional framework and especially the constraints
imposed by central government on local autonomy. The changes proposed in the
1980
Local Administration Act are outlined, and a preliminary assessment made of the extent
to which they are likely to change the form and functions of the urban local state.
INTRODUCTION
Most analyses of the nature and role
of
the state in Africa have focused on the
national level, and little attention has been given to extending these analyses to
the form and functions of the state at local and regional levels. Despite increasing
centralization in African countries since independence, the local state in urban
areas performs an important range of functions, and I have argued elsewhere that
discussions of the structure and functions of local government in Africa should be
placed within a theoretical framework that encompasses the debate on the form
and functions of the national state,
in
order to deepen our understanding of the
role of subnational levels of government, processes of urban class formation, the
shaping
of
urban space and the outcomes of urban policies (Rakodi, 1986a).
While increasing centralization of power and government has been typical of
post-independence Africa, and can be understood in terms
of
the political and
developmental imperatives faced by national governments, centralization has
Carole Rakodi
is
in
the Department
of
Town Planning, UWIST, Colum Drive, Cardiff, CFl
3EU.
027
1-2075/88/010027-20$10.00
0
1988
by John Wiley
8i
Sons, Ltd.
28
Carole
Rakodi
resulted neither in sound policy formulation with respect to local urban or rural
development, nor in effective implementation. A variety
of
explanations
of
the
ineffectual nature of African states have been advanced, including dominance by,
and dependence on, international capital; the inability of government and political
systems inherited from colonial administrations
to
quickly overcome social cleav-
ages, develop administrative capacity and handle conflicts over resources (Tordoff,
1984); and the lack of scope for policy formulation, participation in decision-
making, resource allocation and administrative capacity for effective implemen-
tation at the local
level
(Mawhood, 1983; Cochrane, 1983). The latter explanation
for continued development problems has given rise to an international debate on
decentralization, and to explicit moves towards greater decentralization in some
countries, including Zambia, in recent years. However, the autonomy
of
the local
state from the central has generally been very limited-to such an extent, some
writers suggest, that local governments have little legitimacy in the eyes of their
residents, and ‘local political systems have very little capacity for effective initiat-
ives and creative change’ (Bryant and White, 1982).
The aim of this paper is to employ some of the theoretical insights
of
the wider
debates on the form and functions
of
the state to conduct a preliminary examin-
ation of the form and functions of the local state and the local state apparatus in
Zambia. Recent contributors to the debate on the local state in developed countries
(for example, Paris, 1983) have emphasized that it is incorrect to equate the local
state with local government, as other sub-national agents
of
the state may operate
in the local urban situation. However, lack
of
available information has necessi-
tated a concentration on the local government apparatus. Research on local
government in Zambia has been limited, and none has been carried out within
the theoretical framework advocated (Pasteur, 1974, 1979; Kinsey, 1981; Hawke-
sworth, 1974; Greenwood and Howell, 1980).
In
the first part
of
the paper a discussion
of
the form
of
the national state and
the interests represented in it will provide a context for a review of the limited
evidence available on the interests represented in the local state. Next, the
functions of the local state are explored, through an analysis of the legislative and
financial basis for local government, the extent of autonomy of local from national
and the official socialization function of local government. Finally, the changes to
the local government structure introduced in 1981 are outlined, and suggestions
put forward as to how the implications
of
this changing local state apparatus for
the nature and functions
of
the local state might be evaluated.
THE FORM OF THE LOCAL STATE
IN
URBAN AREAS IN ZAMBIA
An understanding
of
the form
of
the state at the national level
is
an essential first
step
in
understanding the form
of
the state at the local level, and is particularly
apposite to our concern with urban areas because of the absence at independence
of
an indigenous landowning class. An outline of the interests represented in the
national state is given next and the evidence available will then be reviewed to
assess the extent
to
which the local state reflects similar class interests to the
national state.
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