AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT FUND
BURKINA FASO
COUNTRY GOVERNANCE PROFILE
OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT UNDP RESIDENT REPRESENTATION: BURKINA FASO WEST REGION (OCCW/ADB) JULY 2005
SCCD: G .G.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
List of Boxes and Annexes; Acronyms and Abbreviations, Executive Summary i-ix
I. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Preamble 1 1.2 Key Elements of Good Governance 1 1.3. Methodology 2
II DIAGNOSIS OF THE GOVERNANCE SITUATION 3 2.1 Accountability at the Political Level 3 Administrative Accountability 6 Accountability in Economic Management 7 Accountability in Public Finance Management 9 Accountability at the Level of Budgetary Control 11 Public Accounts and Debt Management 13 Private Sector and Accountability 14
2.2 Transparency 15 Transparency in Politics 15 Freedom of the Media 16 Transparency in Government Procurement Process 16 Transparency in Public Expenditure Implementation Process 18 Access to the Public Information on the Government’s Economic and Social Priorities 20
2.3 Stakeholder Involvement 20 Civil Society Involvement 20 Gender 22 Security of Persons, Protection of Returnees and Refugees, Child Trafficking 23 Land Tenure 24 Decentralisation and Deconcentration 25 Public-Private Sector Interaction 26 Regional Cooperation and Integration 27
2.4 Legal and Judicial Reforms 27 Legal Reforms 27 Judicial Reforms 28 Alternative Settlement of Disputes: the Ombudsman 29 Legal Framework and Environment of the Private Sector 30 2.5 Fight against Corruption 30
III. EVALUATION OF THE NATIONAL GOOD GOVERNANCE STRATEGY 32 3.1 Presentation of the Key Elements of the Strategy 32 3.2 Examination of the Pertinence of the Strategy in Light of the Diagnosis 34
IV PRIORITY AREAS OF GOVERNANCE AND IDENTIFICATION OF 37 POTENTIAL AREAS OF BANK INTERVENTION 4.1 Areas that may be Considered Priorities for Improving Governance in Burkina 37 Faso
4.2 Areas of Intervention of Development Partners 43 4.3 Potential Areas of Bank Intervention 45 4.4 CGP Recommendations Monitoring Framework 48
V CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 49 5.1 Conclusions 49 5.2 Recommendations 50
LIST OF BOXES 1. The Constitutional Council 2. Study on the Public Expenditure Management (CFAA) 3. Burkina Faso: Management of HIPC Initiative Resources 4. The Audit Court 5. Child Trafficking in Burkina Faso 6. The Trade Union Movement in Burkina Faso 7. The Land Tenure Issue 8. The Burkina 2025 Study and Long-term Governance Scenarios
LIST OF ANNEXES
1. Legal Framework of Good Governance 2. Burkina Faso: Historical Background 3. Multiparty Politics in Burkina Faso 4. Prudential Provisions Applicable to WAEMU Banks 5 Management of the Cotton Sector, the Public and Private Sector 6. Child Trafficking – International and National Law 7 Regional Cooperation and Governance 8 The Land Tenure Issue 9 Comparative Socio-economic Indicators 10 WAEMU Convergence Criteria 11 Logical Framework of the PRSP Implementation Schedule for the 2004-2006 Period 12 Matrix of CGP Measures and Actions in Burkina Faso 13 Bibliography 14 Donor Intervention in Governance (in million currency units)
This report was drawn up following a joint governance profile preparation mission of the Bank and UNDP to Burkina Faso from 2 to 22 December 2004. The mission was led by Mrs. S. CONDE, Chief Economist OCCW/ADB and comprised Mr. M. LABIDI, Consultant, OCCW/ADB, and Messrs. L.IBRIGA and M.SOW UNDP national consultants. Questions on this profile should be referred to Mr. A. ZEJLY, Acting Director OCCW/ADB, Ext. 2127 and Mr. G. CHARPENTIER, UNDP Resident Representative.
i LISTE OF ABBREVIATIONS
ADB African Development Bank ADF African Development Fund AFD Agence française de développement (French Development Agency) AFRITAC IMF’s Africa Technical Assistance Centre AIDS Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome APRM African Peer Review Mechanism ASAP Agricultural Sector Adjustment Programme BCEAO Central Bank of West African States BSONG NGO Monitoring Bureau CAS Country Assistance Strategy CBMT/CFMT Medium-term Budgetary (fiscal) Framework CC Audit Court CCA Common Country Assistance CCl Constitutional Council CD National Decentralization Commission CDP Congrès pour la démocratie et le progrès CENI National Independent Electoral Commission CET Common External Tariff CFAA Country Financial Accountability Assessment CFAF CFA Franc CGCT General Regional and Local Authorities Code CGD Democratic Governance Centre CGP Country Governance Profile CID Computerized Expenditure System CIDA Canadian International Development Agency CNBG National Coordination for Good Governance CNCC National Competition and Consumption Commission CNDP National Public Debt Committee COMFIB Finance and Budget Commission CPAR Country Procurement Assessment Review CSI Higher Information Council CSM Higher Judicial Council CSO Civil Society Organization CSP Country Strategy Paper DAAF Department of Administrative and Financial Affairs DANIDA Danish Cooperation DCCF Central Directorate for Financial Control DCEI Department of Economic Coordination and Information DCMP Central Directorate for Government Contracts DELGI Delegation General for Data Processing DEP Department of Studies and Planning DGB Directorate General for the Budget DGCOOP Directorate General for Cooperation DGEP Directorate General of the Economy and Planning DGTCP Directorate General of the Treasury and Public accounts DPSSI Department of Sector wide Planning and Investment Monitoring DSI Department of Computer Services ECA United Nations Economic Commission for Africa ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States EMSP Economic Management Support Project ESW Economic and Sector Work EU European Union GDP Gross Domestic Product GGW Good Governance Watch HACLC Anti Corruption Coordination Authority HDI Human Development Indicator (UNDP) HIPC Heavily Indebted Poor Countries HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus IDA International Development Agency IGE/IGF General State (Finance) Inspectorate ILO International Labour Office ILO International Labour Organisation
ii
IMF International Monetary Fund NISD National Institute of Statistics and Population IPPTE/PPTE Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (debt relief) Initiative ISP Institutional Support Project LPDSP Private Sector Development Policy Letter MDG Millennium Development Goals MEBF Burkina Faso Enterprise Centre MEDEV Ministry of the Economy and Development MFPRE Ministry of the Public Service and Administrative Reform MTEF Medium-term Expenditure Framework NA National Assembly NEPAD New Partnership for Africa’s Development NGO Non Governmental Organizations NICT New Information and Communication Technology OHADA Organisation for the Harmonization in Africa of Business Law ONECCA National Office of Certified and Chartered Accountants OPAPAD Poverty and Sustainable Human Development Watch PAA Administration Support Project GGSP Good Governance Support Project PACDE Competitiveness and Enterprise Development Support Programme PANJ National Justice Reform Plan of Action PASECT Transport Sector Adjustment Programme PBLG Policy-based Lending on Governance PIP Public Investment Programme NGGP National Good Governance Policy PRGB Budget Management Strengthening Programme PRGE Economic Management Strengthening Support Project PRGF Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper PRSSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Support Programme RAF Agrarian and Land Reform RGAP General Reform of Public Administration RMC Regional Member Countries ROSC Report on the Observation of Standards and Codes RSL Reform Support Loans SAL Structural Adjustment Loan SEBG Executive Secretariat for good Governance SGG- CM Secretariat General of the Government and the Council of Ministers SIGASPE Integrated System of State Personnel Administrative and Salary Management SMEs Small and Medium sized Enterprises SOFITEX Textile Company SPONG Permanent Secretariat for NGOs SP-PPF Permanent Secretariat for the Monitoring of Financial Policies and Programmes STC/PDES Technical Secretariat for the Coordination of Economic and Social Development Policies SYSCOA West African Accounting System TFP Technical and Financial Partners TOD Decentralization Orientation Law TSP Transport Sector Programme UNDAF United Nations Development Assistance Framework UNDP United Nations Development Programme WAEMU West African Economic and Monetary Union WB World Bank
iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Context
1. A landlocked country with a surface area of 274,000 km2 and a population of 13 million inhabitants in 2004, Burkina Faso is one of the world’s poorest countries. According to the 2004 human development index Burkina Faso is ranked 175th among 177 countries. The country has scarce natural resources and partly depends on external aid and income from immigrant workers. Recent estimates show that some 46.4% of the population lives below the monetary poverty line, a situation which is exacerbated among women and in rural areas. These recent analyses also highlight a worsening of poverty in urban areas. The problem of Burkina Faso’s economy is the persistence of poverty despite relatively sustained growth over the past few years and the reforms initiated since 1991. This situation led to the formulation of the poverty reduction strategic framework as from 2000 in a bid to reduce the number of people living below the poverty threshold by one-third by 2015. It was revised in 2003 and led to the drawing up of a programme of priority actions for the 2004-2006 period.
2. Greater political stability came as a result of consensual reforms introduced in 2000 and which led to adoption of a new electoral code, an independent national electoral commission (CENI) with broader powers and a voting system closer to proportional representation. Following the smooth conduct of the 2002 legislative elections, marked by a net increase in turn-out (64% of registered voters) the National Assembly put in place was more representative of the country’s different political leanings, the absolute majority being held by the ruling party known as “Congrès pour la démocratie et le progress” (CDP). One major challenge facing the government lies in the need to promote good governance in a context of poverty, limited institutional capacity, vulnerability of the economy to external shocks and sub-regional instability.
Objective of the Profile
3. This country governance profile (CGP) falls within the framework of the Bank’s economic and sector work (ESW). It is a tool for overall assessment and dialogue concerning the major governance problems of Burkina Faso. Its objective is to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of governance mechanisms. The CGP helps to foster a common approach between the authorities and development partners, as governance constraints hamper the attainment of development objectives. Good governance is a concept covering the following elements: (i) an effective state. (ii) a mobilized civil society; and (iii) an efficient public administration and private sector. Indeed, an effective state creates a political and legal environment conducive to the rule of law and development, with laws that are clearly laid down and enforced by an objective and independent judiciary. Similarly, a dynamic civil society mobilizes individuals, groups and communities, facilitates political and social interaction, helps to generate human capital and promotes social cohesion and stability. The productive private sector for its part generates jobs and incomes.
Methodology
4. In a bid to help provide an insight into governance in Burkina-Faso, a joint mission of the Bank and UNDP stayed in Ouagadougou from 5 to 22 December 2004 to prepare this country governance profile (CGP). The document is based on policy documents, Bank guidelines mainly those relating to governance, government documents as well as the proceedings and findings of the mission. During the mission, a memorandum specifying the points for discussion was transmitted to the government and the various interlocutors met. After submitting the detailed aide-memoire of the mission, a briefing session was organized. The CGP was thus drawn up following consultation of available documents and following in-depth discussions with many officials and representatives of the
iv administration, the private sector, civil society and other development partners. The Bank guidelines and directives on drafting governance profiles notably as concerns analysis, participatory work, stages to be followed, resources to be mobilized and time allotted are quite useful in successfully obtaining governance profiles that meet the needs of set objectives.
5. This CGP conducts a diagnosis of the governance situation by considering the following aspects: accountability; transparency; stakeholder involvement; legal and judicial reform; the fight against corruption; and private sector governance. It makes recommendations for identifying priority areas where ADB, UNDP and other donors could intervene. The report is divided into five chapters. This introduction describes the historical context and the key elements of governance. The detailed diagnosis of governance in Burkina Faso is then treated in Chapter II followed by an assessment of the Government’s governance strategy. The approach used facilitates the identification of governance priorities and recommendations for future actions that could contribute to its improvement.
II. Diagnosis of the Governance Situation Governance and Accountability
6. The CGP has been able to bring out the elements of appraisal of accountability and examine how accountability was observed at the political level. It shows that progress has been made in terms of political accountability. Political life is marked by greater stability but the gains need to be consolidated. The Burkinabe Constitution is based on the separation and balance of the legislative, executive and judicial powers. However, the reality is more complex given that the institutions are in their infancy and that the means to strengthen them are lacking. Consolidating these gains requires that the reforms initiated since the year 2000 should be pursued in a bid to ensure effective separation and balance of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, promotion of ethics and its observance by political parties, and the stabilization of electoral processes and codes. In the run-up to the November 2005 presidential elections, the opposition remains divided and the CDP is going to the polls under favourable conditions. Although democracy has made unquestionable progress in Burkina Faso, (even if political competition in rural areas is not as open as in urban areas), the majority party would like to go back on what the opposition considered two gains, namely (i) prohibition enshrined in the 1991 Constitution, against an outgoing President running a third time, and (ii) the proportional representation voting system.
7. Regarding administrative accountability in Burkina Faso, it can be seen through the progress achieved in the Overall Public Administration Reform (RGAP) which was launched in 1998 and whose achievements include notably, a better definition of the jurisdiction of each government service (abolition of direct management activities, as in the case of the ministry of public works), and launching of a single public service computer file with the adoption of the integrated system of state personnel administrative and salaries management (SIGASPE). However, it must be acknowledged that SIGASPE has incurred delays and that the Burkinabe administration must improve its accessibility, performance, service quality and transparency. The 2002 National Ethics Committee report highlighted the politicization of the administration. Such politicization can spread a culture of impunity within the administration thereby encouraging bad citizenship, corruption and economic crimes. All these constraints contribute to weaken the capacities to formulate, implement, monitor and evaluate policies notably those relating to sustainable growth and poverty reduction. Accordingly, Burkina Faso must pursue its efforts to reorganize and modernize the state machinery.
8. Accountability in government’s economic management has been examined in relation to the economic performance and the initiatives taken to promote sustainable development. On the whole, the macroeconomic policies followed have been in line with the PRSF formulated in 2000 and were supported and welcomed by the Bretton Woods Institutions and other development
v partners. Priority was to be given to drawing from the findings of the Burkina 2025 Prospective Study, the key strategic guidelines capable of producing structural changes in the economy and fostering sustainable development. The main problems are the inadequacy of fiscal revenue and resistance to a reduction of public spending. Indeed, the share of tax revenue in the GDP since 2000 is well below the WAEMU convergence norm. This situation which results in the country’s overdependence on foreign aid in general poses the problem of tax and customs revenue collection, strengthening of the assessment services and broadening of the tax base. There is a need to improve the methods used in these domains and to equip the services with effective management tools. Accountability in the management of state-owned enterprises has improved through the use of international competitive bidding for most of the enterprises eligible for the programme. However the implementation of the programme is incurring delays and the overarching objective of privatization, which is to improve the quality of public utilities, has not yet yielded tangible results. In spite of progress in the business environment, Burkina Faso is yet to become a destination for major foreign direct investments.
9. Accountability concerning the budgetary process has improved thanks to the use of the medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) and the programme approach to annual budget preparation. However, the inadequate capacities and financial means represent real constraints. In 2004 for instance, the appropriations of the annual budget law were technically in conformity with the 2004–2006 MTEF estimates. There is progress in the MTEFs of certain sectors such as education and health. However, most interventions are implemented through projects. To date, employees of sectoral ministries do not have a good grasp of the MTEF which is a programming and management tool. Furthermore, the presentation of the annual budget solely in its administrative form does not allow its in-depth analysis from the standpoint of its contribution to the implementation of multi-year sectoral programmes.
10. Furthermore, private sector accountability must be focused on as it represents over 70% of the GDP. The informal sector is far from transparent. In the formal sector, most enterprises are not strict in their bookkeeping. As concerns corporate governance, efforts must be pursued to regulate bookkeeping in accordance with WAEMU accounting standards and also to harmonize national laws with OHADA provisions. Moreover, the non-resolution of the land tenure issue and the non-existence of a land register is a setback to investment and security of land tenure.
Governance and Transparency
11. Regarding transparency, the progress noted in the political system, government procurement and economic and social information dissemination must be consolidated. Multiparty democracy has indeed made progress with the adoption of the charter of political parties and groups, an opposition charter and the conditions for public funding of party activities. However, multiparty politics remains under threat from possible slippages in the plurality system occasioned by the over-predominance of the ruling party and the weakness of opposition parties. As regards the media, there is progress on diversity of information sources. The press is still constrained by its low circulation and limited financial resources. A law set up a Supreme Information Council (CSI) whose independence could be strengthened by a revision of the method of appointment of its members. The causes for concern are the decriminalization of press offences, lack of a press statute and agreement for journalists and the poor financial operating conditions.
12. Concerning transparency in budget implementation, it should be noted that the Minister of Finance remains the sole authorizing officer for the State Budget and that the computerized expenditure system (CID) facilitates tracking of State Budget Expenditure from commitment up to payment. There are short-comings in the organization of the public expenditure system, its coverage and auditing. There is incomplete follow-up of external resources. Measures have been
vi taken to better control funds from the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) initiative, which are included in the budget since 2004. The government has taken further decisions to offset the poor monitoring of externally financed expenditures such as the inclusion in the 2005 budget law of all external financing. The deficiencies in expenditure auditing are also due to the weak coercive powers of audit organs. It is a positive point that it was possible to examine the budget review act for the first time in 2003 but its content quality was substandard. Priority should have been given to strengthening the structures charged with auditing public expenditure (State Inspectorate General (IGE) Finance Inspectorate-General, and other technical inspectorates, the Audit Court) and the Anti-corruption Coordination Authority (HACLC) established in 2002. . 13. As regards transparency of public contracts, the new public contracts code has allowed progress in the public procurement system. However, it is worth noting that there are weaknesses in the regulations notably concerning (i) insufficient involvement of the legislator, (ii) concentration within the same entity, namely the Central Directorate for public contracts (DCMP) of the roles of regulation and implementation of government contracts, and (iii) the lack of an institutional framework for determining offences and the unclear reference instruments for the enforcement of penalties. Similarly, public contract information management has not yet been computerized owing to technical problems and limited human capacities which make it difficult to include instruments preceding the award of public contracts in the computerized expenditure system (CID). The human and material resources of the DCMP are still insufficient to effectively perform its assigned tasks. Greater political will is therefore indispensable to give a fresh impetus to the institution and services responsible for public contracts.
Governance and Participation
14. Thanks to the progress in the electoral process following the crisis in 1998, stakeholder involvement has improved on the overall. However, civil society organisations (CSOs) are still constrained by: (i) shortcomings in their governance; (ii) lack of coordination; (iii) acute problems of human resources and means; and (iv) deficiencies in terms of perspective. For the coming years, the capacities of associations and community groups will need to be strengthened. Furthermore, Burkinabe women face various discriminations and inequalities in access to basic social services and are often victims of physical and social violence. Women’s political representation remains lower than that of men. To ensure the promotion of women’s role in society, the government in 1997 adopted a plan of action to strengthen the role of women whose objective is to improve the living conditions of the female population in both rural and urban areas by encouraging :(i) the broadening women’s possibilities of access to economic resources and (ii) female human resources development through the implementation of training programmes.
15. Regarding overall security, the population remains concerned notably about banditry by highway robbers. Insecurity in Burkina Faso is reflected by a deterioration of the security situation within the country (tension with neighbouring countries, refugees) and highlights the need for regional cooperation for development and peace. According to the national ethics committee the armed forces, gendarmerie and police are constrained by inadequate means. Furthermore, Burkina Faso faces the problem of child trafficking. To cope with these situations, the government has launched plans of action and strengthened the arsenal of laws to combat child trafficking.
16. Decentralization and deconcentration at the regional level are issues arising in a broader context of regional development and balance, balanced regional development representing the hue and cry of the different regions and ethnic groups in the country. The recent general code for Regional and Local Authorities (CGCT) adopted in December 2004 enshrines decentralization as the fundamental means of giving impetus to local development and democracy at the grassroots with the establishment of the region as a coordination and liaison authority. To the 49 urban
vii councils will be added 302 rural councils. The technical ministries concerned with decentralization and deconcentration, notably the Ministry of Finance, have embarked on the implementation of the process scheduled for mid-2005. The Government with ADB backing has drawn up the terms of reference of a national regional development master plan along with thirteen regional plans, whose implementation will be launched in 2005. However there are deficiencies in and obstacles to the implementation of such decentralization notably, the high cost of decentralization and the insufficient human and financial means made available to the regional and local authorities and the supervisory authorities that are charged with supporting them; new and uncompleted laws and regulations; limited sensitization of local population and elite to the problems of decentralization and the difficulties of local democracy. In the coming years, priority should be given to the deepening of the process by extending it to rural areas and to the transfer of means to local authorities.
Legal and Judicial System
17. In spite of substantial efforts by the government since year 2000 to promote democracy and restore the rule of law, the effectiveness and independence of the judiciary remains criticized, and there are deficiencies owing notably to a lack of means and the method of appointment. Efforts must be pursued to make the justice system more credible and independent. The existence of clear laws and efficient judicial institutions which facilitate interaction between economic agents and the State is a sine qua non for economic development and the expansion of a viable and reliable private sector. Inadequate laws, the uncertainty surrounding their enforcement, the weakness of executing agencies, arbitrariness, inefficient administration of courts and tribunals and the lack of an independent judiciary are all elements that tend to hinder foreign as well as national investment which is indispensable for development. The government adopted a National Plan of Action for Justice Reform in Burkina Faso (PANRJ) for the 2002-2006 period. It is aimed at strengthening the institutions as well as the efficiency of the justice system and broaden access to it. The objectives of this plan are yet to be achieved.
Fight against Corruption
18. Corruption has become a major challenge in Burkina Faso as in other developing countries. The scope of the phenomenon is such that corruption is now a significant reality in contemporary Burkinabe society. No sector is spared: police and gendarmerie; customs; political activities, public contracts, justice, council offices; health, education, taxation, and the media. Corruption reduces the amount of public resources and affects the effectiveness of public spending. Whereas the country has a legal framework as well as a regulatory framework or an anti-corruption mechanism. The Anti-corruption Coordination Authority (HACLC) established in 2002 is currently preparing a draft national anti-corruption policy. Its means, methods of appointment and term of office of its members should be examined where necessary in order to better ensure its independence and effectiveness. Furthermore civil society is fairly active in the anti-corruption drive through REN-LAC and other SCOs.
III. Assessment of the National Good Governance Strategy
19. The National Good Governance Plan (NGGP) for 1998-2003 adopted in 1998 was focused on the following three main components: (i) establishment of a strategic State capable of playing its role of providing orientation and giving impetus to the country’s socio-economic development; (ii) improving the business environment and (iii) promoting a civil society capable of influencing the different political and economic decisions.
viii 20. These guidelines strongly inspired major reforms such as the Constitutional review, the formulation of a new electoral code, the instruments governing local authorities and budgetary management reform. Yet the launching of the activities featuring in the NGGP incurred a delay owing, on the one hand, to the difficult socio-economic and political situation and, on the other hand, to financing difficulties. In general, the good governance enhancement mechanisms have often developed more at the formal level than in concrete terms. As in other developing countries, the pertinence of the national governance strategy is precisely to assess in terms of concrete results and thus in terms of its capacity to help bring about a change of attitude and take into account the new rationalities and modern means. The actions that could not be implemented show that the coherence between objectives, means and capacities was not given sufficient attention. Efforts are required as concerns capacity building and the independence of institutions (Parliament, Audit Count, Anti-corruption coordination authority), deepening of structural reforms and national resource mobilization, fighting corruption and strengthening civil society. In the light of the diagnosis and examination of the pertinence of the strategy, good governance in Burkina Faso can be improved. This is what led the government following the 1998-2003 NGGP and in consultation with technical and financial partners to formulate a national good governance policy for the 2015 horizon. This policy which is on the drawing board was the subject of a validation seminar in May 2005 at the same time as the dialogue mission of this CGP.
IV. Priority Governance Areas and Identification of Potential Bank Intervention Areas
Priority Areas
21. In Burkina Faso, the government considers governance one of the priority areas of the PRSP drawn up in year 2000, revised at the end of 2003 and adopted in 2004. The four priority aspects of the PRSP are the following: (i) acceleration of equity-based growth; (ii) improving access of the poor to basic social services and social protection; (iii) broadening of job opportunities and income-generating activities for the poor in equity. (iv) promotion of good governance. The priority objectives of the programme of PRSP implementation actions resulting therefrom for the 2004-2006 period were presented at the Round-Table conference of March 2004. The National Good Governance Policy which is different from a plan and whose horizon is 2015 is designed to serve as a good governance reference framework. Its aim is to put in place a range of mechanisms and methods enabling an efficient and transparent management of public affairs, while offering real opportunities for participation and control to all citizens, notably through qualitative private sector and civil society involvement. The overall objectives of this policy are to (i) consolidate the process of building a democratic state that can effectively play its role of regulation, guidance and impetus to socio-economic development in a context of participatory governance; (ii) consolidate the principles and practices of democracy and political governance; (iii) pursue the putting in place of an environment conducive to the emergence of the private sector with emphasis on its professionalization in order to allow it to better respond to the requirements of globalization and regional integration, (iv) improve good economic governance as a key condition for promoting economic growth and poverty reduction; (v) step up the promotion of a civil society capable of implementing the different political and economic decisions and representing a true social counterbalance; (iv) reform the State to adapt it to internal and external trends and ensure its optimum efficiency; and (viii) preserve and manage the environment and national resources for sustainable development.
22. In the light of these priorities and the CGP, the priority actions recommended are based on the principles of accountability, transparency, participation, combating corruption and take into account a reliable legal and judicial environment which are elements underlying Bank policy on governance. Priority actions for increased accountability concern the political and administrative domains as well as economic management. Priority actions for more transparency include measures
ix concerning the management of public finance, public contracts or the information system. The priority actions for greater participation seek the strengthening of voter turn-out, consolidation of civil society participation, promotion of women’s role, protection of human rights, strengthening of security and deepening of decentralization and deconcentration. The priority actions to strengthen the legal and judicial system will seek to make the necessary adaptations to the legal framework and build the capacities of the judicial system. The priority actions for private sector promotion will be aimed at pursuing the improvement of the business environment and building private sector capacities. The priority actions of the anti-corruption drive are based notably on the measures to systematically apply the instruments in force, adopt a general anti-corruption law, strengthen the Anti-corruption Coordination Authority (HACLC) which would be authorized to directly refer matters to court.
Donor Intervention Areas
23. The priority areas of donor intervention are based as they declared on the strategic actions of the PRSP revised in 2004. Concerning governance, the priorities brought out by this CGP are squarely in line with it and furthermore correspond to the concerns noted following the examination of their past, ongoing or planned interventions.
Potential Areas of Bank Intervention
24. In the light of this CGP, the idea is to determine among the priority areas identified, those of them considered potential areas of intervention which the Bank might support through its different instruments. Like the other TFPs, the Bank will support the priority actions which will permit the improvement of various aspects of governance. In accordance with its 2003-2007 strategic plan and NEPAD, and faced with the challenge of meeting the millennium development goals which seek to reduce by half the poverty threshold by 2015, the potential areas and actions of the Bank could focus on the following aspects: (i) consolidation of democracy to ensure the involvement of all components of society in national life, (ii) public administration reform focusing on capacity building (iii) more responsibility and transparent management of public resources, notably for budget reparation and implementation, auditing of public finances and public contracts; (iv) deepening and materialization of decentralization and deconcentration; (v) promotion of participation notably through women’s advancement, protection of human rights and civil society participation; (vi) improvement of the legal environment; (vii) promotion of a business-friendly environment, and support to the anti-corruption drive.
25. The need to be selective in determining Bank interventions will lead to the adoption over the next three years of the following actions: (i) strengthening of budgetary management; (ii) support to public expenditure audit institutions; (iii) decentralization; (iv) combating corruption; and (v) strengthening of the legal and judicial system. Priority will be given to the anti-corruption drive with the objective of attaining the zero-tolerance level, settling the land tenure issue and putting in place a land register so as to promote private initiative.
V. Conclusions and Recommendations
26. The country does not have all the human, technical and financial capacities to progress singlehandedly towards good governance and must be supported by its partners. It is recommended that the Bank Group should continue to lend its support to the country so as to enable it to implement the national Good Governance Policy being prepared. Accordingly, this governance profile constitutes a good governance reference framework and a key instrument of dialogue which can contribute to the promotion of good governance in Burkina Faso.
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 PREAMBLE
1.1.1 The Bank Group in 1999 adopted a good governance policy in order to better clarify these actions relating to the promotion of good governance in the Regional Member Countries (RMCs). This governance policy requires accountability, transparency, participation, the rule of law and the fight against corruption as factors essential for the creation of an environment conducive to sustainable development. The strategic Plan of the Bank Group for the 2003-2007 period which is an instrument of implementation of the Bank’s vision retained good governance as an essential element of the fight against poverty. With a view to implementing these initiatives, the Bank launched the preparation of country governance profiles (CGP) in the RMCs. The CGP should (i) provide the analytical framework which would improve the Bank’s knowledge of governance in each RMC and (ii) be used as reference within the framework of the dialogue with RMCs and the preparation of country strategy papers. By enabling the identification of potential areas of intervention of the Bank, the CGP would improve selectivity in the formulation of Bank operations aimed at strengthening good governance in the RMCs. It is a document prepared using a participative approach involving constructive discussions with the public authorities, the private sector, civil society and all stakeholders.
1.1.2 Since 1997, the United Nations development Programme (UNDP) has for its part set up the African Forum on Governance (AFG) which enables governments, the civil society, NGOs and Technical and Financial Partners (TFPs) to discuss governance themes. The fourth technical meeting of the ADB-UNDP strategic partnership retained the development of CGP as one of the priority actions of the co-operation defined in the memorandum signed between the two institutions on 5 February 2001 in New York. This decision reflects the importance attached by the Bank and the UNDP to governance as an essential element in the fight against poverty.
1.1.3 Burkina Faso which is landlocked is bounded on the south by Benin, Togo, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire on the North-West by Mali, and on the east by Niger. Burkina covers a surface area of 274.000 km2 and rainfall is very limited, 350mm in the North and 1000 mm in the South. In 2004, the population was estimated at 12.3 million inhabitants. The human development index (HDI) published by UNDP in 2004 ranked the country 175th among 177, which indicates that it is one of the world’s poorest countries. The population growth (2.4% per annum) exerts a strong pressure on the country’s scarce natural resources notably water resources, forest resources and arable land. The country is quite heavily dependent on the external assistance and the incomes of migrant workers. According to the 2003 poverty survey, 46.4% of the population would be living below the poverty line, a phenomenon even more pronounced among rural women. These recent analyses also show an aggravation of poverty in urban areas. In 2003, the life expectancy at birth was 53 years, infant mortality 83 per 1,000, and the gross school enrolment rate 52.2% of which 46% for girls. Since 1991, the country has embarked on a democratic process and institutional and economic reforms supported by the TFPs including the Bank. One of the main challenges facing the Government lies in the need to promote good governance in a context of poverty, limited institutional capacity, vulnerability of the economy to shocks (notably, those affecting cotton, the country’s main export, and sub-regional instability.
1.2 Key Elements of Good Governance
1.2.1 Good governance is a concept covering the following elements: (i) an effective State; (ii) a mobilized civil society; and (iii) an efficient public administration and private sector. Indeed, an effective State creates a political and legal environment conducive to equitably shared growth. Similarly, a dynamic civil society mobilizes individuals, groups and the communities, facilitates
2 political and social interaction, helps to generate human capital and fosters social cohesion and stability. As for the productive private sector, it generates employment and incomes. It is admitted that good governance comprises the following key elements: (i) accountability which is defined as the obligation on individuals or organizations, appointed or elected and holding a public office to be answerable to the people who conferred this power on them, for the actions carried out and the decisions taken in the exercise of this mandate; (ii) transparency which implies that public accounts can be published, that the public should be informed of the decisions taken by the State and should take part in the monitoring of their implementation, and that decisions having an impact on citizens may be challenged; (iii) participation which is defined as a process whereby stakeholders exert an influence on decisions of general interest and contribute to the control of the means and the institutions which influence their lives; (iv) a legal and judicial system conducive to the rule of law and development, with clearly established laws applied by an objective and independent judicial power; and (v) combating corruption which includes the practices of misappropriation, abuse of power or breach of trust, in the private as well as public sector.
1.2.2 In the same perspective, development partners including UNDP, include the following elements (i) adjustment capacity whereby the institutions and the processes must meet the needs of any stakeholder; (ii) orientation of consensus which stipulates that good governance plays a role of intermediary between the different interests in order to lead to a broad consensus on what best serves common interests ; (iii) equity which must allow all the women and the men to maintain or to improve their living conditions; (iv) effectiveness and efficiency which would cause the processes and institutions to produce results according to needs by making the best use of resources; (v) a strategic vision which gives leaders and the public a long-term perspective of good governance and human development, as well as an idea as to what is required for such development.
1.2.3 These characteristics are mutually strengthening. As such access to information results in increased transparency, broader participation and a more effective decision-making. Broader participation contributes to information exchange and the effectiveness and legitimacy of decisions. Legitimacy in turn, results in effective implementation and encourages participation with regard for accountability. The institutions, to be equitable, must be accountable, transparent and function observing the rule of law. These characteristics are essential for good governance and represent an ideal. States must endeavour through a vast consensus, to define the characteristics which they consider most significant, while trying to strike the best balance between the State and the market.
1.3 Methodology
1.3.1 With a view to contributing to a better knowledge of governance in Burkina Faso, a joint mission of the Bank and UNDP went to Ouagadougou from 5 to 22 December 2004 for the preparation of this country governance profile (CGP). Its preparation was based on the Bank policy documents and directives, primarily those relating to good governance, Government documents and mission proceedings and findings. During the mission, a note clarifying the points of discussion was transmitted to the Government and the various interlocutors met. After submitting the draft detailed memorandum of the mission, a briefing session was organized. The CGP was thus drawn up after consulting available documents and following in-depth discussions with many officials and representatives of the administration, private sector, civil society and other development partners. The ADB guidelines and directives for the development of governance profiles particularly as regards the contents of analyses, participatory work, stages to be followed, means to be mobilized and time to be allotted are extremely useful for obtaining, under favourable conditions, country governance profiles meeting set objectives.
3 1.3.2 This CGP conducts a diagnosis of the governance situation by examining the following aspects: accountability, transparency, stakeholder involvement, legal and judicial, reforms, fight against corruption and private sector governance. It makes recommendations to strengthen them and identifies the priority areas where the ADB and UNDP could intervene, by taking into account the actions undertaken by the other donors. This report is divided into five chapters. The present introduction describes the historical context and the principal elements of governance. The detailed diagnosis of governance in Burkina is then covered in Chapter two, followed by an evaluation of the Government’s governance strategy. The approach used finally as the identification of the priority areas of governance and the recommendation of future actions capable of contributing to its improvement.
II DIAGNOSIS OF THE GOVERNANCE SITUATION
2.1 Accountability at the Political Level
2.1.1 Since its independence on 5August 1960, the political scene has been characterized by the succession of constitutional regimes and emergency laws resulting from military coups d’etat. The return to constitutional life started in 1991 with the adoption of the constitution which lays down the free existence of parties. The new constitution instituting a semi-presidential regime enabled Burkina Faso to embark on multiparty politics and the establishment of democratic institutions. Originally elected by direct universal suffrage for seven years, the president inter alia, sets the major guidelines for state policy and appoints the Prime Minister. However, the early period of the fourth Republic unfolded in a context marked by a crisis born of the protest movements for democracy at the national level (pressing demands from opposition parties and civil society), clamours for opening up to the outside world (La Baule Speech) and the collapse of the communist bloc). This crisis contributed to rock the foundations of the 4th Republic and ended up opening opportunities for the country to embark on the democratic process. The consensual reforms which led to the adoption of a new electoral code restored minimum trust between the authorities and the opposition. This facilitated a smooth conduct of the 2002 legislative elections. The results put in place a national assembly that was more representative of the various political leanings in the country. At present, there are thirteen political parties in the National Assembly as against four during the preceding legislature. The absolute majority is held by the ruling Party, “Congrès pour la democratie et le progress” (CDP).
Political and constitutional evolution of Burkina Faso since its independence 1960 to 1966 The first Republic: It was based on a rigid separation of powers which was replaced by the increase in presidential powers with the progressive prohibition of opposition parties. The presidential party monopolized the political scene and thus became a party-State. On 3 January, 1996, a popular uprising led the army to seize power and to exercise it until 1970, under the presidency of General Sangoulé Lamizana
1970 to 1974 The second Republic: On 14 June 1970 a constitution was adopted by referendum. It instituted a rationalized parliamentary regime. This constitution was characterized by the predominant role on the political scene of the military themselves as judge and jury of the political game: Article 108 states that “the duties and prerogatives of president of the Republic will be assumed by the eldest military personality in the highest rank”. The democratic experiment was stopped in 1974. Indeed, under the pretext of rifts in the political community and the deleterious socio-political climate, General Lamizana put an end to the 2nd Republic by the coup d’etat of 08 February 1974.
1977 to 1980 The third Republic: On 27 November 1977, a new constitution was adopted instituting limited multiparty system (three-party government) run by the leading three political parties in legislative elections of 1978. However, the political organization was be shaken by the military coup d’etat of 1980 by the CMRPN which benefiting from the deleterious socio-political climate opened a long one-decade parenthesis of emergency laws in Burkina Faso.
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1980 to 1990 Emergency law: The country experienced a succession of emergency laws which culminated in a revolutionary experiment as from 1983, modelled on the Marxist idea of “people power”. The political project was to change social relations radically. The mobilization and the popular participation which resulted from it triggered a modernizing dynamic of the society which experienced slippages thus undermining respect for the principles of the rule of law. Since 1991 The fourth Republic: Sources C.G.D./E.C.A. Report., provisional Version 1 May 2003.
2.1.2 The separation and balance of powers between the legislative, executive and judicial powers advocated by the Constitution of the 4th Republic of Burkina Faso is more complex in reality owing to the fact that most of the Republic Institutions are still in their infancy as they were created only as from year 2000, and to the lack of financial means for their consolidation. The President of the Republic sets the major guidelines of State policy, and appoints the Prime Minister. Following the constitutional revision of 2000, the President of the Republic has a five-year instead of a seven-year tenure, the number of the presidential terms being limited to two. The legislative power is exercised by the National Assembly (NA) which, according to the Constitution, has instruments of information on and control over Government action, namely written and oral questions, commissions of inquiry, and committee hearings. The Government’s political accountability can be sanctioned therein by voting of a motion of censure. A High Court of Impeachment has jurisdiction to try the President of the Republic and the ministers. In general, it is considered that the NA exercises the legislative function well, but performs its control function less well because of the dominating influence of the presidential majority and the NA’s lack of means. This reality is well expressed by one of the conclusions of a study by the democratic Governance Centre conducted for the ECA in 2003. The latter indicated that the objective analysis of the situation showed that the separation of powers enshrined in the constitution resembled in reality “a stratification of powers with the executive at the top and at the intermediate level, the national assembly controlled by the presidential party. At the bottom of the scale is the judicial power a poor relation, whose independence and authority are often called into question by political meddling and corruption”.
2.1.3 Electoral process: The electoral system is based on legal and judicial instruments put in place such as the Constitution, the new electoral Code adopted in 2004, the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI, 1998) and the constitutional Council. The Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) is made up of fifteen members designated by the majority, the opposition and civil society at the rate of five members per component. It is chaired by a member of the civil society and this has contributed to guarantee the credibility of the process. The high voter turnout rate in 2002 estimated at 64% of the number of registered voters, and the low number of election disputes represented significant progress compared to previous elections. However, in spite of these results, it is worth noting that voter turnout remains weak on the whole, compared to the number of people of voting age and that CENI’s capacities are being put to the test by the lack of professional election officers, the difficulties of building on gains, notably at the regional and local level and its financial dependence.
2.1.4 The constitutional Council (CCI) resulting from the splitting in 2000 of the Supreme Court into the court of cassation, Council of State, Audit Court and the constitutional Council charged with checking the constitutionality of laws in accordance with Article 152 of the Constitution is still finding its feet. Charged with interpreting constitutional provisions, it controls the regularity, transparency and sincerity of the referendum, of presidential and legislative elections and is judge of electoral disputes. It proclaims the final results of presidential legislative and local elections. Its decisions are final. However, the CCI does not have the right of self-referral of matters. Over the past few years the role of the CCI has developed positively, with frequent requests for its legal opinions. However, its authority is tested by the decisions to be taken subsequently. It is the first time that the Constitution in its current form will have to follow the presidential elections. As regards its independence, the method of appointment of its president and
5 members, the term of office of its President, the low budgetary allocation and the lack of the right of self-referral of matters, are limitations. In the Constitution, the liability of the political authority falls within the jurisdiction of the Court of Impeachment which is competent to judge the President of the Republic and ministers. Moreover, the ministers are criminally liable before ordinary law courts. Political accountability can be sanctioned by passing a vote of censure in accordance with the Constitution.
2.1.5 Respect for the political code of ethics by all stakeholders should in the long term contribute to the advent of the rule of law. The Government created by decree no 2001- 278/PRES/PM and set up in March 2002 a National Ethics Committee which scrutinizes the relationship between ethics and the various spheres of economic and social activity, including politics. It is charged with putting forward and suggesting all measures aimed at safeguarding good conduct in public and social life. This committee will have to contribute to remove the deficiencies which constitute a constraint on the promotion of accountability in politics and in other spheres of governance.
2.1.6 The main electoral problems concern the repeated amendments to the code and distribution of constituencies. Indeed, over an eleven-year period (1991-2002), they have been changed or amended seven times. From 2000, there were three versions of the electoral Code. In the Electoral Code of 2002, the voting system was roughly that of proportional representation. The desired goal according to its initiators, “to afford all the political parties the maximum opportunities of being represented in decision-making bodies” was reached at during the legislative elections of 5 May 2002, given the number of political parties represented at the National Assembly and the balance of power between the majority and the opposition. In the electoral Code of 2004, the changes are reflected at three levels, viz distribution of constituencies, distribution of seats and system of voting in local elections. These changes are perceived by the opposition as a beginning of questioning of the electoral gains. Indeed, the redistribution of electoral constituencies strongly decreases the proportionality of the poll and the influence of the national lists from which the opposition benefited partly. It is provided that 15 provinces have one seat, the other provinces having from 2 to 9 seats. The electoral system would to a large extent become a majority vote system.
2.1.7 In short, the Burkinabe political climate appears rather stable in the run-up to the 2005 presidential elections. The opposition remains divided and the CDP is going to the poll under favourable conditions. While Burkina Faso has made unquestionable progress towards democracy, (although political competition in rural areas is not as open as in urban areas), the opposition affirms that the CDP is being tempted to reconsider certain democratic gains such as for instance, the prohibition, enshrined in the 1991 Constitution, against the outgoing President running a third time. Thus the CDP is currently campaigning for a new candidature of the President. The calling into question of the polling system to the foreseeable detriment of the opposition could be tantamount to retracting concessions made shortly after the days of pardon.
2.1.8 Respect for human rights appears increasingly effective. Indeed, the Burkinabe constitution guarantees the freedom of thought, of conscience and religion, the freedom of opinion and expression, the right of association, multiparty politics, public demonstration and the right to meet, the right of participation in the management of public affairs. Moreover, it constitutionalizes in its preamble, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights. At the institutional level, a ministry for human rights has been created as well as a national commission on human rights. It is however worth noting that the right to demonstrate and to meet in public is sometimes restricted when the exercise of this freedom takes the form of a protest. It is not uncommon for the freedom of expression to be denied by the authorities under the pretext of maintaining law and order. Apart from these occasional deficiencies, there are no
6 particular restrictions to the exercise of the above-mentioned rights. Such democratic progress has been achieved by the country through the will of state authorities as well as the multiform actions of the civil society which played a positive role in the building of democracy by holding in check the authoritarian behaviour and attitudes of the State and by defending the values of pluralism. It built a dense network of associations for the defence of human rights and constitutes an essential actor of governance with a key role to play in the democratic process and participatory development. However, in spite of the potentialities abounding therein, Burkina civil society organizations face many constraints including the weakness of their institutional capacities which hampers optimum effectiveness of their actions. It is in a bid to remedy these weaknesses that the reference framework document of CSOs sets out their capacity building strategy.
Administrative Accountability
2.1.9 Administrative good governance in Burkina Faso is understood as part of progress in State reform and the smooth running of public administration. An overall Reform of the Public administration (RGAP) programme was launched in 1998, with the objective of refocusing the missions of the State in the fields of sovereignty and the normative functions of providing orientation and impetus to socio-economic development, and rationalization of the management of its resources. Such is the purpose of law n° 10/98/AN of 21 April 1998 on the conditions for State intervention and division of responsibilities between the State and the other development actors as well as law n° 20/98/AN of 5 May 1998 on the standards of creation and management of State structures and law n° 13/98/AN of April 28, 1998 on the laws applicable to public service jobs and employees. In spite of the gains, the RGAP has incurred delays in implementation and the Burkinabe administration must continue to improve its response to users’ needs, its accessibility, its performances, its service quality and its transparency.
2.1.10 The implementation of RGAP has produced results, notably a better definition of the duties of each government service (abolition of direct management activities as in the case of the ministry in charge of public works), the introduction of contracting and the principle of the remuneration based on the merit, and the launching of the development of a single computer file for the public service with the adoption of the Integrated System of State Personnel Administrative and Salaries Management (SIGASPE). For greater visibility of governmental action, departments of communication and ministerial press were set up as well as a Web site for the government. This reform was accompanied by a census of the Public service rolls and by a harmonization of these data with those of the user Ministries notably as regards salaries. In 2003, the public administration had approximately 59000 employees (17000 in 1977) at the office the President of the Republic, Prime Minster’s Office, the Government Ministries, deconcentrated services and the regional and local authorities.
2.1.11 But there are still various deficiencies: lack of instruments of implementation of reform laws, the often vague definition of missions, non-availability of procedures manuals and trends charts in public services, deficiencies in human resource management notably for manpower planning, lack of probity of certain employees, deficient activities and assessments and insufficient communication to users. In addition, the issue of the politicization of the administration is raised in particular in the 2002 annual report of the national Ethics Committee. Such politicization has introduced within the administration, a culture of impunity which encourages economic crimes and the antisocial behaviour and corruption. All these constraints undermine the capacities of formulation, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of the policies, notably those of sustainable growth and poverty reduction. Consequently Burkina Faso must pursue its effort to reorganize and modernize the state apparatus. This need is confirmed by the aforementioned study of the CGD/ECA. Concerning access to services, by most accounts, citizens’ access to basic social services or justice is far from easy. The vast majority of the people surveyed (74.1%) feel that the
7 public services do not meet the needs of the poor and women. A relatively significant proportion of them (45.7%) believe that appointments and promotions are not actually based on the principle of merit. The drafting of the code of conduct and the code of ethics in all public services taking into account the principles of management of the public service was recommended to deal with this situation.
2.1.12 To ensure this much-needed building of the capacities of public administration, MFPRE developed an action plan and, over the last few years, the country has received support from development partners. However capacity building needs remain substantial. A programme to build the capacities of the administration is being implemented notably within the Ministry of finance and the budget (MFB), the Ministry of the economy and development (MEDEV), of the Ministry of the public service and State reform of State (MFPRE). The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization.
Accountability in Economic Management
2.1.13 Economic good governance must largely take into account all the socio-economic characteristics of the country and its economic management. Burkina Faso features among the poor countries of the African continent with a per capita income hardly exceeding 300 dollars. The persistence of economic and financial imbalances which increases the vulnerability of the Burkinabe economy is due to its structural problems and the noted insufficiencies of the level of economic management. Indeed, in spite of adjustment efforts and external assistance, financial imbalances remain significant due to the low tax ratio and resistance to public expenditure units. In spite of the implementation of tax reforms and a sustained growth the weight of the tax yield in the GDP since 2000 has hardly varied from around 12% or 13% of the GDP, well below WAEMU convergence standard (17%). This situation is due mainly to the narrowness of the tax base attributable to a weak private sector as well as weak diversification of the economy; the importance of the informal sector, fraud, loss of earnings due to the implementation of the common external tariff (CET) of WAEMU on 1 January 2000 following the falling into abeyance of the clearing fund since the outbreak of the sub-regional crisis and the internal problems of organization. The powers conferred on the tax officers in the interpretation or application of instruments lead to abuses entailing the partiality of the tax decisions without immediate possibility of appeal. This situation generally poses problems of collection of fiscal and customs revenues, of the strengthening of the assessment services and the broadening of the tax base. It requires accelerating the implementation of measures aimed at improving the methods used in that domain and at equipping the services with effective management tools. The Government undertook a review of the tax collection system, the objective being to improve its yield. An AFRITAC assistance mission was conducted in March 2004, to evaluate the implementation of the reforms undertaken and to propose a strategy of reforms based on the strengthening of the tax and customs authorities. The resultant action plan also aims at better control and widening of the tax base and the introduction of a more effective taxation system. In addition, the development of a single identifier file for Customs and Taxes is under way.
2.1.14 Concerning budgetary expenditure, it was maintained at 22% of the GDP in 2004. Of this amount, the functioning of the State absorbed 70.7% for own expenditure, half having been used to cover salaries. In spite of efforts to control expenditure and freezing of the wage bill for the benefit of welfare expenditures for the poor, there was a total deficit (commitment base/ excluding grants) of 9.6% of the GDP in 2004, as against 8.7% in 2003, financed primarily from grants. Between 1998 and 2002, external assistance varied between 7 and 12% of the current GDP. This financial constraint made the country extremely dependent on Official Development Assistance (ODA) from the country’s partners, which is the main source of financing of investments through project grants.
8
Burkina Faso. Public Finance Indicators (% GDP)
30,0
25,0
20,0
15,0 % ¨GDP 10,0
5,0
0,0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 -5,0
-10,0
Years
Total revenue and grants Net total expenditures and loans Deficit(-) and surplus (+)
2.1.15 The main purpose of privatization which is to improve the quality of services provided has not yet yielded tangible results. Since 1991, the Government has embarked on a vast programme of restructuring State-owned enterprises and state divestiture from the productive sector, which has incurred delays in its implementation. The first phase of the privatization process (1990-2002) which comprised 40 enterprises led to the privatization of 27 companies, the liquidation of twelve and the withdrawal of three. For phase II, the strategic enterprises (water, electricity, telephone, energy) are also concerned. The 15 enterprises being privatized are the major ones in the country: water, electricity, telephone, energy etc. That is the highest privatization portfolio. The main achievements of the programme to date are: (i) the liberalization of the transport sector; (ii) the opening of the mobile telephone sector to private operators; (iii) the setting up of a telecommunications regulatory authority; (iv) privatization in 2004 of the cotton sector with the transfer to the private sector of the East Zone of the SOFITEX Centre. The government’s priority for the 2005-2007 period will be the privatization of enterprises in charge of communications and energy (ONATEL, SONABHY, SONABEL and ONEA) in order to contribute to reducing the costs of factors of production, and three enterprises in the sectors of water and sanitation and mining. The national private sector is expressing its interest in taking over the enterprises but seems to lack the financial means to repurchase medium or major enterprises.
2.1.16 Concerning the monetary and financial system, it comprises the central bank (Central Bank of West African States) (BCEAO) represented by its National Directorate, eight commercial banks and five financial institutions. In 1991, the government with the backing of its major financial partners initiated reforms which permitted the improvement of the financial sector and the BCEAO which is independent, opted for an indirect monetary policy. The monetary policy’s essential role is to carry out monetary programming, set objectives for refinancing the economy
9 with the central concern being containment of inflation and control of money supply taking into account the pegging of the CFAF to the Euro. In order to clean up the financial environment, a surveillance system has been put in place comprising prudential rules under the supervision of the Central Bank and the WAEMU Banking Commission. The prudential rules applicable to banks and financial institutions (see detail in annex) cover the following aspects: conditions for practising the profession; accounting regulations; regulations governing operations carried out by credit institutions, management norms. The Commission may request from banks and financial institutions as well as their auditors all necessary documents and information. It draws up reports at least annually and may issue warnings or take sanctions against banks and financial institutions.
2.1.17 On the overall, the financial standing of the banking system is fairly satisfactory and the prudential ratios are observed in most cases. However, in June 2004, as a result of the impact of the cotton season, it was noted that most banks did not observe the risk-sharing coefficient. However, the financial system has prudential rules and conditions which make its accessibility difficult for many private economic operators. The financing of private investments is poor whereas banks have surplus liquidity; only 10% of loans are medium and long term. The rate of transformation of short- term loans is very low and covers only 25% of commitments.
2.1.18 In rural and urban areas alike, the poor seeking to engage in income-generating activities cannot rely on this system. Hence, attention is being focused on micro-finance. The network of credit unions and other micro-finance activities being conducted by NGOs should be encouraged. The micro-finance activities which are developing rapidly have facilitated the promotion of income-generating activities for women. A national conference on the perpetuation of decentralized financial systems was held in October 2003 in Ouagadougou. This conference facilitated the determination of the first elements of a national micro-finance strategy. This strategy should be drawn up in 2005.
Accountability in Public Finance Management
2.1.19 The legal framework for budget preparation is based on the provisions of Articles 102 to 105 of the Constitution and those of law n° 006-2003/AN of January 2003 on the budget law. The latter harmonized with those of WAEMU countries, lays down the fundamental rules governing the type, content, formulation procedure, tabling and passage of budget laws as well as the implementation and control operations. The process for drawing up the medium term expenditure framework (MTEF) is led by the Minister of Finance and the Budget. The Permanent Secretariat charged with monitoring financial programmes and policies (SP-PPF) is responsible for collecting the necessary data for the MTEF. The multi-year financial programme of the MTEF provides over a three-year period for a ceiling of expenditures allocated to each ministry as well as the funds to be collected. Accordingly, in 2004 the appropriations of the budget law were in technical compliance with the provisions of the 2004-2006 MTEF. The annual budget law which is passed by the National Assembly presents the budget in its traditionally administrative form.
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PROCESS OF DRAFTING THE MTEF AND THE BUDGET LAW A letter from the MFB is sent to all ministries and institutions to launch the process of information gathering for the formulation of the MTEF for the next three years. This January/February letter communicates the draft schedule adopted for discussions between the MFB (SP/PPF) and other ministries and institutions. The information collected by the Ministries and institutions are communicated to the February/March MFB (SP/PPF) with which discussions are held. On the basis of the information collected and the results of the macro-economic planning (economic budget), budgetary allocations are made to ministries and March/April institutions within the framework of a technical committee comprising the MFB, MEDEV and certain ministries of priority sectors such as health, basic education, territorial administration and rural development. The Budget circular with MTEF tables appended showing the ceiling of the End of April- appropriations allocated to ministries and institutions and the budgetary calendar is beginning of May sent to each Ministry and chair of institution by the President of Burkina Faso. May-June Each ministry and institution prepares its draft budget The parliamentary draft budgets are submitted to the Ministry of finance and the budget and are discussed and arbitrated at the Directorate General for the Budget. The July - August arbitration of the investment budget is carried out by a committee co-chaired by the Director General of the Economy and Planning and the Director General of the Budget Examination of the preliminary draft budget by the Council of Ministers which adopts September it in the form of a draft budget law and transmits it to the National Assembly. The preliminary draft budget law transmitted to the National Assembly is first September - examined by the finance and Budget Committee (COMFIB). This committee hears all December the ministries and institutions in order to obtain the necessary clarifications and drafts its report. The draft budget law after its consideration by the COMFIB is tabled in plenary before the National Assembly which after debates may pass it as is or with amendments. If December passed, the draft budget law becomes the budget law, which the Head of State may enact.
2.1.20 Since1998, the government has also adopted the programme-budget approach which refines the MTEF approach at the sectoral level, but has difficulties implementing it completely. The goal is to make estimates and set multi-year objectives at the sectoral level. Regarding expenditures, the goal is to make national choices and set priorities. The programme-budget approach focuses on sectoral investment projects but also takes into account operating costs and recurrent costs. As all ministries do not have sectoral policies, the programme-budget approach thus has its limitations. Indeed, as concerns implementation, there is general compliance with programme-budgets at the level of the major budgetary heads. At the sectoral level, it is not yet operational. There is progress as regards the MTEFs of education and health; their adoption is scheduled for the end of 2005. However, most of the interventions are carried out through projects. Till date, employees of sectoral ministries do not yet have a good mastery of the MTEF which is a programming and management tool. Furthermore, the presentation of the annual budget solely in its administrative form does not allow for its in-depth analysis from the standpoint of its contribution to the implementation of sectoral multi-year programmes. The government recently adopted the new budgetary nomenclature which is also little known to government employees. Another reservation concerning the implementation of the process is that following the modification of budget ceilings by the Assembly or as a result of any constraints encountered in mobilizing external support, resource adjustments are not discussed in a dialogue with Ministries in order to ensure the implementation of priority investments. It therefore often happens that investments are carried forward from year to year without any financing.
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Accountability at the Level of Budgetary Control
2.1.21 In Burkina Faso, there are fairly comprehensive regulations on public finance auditing, but there are many deficiencies in their implementation. As in many French-speaking countries, there is the problem of relations and possible duplication between the institutions and services charged with auditing be it pre-auditing or post-auditing. The public expenditure audit organs are the Central Directorate of Financial Control (DCCF), the Directorate General for the Treasury and Public Accounts, the Finance Inspectorate-General (IGF) the State Inspectorate – General (IGE) the Audit Court and Parliament. They carry out internal auditing within the administration and/or judicial audit. A pre-audit is conducted by the service of the DCCF for commitment of the expenditure. The Treasury accountant checks the regularity of the expenditure before seeing to the payment and commits his personal and criminal liability. Post-auditing is carried out, on the one hand, by the government services, namely the IGF and the IGE, the services of the judicial power (Audit Court) and legislative power (parliament).
2.1.22 The Finance Inspectorate-General (IGF) has been in existence since 1961 within the Ministry of Finance and is part of the government pre-audit or post-audit of public expenditure. A procedures manual is being finalized to guide its inspections. IGF reports are confidential and sent to the Ministry of Finance with a copy to the requesting Ministry and the IGE. An annual report is also presented. In general, there is no known feedback on these reports. The existence of a special unit on public contracts would be useful and any major contract should be monitored and audited as to the conditions of award and normal conduct of works so as to avoid amendments that are costly to the Treasury. Technical inspectorates set up in each Ministry should set the stage and assist the IGF in this work. In so far as it is now possible to determine the share of responsibility of each actor in the contract award and implementation that should facilitate auditing. There are about fifteen inspectors at the IGF of a lower status than those of the IGE or judicial / legal officers. The conditions for recruitment at the IGE and IGF could be reviewed to ensure their greater technicality and independence.
2.1.23 Since 1993, The State Inspectorate-General (IGE), attached to the Prime Minister, has four essential missions: control the observance of the laws and regulations governing the administrative, financial and accounting activities of all public services, local authorities and public establishments; evaluate the quality of functioning and management of services; verify the utilization of appropriations; propose improvement measures. The IGE sends an annual report and periodic reports to the Prime Minister. In spite of its duties, its role is limited notably by the non-publication of its reports and the known shelving of a good number of them. The issues of the independence of the IGEs and any duplication with the Audit Court and IGF are raised.
12 2.1.24 The Audit Court (AC) which has jurisdictional and non-jurisdictional roles is the only audit institution with jurisdictional powers. The AC is in principle endowed with powers of independent control of the Administration, exercised by irremovable judicial/legal officers carrying out a post-audit which could result in sanctions. These duties and responsibilities
The Audit Court The Audit Court (AC) established by organic law N) 014-200/AN of 16 May 2000 is a superior court for auditing public finance. The President of the AC is appointed by the council of Ministers on the proposal of the Higher Judicial Council (CSM) and has a five-year term of office, renewable once. The CC has three benches respectively charged with auditing State operations, operations of local authorities, and those of State-owned enterprises (it receives before 30 March or 30 June the accounting documents of state-owned enterprises, social security institutions, development projects and subsidies. The Audit Court plays an important jurisdictional role, that of auditing the accounts of public accountants of the State, local authorities and administrative public establishments. It audits principal authorizing officers and sanctions management offences of authorizing officers. The Deputy Director of Public Prosecution at the AC may directly refer criminal acts or misdemeanours to competent courts. It has extensive non-jurisdictional powers: auditing the implementation of the budget law, annual report submitted to the President of the Republic; a non-published report on the implementation of the budget law in relation to the draft budget review act.
could make the Audit Court a core public finance auditing instrument and an effective tool against corruption. It has not yet published the public reports expected from it, but those of 2003 and 2004 are expected soon. The AC is a recent institution with a heavy task whose means and independence need to be strengthened for it to carry through its missions. Its human and material capacities as well as the training of its staff must be consolidated. The issue of the independence of the AC is the same as in other French-speaking African countries namely having sufficient means independently of the Ministry of Finance and being attached to the PR or PM, having complete freedom to schedule audits, and having capacity to express its observations publicly.
2.1.25 External audit carried out by the National Assembly is essentially conducted during the consideration of the budget and the budget review act. Indeed, the latter enables the legislative power to verify if the Executive has complied with the authorization for income and expenditure of the Budget law. The examination of the Budget law of Year N-2 and the status of implementation of the 3rd quarter of the budget law for year N-1 provides it with elements to authorize the budget law for year (N). Hence, Law N° 034-2004/AN of October 2004 was on the budget review act for the management of the 2002 State budget. The law established conformity between the operations of the authorizing officer and those of accountants, but parliamentarians would have wanted more information on the reconciliations between the authorizations and the payments made. These questions apparently remained unanswered in the supporting documents of the budget review act. The parliamentarians expressed their concern about the accounting and monitoring of external financing in the treasury accounts. Moreover, the documents presented with the budget review act were incomplete. The Parliamentarians requested that action should be taken on the observation of the Audit Court. In general, the available capacities for such auditing are insufficient, notably in terms of appropriate human resources. The NA has often failed to exercise its other audit and inquiry role concerning public finance. Furthermore, its inquiries are suspended by any decision by the Minister of Justice to open an inquiry on the same issue.
13 2.1.26 The main constraints on the auditing of public expenditures are therefore: (i) the cumbersomeness of the expenditure system caused by its centralization at the Ministry of Finance and the Budget; and (ii) the weak coercive power exercised by the audit organs. Within the framework of its cooperation with Burkina Faso, the Bank notes the non-systematization of project audits by executing agencies and non-implementation of audit recommendations. The portfolio review conducted by the Bank in 2004 recommended further accountability of the Ministry of the Economy and the Budget in monitoring the conduct of audits and the IGF in monitoring the implementation of audit recommendations. The last CFAA report also noted the lack of stores accounting and consequently an insufficient knowledge of state property. Similarly, the report of the country procurement analysis review (CPAR) conducted in 2000 by the World Bank noted that the Audit Court had never conducted public contract audits. The 2005 CPAR currently being prepared by the World Bank and the Bank in partnership with the government, should include these recommendations and more especially those concerning accountability (budgeting, auditing of government contracts by the Audit court and informing the Parliament on the audit results) in the management of public contracts. Still in terms of involvement, there are ongoing initiatives for building the capacities of CSOs in budgetary matters (budget preparation, implementation and monitoring) through training sessions on budget analysis, organised by the Centre for Democratic Governance.
Accountability in Public Accounts and Debt Management
2.1.27 The State accounting system was recently reviewed to comply with WAEMU standards as part of Burkina Faso’s efforts to comply with its directives aimed at harmonizing the main economic documents of member countries, namely budget law, budgetary nomenclature, regulations on public accounts, State accounting system, fiscal table of the State. Efforts to shorten payment time-frames reduce the time-frames for verification of credentials and ensures a better scheduling of payments in the context of a network of treasury services present in 86 localities. The problem concerns stores accounting which is non-existent.
2.1.28 Decree N° 97-164/PRES/MEF to lay down regulations on public accounts establishes the principle of separation of the functions of authorizing officer and accountant. Vote-holders and authorizing officers are employees of the administrative system and public accountants are employees of the accounting system. The former record the claims and validate revenue, propose the commitment of expenditures and prepare the settlement thereof. The funds held by public accountants are managed according to the principle of a unified treasury. Public accountants alone are authorized to settle claims. They render their accounts to the accounts auditor. Public accountants are personally and financially liable for the operations for which they are responsible.
2.1.29 Debt is managed by the Department of public debt. The use of the SYGADE model has permitted the improvement of its management. The database is more reliable and reports more credible. Debt management has reached an unsustainable level. The ratio of present value of debt to GNP stood at 225% in 2004 as against 217% in 2002. For the management of debt, the government has set up a national public debt committee (CNDP). Decree N° 98 221/PRES/PM/UEF defines the loan procedure for the State and its agencies and designates the MFB as the sole authorizing officer for contract debt. The CNDP’s function is to examine all financing arrangements to verify their compliance with the element of concessionality and their impact on development. Its approval is required before finalization of any loan document. For the government to contract two non- concessional loans, a request for a waiver had to be made for the conclusion of an IMF programme. The conclusion was made conditional upon Burkina Faso’s commitment to comply with CNDP procedures
14 Private Sector and Accountability
2.1.30 The private sector which represents over 70% of the GDP plays a key role in the country’s economy. The on-going privatization of state-owned enterprises is supposed to strengthen its place in the economy but it is clear that the national private sector lacks the means for a buy-out of medium and major enterprises. Better accountability is a profound need for good governance of the national economy. Information on the private, notably the informal sector, is of poor quality and difficult to gather. That holds true for the primary sector (agriculture), secondary sector (industry, building construction, and mining) and tertiary sector (trade, services). The primary sector (38% of the GDP) is composed of very small holdings with outdated production methods. The secondary sector (18% of the GDP) is composed of small units of limited capacity and moderate technical level. The tertiary sector which is dominated by the informal sector represents 44% of the GDP. Formal sector enterprises which are assessed on the basis of actual earnings or simplified actual earnings system do not keep strict accounts except for two thousand five hundred of them which keep simplified or more comprehensive accounts. However, they can demonstrate some amount of dynamism as proven by the sustained growth since 1995 of the secondary sector which demonstrates great flexibility and the capacity to redirect its supplies and outlets in order to minimize the negative economic impacts of the lvorian crisis.
2.1.31 Different forms of private sector accountability result from this typology of enterprises. Accountability vis-à-vis financial partners is a statutory or accounting principle. It is statutory for enterprises that have a board of directors or a general meeting of partners. The same does not apply to family or single-owner enterprises for which decisions are not based on authorization. It is an accounting principle for enterprises subject to assessment based on actual earnings which must keep accounts thereby contributing to transparency. For enterprises subject to the actual earnings or simplified actual earnings, transparency is not always effective owing to the limited skills of certain accountants and the desire to avoid taxes. For of the informal sector one may talk of opacity.
2.1.32 Accounting operations are decisive for progress in private sector accountability. They are governed by WAEMU accounting standards as concerns the accounting system (SYSCOA) or the organization of the profession of accountant. Burkina Faso like countries of the sub region has a national order of chartered accountants and certified accountants (ONECCA). Law N° 022/96/ADP of July 1996 to establish ONECCA stipulates that no one may bear the title of chartered accountant or certified accountant unless they hold a recognized qualification and are enrolled in the order. The National Council of the Order ensures compliance by its members with their obligations and code of ethics. For chartered accountants, they must: revise and assess the book keeping of enterprises, certify the regularity and sincerity of balance sheets and operating results; organize book-keeping and analyse accounting technique processes the situation and functioning of enterprises under their various aspects, namely economic, legal and financial. For accountants, they must: keep, centralize, open, balance and supervise book-keeping, redress accounts, certify the regularity and sincerity of balance sheets and trading results only in the cases where they have balanced the accounts of the said enterprises. In 2004, ONECCA had seventy-two members. Apart from their missions of auditing private companies, ONECCA members are retained by the WAEMU Banking Commission to audit accounts within Banks and financial establishments. To draw up accounts of enterprises or audit them (let alone State development projects, State-owned companies and other State establishments) the total number of chartered/certified accountants is extremely limited especially as the current practices of many enterprises are non-transparent.
2.1.33 While the enforcement of labour instruments and conventions may be relatively controlled for major enterprises, such is not the case in the other enterprises. Certain enterprises including large ones do not observe labour legislation.
15 2.2 Transparency
2.2.1 Transparency implies that the public should be informed of decisions taken by the State, the private and major economic and social actors and that those that have an impact on the life of citizens should be challenged. Transparency concerns data and information in the public domain but also of private origin and presupposes tolerance in public and adversarial debates on different political, economic and social options
Transparency in Politics
2.2.2 Political pluralism has made much progress. The political landscape is made up of 102 parties, 13 of which are represented at the National Assembly (NA). According to Article 13 of the Constitution, political parties may freely exercise their activities. A charter of political parties and groups was adopted by law N° 032-2001 of 29 November 2001 and Law N° 12-2000/AN of 2 May 2000 lays down the conditions for public funding of party activities and election campaigns. “Congrès pour le Democratie et le progress” (CDP) which is the ruling party has 57 parliamentarians out of the 111 in the National Assembly, but may benefit from support from Parliamentarians of the Presidential majority. The opposition would have one-third of parliamentarians.
2.2.3 The status of the opposition established by Law N° 007/2000/AN of 25 April 2000 is being implemented. The opposition leader who has a protocolar status was recently designated. This positive innovation which takes into account the fact that democracy is the rule of the majority with due respect for the minority should be consolidated by a review of law N° 007/2000/AN which contains deficiencies (designation procedure, time of designation, scope of prerogatives) which if not resolved could undermine the parliamentary opposition, an institution which is already having difficulty asserting itself.
2.2.4 Two of the five Vice-Presidents of the National Assembly are of the opposition. Two of the five committees at the National Assembly are chaired by the opposition. The economic development and environment committee is chaired by a PDP parliamentarian, that of education and social affairs by an ADFRDA parliamentarian. Of the eight parliamentary secretaries four are of the opposition. This set-up of the National Assembly and distribution of responsibilities facilitates debates which are widely reported by the press. For instance, during debates on the 2005 budget law, passed on 16/12/2004 by 57 votes against 54, the groups Justice et Démocratie, ADF/RDA and PDP/PS criticized the bill and voted against it. According to the opposition, “the government is seriously mistaken in its strategy ….the real problems are unemployment, ignorance, poor health, corruption, impunity, prestige spending, growing insecurity”. Conversely, the CDP group considered the bill as promoting economic and social development, fighting against poverty along social democratic lines.
2.2.5 The rights and duties of political parties are specified by the political parties charter which recognizes their legal capacity and organizational autonomy: freedom to meet and demonstrate in public; right to public funding; right to participate in all debates concerning national life, to go to law, to have media facilities, to acquire, own and administer movable and immovable property. In return, they have obligations to operate according to their statutes, notify any changes in internal governance, prohibit any incitement to violence, any undermining of national sovereignty and any defamation. In case of failure, the parties, which have the possibility of going to law, risk a warning, suspension or even dissolution by decree. Opposition parties are often weak and many of them lack a sound financial and social standing, and a viable alternative social platform and agenda. This situation hinders the organization of a fruitful political debate on economic development and choice of a society.
16 Freedom of the Media
2.2.6 Press freedom is an important yardstick of the vitality and level of entrenchment of democracy in a State of law. In Burkina Faso, the audiovisual landscape comprises 4 television companies (3 private operational television stations and 1 national), seventy-two radio companies (20 private commercial stations, 19 community/association radio stations, 18 faith stations, 4 international stations, 11 public and 6 local radio stations). The number of newspapers (essentially French language) has grown over the past few years: 4 dailies, 61 specialized publications. Economic information is however poorly covered by the said media.
2.2.7 To ensure compliance with the law and ethics in the domain of information, a Higher Information Council (CSI) was set up by an organic law of June 2000. The Chairperson of the CSI has a three-year term, renewable once. Its missions are to defend the ethics of information, regulate the audiovisual sector, guarantee diversity of opinions in the media. Furthermore, it is charged with ensuring during election campaigns, balanced treatment of information between parties. As an information regulatory body, the CSI sees to the implementation of the law of December 1993, relating to the information code. The CSI is an autonomous national institution with twelve members appointed for a term of three years, renewable once (except for the Chairperson appointed by the President of Burkina Faso, the only permanent member) four designated by the President of Burkina Faso, two designated by the President of the National Assembly, two by Chairman of the Economic and Social Council (CES) and four by professional associations. The CSI reports that it has been able to ensure a favourable response to the main petitions and claims of the opposition; the issue of decriminalization of press offences which for a long time has been rejected with maintenance of the prison terms envisaged for against journalists in case of gross misconduct is today on the agenda and the Burkinabe President has pledged to ensure that this concern is addressed through the review of the information code. The strengthening of the independence of the CSI could be obtained by seeking a balance between the main schools of thought within it.
2.2.8 Plurality and balance of information in the audiovisual media are making progress. However, the press is still constrained by its low circulation (scarcely above 5000), often limited to Ouagadougou, its weak financial means and insufficient professionalism of many newspapers. Coverage of the entire national territory by the national radio and television programmes has not yet been achieved, and rural areas are far worse served. There is the problem of the training of journalists. Corruption is not uncommon among them on account of low salaries, the lack of statutes and a collective bargaining agreement for journalists. Given their weak financial means, part of the Burkinabe press has made a habit of requesting payment to cover certain events. Under these financial circumstances, the independence of the press is difficult to respect and this could border on corruption.
2.2.9 The situation of the press in Burkina Faso is similar to that in other African countries. According to a world press freedom ranking drawn up by “Reporters sans frontiers” in October 2004, there is marked improvement. The following rankings are also noted: South Africa, 26th ; Benin, 27th, Cape Verde, 38th ; Namibia, 42nd, Mauritius, 46th; Botswana, 50th; Mali, 56th; Ghana, 57th; Burkina Faso, 64th; Mozambique, 64th; Niger, 71st; Togo, 75th; Senegal, 80th; etc. This international organization continues to adamantly raise the issue of moving forward press cases pending in Burkinabe courts.
Transparency in the Government Procurement Process
2.2.10 Decree N° 2003-269/PRES/PM/MEF of May 2003 on the general regulations governing public procurement, institutes a new public contracts code which: (i) extends, subject to specific laws and regulations repugnant thereto, the scope of public contracts to government contracts; (ii) improves transparency in procurement procedures. It provides for the prior definition of evaluation and award criteria known to each bidder beforehand and a schedule of contracts transmitted to the MFB
17 beforehand by the vote holder; (iii) simplifies the public contracts system while clarifying the roles and responsibilities of structures involved in it. It provides for knowledge of each stakeholder’s response time-frame; (iv) offers bidders the possibility of appeal in the contract award process by setting up a Standing Committee of the Amicable Settlement of disputes (CRAL). In 2003, 5 complaints were lodged on 40 contracts; these complaints were processed according to the procedures envisaged and in general the decisions reached were not challenged. The complaints generally concern the evaluation of technical bids and (v) proposes a regulatory framework for the enforcement of sanctions in case of non-compliance with the general regulations on public procurement by government employees and by all bidders, including successful bidders. Concerning implementation instruments, Order N° 2004/460/MFB/CAB was issued to regulate conditions for obtaining authorization for the mutual agreement procedure.
2.2.11 The pre-auditing and post-auditing of public procurement operations by contracting authorities is carried out by a central organ, the Central Directorate for Public Contracts (DCMP). Furthermore, the government decided that each year a post-audit of public contracts should be conducted by the Finance Inspectorate General (IGF) to strengthen the public contract auditing Information on public contracts, notably business opportunities and results are published since 1998 in a bimonthly of the DCMP and contribute to strengthen the transparency of the system.
2.2.12 Regarding public contract awards progress has been made concerning: (i) the adoption of the public contracts code, (ii) establishment of a monitoring Committee for mutual agreement contracts (that is 16% of procurements in 2003). In keeping with the recommendations of the year 2000 CPAR, the new code establishes a single system of public contracts award and auditing; the DCMP is the regulatory organ and contract award function is devolved on contracting authorities and decentralized at the level of councils. However, it is worth noting that there are weaknesses in the regulations, notably the non-separation of the functions of consultancy and control/regulation and control by the DCMP which is not included upstream in the public expenditure process. Furthermore, there is non-definition of responsibilities in the management of contracts, and in the conduct of inspections and periodicity of inspection procedures. Also noted is the lack of a professionalization and specialization of civil servants responsible for public contracts and of sanctions for offences concerning undermining the freedom of access and equality of bidders in public contracts. There are no provisions to punish non-observance of the rules of competition and equality of treatment in government procurement. This situation, despite reform efforts is attributable to the lack of a veritable national anti-corruption strategy and the non-enforcement of existing instruments to penalize acts undermining the integrity of the system.
2.2.13 Similarly, the information system recommended by the CPAR of year 2000, notably based on the computerization of management of information on public contracts has not yet been put in place owing to technical problems and limited human capacities making it difficult to include acts preliminary to the award of public contracts in the computerized system of expenditure (CID). The DCMP’s human and material capacities are still far from adequate to efficiently perform its assigned tasks. A strong impetus or political will is indispensable to revitalize the institutions and services in charge of public contracts. The public procurement system will be strengthened at the Community level through the reform of WAEMU public contracts which is in the pipeline, and at the national level. To pursue the reform which the government initiated in 2002, the Council of Ministers approved the creation of the Public Contracts Reform Monitoring and Coordination Committee (CNCS), as envisaged by the supplementary poverty reduction strategy support programme of the Bank. The said committee is charged with carrying out monitoring/evaluation of the implementation of the 2000 CPAR and preparing with the Bank and the World Bank the 2005 CPAR. It is envisaged that the recommendations of the 2005 CPAR should be proposed for approval by the government before the end of June 2005. The community reform should propose recommendations capable of strengthening the mechanism.
18 Transparency in the Public Expenditure Implementation Process
2.2.14 The State’s financial operations are conducted and tracked by the Treasury’s accounting network comprising central accounting structures and deconcentrated accounting structures and which is coordinated by the Central Directorate of the Treasury and Accounting (DGFTCP). The quality of monitoring of public expenditure depends on the scope of expenditures covered by such monitoring, the reduction of payment deadlines and the quality of data produced by the monitoring system. Expenditures financed from domestic resources, except for public contracts are monitored in a centralized manner. The computerized expenditure system (CID) allows monitoring of State budget expenditure from commitment up to payment and permits real time availability of statistics for purposes of information and analysis. The last CFAA review in 2002 noted that the normal procedure for public expenditure execution monitoring was completely followed in only 13% of cases; this rate has probably improved since the establishment of the CID.
Country Financial Accountability Analysis (CFAA) The CFAA is a tool for diagnosis which helps borrower countries and TFPs to (i) assess the fiduciary risks inherent in the utilization of public resources (ii) evaluate existing mechanisms for the management of such risks and measures to prevent them, and (iii) support the Government in implementing reforms aimed at improving public finance management and capacity building. The last CFAA was conducted by the Wold Bank in conjunction with the TFPs including the Bank. This review considers that the government has made progress over the last few years in public finance management as well as management of fiduciary risks. However, it also notes that the results are mixed given that the impact of the innovations have not always been commensurate with expectations. First, because there has been a certain amount of resistance, leading to non-compliance with procedures. This has affected the smooth functioning of the tools which can however be improved even if they are not always used efficiently. Second, because monitoring remains weak and is not always given the attention it deserves, in spite of the existence of inspection and audit structures, namely the IGE and IGF. A combination of these factors has led to a net deterioration of the audit environment which has further impacted negatively on fiduciary risk. This CFAA on the bases of responses to questionnaires distributed to administrators during this exercise and the observations of the CFAA analysis and the result of the conformity test, considers that fiduciary risk in Burkina Faso varies between Moderate negative (M?) and High (H) with a marked tendency towards the latter, given the numerous waivers granted on a daily basis. These waivers granted under the pretext of trying to avoid the system’s red-tape, do actually represent setbacks to budgetary orthodoxy and go against the regulations and procedures designed to strengthen existing mechanisms put in place to audit public finance management. Another observation is the resistance of government employees to follow official procedures as if the waivers and emergency measures accelerate the process of expenditure execution. Red-tape exists also because of other factors such as the over- centralization of payment authorization and the not always pertinent powers of DAFs of sectoral Ministries that are budgetary vote holders. Another limiting factor is the wide range of duties incumbent upon DAFs extending beyond those of administration, finance and accounting.
2.2.15 To control expenditure payment management, a cash committee was put in place in 1977, and a Committee for monitoring public expenditure execution time-frames has been in operation since 2002, and circular No.2002-282/MFB/SG/DGT/PG fixes a deadline referential for the execution of public expenditure .These measures certainly contribute to help Burkina Faso fulfill its financial commitments.
2.2.16 The quest for public spending efficiency also led to the conduct as from 2001 of public expenditure reviews for the priority sectors, namely education, health infrastructure and rural development. These reviews were aimed at improving budgetary allocations and the public expenditure execution rate in the priority sectors. The expenditure execution rate of 70% on average shows an improvement margin. These public expenditure reviews which were conducted should be conducted regularly in future in order to strengthen the effectiveness of public expenditure. The publication and widest dissemination of these reviews and public finance documents should be given more impetus as demanded by civil society
19 2.2.17 Public expenditure management can also be improved by implementing the 2002-2004 action plan for strengthening budgetary management (PGRB), drawn up following the analysis and recommendations of the internal study confirmed by the CFAA .The PRGB plan of action concerns the implementation of the following measures: (i) launching of the auditing of the main structures charged with budget management (Budget department and Department of the Treasury and Public Accounts); (ii) adoption of the implementation instruments of the WAEMU directives on public finance, notably public accounts, management of imprests within the framework of State budget laws and public contracts; (iii) improved transparency of the budget law by starting to include all external financing; (iv) strengthening of budget execution monitoring by preparing budget review acts and management accounts on time; (v) improving the quality of public expenditure management by extending the computerized expenditure (CID) to Ministries considered priorities; (vi) strengthening public expenditure auditing institutions, namely the Audit Court, finance inspectors and judges with the launching of a few training seminars and (vii) the launching of a plan of action aimed at improving the level of public revenue (taxes, customs, informal sector monitoring). Sustained attention will be paid to the following actions : (i) concerning budgetary management audit, the production within the statutory timeframe of end- of- management records within appropriate timeframes and their publication; (ii) concerning the award of public contracts, the formulation of a plan of action correcting the failings noted in the CPAR study and the 2004 DCMP audit, (iii) as regards the quality and monitoring of the budget law, a more comprehensive inclusion of allocations from external financing in annual budget laws and the regular and systematic monitoring of their implementation using the appropriate software; (iv) as concerns building the capacities of structures charged with budgetary management, the audit of the set-up of the Directorate-general for the Budget (DGB), which is a central structure in the budgetary process; (v) regarding strengthening of the monitoring of budget implementation as well as fulfilling end-of-management obligations, the launching of the “stores accounting” project which will be extremely useful for a mastery of the movable and immovable property of the State; and (vi) with regard to revenue, the effective establishment of a single financial identifier and the periodic information on the performance indicators defined for the Taxation Directorate – General (DGI).
2.2.18 To better monitor external resources and expenditure, the Government, with AFRITAC backing conducted an evaluation of the “external financing” module of the CID. AFRITAC recommends improved data collection and procedures; it notes that this module is technically outdated and must be reviewed to permit the inclusion of external data .The Government’s actions will focus on: (i) utilization of the SYGADE++ debt management model in order to improve monitoring of external financing; (ii) consolidation of the projects bank, in order to better control external data; and (iii) better verification of the agreements between the State and its partners. Furthermore, steps have been taken to better control HIPC resources, included in the budget since 2004. The said resources are closely monitored by an ad hoc Committee.
Burkina Faso : HIPC Initiative Resource Management In April 2002, Burkina Faso reached the completion point within the framework of the enhanced HIPC initiative under which it obtained a debt relief of USD169 million in 1999 NPV, or USD 552.6 million in 1999 nominal value. Within this framework, the Bank granted relief of USD 86.7 million NPV (USD 125.7 million in nominal value). HIPC resources are channelled through a special account initially located at the Treasury and recently transferred to the BCEAO. In 2003 and 2004, performance review under the HIPC initiative resulted in a satisfactory performance. However, it is noted that HIPC resources were less substantial than estimated owing to the weakening of the dollar against the CFA franc and the insufficient participation of non-members of the Paris Club. Furthermore, the rate of utilization of resources was not high enough (45.2% in 2004), due to difficulties in determining what projects to finance. The special account procedure might have led the technical services to believe that they were not bound to follow the budgetary procedure (cancellation of non-utilized appropriations at the end of the fiscal year), hence their slowness in processing the documents .Remedial measures were taken, namely delegation of management of appropriations to Ministries (DAAF), preparation of a procedures manual for the utilization of HIPC funds, establishment of a special Unit at the SP/PPF for the implementation of HIPC. These measures will probably improve HIPC implementation in the coming years.
20 Access of the Public to Information on the Government’s Economic and Social Priorities
2.2.19 To date, it is considered that access to economic and social information is difficult for reasons of mere availability of information or obstacles to its circulation and obtainment. Supply is insufficient compared to demand and its quality is substandard. The PRSP monitoring mechanism which is based on the organisation of surveys and a better utilization of administrative statistics should be gradually operationalized. Concerning national accounts, the last accounts published at the time of drafting this report was for the year 1999. As from the year 2000, the accounts published were estimates drawn up by DPAM. A team has been put in place at the NISD with WAEMU support and European funding to develop a new methodology for drawing up national accounts (ERETES). The work done by this team made it possible to partially make up for the delay: the 1999 and 2000 accounts were finalized and should be published once the 2001 accounts are prepared. However, the end of WAEMU support could undermine the team and jeopardize the progress achieved. The participation of NISD in the general data dissemination system (SDGD) put in place by the IMF is a good decision, but it still has to be utilized fully. Ministry websites provide good information on the policies adopted by the Government and their regulatory framework; however, the question arising is that of the capacity of the public at large to access it owing to the lack of computer equipment.
2.2.20 According to civil society organizations, this difficult access of the public and the media to information is all the more unjustified when information is available as is the case concerning information on public finance management. They consider the budgetary process extremely closed and that civil society which does not have the same priorities as the government should participate indirectly in budgetary discussions and control the utilization of resources. In December 2004, as a constructive contribution, the NGOs presented an analysis of the 2005 budget. These CSOs believe that better civil society access to information would be a contribution to better governance and to good citizenship including payment of taxes.
2.2.21 Regarding transparency of economic and social information, the role of the national statistics apparatus is decisive. The NISD, the central organ of the national statistics system and an administrative public establishment under the supervisory authority of MEDEV faces problems of human, material and financial resources. The NISD does not have regional statistics services. It is in a bid to address the problems mentioned and attain set objectives that a 2004-2005 statistics master plan was drawn up. This master plan gives a picture of the needs to be financed to ensure reliable information. To attain these objectives, different recommendations have been made, including: (i) better statistical supply response to demand by revitalizing dialogue between statistics procedures and users; (ii) greater predictability of financing required by the entry of a statistics line in the MTEF and medium-and long-term financial support from donors.
2.3 Stakeholder Participation
2.3.1 The government which is responsible for directing and seeing to the success of the good governance process must facilitate, for its smooth conduct, the active participation of civil society, the private sector and all economic agents as well as all regions of the country.
Civil Society Involvement
2.3.2 The participatory development tradition is growing in Burkina Faso. In 1999, there were 6000 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), 12000 pre-cooperative and cooperative groups, trade unions, religious associations etc. The general legal framework of the creation and functioning of CSOs is envisaged for by law N° 10/92/ADP/ of 1992 on the freedom of association. Under this law, an association is “any non-profit group of natural or legal persons, national or foreign with a permanent mission, set up for the purpose of achieving common objectives notably
21 in the cultural, sports, social, spiritual, scientific, professional or socio-economic domains. Associations may be formed freely without prior administrative authorization. However, they are bound to fulfil certain formalities (declaration of existence, constitution). The law distinguishes between ordinary associations recognized as being in the public interest, foreign associations and workers’ or employers’ unions. This law is considered liberal, but decrees of implementation would have helped to ensure better support, guidance and monitoring of CSOs.
2.3.3 The typology of civil society organizations is still subject to debate. One of those mentioned (see GGSP/UNDP framework document mentioned above) is as follows: development NGOs and associations, unions organizations, research and training institutes, trade union organizations, religious organizations, human rights defence organizations and movements with specific claims, private press, NGO and development associations, youth movements, persons described as marginalized, farmer organizations and cultural and artistic organizations. NGO movements are coordinated by the following structures: (i) the Permanent Secretariat for NGOs (SPONG) which emanates from civil society and (ii) the NGO monitoring Bureau (BSONG) which comes under MEDEV. Political parties, traditional chiefdoms and the private sector do not belong there. SCOs are not a possible substitute for power or a counterbalance. Certain SCOs are independent vis-à-vis
The Burkinabe Trade Union Movement From the 60s to the 80s, trade unions played a significant social and political role, but today their influence, though non-negligible is not as great. The Burkinabe trade union movement which has always been marked by pluralism currently has seven federations and over fifteen independent trade unions. While pluralism may be a reality, the fact remains that the trade union movement today is divided and less active than in the past. There are many reasons for this situation including, an extremely fragmented trade union movement, ideological and personality clashes, insufficient democracy within unions; political control of certain trade unions; politicization of trade unions, the 1994 dismissals, the economic crisis, unemployment and the general worsening of poverty. Trade unions complain about the waning of trade union rights as reflected by the 2004 amendments to the trade union law, prohibiting solidarity strikes. the authorities and political parties and others are not. A recent seminar conducted by the National Assembly recalled that in spite of the fact that civil society participates in government action, it cannot replace the State. Rather, to have a powerful and dynamic civil society, the state should be strengthened because it is necessary to have a well-run State for civil society to be effective. This means that the role of civil society before State institutions should not be seen from the perspective of dichotomy or opposition but rather of complementarity.
2.3.4 Civil society also intervenes or makes claims in the domain of good governance, the fight against corruption, respect for human rights, independence of the judiciary and the institution of more transparency between the executive and civil society. To that end, government is showing its will to involve civil society in the independent auditing of public contracts with the establishment of the National committee for the monitoring and coordination of public contracts reform. Thousands of NGOs are operating with varying life spans, over 50% having a life span of less than three years. Over 80% of their resources are of external origin. While in the 1980-92 period funding was easy for them, it has now become more difficult given the large number of potential beneficiaries. NGOs are coordinated with much difficulty through several units, the oldest of them being the Permanent Secretariat for NGOs (SPONG) which covers about a hundred NGOs. The National Unit for SCO capacity building of which the SPONG is a member and whose purpose is to improve such coordination today seems more capable of playing that role since the structuring of the unit in 2004.
2.3.5 In spite of the progress made by civil society, it is worth noting that it still faces several constraints. There are acute problems of human resources (lack of qualified personnel) and means. As concerns planning, SCOs are deficient in terms of forward planning and strategic planning and are
22 often influenced by the personal interests of certain members which take precedence over those of the organization. As regards their governance, more efforts are required to ensure respect for their own statutes, better monitoring and guidance. Civil society representatives feel that they are not sufficiently consulted by the State. They want a distinction to be drawn between NGO involvement in activities as mere invited guests and true involvement of NGOs.
Gender
2.3.6 In Burkina Faso, the status of women is legally protected by Zatu AN VII-0013-FP-PRES of 16 November 1989 on the institution of the human and Family Code which has been in force since 4 August 1990. The PFC through its innovations is breaking with retrogressive customs and practices, notably against women. Accordingly, bride price, levirate, sororate and coemption have been abolished. It can be said that the PFC has opted for modernity rather than traditions, for equality and freedom of spouses, for equality of children whether or not born in wedlock, for the protection of the surviving spouse and in general for the conjugal family. Still concerning the prevention of violence against women, the offence of female genital mutilation has been introduced into the penal code and is punishable under Section 380(1) with “imprisonment of six months to three years and a fine of 15,000 to 900,000 francs”. In case of death as a result of mutilation, « the sentence shall be imprisonment for five to ten years » (Section. 380(2).
2.3.7 However as noted in the diagnostic report of the Burkina 2025 study, Burkinabe women play a key role in the economic, social and cultural spheres, but their social status is limited to the family role. They face a lot of discrimination / inequalities in access to basic social services (education) and are often victims of physical and moral violence. Underemployment and unemployment are more pronounced among women. These short-comings are reflected in the low level of the gender-specific indicator (i.e. 0.291) which ranks Burkina Faso in the 143rd position.
2.3.8 Special efforts have been made to ensure women’s advancement. A ministry has been created to cater specifically for issues concerning women’s advancement. This Ministry is charged with implementing the government’s policy on women’s socio-economic advancement in conjunction with other ministries and institutions. It initiates and is responsible for monitoring and evaluating women’s advancement strategies; monitoring girl-child education and training programmes; promoting the equality of women’s rights and their reproductive health rights; informing and raising awareness on women’s rights; coordinating actions in favour of women among the partners and structures concerned; monitoring and evaluating the impact of actions of NGOs and women’s associations. In the 20 most disadvantaged provinces, actions are under way using HIPC resources (construction of women’s centres, purchase of mills and presses, pumps, training etc.). Through committees for the fight against excision, substantial efforts are being made against this practice which is on the decline.
2.3.9 The government’s efforts to promote women’s participation in development are reflected in the publication of the following documents; (i) Plan of Action for strengthening the role of women in the development process; (ii) the National plan of action for women’s access to agricultural services; (iii) National plan of action for girl-child education; (iv) Support Fund for Women’s Income- generating Activities and (v) National Coordination of the Women’s advancement plan, statutorily under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister. Furthermore, on the Head of State’s initiative, a national Forum for the advancement of women and the girl-child was organized in October 2000. However, the assertion of women’s right to participate in decision-making on equal terms with men is constrained by sociological setbacks causing their marginalization on the national political scene. The composition of the government and parliament shows significant disparities between men and women. Indeed, women remain underrepresented in political decision-making bodies. For instance, following the 2002 legislative elections, of 111 parliamentarians only 12 women were elected, that is 11% of the
23 total number of parliamentarians. To ensure gender mainstreaming, the government recently published a procedures manual for gender mainstreaming in project monitoring and evaluation. The Ministry in charge of women’s advancement must with the support of TFPs formulate a gender policy in 2005.
Security of Persons, Protection of Returnees and Refugees, Child Trafficking.
2.3.10 The 2002 report of the National Ethics Committee focused on the population’s security concerns, due notably to the emergence of organized banditry, As in all countries of the region, it is cited as a potential source of tension: ethnic or regionalistic conflicts, land tenure issues, sub- regional insecurity and rapid urbanization. In Burkina Faso, ethnic and regionalistic problems are under control but the Burkina 2025 study recalls existing risks. Land tenure disputes often attract attention and occasionally incidents break out between farmers and graziers, but even if they are of limited scope, they go to show the need to better resolve the land issue. Furthermore, insecurity in West Africa affects Burkina Faso (tension with neighbouring countries, refugees) and demonstrate the need for regional cooperation for development and peace. The armed forces, gendarmerie and police face these problems, but according to the National Ethics Committee, with inadequate means, the said forces experience the same slippages as the civil service, namely corruption of certain elements, insufficient discipline, over politicization.
2.3.11 The recent crisis in Côte d’Ivoire resulted in an influx of returnees and refugees. In the past, Burkina Faso a centrally located country in the sub-region, a point of transition to Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire received other refugees in large numbers more or less, from Niger, Congo, Chad, Cameroon, Mali (Touareg question). For proper governance of the refugee problem, it must not bee seen as a transitory issue, but rather from a regional and historical perspective. Regarding returnees or refugees from Côte d’Ivoire, some initiatives have been taken, committees set up, such as the Burkinabe association of victims of extortion and war (CBVEG). The idea is to integrate them to various activities (agriculture, trade, mechanics, catering, carpentry, processing of shea-butter, almonds, masonry, welding, and guard service). However, it is clear that there are huge needs but limited resources. For this reason, certain refugees, given their strong attachments to Côte d’Ivoire return there in spite of all the risks involved.
2.3.12 This issue of returnees confirms the great importance for Burkina Faso of its external migrants. For Burkina Faso as for the other countries of the sub-region, the problems of migration (savings from immigrants’ wages represented 2% of the GDP in 2002 as against 5.6% in 1996 according to an introductory report to the 4th Round table conference of 2004), the mobility of persons, the right of establishment must be given more attention in order to find regional and international solutions and consensus.
2.3.13 Furthermore, Burkinabe society faces problems such as child trafficking or the phenomenon of street children. To cope with this situation, the government has developed plans of action whose implementation is being led by Ministry in charge of Social Action and the Ministry of Human rights promotion. Indeed, the child trafficking problem in sub-Saharan Africa and, notably in Burkina Faso, which has been denounced for several years now at the international level, only recently attracted media attention, but is apparently an old practice. The causes or factors favouring child trafficking are: historical i.e. the phenomenon of migration, the high demand for labour force, the weakness of the education system, ignorance of the risks, low referral to the justice system and non-enforcement of the law, family status, porosity of boundaries. Consequently, thousands of children are withdrawn from their parents and placed in urban areas or in plantations in coastal countries, subjected to the performance of tasks exceeding their physical capacities over very long periods and under dangerous health conditions. They are not given humane treatment, are not provided sufficient food and healthcare, not enrolled in school and are sexually abused, etc.
24 2.3.14 Domestic instruments on child trafficking are essentially based on a specific instrument but also on criminal Child Trafficking in Burkina Faso law and the labour Child trafficking in Burkina Faso attracted national and international attention in March 2000 when a bus carrying children recruited with their parents’ consent was intercepted on its way to code. Law N° 038- plantations in Côte d’Ivoire where they were going to be working for annual wages ranging 2003/AN of 27 May between CFAF 75000 and 85000. 2003 to define and Law N° 038-2003/AN of 27 May 2003 to define and penalize child trafficking gives the following legal definition: « child trafficking shall mean any act whereby a child is recruited, punish child transported, transferred accommodated or hosted inside or outside Burkinabe territory by one trafficking permits or more traffickers, using threats and intimidation by force or other forms of duress, diversion, punishment of child fraud or trickery, abuse of authority or exploitation of the vulnerable status of a child, or in the case of offer or receipt of remuneration with a view to obtaining the consent of a person trafficking as an exercising control over the child for purposes of economic, or sexual, exploitation, illegal offence on its own. A adoption, early or forced marriage or any other purpose prejudicial to the child’s health, National Plan to fight physical or mental development and well-being”. The age of the child thus exploited ranges between 0 and 18 years. All regions of the country internal and cross are concerned by child trafficking and the trafficking may be internal or crossborder: Côte border child d’Ivoire, Mali, Togo, Nigeria, non-African countries. Since 2000, hundreds of children have trafficking in Burkina been intercepted, repatriated, managed by the official services concerned, but these figures do not reflect the scope of the phenomenon. Faso for 2005-2009 was prepared (October 2004). Various actions are envisaged, namely: prevention, protection and management of child victims, creation of half-way homes, advocacy, strengthening of the institutional and legal framework.
Land Tenure
2.3.15 Regarding the land tenure issue, at present it is Law N° 014/96/ADP of 23/05/96 which is the last version of land law in Burkina Faso (see annex). The reviewed land and agrarian reform (RAF) whose initial version was issued by the revolutionary regime of 1983 is still being reviewed and it introduced provisions for flexibility in state ownership of land, even if the principle is that the state remains the owner of all land. It provides for the possibility of acquiring full ownership of land and issuance of usufruct titles. For parcels of land subject to customs, despite the adoption of the RAF which sought to grant their ownership to the State, in practice the land occupancy remains governed by local customs. Furthermore women’s and youths access to land is still limited owing to the social setbacks of traditional society. Besides these facts, there are numerous new problems such as those of irrigated areas where the law gives priority to securing public investments and provides insufficient security to small holders. The situation is further compounded by the lack of a land register. Despite the State’s option for a fiscal land register which justified the attachment of the surveys service to the Directorate General for Taxation, cadastral work is currently progressing at an uneven pace in the regions and is more akin to topographical survey work. Even though the land issue is considered fundamental by investors, it has not yet been tackled head-on at the regional level by organizations such as WAEMU. On account of the political situation, it is a sensitive topic just as the right of establishment or movement of persons in West Africa. This issue is pertinent given the current need to integrate returnees from Côte d’Ivoire in their communities of origin. Concerning landed property, the coexistence of traditional and modern systems does not facilitate access to the main means of production which is land. Indeed, the land policy based on the agrarian and land reform (RAF) which provides for: (i) the issuance of usufruct rights (exploitation licence) subject to development and (ii) award of the management of undeveloped areas of local land to village land management committees (CGVT) which respect the historical realities of the village is hardly implemented because of the predominance of traditional land management. Over the past few years, this situation has spawned numerous land disputes between natives and original inhabitants which the RAF and the traditional system are still unable to resolve. Furthermore, access by women and youths to land remains limited due to the social setbacks of traditional society. Besides this reality, there are new problems such as those of irrigated areas where the law gives priority to public investments over securing small holders rights. To remedy
25 this situation, the government will need to formulate a rural land tenure security policy by the end of 2005.
The Land Issue in Burkina Faso As in other West African countries, the land tenure issue in Burkina Faso is complex and is the cause of legal insecurity for rural dwellers as well as other actors of economic and social life. The land tenure issue cannot be dissociated from the consideration of ethnic realities. Land titles are not common place and banks complain about the lack or insufficiency of land guarantee and judicial protection of their loans. This complexity of land tenure is a result of the coexistence of modern and customary systems and sometimes Islamic influence. This coexistence is difficult as modern land laws are based on the private ownership model, while the traditional system considers primarily communal ownership rights. The traditional system may call into question the legitimacy of ownership based on modern law while modern law may emphasize the precariousness or even illegality of the land status of many rural dwellers. Under such circumstances, media reports about land disputes are not surprising, as the case of this village which is complaining of a distribution of land reserves to the detriment of the original inhabitants. New problems are also arising such as those of irrigated areas where the laws give priority to public investment over small holders’ security of tenure.
Decentralization and Deconcentration
2.3.16 Decentralization and deconcentration at the regional level are issues arising in the broader context of development and regional balance, balanced regional development constituting an adamant demand by the different regions of the country. The issue of decentralization in Burkina Faso came up long before the advent of the 4th Republic. This option was enshrined in the Constitution of 11 June 1991 which in Article 143 of Part XI provides that “Burkina Faso shall be organized into regional and local authorities”. A number of laws and plans of action have been adopted to implement the decentralization option. Today, there is a distinction between local authorities (council, province, region) and administrative units (village, department, province and region). Burkina Faso thus has 13 regions, 45 provinces, 49 urban councils and rural councils).
2.3.17 The implementation of this option has notably led to the creation of the National Commission on Decentralization (CND) a forum for reflection and suggestions for the implementation of territorial decentralization. It also resulted in the passing of five laws in 1993 on territorial decentralization, which laws were reviewed by the adoption of law N° 040/98/AN on the orientation of decentralization in Burkina Faso, 041/98/AN on the organization of territorial administration, N° 042/98/AN on the organization and functioning of local authorities, N° 043/98/AN on the decentralization implementation schedule. It also materialized through the holding of municipal elections in January 1995 and September 2000. The rural development and decentralized development policy letter adopted by decree N° 2002-604 of December 2002 notably reaffirms the full responsibility of grassroots authorities, a refocusing of the role of the State with the corollary being grater involvement of private operators and civil society as well as the principles of co-financing (combining external subsides and local contributions) concerted development and flexibility.
2.3.18 In 2003, by Laws Nos. 048-2003/AN, 049-2003/AN, 050-2003/AN, the National Assembly amended Laws Nos. 040, 041, 042 and 043/98/AN. The main amendment was the abolition of the province as the territorial authority; it has become merely an administrative unit. The new general code for regional and local authorities (CGCT) adopted on 21 December 2004, establishes decentralization as a fundamental action for giving impetus to local development and democracy at the grass roots, with the creation of the region as a territorial coordination authority. To the 49 urban councils shall be added 302 rural councils. The village which is no longer an administrative unit is given a special role within the framework of rural councils. Accordingly, in each village, a village development council (CV) is set up and responsible for implementing an annual investment plan which it draws up under the authority of the rural municipal council. As a reminder, in accordance with the provision of the CGCT, the main blocks of authority devolving on local authorities are: (i) the management and utilization of the national or private landed property;
26 (ii) territorial development; (iii) the environment and management of natural resources, (iv) economic development and planning; (v) health and hygiene (vi) education, employment, vocational training and literacy education; (vii) water and electricity; and (viii) trade infrastructure, etc. The technical ministries concerned by decentralization and deconcentration in particular, the ministries in charge of finance and the budget, territorial administration and decentralization, health, education, the public service and State reform, have begun to prepare to implement the process of transfer of authority and resources to regional and local authorities scheduled for 2005. During the year 2006, the government will conduct council elections. The thirteen governors were appointed by the Council of Ministers at the end of 2004 and installed as officials of the Region as an administrative unit, with in addition, exercise through the special regional delegation, of the powers of chair and vice-chair of regional councils which must be effectively put in place in 2007 at the latest (Section 73 of the code). On this point, it is very important to have a clear and precise definition of the duties and powers of the governor and prefect so as to avoid conflicts of power with the chair of the regional council and the mayor of the rural council respectively.
2.3.19 To date, there are deficiencies in and obstacles to the implementation of such decentralization notably the under-estimation of the importance of balanced regional development and the confusion existing between deconcentration and decentralization; the high costs of decentralization and the lack of human and financial resources provided to regional and local authorities and supervisory authorities charged with supporting them; new laws and regulations which are yet to be completed; limited sensitization of the local populations and officials to the problems of decentralization and the difficulties of local democracy. To cope with this situation, the government intends first of all to assume its responsibilities by providing the authorities with the minimum functioning, equipment and investment requirements. It will also seek assistance form technical and financial partners notably Germany, Canada, Denmark, France, Netherlands and Switzerland which are already supporting the said authorities by financing social or income- generating projects. However, to avoid wastage of resources, increasing the number of local authorities will require coherent State intervention and direct support to the authorities.
Public-Private Sector Interaction
2.3.20 The Burkinabe private sector faces many constraints, namely high costs of factors of production, limited access to financial resources, a small domestic market, shortage of a qualified labour force, corruption. It also presents labour legislation as an obstacle, but trade unions do not share this view. To overcome these obstacles, the government is pursuing a policy of private sector promotion, defined in the 1998-2003 National Good governance Plan and the private sector development policy letter (LPDSP) of 2002. The LPDSP which identifies the following nine priority actions: (i) improving the legal framework of business; (ii) pursuit of State divestiture; (iii) building the capacities of businesses; (iv) development of private sector support institutions (v) development of the potentialities in the agricultural, agro-industrial and livestock sectors; (vi) financing of the private sector; (vii) infrastructure development; (viii) incentives to job creation and protection; and (ix) mining sector development. The main progress achieved is: (i) the simplification of administrative procedures for the creation of enterprises (the number of formalities has been reduced from 15 to 8), notably thanks to the entry into service of the one-stop shop and the creation of trade facilitation centre known as the trade-point, (ii) the establishment of a National Competition and Consumption Commission (CNCC), (iii) the business competitiveness and development support programme (PACDE) and (iv) the Burkina Faso Enterprise Centre (MEBF). Concerning private sector support structures, there are currently many bodies under the supervision of the administration that have yielded rather mixed results. Indeed, while these bodies may have well-founded objectives, in practice, the results obtained are a far cry from private sector expectations. Efforts in this domain must be pursued in accordance with the findings of a recent World Bank study on the business climate in Burkina Faso.
27 2.3.21 Intervention actions are given priority in the partnership between the State and the private Sector. The State for its part needs to: (i) strengthen the existing consultation forums and initiate new ones, the objective being the establishment of new partnership ties which could lead to the drawing up of model contracts defining the terms of reference of consultations between the State and the private sector; (ii) define the minimum rules of the game to permit the proper functioning of the market and competition; (iii) pursue efforts to improve the macro-economic framework, (iv) carry through the privatization policy; (v) strengthen the SME and micro-enterprise support mechanisms. Regarding the private sector, there is a need to: (i) strengthen the structures supervising the sector and ensure professionalization in the major sub-sectors; (ii) increase credit to official entities by commercial banks, notably through appropriate lines of credit and the development of micro-finance; and (iii) utilize all the potentialities of regional economic integration.
2.3.22 Regular consultations between the State and the private sector, at least yearly, have been put in place. Hence in 2003, it was agreed that a contract based on objectives be elaborated as part of the strengthening of public - private sector partnership. The said contract would seek to: increase productivity and value-added in all branches of activity; create jobs and improve the population’s incomes; increase and develop exports; improve the general business environment. Priority is to be given to the implementation of the mutual commitments between the State and the private sector as determined.
Regional Cooperation and Integration
2.3.23 A regional and sub-regional perspective of governance is indispensable in West Africa, given the multiple interrelations between the countries concerned. On account of the ethnic and economic bonds existing between countries of the region and the extreme porosity of national boundaries, when governance in one country worsens and leads to conflict, this could spread to neighbouring countries or seriously affect them. Burkina Faso uses the negotiations envisaged for under the WTO to defend the principles of restoration of fair competition in the production of cotton, the country’s leading export.
2.3.24 To contribute to regional harmonization of economic governance, Burkina Faso (See annex) has completely implemented the provisions of the common external tariff (CET), adopted an organic budget law harmonized with that proposed by WAEMU. The government is currently adapting national laws to the provisions of the uniform acts of the OHADA Treaty and as for the treaty, is actively involved in preparing with the WAEMU Commission, community regulations governing public contracts, which would be submitted for adoption by the Council of Ministers of the Union in June 2005. Concerning regional economic integration, the Burkinabe government has strengthened its active participation in the implementation of WAEMU policies and programmes on economic convergence and harmonization of sectoral policies as well as ECOWAS policies on economic integration. The convergence criteria (8 criteria including 4 major ones) contribute to good governance and stability.
2.4 Legal and Judicial Reforms
Legal Reforms
2.4.1 Despite the Government’s substantial efforts since 2000 to promote democracy and establish the rule of law, the efficiency and independence of the judiciary is still attracting criticism, with persisting shortcomings due mainly to the lack of means and the methods of appointment. Efforts should be pursued to make the justice system more credible and independent.
28 The existence of clear laws and efficient judicial institutions facilitating interactions between the state and economic agents constitutes an essential condition for economic development and the expansion of a viable and reliable private sector. An appropriate legal system ensures stability and predictability which are indispensable for establishing an economic environment where business risks and benefits can be measured rationally. Inadequate laws, uncertainty surrounding their enforcement, weak executing organs, arbitrariness, inefficient administration of courts and tribunals, and the lack of an independent judicial power are the disincentives to foreign as well as national investments which are indispensable for development. To date, the private sector feels there are still deficiencies in supporting business development on account of inappropriate laws and regulations, which is often coupled with non-objectivity in the judgments rendered. This causes potential investors interested in Burkina Faso to hesitate. For civil society organizations, efficiency of judicial action still faces many constraints, notably breach of trust by staff of the justice system, slowness in processing documents and poor communication. The average time-frame for dealing with a case ranges from six to sixteen months. Furthermore, the enforcement of certain court decisions is constrained by flaws, irregularities or inappropriateness of the judgment or the authority.
2.4.2 To cope with these deficiencies, the Government adopted a National Plan of Action for Justice Reform in Burkina Faso (PANRJ) for the 2002-2006 period. Its overall goal is to “strengthen the role of judicial power within the State and society in order to make judicial power an essential actor in the building of democracy and settlement of private and public disputes, ensuring its independence and efficiency”. The implementation of this plan is beginning to bear fruit as testified by: (i) the review of the law on judicial organization which takes into account the institution of courts for minors; (ii) creation of new courts; (iii) review of the penal code, (iv) drafting of a bill instituting alternative penalties to imprisonment. To bring justice closer to the people, emphasis is placed on providing new judicial infrastructures and the capacities of judicial personnel have been strengthened. One of the main problems encountered in the implementation of this plan is financial. The cost of the plan of action which is CFAF 21,000 million is not yet available. The public expenditure review concerning the legal sector states that there is no link between the plan of action and budgeting in this sector. The adjustments made following the allocation of the MTEF package do not sufficiently take account of priority expenditures. Substantial support from the country’s development partners should help to offset such deficiencies.
Judicial Reforms
2.4.3 An in-depth reorganization of the judiciary effectively took place in 2000 with the splitting of the Supreme Court into four superior courts, namely the Constitutional Council, the Court of Cassation, the State Council and the Audit Court. The Court of Impeachment was established and the Higher Judicial Council reorganized in 2001. Judicial coverage has improved since the number of high courts has risen from 10 to 17 and new magistrates’ courts have been set up. Human resources have been strengthened through the recruitment and training of about 90 judicial/legal officers, 10 chief registrars and 19 registrars, posting of magistrates from the school of magistracy, training and retraining in different legal domains including OHADA. A centre for advocates has been constructed in Ouagadougou.
2.4.4 The status of judges was reviewed as well as their salary indices. They are now among the highest paid public servants. The laws seem largely available as in collaboration with the faculty of law, a compendium of the country’s legal instruments is updated and disseminated along with the production of a collection of legal abstracts on applicable law, 4 of which are already available and 10 scheduled for the end of 2005, and the existence of a Burkinabe law review and
29 the establishment of a legal and judicial data bank that is now operational. An acceptable rate of enforcement of judgments is reported.
2.4.5 In spite of the aforementioned progress, there are still shortcomings. The lack of means and the methods of appointment chosen for the new judicial institutions could limit their independence. An internal audit of the judicial system cannot be conducted by an efficient inspection service because of lack of means (office, car, telephone to contact the country’s courts, funds for missions). Its reports meant for the Ministry are not disseminated in spite of their importance for the services of the Ministry. The administration of the justice sector should be improved in order to avoid the present over-centralization of expenditure and to obtain more transparent financial statements, higher rate of utilization of appropriations, permanent availability of consumables and basic services (paper, ink, forms, filing materials, electricity etc). Similarly, delays or uncertain results of certain judicial procedures are raising concerns about the independence of the judiciary. Access to justice is constrained by physical, cultural and financial problems. There is a general feeling that it is notably ordinary litigants that bear the brunt of these deficiencies. More well-off litigants and those who have connections are able to secure respect for their rights, outside the justice system; and when they go to law, they are able to avoid partial judgments that are to their disadvantage. Furthermore, while the principle of cost-free justice is asserted, in practice, access to justice is subject to payment of various fees whose relatively high costs discourage litigants. Lastly, ignorance by litigants of their rights, by reason among others, of the psychological and socio-cultural gap existing between the vast majority of the population on the one hand, and the justice system on the other does not ensure their access to justice. The judicial system is perceived as quite largely corrupt.
Alternative Settlement of Disputes: the Ombudsman
2.4.6 This concerns the consideration of disputes outside conventional judicial institutions, following transparent procedures and based on the accountability of its members. To that end, institutional and traditional mechanisms are used as well as the intervention of civil society and sometimes even the press. Hence, managing a dispute would then mean, facilitating a process of good governance which has various components. Strengthening justice and democracy is increasingly being viewed as an appropriate means of their prevention and management.
2.4.7 Created in 1994, the role of La Mediature du Faso (Burkina Faso Ombudsman) is to defend the interests of the citizens against the slippages of public authorities with limited jurisdiction. The Ombudsman has powers of self-referral. It is part of the network abbreviated AOMF (Association des ombudsman et médiateurs francophones), who are called upon to work for human rights. The number of complaints is relatively low. The good governance strategy on the drawing board envisages a strengthening o the Ombudsman’s role.
2.4.8 The use of traditional mechanisms and the involvement of traditional rulers in their communities of origin often represent a major advantage in alternative resolution of disputes. The traditional practice of “joking” helps to reduce any tension including ethnic ones. However, the following constraints are noted: (i) the lack of training of traditional authorities in modern law; and (ii) the intertwining of different and sometimes incompatible legal systems (modern law, customary law, Islamic law, eclectic land tenure law). However, it is important to take into account the importance and necessity of such mechanisms in society as the institution is part and parcel of the general culture.
30 Legal Framework and Environment of the Private Sector
2.4.9 The legal corpus concerns business law, the investment code, mining code, inland taxes, customs legislation, competition, etc. Since October 1993, Burkina Faso is a member of the Treaty of the Organization for the Harmonization in Africa of Business Law (OHADA). The completion of the implementation of the OHADA treaty provisions should permit the harmonization of regulations on company law, legal status of traders, debt collection, securities and execution, turnaround management programmes, compulsory liquidation, sales and transport law, arbitration law, labour law and accounting law. Customs law applies WAEMU regulations. To remove the administrative constraints inherent in the commercial and investment operations, a one-stop shop was opened in 1994, responsible for centralization, rationalization and simplification, and acceleration of administrative formalities which economic operators are required to fulfil. The time-frame for authorization to create a foreign enterprise has reduced from three months to 15 days, and for a national enterprise, from 2 weeks to 48 hours. Once entered in the trade register, business can begin. The Burkina Faso enterprise centre (MEBF) which was recently set up, supports the private sector by providing assistance and advice to small enterprises. Although unquestionable efforts are being made, there is still a lack of commercial courts and arbitration centres.
2.4.10 A review of law No 62-95/ADP of 14 December 1995 on the Investment code has been under way since 2003, the presentation of a new code having been scheduled for the next session of the National Assembly. A National Commission on competition and consumption (CNCL) has been set up to reform private sector support structures, namely the Burkina Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Handicrafts, the Burkinabe Shippers’ Council and the National Office for External trade as well as the Enterprise Centre. Concrete actions have also been taken by the government as part of the fight against fraud, corruption, unfair competition, which have permitted seizures in several industrial zones. Given the scope of the scourge, the government has undertaken to make the necessary efforts to eliminate it in conjunction with economic operators.
2.4.11 The results of this policy are positive since a recent World Bank analysis of the Business environment in Burkina Faso considers that previous ratings for the business environment should be improved. Furthermore, the creation of foreign enterprises is on the rise, partly following the relocation of enterprises from Côte d’Ivoire. Lastly, the government, as concerns, on the one hand initiatives taken to invest in the priority sectors in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and on the other hand, the transparent provisions of the new public contracts code which will extend competition to private sector enterprises, must lay special emphasis on actions aimed at strengthening the capacities of the national private sector.
2.5 The Fight against Corruption
2.5.1 Corruption is generally defined as the practice of embezzlement, abuse of power, breach of public trust for personal gain. This definition sufficiently covers most forms of corruption which exist in the private sector and the public sector. The fight against corruption is a fundamental indicator of attachment to good governance. In fact corruption has become a major challenge to Burkina Faso as other developing countries. This situation has led Burkina Faso to initiate a series of actions which have not resulted in sufficient concrete steps capable of eradicating this scourge.
2.5.2 According to the 2003 human development report, corruption in Burkina Faso increased in 1991 during the liberalization of the economy with the increase in projects financed by the international community. The context of multiparty politics with its corollary of elections led to the use of complex forms of “party vote-catching” as parties are currently funded by traders, friends, private and state-owned enterprises. The scope of the phenomenon is such that corruption is a
31 significant reality in contemporary Burkinabe society. No sector is exempt, justice, councils, health, education, taxation and the media. Corruption reduces the amount of public resources and affects the effectiveness of public expenditure. Public contracts unduly awarded to less qualified contractors translate into excessive costs, implementation delays, poor performance (roads, buildings, etc.) but which are accepted nonetheless. Concerning expenditures, sometimes dishonest employees of the system (budget / treasury) demand commissions to speed up the process or in order not to delay payments. All such practices tarnish the image of the public service and are to the user’s detriment.
2.5.3 Corruption in the award of public contracts is one of the main constraints undermining the functioning of the fiduciary system. Any mechanism to fight against corruption in public contracts must be based on the penal code which criminalizes certain acts and envisages penalties for them. The new public contracts code contains provisions which define offences and the penalties to be inflicted on natural persons or corporate bodies in the administration or the private sector. It institutes the automatic nullity of public contracts signed in violation of the provisions of the public contracts code. Administrative and financial penalties may be inflicted on any natural or legal person having been involved by deed or abstention in any public procurement operation concluded in violation of the provisions of the code. However, the actual enforcement of these provisions remains uncertain given that there are no institutional mechanisms to effectively determine the offence and ensure enforcement of the penalty. There are no instruments of implementation that could have clarified these points. Similarly, there is no public contracts code of ethics to warn against offences and corruption and promote honest behaviour in this domain. Lastly, the provisions of the new public contracts code which institute priority to bidders for contract awards do not allow for calling into question the bid preparation procedure.
2.5.4 The laws and regulations are well defined. However there are deficiencies in its actual implementation. Indeed Burkina Faso has anti-corruption laws and regulations and a mechanism as well. The legal framework for prevention or punishment is directly or indirectly covered by various basic or fundamental instruments namely, the Constitution, the penal code, laws applicable to government employment or employees, tax code, customs code, the rules of competition, advertisement code, electoral code, law on the funding of parties and various international conventions. The Constitution makes it an obligation for the Head of State to declare his assets. The penal code defines active corruption, passive corruption and offences such as illicit wealth; it envisages sentences and fines. The laws applicable to government employment and employees condemn and penalize illegal collection of interest. The tax code provides for offences concerning tax collection. The regulations on the fight against corruption and fraud are constituted by instruments on the organization of public contracts and professional and competitive examinations. A short coming is that to date, there is no general law penalizing the embezzlement of public funds, corruption, misappropriation, influence peddling and similar offences.
2.5.5 The issue of corruption or embezzlement is dealt with in Law N°403/96/ADP of 13 November 1996 on the penal code. This Law was enacted by Decree N°96-451/PRES of 18 December 1996. In Burkina Faso, there is no minimum threshold for corruption and embezzlement. However, the law provides sanctions based on the seriousness of the offences. Section 154 concerning embezzlement stipulates that for amounts of up to CFAF 1 million, the sentence ranges from 1 to 5 years in prison and the fine from CFAF 300.000 to CFAF 1 million. For amounts over CFA 10 million, the sentence varies from 10 to 20 years in prison and the fine from one to ten million CFA francs. Offences of up to CFAF 500.000 are dealt with by the magistrate’s court while those above CFAF 500,000 are handled by criminal hearings of the appeal court.
32 2.5.6 In August 2004, HACLC organized a seminar to discuss the national anti-corruption policy, from GGSP resources funded by the ADF. This project was to be re-examined at the end of 2004. It was stated that the general goal of the policy is the long-term eradication of the phenomenon of corruption with attainment in the intermediate period of a few years of the zero- tolerance level. The specific objectives of this policy are as follows. (i) assertion of the political will to combat corruption; (ii) improvement of the involvement of the citizenry in fighting corruption, (iii) strengthening of the laws and regulations against corruption; (iv) improving the efficiency of the action of the judiciary in the fight against corruption; (v) restoring the effectiveness and independence of the audit system; (vi) transparency of the public service; and (vii) strengthening international cooperation in the fight against corruption. This draft policy should lead to the formulation of a plan of action which identifies measures for the implementation of this policy, the expected outcomes, monitoring indicators, timeline and financial needs.
III. EVALUATION OF THE NATIONAL GOOD GOVERNANCE STRATEGY
3.1 Presentation of the Key Elements of the Strategy
3.1.1 The National Good Governance Plan (NGGP) for 1998-2003 which was adopted in 1998 was based on the following three main actions: (i) the establishment of a strategic State capable of playing its role of directing and giving impetus to the socio-economic development of the country; (ii) improving the business environment; and (iii) promoting a civil society capable of influencing the different political and economic decisions. The specific objectives pursued were: (i) redefinition of the role and missions of the State; (ii) accountability in economic management; (iii) public administration reform; (iv) fight against corruption; (v) effective decentralization; (vi) an independent judiciary; (vii) improvement of the business climate; (viii) strengthening partnership with civil society; (ix) development of freedom of the press and the media; and (x) gender mainstreaming. The implementation of the programme was to translate into the following outputs:
3.1.2 Redefinition of the Role and Mission of the State was to lead to the return to the State of the responsibility of creating an institutional, political and economic environment conducive to sustainable development. The State was to guarantee the existence of equitable, effective and stable laws and regulations governing public and private activities. The State in the context of liberalization of the economy was to play with foresightedness its role of directing, regulating and giving impetus to development and furthermore, a more active role in the distribution of income. To that end, the State was to be responsible for formulating general policy, enacting incentive laws and regulations for running the economy and for exercising of control powers.
3.1.3 Accountability in economic management comprised three main aspects: (i) formulation of a forward-looking vision of the development of Burkina Faso by conducting a prospective study dubbed “Burkina 2025”: (ii) the drawing up as from 2000 of a Poverty Reduction Strategy Framework (PRSP); and (iii) the implementation of a budget management strengthening programme (PRGB) to ensure transparency in public resource management.
3.1.4 To be able to attain the millennium development goals, the Government in 2000 adopted the poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSP). The main objectives of the PRSP are to (i) reduce the poverty incidence from 45% to 35% by the year 2015, reduce the vulnerability of the various target groups in the face of various crises, the inequality between different socio-economic groups as well as regional disparities; (ii) improve life expectancy by at least 10 years by reducing neo-natal, infant and maternal mortality, improving access to drinking water and increasing the literacy rate. In terms of quantity, the Government’s strategy was to: (i) increase real GDP by 7% to 8% per year and double per capita income in less than 15 years. To attain these overall objectives, the Government set itself specific objectives, divided into four priority actions in the poverty reduction
33 strategy framework paper (PRSFP), namely (i) promote sustainable, rapid and equitable growth; (ii) guarantee access of the poor to basic social services; (iii) broaden job and income-generating opportunities for the poor; and (iv) promote good governance. The assumptions underlying this programme are: (i) achieving an investment rate of over 27% of the GDP of which 14% of public investment and (ii) gross national savings rate of 15% of the GDP of which 4% for transfers by Burkinabe abroad.
3.1.5 Public administration reform was to promote the values of stringency, probity and transparency in the management of public affairs; ensure the proper functioning of services, penalize proven offences in order to follow up on the audits conducted. The reform was to lead to the adoption of procedures and methods aimed at improving the functioning of ministries and institute the preparation and publication of a procedures manual for each administrative entity. Regarding career management and the system of incentives, the idea was to establish a system of recruitment based solely on merit and strive to depoliticize the administration.
3.1.6 The purpose of decentralization was to ensure a division of responsibilities between the government and regional and local authorities and the building of their management and analysis capacities. Decentralization was to be carried out by adopting instruments on the orientation of decentralization, establishing the right of all regional and local authorities to freely manage themselves and their own affairs such as to promote development at the grassroots with increased involvement of the populations in development activities .The implementation of appropriate financial provisions was envisaged in order to provide councils with the means to exercise the powers devolving upon them .The implementation of this policy was to be accompanied by training programmes for local elected representatives. These measures were to lead to the establishment of an efficient local administration. This objective is currently being handled by the general code of regional and local authorities in Burkina Faso.
3.1.7 To enable the judiciary to fully play its role in good governance, actions were envisaged concerning structures, legislation and documentation, the management of human and material resources and lastly, on the rights of litigants. Regarding structures and infrastructures, the actions were to consist in laws on judicial organization, improving the national judicial coverage through new courts and improvement of facilities. As concerns legislation and documentation, it was envisaged that certain instruments were to be reviewed and new documentation centres set up. A voluntarist policy of training and recruitment of judicial/legal officers and registrars was envisaged. The idea was also to see to the moral rectitude of the profession of judicial/ legal officer by inflicting stiff penalties for violations of the professional code of ethics. Furthermore, free access to justice and bringing it nearer to the people was to be a permanent concern in a system of good governance. Priority was also to be given to the fight against corruption.
3.1.8 In a bid to improve the business environment, the State had pledged to (i) strengthen existing consultation forums in order to establish partnership relations which could be based on model contracts defining the terms of relations between the State and the private sector; (ii) define the minimum rules of the game to ensure the proper functioning of the market as well as competition; (iii) pursue efforts at improving the macro-economic framework in order to attract private sector investment; (iv) strengthen the mechanisms for supervision of the sector and support to SMEs and micro-enterprises. Commercial banks were to increase their credits to formal entities, notably by financing small and medium-sized enterprises. Private promoters were to use the potentialities offered by regional economic integration.
3.1.9 The importance accorded civil society was based on the conviction that the consolidation of good governance hinges on sincere, balanced dialogue on the basis of mutual tolerance between the State and civil society each respecting the other’s and own sphere and
34 jurisdiction. The areas of intervention of civil society were to concern mainly associations and community movements, the press and the media. As part of the programme, it was envisaged that a national conflict prevention and management watch, the elections and democracy watch as well as the national anti-corruption network would be put in place.
3.1.10 Within the framework of the NGGP, special focus was on press freedom considered an indispensable element for promoting the culture of participation in democracy and socio-economic development. Emphasis was to be on the normal functioning of the press within a context of freedom and independence and improving the information system through greater and better involvement of citizens. To achieve this, it was envisaged that the laws hampering press freedom would be abolished and State media laws redefined so as to make the latter public service media serving the general interest. The revision of the information code was also envisaged to take into account the question of transparency of the funding of the press. In order not to exclude rural communities from Communication for development, it was envisaged that rural radio would be allocated substantial resources. Steps were also to be taken to train journalists and set up a system of support to mass communication initiatives by NGOs.
3.1.11 Regarding the gender issue, the objectives pursued were: (i) poverty reduction by facilitating women’s access to land, to appropriate credit and employment; (ii) development of female human resources by promoting equal access of young girls to education, encouraging vocational training, protecting the fundamental rights of women and the girl child by combating violence against women and protecting the rights of the girl child to an identity; (iii) social mobilization for a positive image of women and promotion of women’s access to decision-making circles at all levels; (iv) establishment of institutional mechanisms for coordination, monitoring and evaluation of the status of women in all sectoral policies.
3.2 Examination of the Pertinence of the Strategy in the Light of the Diagnosis
3.2.1 As shown by an evaluation by the government, the guidelines of the NGGP strongly influenced major reforms such as the constitutional review, the drafting of a new electoral code, the instruments governing regional and local authorities and budget management reforms. Whereas, the activities contained in the NGGP and the PRSP incurred start-up delays on account of the difficult socio-economic and political situation as well as financing difficulties. In Burkina Faso, the examination of the pertinence of the strategy must be conducted by examining the implementation of the NGGP and the PRSP for the 2000-2003 period. In general, it shows that the good governance implementation mechanisms have often been developed more at the formal level than in concrete terms. As in other developing countries, the pertinence of the national governance strategy should be evaluated in terms of concrete results and thus in terms of its capacity to help bring about a change of attitude and take into account new rationalities and modern means. Definitely, the powers that be are manifesting their good intentions to provide all the conditions necessary for the implementation of reforms but this ideal is overshadowed by the reality on the ground. Accordingly, in the light of the diagnosis and the examination of the pertinence of the strategy, good governance in Burkina Faso can be improved. The detailed results of the evaluation of the implementation of the NGGP are as follows:
3.2.2 As regards democratic governance progress has been made. The credibility of electoral processes has been strengthened with the holding on schedule of the three legislative elections respectively in 1992, 1997 and 2002, organized by the Independent National Electoral Commission whose prerogatives have been strengthened. A law of year 2000 laid down the conditions for public funding of party activities and election campaigns while a charter of parties and political groups was adopted by law in 2001. However, in spite of the gradual entrenchment of parliamentarism, the parliament as an institution and hence political debate still faces a number of constraints which hamper its effective contribution to the democratic process and the performance of government action: lack of
35 means, impact of majority rule and party discipline. Parliamentary control over policies through parliamentary commissions of inquiry can be strengthened by the publication of inquiry findings and more frequent organization of parliamentary debates. Furthermore, the results of the audits by the Inspectorate-General for Finance and the State Inspectorate-General could be made available to the NA without prejudice to legal action and other administrative sanctions.
3.2.3 Regarding the organization of political parties, deficiencies are noted in their governance. Once formed, political parties must be registered by the public authorities and be recognised by the ministry in charge of public liberties which issues an order of recognition (Articles 9 to 13 of the Charter of political parties.). While this instrument may be considered an authorization, there could be a contradiction with Article 7 of the Charter of parties and political groups which states that they may be formed freely. Moreover, the utilization of public funds by political parties is not closely monitored. Few parties met the deadlines set for submitting their financial statements to the Audit Court. This situation could contribute to erode the credibility of parties and especially the rationale and appropriateness of future public funding.
3.2.4 Since 1998, public administration reform has been gradually implemented with some positive results as well as the aforementioned short-comings. The frequent reorganization of ministries with an increase in ad hoc structures to the detriment of the traditional ones lead to dysfunctions, less overall efficiency and a poor allocation of the already insufficient human resources. As concerns executive power, there have been improvements at the level of government work, as well as the visibility of government action through information and communication efforts (press briefings, creation of government websites).
3.2.5 As far as local governance is concerned, progress albeit insufficient, has been made as follows: adoption of laws on the orientation of decentralization, the establishment of 49 urban councils, the putting in place of instruments for institutional, technical and financial support to councils (FODECON) and the council management and development support Service (SAGEDECOM). These gains have been strengthened by poverty reduction programmes at the council level envisaged in the PRSP and by bilateral partners. At the present stage considered an initial phase of the decentralization process, MATD is striving to ensure the implementation of the strategic provisions of the decentralization orientation laws and the extension of the process to rural areas. Two structures to support local authorities have been established. The local authorities management and development support agency (AGEDECOL) and the local authorities development fund (FODECOL). Priority actions are underway to ensure coherent and effective implementation of the laws and regulations concerning the evaluation of resources necessary for the effective exercise of the authority to be transferred to the councils, elaboration of attendant actions and counselling support to decentralization actors; and lastly strengthening of the involvement of civil society and all development stakeholders present at the local level.
3.2.6 Accountability in economic management: the national prospective study dubbed “Burkina 2025” made significant progress during the implementation of the first NGGP, one of its outcomes being the retrospective studies, the survey on national aspirations and the consideration of the spatial dimension. These studies permitted the diagnosis of the general trends (which constitute a setback for development), the strengths and weaknesses and determination of prospects by highlighting opportunities, threats and the germs of change. At present, the three phases of the Burkina 2025 prospective study are completed. The findings of the study may enable the government to work out the main guidelines of the strategies for the years ahead.
3.2.7 The main observation regarding the implementation of the PRSP is the stagnation of poverty, the worsening of regional disparities and the persistent vulnerability of the public finance situation. Indeed, recent national surveys report a worsening of the incidence of poverty by two
36 percentage points between 1998 and 2003, from 44.4% to 46.4%. These indicators would reflect the impoverishment of the urban dwellers among whom the poverty incidence has increased from 10.4% in 1994 to 19.9% in 2003 and a relative stabilization of the incidence of poverty in rural areas. Concerning regional disparities on the basis of the national average incidence of 46.4%, there are three categories of regions. In the Centre-North, East, Sahel and Centre-West, the poverty incidence would be at an average level of 40%; (ii) in the Hauts Bassins, Centre-East and Cascades, the poverty incidence would be about 50%; and (iii) in the Centre, Centre-South and North, central plateau, Boucle du Mohoun areas, considered the poorest regions, the poverty incidence could reach an average of 60%. This situation could reflect inequalities in public investments. Furthermore, it is worth noting that the economic performances of Burkina Faso are not reflected on the tax ratio level which has not changed and which is one of the lowest in the sub-region. Burkina Faso’s eligibility for the completion point of the heavily indebted poor countries initiative in April 2002 is however a spin-off from the implementation of the PRSP and the NGGP. That has enabled Burkina Faso to benefit from a debt reduction of USD 553 million in net present value. However, in spite of this situation, the debt burden represents a real constraint.
3.2.8 The main constraint on the implementation of the different development programmes was the weak capacities. The capacity building needs have become the main concern of national authorities. This situation led the government to present at the Roundtable Conference of March 2004, a document on the capacity building needs which reflects this concern.
3.2.9 The outputs under justice and judicial power bear on organizational issues, building of infrastructures and rationalization of procedures in accordance with the NGGP. Efforts need to be pursued to make the justice system more credible. The main guidelines of the National Plan of Action for Justice Reform in Burkina Faso for the 2002-2006 period (PANRJ) which was aimed at contributing to the strengthening of institutions and efficiency of the justice system and extending its access are still a cause for concern.
3.2.10 The fight against corruption is a concern that was reflected over the period by the establishment of the Anti-corruption coordination authority (HACLC) (set up by decree in June 2001), the national ethics committee, the improvement of the public contracts code and the attention paid to audit organs. However, the general perception is that corruption has worsened. The control, justice and punishment structures face major problems playing their role. The HACLC is still limited to drafting reports and cannot directly institute legal proceedings. The fight against economic crimes cannot be effective without strengthening the operational capacities of the different control structures and institutions and without the necessary impetus. The objectives of the NGGP as concerns the fight against corruption are far from being attained even if they remain pertinent.
3.2.11 Consultation between the private sector and the government was effectively revitalized. Dialogue between the State and the private sector has been institutionalized on an annual basis. The State’s efforts to improve the legal and institutional environment of the private sector are recognized and have yielded the positive results mentioned earlier. Concrete actions have been taken by the government as part of the fight against fraud, corruption and unfair competition and have led to seizures in several industrial zones. Given the scope of the scourge, the government has pledged to make the necessary efforts to eradicate it, in collaboration with economic operators. Furthermore, privatization is ongoing.
3.2.12 The government’s efforts concerning women’s advancement and participation in development have translated into initiatives and the formulation of earlier mentioned plans of action. However, Burkinabe women remain disfavoured in terms of their rights compared to Burkinabe men and the improvement of their status will be a long haul.
37 3.2.13 In general, the satisfactory pertinence of set objectives and actions envisaged by the NGGP is demonstrated, on the one hand, by their conformity with the reviewed PRSP and on the other hand, by the positive impact of the actions undertaken which meet definite needs. The actions not undertaken, on the one hand, demonstrate that the coherence between objectives, needs and capacities was not given sufficient attention by the NGGP. The deficiencies in the results are also a sign of over-optimism of certain forecasts or underestimation of the difficulty of the tasks to be undertaken. In this regard, the Burkina 2025 study shows the scope of the stakes and challenges of the promotion of governance.
The Burkina 2025 Study and the Long-term Scenario of Governance On the overall, the long term prospects and challenges of governance in Burkina Faso are analyzed by the Burkina 2025 study, which conducted an in-depth reflection on the foundations and trends of governance by the year 2025 by envisaging different scenarios. Burkina 2025 distinguishes five main scenarios: (i) Burkina Faso’s breakthrough (ii) The governance challenge (positive internal changes and negative impact of external insecurity) (iii) A governance of captivity of the society (limited internal changes, persistent poverty and insecurity, powerful bureaucracy) (iv) Burkinabe inquisition (impoverishment, local feudal system, corruption, insecurity and sporadic remedial measures) and (v) A nation astray (impoverishment, anarchy, regionalism). Such overall prospects are useful to situate the stakes and better understand the importance of the choice of priority areas and actions.
IV PRIORITY AREAS OF GOVERNANCE AND IDENTIFICATION OF POTENTIAL AREAS OF BANK INTERVENTION
4.1 Areas that may be Considered Priorities for Improving Governance in Burkina Faso
4.1.1 Government considers governance one of the priority aspects of the revised PRSP adopted in 2004 and defined in terms of the following measures: (i) acceleration of equity-based growth, (ii) improving access of the poor to basic social services and social protection; (ii) broadening of job and income-generating opportunities for the poor; (iii) promoting good governance. This last action and phase II of the good governance programme on the drawing-board provide a conducive framework for the government’s good governance strategy. As in the previous NGGP, good governance promotion is understood therein as the promotion of political governance, administrative governance, local governance and economic governance. The priority objectives of the programme of action of implementation of the PRSP resulting from it for the 2004-2006 period were presented at the March 2004 round-table conference. Promotion of a visionary and strategic state, promotion of an equitable judicial power, promotion of an efficient political system, protection of human rights, fight against insecurity, civil society capacity building, consolidation of the overall reform of public administration and implementation of State reform, consolidation of the decentralization process, building the capacities of local elected representatives, strengthening of economic governance, strengthening of the performance and the capacity of public administration, promotion of an environment conducive to private sector development.
4.1.2 In the light of the priorities of the CGP, the priority actions recommended were based on the principles of accountability, transparency, participation, combating corruption and in view of a reliable legal and judicial environment which are the elements underlying Bank policy on governance.
38 Priority Actions for Increased Accountability
4.1.3 Accountability in politics: The main observation is that since the 1990s, political governance has been improving gradually. However, while there may be relatively numerous instruments, and while formal institutional and legal mechanisms may be envisaged, the reality is also marked by deficiencies in the implementation of the principles of democracy and good political governance. For the promotion of a democratic and efficient political system, political accountability should be given impetus through actions aimed at building on past democratic gains during the upcoming elections in 2005 and subsequent ones, promoting political ethics, consolidating the separation and balance between the executive, legislative and judicial powers. The promotion of ethics and their respect by political parties would be a significant contribution to the strengthening of political accountability. The law on the status of the opposition must be reviewed, in terms of accountability of the authorities and the opposition respectively. The stabilization of electoral processes and codes on the basis of the quest for consensus would be a manifestation of electoral ethics.
4.1.4 To consolidate the separation and balance of powers, it is necessary to promote the independence of public institutions and the judiciary and to ensure greater participation of the different political stakeholders in the management of public affairs. To that end, the building of capacities of political parties and of parliament should be supported as well as greater political transparency. For the purpose of building parliament’s capacities notably to ensure effective control of budget laws, the following should be envisaged: (i) an organizational audit of parliament should be conducted in order to better diagnose its problems and recommend appropriate managerial methods; (ii) better training of parliamentarians by organizing seminars on pertinent themes regarding the roles and responsibilities of parliamentarians; (iii) the establishment of a system of organizing and managing parliamentary information and records; and (iv) legal provisions to ensure more equitable representation of women, notably by setting quotas where necessary. Increased political transparency requires notably greater media transparency. To that end, the capacities of the press could be strengthened in particular through press organ training programmes. The working climate could be appeased by revising laws that envisage the sentencing of journalists for gross misconduct and by strengthening the higher information council (CSI).
4.1.5 Administrative accountability: A strategic state which must have a more democratic and efficient political system must also be backed by a more competent and efficient Burkinabe public administration ensuring better economic governance which improves its impact on sustainable development and poverty reduction. The Burkinabe public administration, an instrument at the disposal of the executive power must therefore fill the gaps, build its capacities and ensure better economic governance. The deficiencies in public administration concern availability and quality of essential public services, its accessibility, satisfaction of users’ needs, personnel planning, its decentralization, its transparency, its instability and its politicization. It must overcome the obstacles to its institutional efficiency such as (i) the lack of regulation to implement the laws and instruments on administrative reform; (ii) the poor quality of human resources; (iii) the lack of stringency in the utilization and formulation of new instruments of administrative management (activity programmes and reports, contract of objectives, operating reports, procedures manuals); (iv) lack of incentives and of an administrative culture based on merit; and (v) lack of probity of a number of employees. The priority programmes must therefore seek to further consolidate overall public administration reform and build a republican administration that is stable, while avoiding over-politicization. The main thrusts of such reform could be the rationalization of the structures of the administration, improvement of its output by implementing the principle of promotion by merit, computerization of management by finalizing the integrated system for state personnel administrative and salaries management (SIGASPE) and its extension to sectoral ministries and the decentralized management of personnel; strengthening of the central statistics services and revision
39 of the different instruments. It is also important to draft a code of ethics based on eight essential values, namely, impartiality, probity, integrity, transparency, legality, efficiency, accountability and equity.
4.1.6 Accountability in economic management: A visionary and strategic State requires the deepening of State reform, building of thinking capacities on the country’s and the society’s longer term development as well as its regional and international environment, promotion of pro-poor growth. In this regard, it is important to ensure the operationalization of the Burkina 2025 study which broaches all these major issues. A sound regional and international cooperation policy is a responsibility of the strategic state and represents a vital aspect. As concerns regional organizations positive results have been obtained, but they need to be consolidated and deepened. Priority actions involve: (i) better popularization of the problem and results of this cooperation; improved coherence of the policies and legal instruments of WAEMU, ECOWAS and OHADA, clarification of important issues, such as land tenure, the movement of persons and the right of establishment. To better manage Burkina Faso’s integration into the region and the world economy, the capacities of the bodies in charge of external trade will be strengthened, the balance of payments policy will be compatible with the preservation of the economy’s competitiveness and WAEMU and NEPAD frameworks will be used to develop the country’s relations with the region, Africa and the world.
4.1.7 These efforts will be backed by a multisectoral capacity building programme, notably in priority sectors which are ministries charged with macroeconomic management and with the social sectors. In deed a strategic state must ensure good economic governance by building its economic programming and management capacities, on the one hand, and through better public finance management, on the other. Its programming and economic management capacities will be built by developing the different strategic orientations for operationalizing the Burkina 2025 study; supporting the implementation of the PRSP through budgetary support used as a poverty reduction tool; formulating pertinent sectoral policies, strengthening programming and monitoring of public investment in line with development priorities; continued support to sound management of the cotton sector, ensuring better monitoring of the implementation of the PRSP by using the substantial work of identification and analysis of indicators done by the NISD. To sustainably increase the rate of real GDP for the benefit of the poor, there is a need to: deepen institutional and structural reforms; increase public investments in the priority sectors; pursue pro-poor budgetary policies and promote the diversification of the economy by implementing the 2004-2006 priority programmes of action of the poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSP).
Priority Actions for Greater Transparency
4.1.8 Transparency in public finance management is indispensable in spite of the significant progress made, on account of the shortcomings noted, for instance in the management of external resources and public contracts or auditing. Accordingly, priority actions must develop accountability and transparency in budget preparation and implementation, auditing of public resources and expenditures as well as public contracts. That is all the more indispensable as the budget has become the leading instrument of poverty reduction. To ensure better predictability of external assistance resources, the government in 2005 drew up an agreement which will govern its relations and consultation with donors for budgetary support. It should be implemented along with measures to be implemented through the Budgetary Management Strengthening Plan (PRGB). These measures are aimed at (i) building the capacities of structures charged with budgetary management notably the departments of the budget, planning and public contracts, (ii) improving the quality and transparency of the budget law; and (iii) strengthening the monitoring of budget implementation and fulfilling the end-of-management obligations; (iv) improving the quality of the computerization process within the ministries in charge of the economy and finance, and (v) strengthening control of budgetary management. It is also necessary to step up the process of
40 deconcentration of administrative structures; strengthen the selection and monitoring of public investments in line with development priorities; the reinstatement of external resources in the expenditure system for better control thereof. Increasing public revenue will remain the government’s constant concern, given the present low level of the tax ratio.
4.1.9 Improving the management of public resources will require pursuing the strengthening of the capacities as well as the accountability of the structures responsible for auditing public expenditure (Departments of Financial Control, IGF and IGE, AC). Regarding the structures that audit the public expenditure of the State, it will be necessary to ensure that they play their pre- auditing or post-auditing role and see to an administrative or judicial follow-up to all their reports. Reflection must be conducted on how to improve the effectiveness and impact of the audit and abolish the duplications between the IGF, IGE and AC, including envisaging the merging of the IGF and the IGE and a resultant strengthening of the Audit Court and its independence. Efforts are required as concerns more regular consultation with donors. The Bank requests the institution of a quarterly review with the government for the monitoring of its projects. This review will be systematized with the opening of a national office in 2006. It will also be necessary to maintain the production on time of the budget review act and improve its quality, notably for the purpose of monitoring external expenditure.
4.1.10 Transparency in public contract awards: Efforts should be pursued to improve the public contracts system, given that in spite of the progress made with the new public contracts code, there are still many weaknesses or the regulatory and institutional framework. Indeed improvements should be made in order to (i) further involve the legislator in auditing public contracts; (ii) strengthen transparency by separating the tasks of regulating public contracts from those of auditing public contracts; regulation should involve the private sector and civil society; (iii) take into account public contracts in preparing the budget and (iv) systematize public contract audits. Furthermore, in order to popularize the rules of procedure and systematize their enforcement, the services of the Central Directorate of public contracts (DCMP) should be equipped with a modern information and public contracts management system (SIGMP). The auditing capacity of this directorate which is understaffed and under- equipped should be strengthened. The Bank together with the World Bank is supporting the preparation by WAEMU of community regulations on public contracts. Once adopted by WAEMU in June 2005, the said regulations should contribute to improving the public contracts environment in Burkina Faso.
4.1.11 Transparency in the information system: To attain its economic governance objectives, improving the economic and social information system is paramount and the strategist State must formulate a national information policy and build capacities in economic and social information- related areas. Improving statistical data quality will hinge on building the capacities of the NISD so as to grant it a status whereby it can enjoy greater independence. The government drew up a statistics master plan for 2004-2009 and requested the support of its external partners to finance it. Special attention should be paid to reactivating the National Statistics Coordination Council in its different functions (Coordination of activities, financial monitoring, methodological validation of works, dialogue between users and producers and information dissemination). Furthermore, it should promote the emergence of newspapers, reviews and programmes which facilitate their broadcasting and analysis. To ensure good quality information, it should see to training for press organs and strengthen the independence of the CSI.
Priority Actions for Greater Participation
4.1.12 In order to strengthen participation in the electoral process it would be necessary to: (i) strengthen the capacities of the independent national electoral commission (CENI) and update electoral registers, and prepare electors’ cards; (ii) strengthen capacities to control parties to ensure
41 that they comply with the law by which they are bound to produce a statement of expenditure of the funds received, (iii) strengthen the capacity of the CENI to ensure that the electoral process does reflect the people’s choice; (iv) strengthen the capacities of the constitutional court with logistical and computer equipment.
4.1.13 To strengthen civil society participation: The government should formulate a national gender policy, strengthen civil security capacities, and deepen civil society participation in the formulation and implementation of development programmes, notably of the PRSP, the NGGP, etc. Government action concerning the promotion of human rights and women’s rights is described in the 2002-2006 plan of action and orientation of the Ministry in charge of women’s advancement. The priority actions concerning the promotion of human rights are based on the following major actions: (i) human rights education in order to ensure satisfactory citizen information on and sensitization to their rights and duties; (ii) strengthening human rights laws, (iii) the fight against impunity and for equal treatment of citizens before the law; (iv) adaptation of national laws to the provisions of international treaties and agreements duly ratified by Burkina Faso; (v) promotion, protection and consolidation of civil and political rights; and (vi) promotion and protection of the rights of certain categories notably women and children (fight against the worst forms of child labour, fight against child trafficking), the disabled and other vulnerable or disadvantaged groups. There is a need to ensure the broadening of possibilities of access by women to economic resources as well as the development of female human resources through training programmes. In this regard, political and economic rights of women, especially rural dwellers should be promoted, for their greater participation in development. Events in the past few years have highlighted the importance of a national policy on refugees and returnees; its formulation shall be facilitated by the substantial Burkinabe emigration abroad. The Government must find ways of facilitating sufficient civil society and private sector access to the economic and social information of the press.
4.1.14 Strengthening security is naturally part of the priority areas of good governance. In spite of the fact that internal security is under control, the political unrest in the sub-region and internal banditry phenomena require the strengthening of citizen safety, improvement of the means and efficiency of security services in order to shorten response time and increase national territory coverage. Special attention should be paid to the land tenure issue. A more diligent management of the land issue is also a priority to put an end to the prevailing legal insecurity which is affecting farmers, banks and various economic agents; there is a need to review the legal instruments and practices in force and intensify and deepen reflection on the land tenure issue. The implementation of the plan of action for the establishment of a land register would contribute to clarify the land tenure issue.
4.115 Decentralization and deconcentration: As part of the decentralization and deconcentration policy, emphasis should be placed over the next few years, on measures and actions such as: transfer of authority and resources to councils and regions before 2005 and 2011, new recruitments for the services transferred; setting up of 302 councils before 2006; reform of local taxation and establishment of local financing mechanisms; balanced distribution of investments between regions of the country, strengthening of the legal framework of decentralization (status of the regional and local public service; status of local elected representatives); the establishment under the governor of a representative regional structure with at least deliberative powers; building of local capacities and the structures providing technical support; technical and financial support of local authorities by NGOs and TFPs; the establishment of a law on regional programming and a law on the promotion of local economies, implementation of a development programme for ten average-size towns as well as the formulation and implementation of national and regional development plans.
42 Priority Actions to Strengthen the Legal and Judicial System
4.1.16 The role of the judicial power is absolutely vital in the good governance system for purposes of democracy and socio-economic development. Accordingly, the independence and impartiality of the judiciary are fundamental. Strengthening the institutional capacities of the judicial power hinges on the implementation of a series of measures including increased human, budgetary, material resources to courts and increased facilities, but also on a review of the fundamental instruments governing the judiciary in order to ensure respect for the code of ethics, effectiveness of hierarchical control, efficiency in processing matters, and proper enforcement of court decisions. Special attention must be paid to strengthening the independence of the judiciary and the promotion of legal reforms in order to confer a compulsory legal force to the decisions taken under the law and guarantee the security of tenure of judicial officers. Furthermore, it will be necessary to institute the incompatibility of the profession of judicial officer with a political career or that of an elected representative, strengthen the independence of the judiciary as a whole and depoliticize it by putting an end to relations of subordination or dependence between legal officers and the Ministry of justice. There is also a need to harmonize disciplinary regulations for judicial and legal officers and pursue efforts to improve national court coverage in order to ensure greater accessibility to justice. Furthermore, it will be necessary to improve the system’s output by reducing judgment time-frames, train its personnel, notably that of the Audit Court; promote the dissemination of judicial information and formulate a penitentiary policy.
Priority Actions for Improving the Business Environment
4.1.17 To improve the legal framework and relations between business and public administration, priority actions will consist in implementing the harmonization of instruments with OHADA acts, implementing instruments concerning the establishment of commercial courts, application of the rules of competition and equity vis-à-vis the private sector in the domain of public contracts, establishment of a forum for dialogue and consultation between the public sector and the private sector, better training of private sector human resources and private sector access to economic and social information. For the promotion of and support to the creation of enterprises, the priority actions will concern strengthening the capacities of economic operators by developing support for institutions such as the Chamber of Commerce and the Enterprise Centre. Special attention should be paid to regional financing institutions such as BOAD. Impetus should be given to better management of private enterprises by taking measures to ensure more reliable book- keeping by private enterprises, in conjunction with Employers and ONECCA, by strengthening training and the capacities of accountants and accounting and audit services. The development of the financial sector and microfinance will provide valuable support to the private sector through priority actions such as the extension of the banking network nationwide; diversification of banking and insurance services and products and the extension of microfinance structures. Regulatory and fiscal measures should also be taken to encourage informal sector enterprises to gradually join the formal sector and to channel part of the informal sector by setting up approved management centres. It is also necessary to support the proper functioning of privatized enterprises.
Priority Actions for Combating Corruption and Money Laundering
4.1.18 Concerning the anti-corruption drive, further efforts are required. The priority actions would be to systematically apply the instruments in force: adopt a general law on the fight against corruption; adopt a law on money laundering; strengthen the powers and independence of the anti- corruption coordination authority (HACLC) notably by enabling it to go to law directly; and supporting the National Ethics Committee and anti-corruption civil society organization, notably/ REN-LAC.
43 4.2 Areas of Intervention of Development Partners
4.2.1 The implementation of the main activities resulting from the objectives of the NGGP mobilized external financing part of which was aimed at creating an environment attractive to private investment. During the March 2004 Round-table Conference of Partners, the TFPs operating in the domain of governance reaffirmed their attachment to the promotion of good governance and their availability to support the efforts of the stakeholders engaged in this domain in Burkina Faso. TFPs provide their support within the framework of the implementation of the PRSP, the specific reference documents or governance being the report on national good governance policies and strategies (PSNBG). Their support is a valuable contribution to the country’s good governance efforts.
Areas of Intervention of ADB
4.2.2 The Bank for its part, has support efforts made in the domain of good governance by financing 4 (four) operations : The poverty reduction strategy implementation support programme (PASRP) I and II, the supplementary programme to the second poverty reduction strategy support programme approved in 2001, 2003 and 2004 respectively and the good governance support project approved in 2002. Bank intervention was mainly through support to the PRSP which makes the budget the key instrument of poverty reduction and which comprises a component geared towards improving good governance. As part of this support, the Bank has strengthened the monitoring of the measures aimed at (i) preparing a budget based on the MTEF allocations; (ii) improving the public procurement system, (iii) restoring transparency in the management of public resources (revision of the budget law in keeping with WAEMU legislation); (iv) pursuing legal and judicial system reform (v) strengthening budgetary management and the control of public expenditure, and (vi) pursuing public service reform and decentralization. The Bank in consultation with Burkina Faso’s main partners strengthened the monitoring of the implementation of the plan of action for strengthening budgetary management (PRGB) adopted in 2002 to sustainably improve budget management transparency, reliability and efficiency. Concerning the good governance project which has a low level of implementation, emphasis is on: (i) support to the modernization of the administration; (ii) support to decentralization and to the poverty watch; (iii) support to the good governance coordination and watch; and (iv) strengthening of the public expenditure auditing structures (Audit Court, IGF, IGE, HACLC). Areas of Intervention of UNDP
4.2.3 For democratic governance, the objective pursued by UNDP is to promote personal and political security by promoting human rights notably women’s and children’s rights, strengthening the key institutions working for democratic governance, improving access of the poor to new information and communication technologies and gender mainstreaming. Regarding economic governance, the objective pursued is to promote the formulation, equitable implementation, monitoring and participatory evaluation of poverty reduction policies and strategies. Another concern is also to check the spread of HIV/AIDS and gradually reduce its impact. UNDP is the lead agency in the domain of governance. Its support has facilitated the drawing up of the first national good governance programme covering the period 1998-2003 and the preparation of the second which is on the drawing board. UNDP would like this second programme to serve as a reference framework for donors in the domain of good governance.
Areas of Intervention of the World Bank
4.2.4 The World Bank is supporting structural reforms in Burkina Faso notably in the domain of governance through various structural adjustment loans. The country assistance strategy (CAS) adopted in 2000 is part of the implementation of the PRSP and its four actions just as the CAS
44 which will be adopted in 2005 for the 2005-2007 period to support the revised PRSP for 2004- 2006. The fourth poverty reduction support loan which was granted in 2004 amounts to USD 60 million. Its third component will support the strengthening of budget preparation and implementation, public contracts reform and decentralization. This loan is supplemented by loans and interventions concerning sectors (water, transport, town planning), concerning communities (rural, HIV-AIDS), and concerning technical assistance and capacity building. The World Bank has conducted or will in the coming months be conducting a public expenditure review (PER), an evaluation of poverty, an evaluation of gender and a study of the livestock. It is also pursuing its technical assistance in macro economic modelling in collaboration with the German cooperation agency GTZ. Another CPAR is expected in 2005. The World Bank is the Bank’s main partner in the domain of improving public procurement. Its future interventions will take place within the framework of harmonization. In 2005, it is supporting the Government in preparing the sectoral MTEF for education and health.
Areas of Intervention of the IMF
4.2.5 The IMF is supporting the government’s reform programmes under the poverty reduction and growth facility (PRGF) of USD24.08 million approved in June 2003. The IMF is also providing technical assistance for the management of public finance in the domain of taxes, customs and statistics. An update of the HIPC evaluation was prepared with the World Bank in 2004. Part of the interventions is carried out from the Bamako-based Regional Technical Assistance Centre (AFRITAC).
Areas of Intervention of the EU
4.2.6 EU support concerns different domains : (i) Public finance management notably concerning the monitoring of the 2004-2006 PRGB ; Audit of public contracts for 2001-2002 and 2004; institutional support to DSI and NISD; (ii) judicial system reform (PADEG), (iii) support to civil society and (iv) regional integration.
Areas of Intervention of Other Partners
4.2.7 The main other partners are France, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, Japan and Switzerland. Support to accountability is provided through assistance in the implementation of the PRSP and public finance management. The following are supported: NISD, Directorate General for Customs (mastery of dutiable values, monitoring of customs cordon, adoption of Sydonia (++) system, in-service training); Directorate general for taxation (computerization, maturing of fiscal network, harmonization of laws with WAEMU, local taxation), the Central Directorate for public contracts and the Directorate general of the Treasury and Public Accounts).
4.2.8 Stakeholder participation is manifested in the support provided: organization of elections, notably presidential, civil society intervention on (sensitization of stockbreeders, human rights, national anti-corruption network), decentralization (support to the Ministry of Territorial Administration in its responsibilities of drafting instruments, training and developing decentralized cooperation with Burkinabe local authorities, direct support to certain Burkinabe municipalities including (Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso). Concerning the strengthening of the legal and judicial framework, courts and court registries, judicial service inspectorates, central directorates, are currently being supported. Also supported are the dissemination of documents/ data-bank, establishment of inquiries offices in High Courts and a communication network and internet access; prison administration (improvement of prison conditions, training of warders, alternative sentencing). Actions are targeted for specific training of students and judicial officers already
45 working. Close cooperation established with WAEMU largely based on the EU experience is an indirect support to governance in Burkina Faso. It concerns its organization, the definition of common policy monitory instruments, convergence criteria, laws on external trade and competition. Support is provided to the launching of communication units of the Ministry in charge of promoting human rights, women’s advancement and local elected representatives.
4.2.9 The private sector is supported through assistance to the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Handicrafts (Knowledge of OHADA law, enterprise census and data base), and by strengthening the Enterprise Centre. Agro-industries are being monitored to improve product quality.
Areas of Intervention of the ACBF
4.2.10 The ACBF’s priority area of intervention will be administrative capacity building. A study conducted by ACBF showed the limitations of capacity building which is very often perceived exclusively as training. According to this structure, focus has for a long time been on individuals and not sufficiently on the working environment and the world of work as a whole as well as society, and the slow maturing of institutions have not been taken into account. The ACBF would like to support Burkina Faso through a multi-sectoral programme that would comprise training, systems and logistics.
Donor Coordination
4.2.11 TFPs are currently striving to strengthen coordination. Several TFPs providing joint budgetary support to the poverty reduction strategy paper have agreed to revise the collaboration framework. A memorandum of understanding to govern the conditions for financing and monitoring budgetary support was concluded in January 2005 between the government and nine TFPs including the World Bank, European Union and the African Development Bank. This framework gives the priority programme of action of the PRSP a central role in measuring progress and defining disbursement criteria. This new framework irons out the past differences between disbursement criteria based on WB and ADB policies and those based on indicators used by bilateral TFPs.
4.3 Potential Areas of Bank Intervention
4.3.1 The place of governance in the Bank’s strategy will remain paramount as its vision document and its 2002-2007 strategic plan indicate. Moreover, Burkina Faso has the challenge of mobilizing resources for the achievement of the millennium development goals which envisage reducing the poverty threshold by half by 2015. In the light of this CGP, it is necessary to determine the potential areas of intervention which the Bank can support, through its various instruments: Policy-based lending (PBL), Policy-based lending on governance (PBLG), Development Budget Support Lending (DBSL), Institutional Support Lending (ISL), Economic and Sector Work (ESW) and investment projects. These domains will seek to improve public finance management in order to raise the level of fiscal resources and promote well-targeted social expenditures; the programming of public investments in priority sectors, and the rationalization of the management of the public debt which has reached a disturbing level.
4.3.2 The potential areas of Bank intervention are closely related to the priority areas identified and which should even be included therein. In the light of this CGP, it is necessary to determine among the priority areas identified, those considered potential areas of Bank intervention which the Bank can support through its various instruments. Like the other TFPs, the Bank will support priority actions which will permit improvement of the different aspects of governance. In
46 accordance with its 2003-2007 strategic plan and NEPAD, and faced with the achievement of the millennium development goals which envisage reducing the poverty threshold by half by 2015, the potential areas and actions of the Bank could concern the following aspects: (i) consolidation of democracy to facilitate the participation of all components of civil society in national life; (ii) reform of public administration with emphasis on capacity building; (iii) more accountable and transparent management of public resources, notably for budget preparation and implementation, auditing of public finance and public contracts; (iv) deepening and implementation of decentralization and deconcentration; (v) promotion of participation notably through women’s advancement, protection of human rights and civil society participation; (vi) improving the legal and judicial environment; (vii) promotion of a business-friendly environment; and viii) support to the fight against corruption.
4.3.3 Consolidation of republican institutions and the democratic process: In order to strengthen institutional and political credibility, the Bank will pursue dialogue with he authorities on capacity building and independence of the National Assembly and of the Constitutional Council which would contribute to a better balance of powers by ensuring effective control over the executive power. Such support can be channelled through training, financial support under a programme and acquisition of new information and communication technologies. For more institutional and political transparency, it could provide support through institutional support, or PBLG measures, dissemination of economic and social information (budget laws, development programmes, laws and regulations, domestic and external loans and debts, audits, economic and social statistics).
4.3.4 Implementation of public administration reform and capacity building. As part of the implementation of the reform of the State and the public service undertaken by the authorities, the Bank could support accountability and transparency through appropriate division of duties and responsibilities and missions between ministries and other State services s well as the implementation of decisions on the introduction in the public service of principles of recruitment by competitive examination and promotion and remuneration based on merit. It could also support a programme of institutional and human capacity building of priority ministries. The ministries that may benefit from such support are those in charge of macro-economic management, mainly those responsible for auditing public expenditures, improving the formulation of sectoral policies to combat poverty and support services such as statistics.
4.3.5 Accountability in budget preparation and implementation: To support the Government’s budgetary reform and improved public finance management efforts, the Bank will encourage the determination of the authorities to promote accountability and transparency. To that end, it could support efforts at conformity of intersectoral allocation of resources with PRSP priorities, improvement of the preparation of programme-budgets and of the MTEF, periodic evaluation of the effectiveness of expenditures in the achievement of PRSP objectives. Support will be provided to the implementation of the budgetary aid process and the implementation of the memorandum of understanding signed with donors for this purpose. These actions could be implemented within the framework of dialogue; a PBLG and an ISI. In conjunction with the World Bank, the IMF and other TFPs, it could also support the improved computerization of the expenditure system by taking into account the external expenditures and public contracts, improving audit and control and the actual taking into account of inspection and audit reports as well as building the capacities of the personnel concerned. For more transparency, the Bank could provide support through a PBLG: annual preparation of the budget law and regular publication of reports from the Finance Inspectorate General and the Audit Court.
47 4.3.6 Transparency in the management of public resources and information monitoring: External funding and HIPC resources must be monitored appropriately notably by computer. Audit institutions such as the Audit Court, the IGF and IGE should be provided with the human resources, equipment and logistical means for better public expenditure auditing. Furthermore, the NISD which drew up a master plan should be supported so that it can measure the impact of development policies and strategies on poverty reduction. Such support could be provided within the framework of a PBLG or missions of specialized services of the Bank and ISL activities.
4.3.7 Decentralization and deconcentration support: Decentralization and deconcentration efforts should seek the strengthening of the capacities of the services and local authorities responsible, in order to ensure the rapid establishment of rural communities and the transfer or allocation of appropriate means to local authorities. Support could be provided for drawing up within prescribed time-frames national and regional development plans financed by the Bank. The Bank is already financing a national land-use study. The government submitted requests for the financing of provincial development projects. The implementation of these programmes will help to tackle the problem of regional disparities and narrow the development gap between the capital Ouagadougou and rural areas.
4.3.8 Transparency in public procurement: As part of the modernization of the government procurement system, the Bank could support the State in three ways, notably: (i) periodic assistance for the conduct of an ESW to diagnose the strength and weaknesses of its system (CPAR), and notably for the 2005 CPAR; (ii) consolidation of public contracts reform initiated, notably by the establishment of a legal framework for public contracts and the systematization of public contract audits by the Audit court, the drafting of all implementation instruments (including standard procurement documents) of the public contracts code, the establishment of a modern public contracts information and management system, building the capacities of decentralized and deconcentrated central structures involved in the control and award of public contracts, development of private sector and civil society participation in defining procedures and in public contract audits through a public contracts regulatory organ (ORMP), improvement of anti- corruption measures in public procurement, such as the drawing up of a public contracts code of ethics; (iii) assistance for the domestication of the community regulations on public procurement which will be enacted in June 2005 at the WAEMU level. Such support could be provided within the framework of missions of specialized services of the Bank or through institutional support project activities.
4.3.9 Promotion of participation: In order to increase civil society participation, the Bank could support the building of civil society organization capacities, promotion of gender equity, implementation of programmes on refugees and child trafficking and decentralization efforts. It could do so through dialogue, PBLG measures, institutional support projects of sectors or sectoral projects requiring SCOs. It could notably support gender mainstreaming in Bank programmes and projects. Indeed, the empowerment of women should be implemented by facilitating their access to means of production, formulation of poverty reduction policies and the establishment of a reproductive health programme.
4.3.10 Pursuit of legal and judicial system reform: For the pursuit of legal and judicial system reform, the Bank could through dialogue, a PBLG or ISL support the implementation, on the one hand, of the legal and judicial system reform plan already adopted, and on the other hand, instruments to be used to combat corruption and money laundering. In order to improve the functioning of the legal and fiscal environment of business, the Bank could in the same way, encourage the dissemination and implementation of OHADA instruments, as well as training in taxation and business law for stakeholders concerned in the justice sector and enterprises sector.
48 4.3.11 Promotion of a business-friendly environment: To go beyond the progress recorded as a result of the one-stop shop and the already significant reduction in formalities for setting up an enterprise, the government’s objective is to reduce the number of formalities to four by 2006, in order to reduce the time-frame for setting up an enterprise to one day. The strengthening by the Bank of the capacities of the Chamber of Commerce and the Enterprise Centre would also contribute to private sector promotion. For purposes of transparency, it will encourage the Government to take measures aimed at better bookkeeping, better implementation of the rules of competition and equity vis-à-vis the private sector in the domain of public contracts, and the creation of data bases on the private sector. Public-private sector cooperation will be encouraged through lines of credit. The Bank could support the development of small and medium sized enterprises as well as the creation of approved support and management centres to assist them. An overall micro-finance strategy will be developed to support the smallest enterprises. The Bank will support the government’s efforts in training private sector human resources (implementation of OHADA instruments, accounting and auditing), and could envisage the launching of a study on the assessment of private sector training needs. Furthermore, sustained attention should be given to the land tenure issue, notably the adoption of a land tenure security policy and its implementation.
4.3.12 Combating corruption: The Bank through its GGSP has already assisted in validating the seminar on the preparation of the draft anti-corruption policy in Burkina Faso. The next step could be for the Bank to help in the implementation of this policy and the implementation of the plan of action. To that end, the government should take steps to strengthen the status of the Anti- corruption coordination authority HACLC. The proposals made concern mainly: (i) the establishment of HACLC by an instrument of a legislative scope; (ii) the possibility of going to law directly (iii) raising of the status of members; and (iv) increasing the composition of the commission.
4.3.13 The need for selectivity in Bank interventions will lead to the adoption over the next three years of the following actions: (i) strengthening of budget management; support to the public expenditure auditing institutions; (ii) decentralization; (iii) fight against corruption; and (iv) strengthening of the legal and judicial system. Priority will be given to combating with the objective of attaining a zero-tolerance level and settlement of the land tenure issue in order to reassure investors.
4.4 CGP Recommendations Monitoring Framework
4.4.1 For the implementation of the first national good governance plan, a national coordination under the supervisory authority of the Prime Minister was instituted. By decree N° 99- 198/PRES/PM/MFPDI of June 1999 the following organs were set up: The National Good Governance Coordination (CNBG); Executive Secretariat for good Governance (SEBG) and sectoral committees. The National Coordination (CNBG) was the organ for the coordination, orientation and monitoring of the implementation of the NGGP. It was chaired by the Prime Minister with an open-ended membership comprising ministers, representatives of chair persons of institutions or any institution in charge of a sectoral good governance project, the Permanent Secretariat for NGOs, representing civil society and a representative of the private sector.
4.4.2 The Executive Secretariat (SEBG) was to be the kingpin of the CNBG. It was responsible for the overall coherence of proceedings as well as the monitoring of the implementation of the NGGP and organizing national Coordination meetings. The Executive Secretariat is complaining of the lack of financial, human, material and logistical resources necessary for the smooth conduct of activities. The thirteen sectoral committees are responsible for ensuring the conduct of the sectoral studies and proceedings concerning the implementation of the NGGP in their respective spheres of activity. They are chaired by secretaries-general of Ministries,
49 lead institutions or the Permanent Secretary for NGOs. Other secretaries-general of ministries, civil society officials, project managers as well as any other personality chosen by reason of their expertise are also members. Even if they have all been put in place, the said sectors/committees hardly functioned during the implementation of the first plan, due notably to the lack of financing for the activities. A Bank project, the GGSP was put in place to support the activities of the SEBG and other services charged with governance, but the possibilities offered by this support project are still poorly used.
4.4.3 In the future, the Minister in charge of the Public Service and State Reform (MFARE) will coordinate the 2005-2015 national good governance policy. In theory, monitoring will be continuous, concerted and participatory involving all the stakeholders and development partners concerned. The national good governance coordination may propose updates, corrections and reorientations so that the activities to be undertaken remain pertinent, topical and useful. In accordance with the PRSP, evaluation will be conducted on a yearly basis. The government has expressed the wish to ensure coherence between the NGGP and the PRSP, the CGP and the African peer review mechanism (APRM) of NEPAD. To that end, an APRM national Committee has been set up.
4.4.4 Burkina Faso joined the APRM on 20 March 2003. It should be recalled that the APRM was designed and established by the African Union to enable States parties to ensure that the policies, norms and practices of States parties are in conformity with the values agreed upon in the domain of economic and corporate governance, and with the code and norms of the declaration on democratic, political, economic and corporate governance. Each member State of the African Union may decide in all sovereignty to join in and subject itself to judgment by its peers. Considering the basic documents of the APRM, the country’s evaluation should be made every two or four years. The implementation of the process was postponed to 2006 to take into account the presidential elections scheduled for 2005. The document is to be drawn up by the technical secretariat under the supervision of an inter-ministerial committee comprising twenty-one persons and bringing together representatives of all components of the society. This committee will be the main interlocutor of the Panel of Eminent Personalities (EAP panel) comprising 5 to 7 persons appointed to oversee the review process, examine review reports and make recommendations to the Committee of Heads of State and Government or the Peer Evaluation Forum (EAP Forum), the mechanism’s supreme organ.
4.4.5 The recommendations of this PGP summarized in the matrix appended to the annex will be implemented by the Government, notably the Ministry of the Public Service and State Reform. That will be done in synergy with the implementation of the NGGP and Donors according to their spheres of activity. The Bank through its national office will monitor this programme. The next main thrust will be budgetary support and institutional support which the Bank is planning to finance in Burkina Faso which could include issues concerning the establishment of a land register.
V CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Conclusions
5.1.1 Over the past few years, the government has pursued an active policy of good governance as illustrated by the adoption of the PRSP and the NGGP, as well as various reforms undertaken in the domain of politics, public administration and economic management. The results obtained are encouraging, but still inadequate in terms of accountability, transparency, participation, legal reforms and combating corruption. A key issue remains the mobilization of all private forces in the country and of political power, which would be decisive for establishing the rule of law and for development.
50 5.1.2 The deficiencies noted are due to various objective constraints which are historical, political, geographical, economic and social factors. The country does not have all the human, technical and financial capacities to make progress towards good governance single-handedly and must rely on assistance from its development partners. Such assistance must cover all areas of governance, beginning with the priority areas identified. The Bank must contribute to it in coordination with the other development partners.
5.2 Recommendations
5.2.1 It is recommended that the Bank Group should continue to lend its support to the government to enable it to implement its good governance strategy. In this light, the present good governance profile represents a key instrument of fruitful dialogue that can help in finalizing the 2005-2008 national good governance policies and strategies. On the strength of the conclusions of this report, the following recommendations have been made: For the Government (i) Finalize the 2005-2015 National Good Governance Strategies and Policies (PSNBG) paper in a participatory manner, involving civil society and including recent diagnoses and recommendations, notably those of this CGP;
(ii) Implement governance-related priority actions in the 2004-2006 programme of priority actions for the implementation of the PRSP and the NGGPS;
(iii) Put in place efficient mechanisms for monitoring the implementation of the NGGPS, in close collaboration with the APRM, and monitoring the CGP;
(iv) Assume leadership in the effective implementation of governance-related reforms and allocate them sufficient human and financial resources for their implementation;
(v) Pass an anti-corruption law and strengthen the status of the HACLC and the capacities of government audit institutions, namely the IGF and IGE, and the judicial audit institution, the Audit Court; it is recommended that the instruments governing them should be reviewed to enable the IGE to publish its reports and the HACLC to directly refer matters to the judicial authorities;
(vi) Revise the penal code to envisage introducing therein the offence of undermining freedom of access to and equality of candidates in public contracts;
(vii) Adopt a veritable national strategy to combat fraud and corruption to cover public contracts, concession contracts and lease holding, draw up a code of ethics and set up a unit to ensure the integrity of the system;
(viii) Adopt specifications and public media missions to enable the CSI to better ensure pluralism, balanced information and equal access to the public media ;
(ix) Respond appropriately and diligently to the reports and recommendations of control and mediation mechanisms;
(x) Rehabilitate justice in order to make it more efficient; expedite the processing of all matters pending before the courts.
51 (xi) Improve private sector governance, notably by seeing to compliance with OHADA and WAEMU norms and developing transparency in corporate accounting and taxation.
For the Bank
(i) Participate with other TFPs in discussing the final version of the 2005-2008 NGGPS which will be adopted by the Government;
(ii) Use the recommended priority actions of this CGP to rectify implementation of the on-going GGSP project and design another governance support programme which will focus on public-expenditure-audit institutions;
(iii) Strengthen coordination with the other development partners in order to create synergy with the implementation of the different good governance-related initiatives (CGP, CFAA, CPAR) ;
(iv) Produce a private sector governance profile;
(v) Participate duly in the peer review process to be undertaken in Burkina Faso in 2005 under the African peer review mechanism (APRM) of NEPAD; and
(vi) Collaborate with UNDP in implementing the agreed programme and actions in the matrix
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Governance Profile of Burkina Faso Legal Framework relating to Governance
LAWS
CONSTITUTION
Adopted by the Referendum of 02 June 1991, Revised by law N°001 -2002/ANof 22 January 2002 (OG 2002 N°06) on the review of the Constitution. - Law N°003-2000/AN of 11 April 2000 (OG 2000 N°18) on the review of the constitution. - Law N°002/97/ADP of 27 January 1997 on the review of the Constitution Decrees of promulgation : - Kiti N° AN-VIII-330/FP/PRES of 11 June 1991 - Decree n° 97- 063/PRES of 14 February 1997 - Decree n°2000 - 151/PRES of 25 April 2000 - Decree n°2002 - 038/PRES of 05 February 2002
LEGAL AND JUDICIAL REFORM Law n° 035-2001/AN of 12 December 2001 (OG 2002 N°07) on the composition, duties, organization and functioning of the higher Judicial Council. Organic law n° 036-2001/AN of December 13 2001 (OG 2002 N°07) corps of judicial/legal officers, Law N°005-2001/AN of 16 May 2001 (OG 2001 N°27) on the institution of a Burkinabe national identity card; Law n°011-2000/an on the composition, organization, duties and functioning of the constitutional Council and procedure applicable before it. Organic Law n°013-2000/AN on the organization, duties and functioning of the court of Cassation and the procedure applicable before it. Organic Law n°014-2000/AN on the composition, duties, organization and functioning of the Audit Court and the procedure applicable before it. Organic Law n°015-2000/AN on the composition, organization, duties and functioning of Council of State and the procedure applicable before it. Organic Law n° 15-2000/AN of 16 May 2000 on the composition, duties, organization, and functioning of the Council of state and the procedure applicable before it. Law N° 016-2000/AN of 23 May 2000 (OG 2000 N°28) on regulations governing the profession of advocate. Law n° 99-022/an of 18 May 1999 on the code of civil procedure; Law N° 007-98/AN of 31 March 1998 (OG 1998 N°21) to amend section 84 of the law on the code of military justice. Law n°24/94/ADP of 24 May 1994, on the Code of Military Justice. Law N° 51/93 /ADP of 16 Dec.1993 (OG 1994 N°02) on the procedure applicable before the bench. Ordinance n° 91-51/PRES of 26 August 1991 composition, organization and duties of the Supreme Court; Ordinance n°68-7/PRES/J of 21 February 1968, on the Code of Criminal Procedure.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Law N° 034-2004/AN of 12 Oct. 2004 was on the State Budget review act for the 2002 management. Law 006/2003/AN relating to the budget laws Law N° 20/98/AN of 5 May 1998 (OG 1998 N°25) on standards for the establishment, organization and management of administrative structures of the State. Law n° 13/98/AN of 28 April 1998, on the laws applicable to public service employment and employees. resolution N°003/97/AN of 25 June 1997 on the Standing Orders of the National Assembly Law n° 021/98/AN of 07 May 1998 (Special OG 1998 N°02), on the Electoral Code. Law n° 11/96/ADP of 26 April 1996 (OG 1996 N°24) on amendments to Ordinance n° 92-18/PRES of 25 March 1992 on the electoral code. Law n° 039/98/AN of 30 July 1998, on regulations governing state-owned public administrative establishments. Law N°002-2000/AN of 21 February 2000 (OG N°10 of year 2000) fixing the age limits for military personnel of the national armed forces. Law N°032-2002/AN of 12 November 2002 (OG 2002 N°52) on amendments to the tax Code relating to the single tax on salaries and wages (IUTS) Organic Law n°007-2001/AN of 17 May 2000 (OG N°37 of 13 September 2001) on the composition, organization and functioning of the Economic and Social Council.
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Law n°022/96/ADP of 10 July 1996 to set up a National Order of Chartered and Certified Accountants. Law n°6/95/ADP of 26 April 1995, on amendments to Law n°14/93 relating to the Mining investments Code; Law n° 6/65/AN of 16 May 1965, to establish the Code of Direct and Indirect Taxes and tobacco Monopoly and all amendments thereto. Law n° 26-63/AN of 24 July 1963, to establish the Code of Registration, Stamp Duty and taxes on transferable securities, and all amendments thereto.
TRANSPARENCY
Law n°025-2001/AN of 25 October 2001 (OG 2001 N°52) on the advertisement Code Law n° 32-2001 of 29 Nov. on the charter of political parties and groups (OG n°01, 2002) Law N°007-2000/AN of 25 April 2000 (OG n°30, 2000) on the status of the political opposition Law n° 12-2000/AN of 2 May 2000 on the activities of political parties and election campaigns (OG n°25, 2000) amended by law n° 12-2001/AN of 28 June 2001 (OG 31, 2001) Law N°021-2000/AN of 29 June 2000 (JO N°30, 2000) on the status of parliamentarians Organic Law N°020-2000/AN of 28 June 2000 (OG N°06, 2001) on the creation, composition, duties and functioning of the higher information council. Law n° 15/94/ADP of 5 May 1994, on the organization of competition Law ADP 56-1993 on the information code
STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION Law …/…/ 04 on the local authorities code in the process of adoption Law n° 013-2004/AN of 27 April 2004 on the electoral code to amend law n° 002/2002/AN of 23 Jan. 2002 (OG n°6 of 7 Feb.2002), to amend law n°014-2001/AN of 3 July 2001 (OG n° 2 of 16 August 2001) Law n° 038-2003/AN of 27/5/2003 on the definition and punishment of child trafficking (OG n°31, 2003) Law n° 010/98/AN of 21 April 1998, on methods of State intervention and division of responsibilities between the state and the other development agent (OG N°01, 1998) Law N° 040/98/AN of 3 August 1998 (OG 1998 N°38) on the orientation of decentralization Law N°041/98/an of 06 August 1998 (OG N°38 1998) on the organization of territorial administration Law n°042/98/AN of 06 August 1998, on the organization and functioning of local authorities Law N° 43/98/AN of 6 August 1998 (OG 1998 N°38) on the programming of the implementation of decentralization Law N° 014/99/AN 15 April 1999 (OG 1999 N°24) on regulations governing co-operative societies and groups Law n° 10/92/ADP on the freedom of association Law n° 033-2004/ AN of 14 September 2004 on the labour code Law n°11/92/ADP of 22 December 1992 on the labour code Law N° 017/99/AN of 29 April 1999 (OG 1999 N°27) on drugs code Law n°13-72 AN of 28 December 1972, on Social Security Law N°034-2002/AN of 14/11/2002 (OG 2003 N°01) on the orientation law relating to pastoralism Law N° 014/96/ADP of 23 May 1996 (JO 1996 N°32) on agrarian and land reform Law N°002-2001/AN of 8/2/2001 (OG 2001 N°23) on the orientation law on water management Law n° 5/97/ADP of 30 January 1997, on the environment code Law 6/97/ADP of 31 January 1997 (OG 1997 N°19), on the Forest Code Zatu AN/VII-0013/FP/PRES on the persons and family code Law N°032-99/AN of 22/12/1999 (OG 2000 N°09) on the protection copyright in literature and the arts Law n° 034/98/AN of 18 May 1998 (OG 1998 N°28), on Hospital Law Law n° 23/94/ADP of 19 May 1994, on the Public Health Code Schedule n° 92-021 of 2 April 1992, on the establishment of the Single Order of the Doctors, Pharmacists and Dental surgeons of Burkina. Law N° 62/95/ADP of 14 December 1995 (OG 1996 N°4) on the investment code
CORRUPTION
There is no general law penalizing embezzlement of public property, corruption, misappropriation, influence peddling and similar offences. However, many institutional provisions, laws and regulations are aimed at fighting corruption in Burkina Faso. The legal framework as regards prevention or punishment represented directly or indirectly by various fundamental or basic instruments, namely the Constitution, the Penal code, laws, applicable to public services employment and employees, tax code, customs code, rules of organization of competition, the advertisement code, the electoral code, law on the funding of parties and various International agreements.
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DECREES
LEGAL AND JUDICIAL REFORM Decree n°2001-593/PRES/PM/MJPDH of 6 November 2001 (OG 2001 N°45) on the organization of legal aid in Burkina Faso.
ACCOUNTABILITY Decree N° 2003-560/PRES/PM/MEDEV relating to the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) Decree N°2003- 135/PRES/PM/MEDEV of12/3/2003 (OG 2003 N°13) on the establishment and funding of the National Council of futurology and strategic planning (CNPPS). Decree N°2002-084/PRES/PM/MEF/MFPDI of 26 February 2002 (OG 2002 N°12) on the allowances applicable to public servants of the State. Decree n° 2002 -232/PRES/PM/SGG-CM of 3 July 2002 (OG 2002 N°29) fixing the interim of ministries Decree n°2002 - 254/PRES/PM/SGG-CM of 17 July 2002 (OG 2002 N°31) on the model organization of ministries Decree n° 2002 - 255/PRES/PM of 18 July 2002 (OG 2002 N°32) on the duties of members of Government. Decree N° 2002-560/PRES/SGG-CM of 27 November 2002, (OG 2002 N°52) on the duties and organization of the Secretariat-general of the government and the Council of Ministers. Decree N° 2002-604/PRES/PM/MEDEV of 26 December 2002 (OG 2003 N°02) on the adoption of the decentralized rural development policy letter. Decree N°2002-557/PRES/PM/MFB of 27 November 2002 (OG 2002 N°51) on the general statute of State- owned public scientific, cultural and technical establishments, MCEA Letter _2002 (OG 2002 N°40) policy letter on private sector development Decree no200-278/PRES/PM establishment duties and composition of a National Ethics Committee Decree n° 2001-464/PRES/PM/MCPEA of 18 September 2001 (OG 2001 N°39) on the Status of the Chamber of Commerce Industry and Handicraft of Burkina Faso (CCIA-BF). Decree N°2000-189/PRES/PM/MCIA of 17 May 2000 (OG N°21 published 25 May 2000) on the general statute of State-owned corporations Decree n°2000-318/PRES/PM/MEF of 18 July 2000 (OG 2000 N°30) on definition of the categories of public State-owned administrative establishments. Decree N° 2000-513/PRES/PM/MEF of 3 November 2000 (OG N°47 2000) on the adoption of the document entitled « Poverty Reduction Strategic Framework (PRS). Decree N°99-198/PRES/PM/MFPDI of 14 June 1999 (OG 1999 N°26) on the creation of Good Governance management bodies Decree N°98-437/PRES/PM/MFPDI of 23 October 1998 (OG 1998 N°46) on adoption of a National Good Governance Plan Decree N°98 221/PRES/PM/MEF to lay down loan procedures of the State and its entities Decree N°98 296/MEF/SG/DGTCP/DDP to implement loan procedures of the State and its entities Decree N°98-164/PRES/PM/MCIA/MEF of 20 May 1998 (OG 1998 N°22) to adopt new privatization policy guidelines Decree n° 96-419/PRES/PM/MEM (OG 1997 N°01) to define mining title taxes. Decree N°96 195/PRES/PM/MEF to establish a national public debt committee (CNDP) Decree N°96 124/PRES/PM/MEF organization and functioning of the CNDP
TRANSPARENCY Decree no 2003-269/pres/pm/mfb of 27 May 2003 on general regulations governing public procurement. Decree n° 2002-110/PRES/PM/MEF 20 March 2002 on general regulations governing public contracts Decree n0 97/164/pres/mef on general resolutions governing public accounts. State accounting system, 2nd edition, 2004. Decree N°2001- 656/PRES of 4 December 2001 (OG 2001 N°50) on the creation, duties, organization and functioning of an economic and social watch within the Economic and Social Council. Decree n° 2001-657/PRES of 4 December 2001(OG 2001 N°50) to fix the quotas of representation and the methods of appointment of members of the Economic and Social Council. Decree N°96 195/PRES/PM/MEF establishment of a national public debt Committee (CNDP) Decree N°98 221/PRES/PM/MEF to lay down loan procedures of the State and its entities
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STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION Decree N° 2003-163/PRES/PM/MS of 26 March 2003(JO N°16 2003 of 17 April 2003) on the establishment and definition of the university Teaching Hospitals (CHU). Decree n° 2002-604/PRES/PM/MEDEV of 26 December 2002 (OG N° 02 2003) on the adoption of the decentralized rural development policy letter (LPDRD). Decree n° 2001- 628/PRES/MJPDH of 20 November 2001 (OG 2001 N°48) on the establishment, duties, composition and functioning of the national Commission on human rights. Decree n° 2001-731/PRES/PM/MJDH of 28 December 2001 (OG 2002 N°05) on adoption of the policy and orientation and Action plan for the promotion and the protection of human rights. Decree n°2001-251/PRES/PM/MS of 30 May 2001 (OG 2001 N°25) to adopt the documents entitled « 2001- 2005 strategic framework for HIV/ AIDS control 5” and plan of action for HIV/AIDS control Decree n° 2001-510/PRES/PM/MS of 1st October 2001 (OG 2001 N°41) relating to the National Council for the control of AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (S.T.I). Decree n° 2001 -511/ PRES/PM/MS of 1st October 2001 (OG 2001 N°41) relating to the Permanent Secretariat of the National Council for the control of AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections Decree n° 2001-167/PRES/PM/DEF of 25 April 2001 (OG 2001 N°20) relating to the National Commission on the Fight against the Proliferation of the Light Weapons (CNLPAL). Decree n°2001-624/PRES/MEF (OG 2001 N°06) on the adoption of the National Policy on population. Decree 97-54/PRES/PM/MEF of 6 February 1997 (OG 1997 N°11) on conditions and methods of enforcement of the law on Agrarian and Land Reforms. Decree n°2000-160/PRES/PM/MEE of 28 April 2000 (N°19 2000 published on 11 May) on the adoption of the National Action plan of the Fight Against desertification (PAN/LCD). Decree n° 2000-514/PRES/PM/MEE of 3 November 2000 (OG 2000 N°50) on the adoption of a framework document on the reform of the system of management of rural and semi-urban areas. Decree n°2000-457/PRES/PM/MS of 3 October 2000 (OG 2000 N°50) conditions of private exercise of health professions Decree n°2000-099/PRES/MCIA/MEF of 23 March 2000 to lay down conditions for application law 62/95/ADP of December 14, 1995 on the Burkina Investment code. Decree N° 98-310/PRES/PM/MEE/MATS of 15 July 1998(OG 1998 N°31) on the use of fires in rural areas in Burkina Faso. Decree n° 97-49/PRES/PM/MS of 5 February 1997(OG 1997 N°10), Code of ethics of the Pharmacists of Burkina Faso.
CORRUPTION Decree N° 2003-173/PRES/PM of 7 April 2003 (OG N°17 2003 of 24 April 2003) on the statute of the members of the Anti-corruption coordination authority. Decree n° 2001-773/PRES/PM/MEF of 31 December 2001 (OG N°07 2002) on the establishment, duties, composition and functioning of the Anti-corruption coordination Authority
Annex 2 Burkina Faso: Historical Background
After its accession to international sovereignty on 5 August, 1960, Burkina Faso, like many other African States, witnessed a period of political instability characterized by a succession of constitutional regimes and emergency regimes resulting from military coups d’état. From 1960 to date, Burkina Faso has had four republics and six emergency regimes where the political scene was dominated by the executive and military powers.
The 1st republic which went on between 1960 and 1970 and which was based on a rigid separation of the powers was replaced by an increase in presidential powers with the progressive banning of opposition parties and the adoption in November 1962 of the principle of the monopoly of the presidential party in political life. The 2nd Republic was characterized by the predominant role of the military on the political scene. Article 108 of the 1970 constitution stated that « the duties and prerogatives of president of the Republic shall be assumed by the eldest military personality in the highest rank ». The multiparty system limited to the three-party government of the third Republic was shaken by the military coup d’état of 1980 which ushered in one decade of emergency regime in Burkina Faso. Between 1983 and 1987, and to a lesser extent up to 1990, the country experienced what was known as a revolution which was modelled ideologically on Marxism, and “people power”, and intended to change social relations radically. The mobilization and popular participation which resulted from it triggered a split of modernization in the society but which was often abused undermining respect for the rule of law.
The return to a constitutional life began as from 1991 with the adoption of the constitution of the fourth Republic. The new constitution instituting a semi-presidential system enabled Burkina Faso to gradually embark on a multiparty system and the establishment of democratic Institutions.
The early period of the fourth Republic unfolded in a context marked by a crisis born of protest movements for democracy at the national level and demands for opening up to the world outside (speech of La Baule). This crisis rocked the foundations of the IVth Republic and ended up creating opportunities for the consolidation of the democratic process in Burkina. To resolve this crisis, a college of wise men was set up in June 1999; it proposed reforms which led to the adoption in 2000 of a new electoral code comprising several innovations including (i) the establishment of a new independent national electoral Commission (CENI) with broader powers, (ii) adoption of the single ballot (iii) adoption of proportional representation entailing an increase in electoral constituencies. These consensual reforms adopted on the eve of the 2002 legislative elections restored minimum confidence between the ruling party and the opposition. The results of said legislative elections made it possible to set up a national assembly which was more representative of the various sensitivities in the country
Annex 3 Political Pluralism in Burkina Faso
Political pluralism has made much progress in Burkina Faso. There are 102 parties, including 13 represented in the national Assembly (NA). According to Article 13 of the constitution, the political parties undertake their activities freely. A charter of political parties and groups adopted by law n° 032-2001 of 29 November2001 and law n° 12-2000/AN of 2 May 2000 fixes the conditions for public funding of party activities and election campaigns: The “Congrès pour la Démocratie et le progress” (CDP), the ruling party, has 57 out of the 111 parliamentarians in the National Assembly, but can benefit from the support of MPs of presidential majority; the opposition would total one-third of the MPs.
The status of the opposition governed by law n°007-2000/AN of 25 April 2000 is in the process of implementation. The opposition leader who has protocolar status has been just designated. This positive innovation which takes into account the fact that the democracy is majority rule with due respect for the minority, had to be consolidated by the second review of law 007/2000/AN which comprises shortcomings (procedure for designation, time of such designation, scope of the prerogatives) which, if not addressed are likely to undermine an institution which already has trouble asserting itself within the parliamentary opposition. Two of the five Vice-presidents of the National Assembly belong to the opposition. Of the five commissions of the National Assembly, two are chaired by the opposition: The economic development and the environment commission is chaired by an MP of the PDP, that of education and social affairs by an MP of ADFRDA. Of the eight parliamentary secretaries, four are of the opposition. This composition of the NA and such division of responsibilities facilitates debates which are largely reported by the press. Thus, during debates on the 2005 budget law adopted on 16/12/2004 by 57 votes against 54, the groups Justice and Democracy, ADF/RDA and PDP/PS criticized the bill and voted against. According to the opposition “the government is seriously mistaken in its strategy … the real problems are unemployment, ignorance, poor health, corruption, impunity, prestige expenditure, growing insecurity”. On the other hand, the CDP group considered the budget as promoting economic and social development, fighting against poverty along social democracy lines.
The rights and duties of political parties are specified in the charter of political parties, which recognizes their legal powers and their organizational autonomy: the right to meet and to demonstrate in public, right to public funding, right to take part in all the debates concerning national life, to go to law, to have press means, to acquire, own and manage movable and real property. On the other hand, they are subject to duties: to function according to their statutes, to notify any change in their internal governance, to prohibit any incitement to violence, any undermining of the sovereignty of the country, any libel. In the event of failure, the parties, which have the possibility of going to law face a warning, suspension, or even dissolution by decree. The opposition parties are complaining less today than in the past, of certain obstacles to the exercise of their rights, put by the authorities. But, it is also worth noting that the political parties do not always function democratically. The opposition parties are often weak and many parties have no solid financial and social bases or a viable alternative platform and agenda. The opposition should not only denounce the social ills and the errors of the government but should be capable of making more proposals and defending them more efficiently in order to contribute to the quest for appropriate solutions. The debates on good governance may afford such an opportunity. That will facilitate the organization of a more fruitful political debate on economic development and the choice of a blueprint for society.
Annex 4 Prudential Provisions Applicable to Banks and Financial Establishments of the West African Monetary Union (WAEMU)
The Council of Ministers of the West African Monetary Union (WAEMU) adopted the prudential rules in June 1999 applicable to banks and financial establishments. The prudential rules relate to the following domains: conditions of exercise of the profession; regulation of the operations carried out by the banks and financial institutions; management standards.
- Conditions of exercise of the profession: The amount of the minimum authorized capital of banks is fixed at CFAF 1 (one) billion in all WAEMU States. This authorized capital must remain constantly employed in the country where approval is granted. The banks must be able at any given time to show proof of effective own capital stocks at least equal to the minimum capital. They have an obligation to keep their accounts in accordance with the accounting provisions and other rules defined by the Central Bank of West African States. They must respond to any queries or requests from the banking Commission. They must publish their accounts annually and organize a rigorous internal audit. In addition to the communication by each bank, at the latest on June 30 of each year, of the documents of end of fiscal year the banking law envisages the publication in the Official Gazette and the behest of the Central Bank, of the annual statements of each bank.
- Regulation of bank operations: A number of ratios must be observed by banks and financial institutions. A ratio must be observed between the various elements of their resources and employment. Ceilings or minimums must be respected for the amount of some of their employment. Payments are issued for shares, loans to the principal shareholders and managers, fixed assets.
- Management standards: the banks and financial institutions must respect management standards with a view in particular to guaranteeing their liquidity, their solvency, the sharing of their risks and the balance of their financial structure. The risk coverage is defined by a minimum ratio to be observed, known as “own capital stocks risks ratio”. This ratio comprises the numerator, which is the amount of the effective own capital stocks of the bank or the financial institution, and the denominator which is the Net risks, determined according to the method’s presented. The minimum percentage to observe is fixed at 8%.
Annex 5
Cotton Sector Management, the Public Sector and the Private Sector
Sustainable cotton growing and its sound management are of crucial importance for the country. The cotton sector provides incomes to more than 2000000 people, provides more than 60% of the country’s earnings and has generated industrial activity. It is nowadays affected by the downward fluctuation of world cotton prices, by the subsidies granted to producers in developed countries, and by the loss of competitiveness of its industrial branch. To preserve the comparative advantages of the sector, it is necessary to improve competitiveness of the sector, to obtain fairer competition on the world cotton market and its better processing in Africa through active participation in the international negotiations on the trade agreements and in the efforts of West African countries under BOAD leadership.
Co-operation between the State, the public and private sector has been fruitful for many years. Cotton is currently grown by more than 200,000 producers gathered in 8,000 GPC themselves gathered in 248 departmental unions and 364 provincial unions. The National Union of Cotton Producers of Burkina (UNPCB), created in 1998, coordinates the various actions for the benefit of its members. In parallel to the agricultural development, an industrial activity was established with the expansion of Société des fibres Textiles (SOFITEX), created in 1979 and which has 14 ginning factories. The State is no longer the majority shareholder with 65% of the capital of SOFITEX as was the case from 1979 to 1999, since the liberalization of the sector which resulted in September 2004 in the creation of three companies whose capital is divided between the State, banks, private Burkinabe and foreigners, operating in different basins: SOFITEX for the Western basin (the main ones); FASO COTTON for the Centre basin and SOCOMA for the East development zone. SOCOMA (société cotonnière du Gourma), is a subsidiary of the French company DAGRIS and FASO COTTON is a subsidiary of the Swiss company Paul REINHART.
SOFITEX however maintains control over the marketing of 85% of the cotton production of Burkina Faso.
Annex 6 Child Trafficking in Burkina Faso International Law and National Law
• Two fundamental instruments form the legal basis for child protection o On the one hand, Article 2 of the Constitution which provides that: “slavery, the slave trade, inhuman, cruel and degrading treatment, physical and moral torture, maltreatment and ill treatment of children and all forms of human degradation are prohibited and punishable by law”; o On the other hand, Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of human rights of 10 May 1948, ratified by Burkina Faso. o The fundamental provisions condemn the principle of child trafficking. They ensured the drafting and adoption of various legal and specific instruments upstream concerning the conditions of trafficking and downstream taking into account the purposes of the practice, and contribute to the fight against child trafficking. In this regard, the laws of Burkina Faso comprise national as well as international legal instruments designed to eradicate the child trafficking phenomenon. • Among the international legal instruments ratified or in the process of ratification by Burkina Faso are: o the protocol additional to the United Nations Convention against transnational organised crime aiming at the prevention, suppression and prosecution of traffic in persons especially women and children; o the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989); o the optional protocol to the convention on the rights of the child on the involvement of children in armed conflicts (UNO, 2000); o The optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography (UNO, 2000); o the United Nations convention for the suppression of the traffic in persons and of the exploitation of the prostitution of others (1950); o ILO conventions o The African Charter of the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1990); o The cooperation memorandum of understanding between Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso on cross-border child trafficking. • The national instruments on child trafficking are mainly based on a specific instrument but also on criminal law and labour law. o Law n° 038-2003/AN of 27 May 2003 to define and combat child trafficking provides for the punishment of child trafficking as an offence on its own. o The penal code (law n°43-96 ADP of 13 November 1996) lays down the rules taking into account the actual deeds involved in child trafficking and the rules concerning the purposes of child trafficking. The penalties for child trafficking range from imprisonment for five to ten years in certain cases (Sections 4 and 5), and imprisonment for life in other cases (Section 6). o It follows that child trafficking is a crime punishable by law No. 038-2003/AN of 27 May 2003. This same law punishes attempted child trafficking (Section 4 (4)). There is therefore a risk, given the extremely stiff sentences, that the judge may hesitate to inflict the penalties envisaged or would inflict only the minimum penalty in order to spare parents who may be accessories. .
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Regional Co-operation and Governance
The situation of West Africa and Africa as well as the international situation cannot be overlooked in assessing national governance situations. On account of the ethnic and economic ties between countries of the region and the extreme porosity of their national borders, when governance conditions worsen in one country and lead to a conflict, it can extend to neighbouring countries or seriously affect them.
Conscious of this situation, Burkina Faso attaches much importance to regional co- operation, and, as part of its regional integration efforts, belongs to 6 sub-regional organizations, WAEMU, ECOWAS, Free Zone, CILSS, CEN-SAD (the Community of Sahelo-Sahelian States) OHADA. From the standpoint of objectives, compatibility between the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Organization for the Harmonization in Africa of Business law (OHADA), there are no major objections especially as Article 14 of the WAEMU Treaty makes elimination of incompatibilities a priority action for the organization. Worth noting is the coexistence of the three courts, namely the Court of Justice of WAEMU, the Court of Justice of ECOWAS and the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration of OHADA; that implies minor risks of conflict of legal systems, especially as WAEMU and OHADA laws are essentially supranational while those of ECOWAS are eminently inter- state.
The main achievements of WAEMU Commission, created, during the devaluation in 1994 concerns the establishment of a customs union with the creation of a common external tariff since 2000 and the monitoring of the macroeconomic policies in order to ensure a convergence between Member States. Within the framework of its duties, WAEMU adopted instruments and took actions in order to promote good governance. It adopted guidelines and codes, available on the Internet, such as: guidelines on budget laws including budgetary nomenclature, guidelines on the regulation of public accounts, state accounting system, the State’s fiscal table, the code of transparency in the management of public finance based on that of the IMF and the West African accounting system SYSCOA (harmonized with OHADA rules). The institutionalization of Audit Courts was proposed, Burkina being one of the 4 countries already having an AC. Coordination efforts are also based on initiatives such as the creation of a balance sheets pool at the BCEAO, the establishment of an Order of chartered accountants’ and the West African Accountants Council, the coordination of public contract codes. For the fight against the money laundering WAEMU issued a directive falling in the general framework of UN recommendations, namely directive n° 07/2002/CM/ WAEMU of 19 September 2002 relating to the fight against money laundering in WAEMU Member States.
Regarding international trade, Burkina Faso must face the following challenges: (i) the deterioration of the terms of trade; (ii) distortions of the rules of competition caused by the subsidies granted to producers of basic commodities, in particular cotton, in developed countries; and (iii) distortions in the Marrakech and Doha agreements with the raising of quality standards and other barriers (tariff or non-tariff) not easily realizable for developing countries; and the (iv) upgrading of the companies necessary to meet the 2008 deadline envisaged in the cooperation agreements with the European Union. Burkina Faso will have through WAEMU and the ECOWAS will have to make use of the opportunities afforded by
Annexe 7 Page 2/2 the WTO agreements in order to facilitate the conditions of access of these products to the markets of the developed countries. The opening of the market should be consolidated within the framework of the formation of the WAEMU space pursuant to the provisions of the Treaty of the Union and of ECOWAS relating to the right of establishment and freedom of movement of goods and people. Private economic operators should benefit from the economies of scale and the harmonization of business law, (OHADA), recommended within the framework of these economic and customs unions.
To contribute to regional harmonization of economic governance, Burkina Faso entirely implemented the provisions of the common external tariff (CET), adopted an organic budget law harmonized with that proposed by WAEMU. The government is currently adapting national laws to the provisions of the uniform acts of the OHADA Treaty, and as with aforementioned treaty, is strongly involved in the preparation, with the WAEMU Commission of a Community legislation on public contracts which should be submitted for adoption by the Council of Ministers of the Union in June 2005. As regards regional economic integration, the Burkinabe Government reinforced its active participation in the implementation of WAEMU policies and programmes regarding economic convergence and harmonization of the sectoral policies and of ECOWAS regarding economic integration. The criteria of convergence (8 criteria including 4 first-ranks) contribute to good governance and stability.
However, Burkina Faso does not fulfil one of WAEMU’s key criteria of convergence which is that of the net budgetary balance owing to its weak tax ratio. The latter which has been stagnant since 1996 and stood at 11.6% of the GDP in 2003 and is one of weakest among WAEMU Member States.
Annex 8
The Land Tenure Issue
The current modern land legislation in Burkina Faso is based on the official key instruments relating to the Agrarian and Land Reform (RAF). The initial version of the RAF is the work of the revolutionary regime of 1983 and was a break from the two parallel land tenure systems which coexisted in the former Upper Volta, the customary system and the colonial land tenure system. The customary land tenure is based on the clan or the family, and the right of ownership is collective. In all land tenure systems, this collective land right is exercised in the name of the group by a traditional ruler, the chief who is closest descendant of the first occupant of the land. He distributes land to the families and individuals according to their needs, and performs the required sacrificial rites. Any member of collective ownership group has a permanent usufruct and exploitation right. Upon his death, his heirs occupy and exploit his land. In this system, land is not something banal. It is sacred. In principle, it is not sold and is exploited by the community.
While the traditional land tenure system transmitted old or ancestral ownership rights and favoured a subsistence economy, the colonial land tenure system facilitated the appropriation or control of land by new actors, mainly colonial, and the cultivation of cash crops for the home market. The land registration procedure introduced in French West Africa by the decree of 24 July 1906 and taken up again by the decree of 26 July 1932 on the reorganization of land ownership in French West Africa thus opened up African land to private and colonial appropriation. The land inventory in the colonial era included customary lands which were the most numerous and better known to the populations, registered lands with land titles in the names of natural or legal persons and National lands belonging to the State or public authorities. During the Revolution of August 1983, the instruments concerning the Agrarian and land reform instituted a so-called revolutionary land tenure system in 1984 completely calling into question the status of land. This system is based on two fundamental instruments a Zatu and a Kiti (Ordinance N°84-050/CNR/PRES of 04/08/84 and Decree N°85- 404/CNR/PRES of 04/08/85). These instruments abolished private ownership of land inspired by French law and also repealed customary individual or collective land ownership rights. At present, the last version of land legislation in Burkina Faso is represented by law N° 014/96/ADP of 23/05/96 and its implementation decree 97-054/PRES/PM/MEF of 06/02/97 The reviewed RAF which is still being reviewed, introduced some flexibility in the State’s monopoly over land, even if in principle, the State remains the owner of all land. It envisages the possibility of acquiring land and being issued a land title. For lands subject to customs, in spite of the adoption of the RAF which sought to consecrate land ownership to the State, in practice, land occupancy is still governed by local customs. The situation is further compounded by the lack of a land register. In spite of the State’s option for a fiscal land register which accounts for the attachment of the land registry to the Directorate General for Taxation, the current status of cadastral surveys varies across regions and is more of topographical surveys. Its essential tasks are to parcel out and demarcate property and consequently draw up lay-out plans and cadastral maps. For the time being, only the land registry and survey services of the regional directorates of taxation of the Central (Ouagadougou) and West (Bobo-Dioulasso) and East (Koupéla) regimes are operational.
Although the land tenure issue is considered a fundamental problem for investors, it has not yet been tackled head-on at the regional level by organizations like WAEMU. On account of current political events, it is a delicate subject, just like the right of establishment or movement of people in West Africa.
Annex 9
Burkina Faso COMPARATIVE SOCIO-ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Developin Burkina Developed Year Africa g Faso countries countries
Basic indicators Area ('000 Km²) 274 30 061 80 976 54 658 RNB par habitant ($ total population (millions) 2003 13,0 849,5 5 024,61 200,3 800 E.U. ) Urban population (% of Total) 2003 20,2 39,2 43,1 78,0 600 Population Density (au Km²) 2003 47,5 28,3 60,6 22,9 400 GNP per Capita (US $) 2003 300 704 1 154 26 214 200 Labour Force Participation - Total (%) 2003 46,843,3 45,654,6 0 Labour Force Participation - Female (%) 2003 48,341,039,744,9 1995 1997 1999 2001 Gender-related development index value 2002 0,291 0,476 0,655 0,905 Human development index (position out of 177 countries) 2002 175 n.a. n.a. n.a. Population living below $ 1 a day (% of population) 1994 61,246,7 23,020,0 Burkina Faso Afrique
Demographic Indicators Population growth rate - Total (%) 2003 3,02,21,70,6 Population growth rate - Urban (%) 2003 5,73,8 2,90,5 Population aged below 15 years (%) 2003 50,442,032,418,0 Population aged 65 years and above (%) 2003 2,73,3 5,114,3 Taux de croissance de la Dependency Ration (%) 2003 106,486,161,148,3 3,5 population (%) Sex Ratio (per 100 female) 2003 95,799,0 103,394,7 3,0 Female population of 15 to 49 years (%) 2003 22,424,026,925,4 2,5 Life expectancy at birth - total (years) 2003 46,150,7 62,078,0 2,0 Life expectancy at birth - female (years) 2003 46,651,7 66,379,3 1,5 Crude birth rate (per 1,000) 2003 47,537,024,012,0 1,0 0,5 Crude death rate (per 1,000) 2003 17,015,28,410,3 0,0 Infant mortality rate(per 1000) 2003 91,580,660,97,5 1995 1997 1999 2001 Child Mortality Rate (per 1,000) 2003 156,8 133,3 79,810,2 Maternal mortality rate (per 100,000) 1999 484 661 440 13 Total fertility rate(per woman) 2003 6,64,9 2,81,7 Burkina Faso Afr Women using contraceptive (%) 1999 11,940,059,074,0
Health and nutrition indicators Physicians (per 100,000 people) 1997 3,857,678,0287,0 Nurses (per 100,000 people) 1995 19,6 105,8 98,0782,0 Espérance de vie à la Births attended by trained health personnel (%) 1999 41,244,056,099,0 naissance ( Années ) Access to safe water (% of population) 2002 51,064,4 78,0100,0 61 Access to health services (% de la population) 1985 70,061,7 80,0100,0 Access to sanitation (% de la population) 2002 12,042,652,0100,0 41 Percentage of adults aged 15-49 living with HIV/AIDS 2003 5,27 6,4 1,30,3 21 Incidence of tuberculosis (per 100,000) 2000 20,0 109,7 144,011,0 1 Child immunization against tuberculosis (%) 2003 83,081,082,093,0 1995 1997 1999 2001 Child immunization against measles(%) 2003 76,071,7 73,090,0 Underweight children of under 5 years (%) 1996 33,025,9 31,0 … Daily calorie supply per capita 2002 2 462 2 444 2 675 3 285 Burkina Faso Afriqu Public expenditure on health (as a % of GDP) 1999 1,43,3 1,86,3
Education indicators
Annex 10
Ratio of basic Average annual Outstanding Accumulation of arrears budgetary balance to inflation rate (%) domestic and nominal GDP (%) external debt/Nominal GDP (%) Norm External Domestic WAEMU >=0 <=3 <=70 0 0 Benin -0.4 1.3 72.7 530.8 80.3 Burkina Faso -1.0 1.5 40.9 0.0 0.0 Côte d’Ivoire -0.7 2.0 41.4 0.0 0.0 Mali -0.6 3.3 82.8 473.3 50.6 Niger -5.1 -0.5 425.1 11.7 9.7 Senegal 1.7 -1.3 69.0 0.0 0.0 Togo -2.0 -1.6 87.2 0.0 0.0 CEMAC 0.8 0.0 63.3 0.0 0.0 Cameroon 2.7 -1.0 108.4 45.8 20 Central African Republic 4.3 1.3 72.7 333.8 0.0 Congo 3.9 0.6 61.4 0.0 0.0 Gabon -3.3 4.2 121.4 23.3 nd Equatorial Guinea 1.0 -1.3 194.5 171.2 nd Chad 7.6 2.1 60.8 137.3 0.0 Comoros 12.3 7.3 6.9 0.0 0.0 -2.0 -1.5 47.2 2.0 nd -3.8 4.2 nd 16.0 0.0 In grey tint, criteria not met Burkina Faso. Inflation rate (%) Burkina Faso. External debt/GDP (%)
9,0 70,0 8,0 60,0 7,0 6,0 50,0 5,0 % PIB40,0 4,0 % 3,0 30,0 2,0 20,0 1,0 0,0 10,0 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 - 1,0 0,0 - 2,0 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Years Years Inflation rate External debt/GDP
Annexe 11 Page 1/2 LOGICAL FRAMEWORK OF THE PROGRAMME OF ACTION FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PRSP FOR 2004-2006.
Objectives Programmes Performance indicators Means of verification Critical assumptions Development objective: Reduce poverty incidence from 46,4% in 2003 to 40% in 2009 ACTION N° 1: ACCELERATION OF EQUITY-BASED GROWTH Increase per capita GDP by at least 4% per year as from 2004 ACTION N° 2: IMPROVING ACCESS OF THE POOR TO BASIC SOCIAL SERVICES AND SOCIAL PROTECTION Improving access of the poor to basic social services and social protection ACTION N°3: EXPANDING JOB AND INCOME –GENERATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE POOR Contribute to generate jobs and incomes for the poor ACTION N° 4: PROMOTION OF GOOD GOVERNANCE Increase the efficiency of government 4.1 Promotion of political governance - number of new courts opened : 5 in 2004, - security services’ report – - implementation of the policies and the rule of law 4.1.1. Promotion of a visionary and strategic state 3 in 2005, 2 in 2006 judicial services’ report justice reform plan of 4.1.2. Promotion of an efficient political system and an - number of inhabitants per judicial officer : – civil society strengthening action – equitable judicial power 1/50000 in 2003 and 1/35000 in 2006 unit report. – implementation of the 4.1.3. Protection of human rights - radius of action for security services : MPF and MPDH report plan to fight against 4.1.4. Fight against insecurity from 60 km in 2002 to40 km in 2006 - – CEDEF and CDE report insecurity - 4.1.5. Building of civil society capacities trends of armed robberies 75% reduction in - law adopted implementation of plan of 2006 - number of SEOs action for human rights having benefited from human rights training promotion : 10 per year 4.2 Strengthening of administrative governance - national state reform strategy document - publication of administrative 4.2.1. Consolidation of overall public administration available – permanent and salary situations by reform and establishment of State reform functioning of SIGASPE and plan of action MFPRE and MFB for its extension available 4.3 Strengthening of local governance – no. of rural councils set up: 302 in 2005; - MATD reports – - implementation of 4.3.1. Consolidation of decentralization process no. of governorates set up: 13 in 2004 MEDEV reports Decentr. orientation 4.3.2. Building of capacities of local councillors - no. of local councillors trained :1092 in instruments 2004, 2358 in 2005 and 2358 in 2006 - availability of financing – transfer of state resources to local authorities: 1567 million in 2004, subsequently, amounts to be determined – no. of contracts with local authorities – no. of agreements signed with private sector – no. of regional and provincial development plans drawn up – no. of concessions signed with public authorities or structures
Annexe 11 Page 2/2
Objectives Programmes Performance indicators Means of verification Critical assumptions 4.4.Strengthening of economic governance - ratio of expenditures audited by - MTEF, budget laws - - proper monitoring of 4.4.1. Strengthening of performance and capacity of government post-audit – rate annual report ONAPAD PRSP – public administration of implementation of budgets of priority –NISD reports – strengthening of national 4.4.2. Promotion of environment conducive to private ministries – no. of NISD reports - statistics system sector development public contracts audited – rate of State fiscal tables – updating of MTEF and absorption of external resources: 75% and – report of the National Ethics programme budgets above - increased no. of Committee or HACLC – budget law in explained decisions conformity with PRSP plan of action priorities – implementation of the PRGB – acceleration of court decisions and progr. of strengthening of public contracts management capacity – formulation and implementation of HACLC plan of action.
Annexe 12 Page 1/4
ANNEX 12 MATRIX OF CGP MEASURES AND ACTIONS IN BURKINA FASO JUNE 2005 Areas/Themes Measures and priority actions Monitoring and performance indicators Time-frame INCREASED ACCOUNTABILITY Promote a democratic and efficient political system - Reform of institutions strengthening their 2005-2008 - implement and deepen democratic gains independence - promote political ethics - Electoral codes and other instruments of - stabilize electoral processes and codes on a consensual basis democratic scope preserved and enriched by - consolidate the separation and balance of the executive, legislative and judicial consensus powers - A revised opposition status - strengthen the independence of public institutions - Programme of training of legislative and - strengthen the capacities of parliament, the constitutional council and audit court ; consultative institutions, and of journalists - review the law on the status of the opposition so as to increase its contribution to - Emergence of private newspapers and media national debates; - Number of parliamentarians and officials of - strengthen the capacities of the press and review laws providing for the sentencing legislative and consultative institutions and of journalists for gross misconduct to ensure greater political transparency journalists trained - strengthen the independence of the Higher Information Council (CSI) - Documentation and computer centre of Promote a more effective and efficient public administration parliament, of the CCI and the Audit Court - rationalization of government structures better equipped - implement the declared principle of promotion by merit - Number and quality of newspapers - computerization of management with the finalization of the integrated system for - Number and content of websites of State personnel administrative and salary management of (SIGASPE) and its government institutions extension to sectoral ministries. - Availability of a national state reform - Draw up a code of ethics for government employees strategy - Draw up and implement a multisectoral capacity-building programme notably for - permanent functioning of SIGASPE and ministries charged with macro-economic management and the social sectors. availability of plan of action for its extension Build economic governance capacities - number of government officers and - ensure the operationalization of the Burkina 2025 study employees trained - strengthen its programming and economic management capacities - number of government services equipped - support the implementation of the PRSP through budgetary support used as a with IT poverty reduction tool - procedures manuals - formulate pertinent sectoral policies - users’ guides - strengthen the programming and monitoring of public investments in line with - code of ethics of government employees development priorities; - training manuals - continue to support sound management of cotton sector; - instruments updating state reform - strengthen thinking and acting capacities as concerns the regional and international - strategic guidelines operationalizing the environment; Burkina 2025 study - popularize the problem of regional cooperation; - study on international and regional prospects - improve the economic and social information system; of Burkina Faso Update and finance the national statistics master plan and strengthen the central statistics - national statistical master plan updated and service. its financing
Annexe 12 Page 2/4
ANNEX 12 MATRIX OF CGP MEASURES AND ACTIONS IN BURKINA FASO JUNE 2005 Areas/Themes Measures and priority actions Monitoring and performance indicators Time-frame II. INCREASED TRANSPARENCY Strengthen accountability and transparency in the budgetary domain - texts of the budget law, budget review act MTEF 2005-2008 - implementation of the 2005 agreement on budgetary support governing relationship - public expenditure review texts between the government and donors - CFAA and CPAR reports - implement Budget management strengthening plan (PRGB) - manuals and guides - build capacities of structures charged with budgetary management and improve the - proportion of external resources in budgetary quality and transparency of the budget law as part of the MTEF resources - strengthen the selection and monitoring of public investments in accordance with - ratio of audited expenditures by government post- development priorities audit - strengthen monitoring of budget implementation and fulfilment of end-of-management - rate of implementation of priority ministry budgets obligations (budget review act) - rate of absorption of external resources - improve quality and sustainability of computerization process within ministries in charge - number of reports from audit bodies of the Economy and Finance - number of requests for sanctions and number of - strengthen budget management control requests granted - pursue process of deconcentration of government structures - training programmes - reinstate external resources into the expenditure system for better control - number of employees trained - study and implement the possibilities of increasing government revenue, considering the - number of public contracts audited current low level of the tax ratio. Auditing of public resources and expenditure - Strengthen the capacities as well as the responsibilities of structures responsible for auditing public expenditure (Directorate of Financial Control, IGF, IGE and AC) - Take administrative or judicial action on all reports. Improvement of the institutional and regulatory framework of the public contracts system. - further involve the legislator in public contracts auditing, - strengthen transparency by separating the missions of public contracts regulation from those of their award and management - take into account public contracts in budget preparation - systematize public contract audits. - issue all instruments of implementation of the new Code - better disseminate basic documents (model documents, procedures manual, etc.). - set up a modern public contracts information and management system, etc. (SIGMP) - strengthen the public contracts auditing capacities of the DCMP implement the upcoming WAEMU community regulations on public contracts which is scheduled to be adopted in June 2005
Annexe 12 Page 3/4
ANNEX 12 MATRIX OF CGP MEASURES AND ACTIONS IN BURKINA FASO JUNE 2005 Areas/Themes Measures and priority actions Monitoring and performance indicators Time-frame III. INCREASED PARTICIPATION Strengthen participation in the electoral process - election turn-out rate 2005-2008 • build the capacities of CENI - no. of CSOs • build the capacities of the constitutional court - no. of CSO shaving benefited from human Promotion of participation, human rights and women’s rights and security rights training - foster civil society capacity building - no. of human rights training courses provided - support women’s living conditions improvement projects - no. of human rights violation - deepen civil society participation in the drawing up and implementation of - no. of court cases concerning human rights development programmes, notably the PRSP and the NGGP - NGO contribution to development activities - Formulate a national policy on refugees and returnees - No. of women parliamentarians and local - Implement a national plan against child trafficking councillors - Strengthen citizens’ security by improving the means and efficiency of security - No. of women’s organizations services - No. of women business leaders Increased civil society and private sector access to economic and social information - radius of action of security services - number of armed robberies IV. PROMOTION OF Foster and implement decentralization and deconcentration - no. of regional and provincial development 2005-2008 DECENTRALIZATION AND - draw up in a participatory manner period diagnosis of the situation and future plans drawn up DECONCENTRATION prospects of decentralization - no. of regional and local authorities set up - further sensitize the population, leaders and officials to the problem of - no. of local councils established decentralization - no. of development programmes of regional - ensure a more balanced distribution of investments between the country’s regions and local authorities - implement a development programme for ten average towns - transfer of state resources to local authorities - draw up and implement national and regional development master plans - % of expenditures of local authorities as - transfer authority and resources to councils and regions before 2005 and 2011 against state resources - conduct new recruitments for transferred services - in-depth study on local authority financing - reform local taxation and put in place local financing tools - no. of local councillors trained - conduct an in-depth study on the financing of local authorities - no. of contracts with local authorities - strengthen local capacities and structures for their technical support - no. of agreements signed with the private - put in place a regional programming law and a law on the promotion of local sector economies - no. of concessions signed with public - establishment of 302 councils before 2006 authorities or structures strengthening of the legal framework of decentralization (status of the local public service, - training programmes for local authorities status of local councillors) - instruments drawn up. IV. LEGAL AND JUDICIAL SYSTEM Improvement of legal environment - no. of new courts set up 2005-2008 REFORM - strengthen courts’ human, budgetary, material, logistical resources and infrastructure - no. of inhabitants per judicial officer - review fundamental instruments for their adaptation in order to better ensure respect - no. of judicial officers recruited for the code of ethics, effectiveness of hierarchical control, efficient processing of - no. of judgments handed down within time- matters and proper enforcement of court decisions frame - Adaptation of national laws pursuant to the recommendations of WAEMU, - legal instruments drawn up or reviewed ECOWAS and OHADA laws and regulations - training plans for the justice sector - strengthen independence of judiciary - number of court officials and employees - promote legal reforms in order to confer legal force on decisions taken under the law trained - improve the system’s output by reducing judgment delays - strengthen justice personnel training notably that of Audit Court judges - promote judicial information dissemination - draw up a penitentiary policy
Annexe 12 Page 4/4
ANNEX 12 MATRIX OF CGP MEASURES AND ACTIONS IN BURKINA FASO JUNE 2005 Areas/Themes Measures and priority actions Monitoring and performance indicators Time-frame LAND TENURE - Review instruments and practices in force in the domain of land tenure, cross border movement of persons and right of establishment. Establish a land register system.
V. PRIVATE SECTOR PROMOTION - promote basic infrastructure development - No. of new enterprises created 2005-2008 - improve the private sector legal framework - FBCF trend - implement instruments on the establishment of commercial courts - Trend of private investment rate - apply the rules of competition and equity vis-à-vis the private sector in the domain - Extent of integration of sub-regional of public contracts economy - strengthen relations between enterprises and the public administration - Extent of integration in the globalization - establish a forum for dialogue and consultation between the private and public sector process - promote sound management and creation of enterprises by developing institutional - Rate of tax burden support of bodies such as the chamber of Commerce, the Enterprise Centre, BOAD, - Private enterprise audit by developing training for private enterprises - Training programmes for the private sector - take steps to ensure more reliable book-keeping by private enterprises, in conjunction with Employers and ONECCA ; - strengthen the capacities of accountants and accounting and auditing services - increase its financing by the financial sector and micro-finance - adopt regulations and fiscal measures to encourage informal sector enterprises to gradually join the formal sector; - channel part of the informal sector through approved management centres - support the appropriate development of privatized enterprises.
VI. FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION - conduct a study on the enforcement of applicable instruments in force and foster - Instruments adopted 2005-2008 their implementation - Administrative and court decisions taken - pass a general anti-corruption law - pass a law on money laundering - Strengthen the independence and powers of the Anti-corruption Coordination authority (HACLC) notably by empowering it to go to law directly. - Support the National Ethics Committee and civil society anti-corruption organizations, notably REN-LAC. VII. INCREASED PRO- POOR Sustainably raise the GDP growth rate to achieve the Millennium development goals - Growth rate of real GDP 2005-2008 GROWTH - increase public investment in priority sectors - Annual average inflation rate - promote economic diversification by implementing 2004-2006 PRSP priority action - Basic budgetary balance as % of GDP programmes - Contribution of exports to the GDP - pursuing pro-poor budgetary policies - - support the promotion of growth in areas of great population concentration - promote micro-credits
Annexe 13 Page 1/5 Bibliographical References
REPUBLIC OF BURKINA FAS0
• President’s Office o Constitution o Law n° 014-2001/AN: electoral code o Law n° 033-2004/ AN of14 September 2004: Labour Code o Law n° 10/92/ADP of15 December 1992: Freedom of association. o National Ethics Committee, Annual report 2002. March 2003. o Council of Ministers meeting of 8 December 2004. • Prime Minister’s Office o Fourth Round Table conference of Burkina Faso’s development partners • Programme of priority implementation actions of the 2004-2006 PRSP. March 2004. • Guidelines on good governance and development in Burkina Faso: Gains and new challenges. March 2004. • Introductory report: effective public services for sustained economic growth and for sustainable human development, March 2004. • Capacity building; resource mobilisation; Private sector partnership. Reflection documents. o Executive secretariat for good governance • Consolidated appraisal report of 1998-2003 national good governance plan, March 2003. • The good governance process in Burkina Faso o Higher information council (CSI) • Public report 2003, December2004 • Organic law n° 020-2000/AN on the establishment, composition, duties and functioning of the CSI • Ministry of the Public Service and State Reform (MFRE) o Draft national good governance policy and strategies for 2004-2008 provisional version. July 2004 o Summary of consolidated appraisal report on 1998-2003 NGGP. 2004. o Summary table of the thematic / statistical evaluation (summary of consolidation appraisal report of the 1998-2003 NGGP). 2004 o National State Reform strategy. Secretariat General, Directorate General for State Reform, November 2003. o MFRE plan of action. Secretariat General, Directorate General for State Reform, November 2003. o Burkina Faso National Good Governance Plan for 1998-2003. September 1998 o National Good Governance Plan, Investment programme 2000-2003. June 2003. o Deconcentration of state services. Final report, MFRPE/GGSP, March 2003. o Reference framework document for building the capacities of civil society organizations in Burkina Faso, GGSP/UNDP, January 2002. o Amended Burkina Faso Decentralization orientation instruments (TOD). National commission on decentralization, 2001.
Annexe 13 Page 2/5 • Ministry of Finances o 2002-2004 plan of action for the strengthening of budgetary management (PRGB 2002-2004), adopted by the Council of Ministers meeting on 31 July 2002 o General rules on public procurement and implementation instruments, directorate for contracts, October 2003 o Decree no 2003-269/pres/pm/mfb of 27 May 2003: general rules on public procurement. o Decree no 97/164/pres/mef: general rules on public accounting. o Law no 006/2003/AN on budget laws o State accounting system, 2nd Edition 2004. • Ministry of the Economy and Development (MEDEV) o Poverty reduction strategy paper (revised) January 2004 o Poverty reduction strategy paper, 2003 Implementation report. December 2004. o Burkina 2025 National Prospective Study, strategic diagnosis. August 2004. o Burkina 2025 National Prospective Study, thematic and general scenarios. September 2004. o First meeting of National Forecasting Council. March 2003. o Decree N° 2003 - 560 /PRES/PM/MEDEV on the poverty-reduction strategic framework (PRSF). o Report of proceedings of 4th review of the PRSF on the 2003 implementation report MEDEV/ Technical secretariat for coordination of economic and social development programme. November 2004 • Ministry of Justice o National strategy plan of action for justice reform 2002-2006, April 2001 • Ministry of the Promotion of human rights o Summary report on plan of action for human rights promotion and protection, May 2004. • Ministry of Trade and promotion of enterprises and handicrafts o Privatisation commission 1991-99, o Privatisation commission newsletter. • Ministry of Social action and National solidarity o Nat. Progr. on open education, 2005-2009. Dec.2004. o National plan of action to fight against internal and crossborder child trafficking in Burkina Faso, 2005-2009, Oct.2004. • NGOs o Civil society forum on the priority reduction strategic framework. Permanent secretariat for NGO/ National civil society capacity building unit, July 2003. o State of corruption in Burkina Faso, 2003 report of National Anti-corruption Network REN-LAC, 2004. o Anti-corruption laws, REN-LAC, April 2002. • Web sites o President’s office. http://www.presidence.gov.bf/ o Prime Minister’s office. http://www.primature.gov.bf/ o Ministry of Finances and the Budget. http://www.finances.gov.bf/ o Ministry of the Economy and Development. http://medev.zcp.bf/ o Ministry of Trade. http://www.commerce.gov.bf/ o Ministry of Public Finance and State Reform. http://www.fonction- publique.gov.bf/
Annexe 13 Page 3/5 o Ministry of Justice. http://www.justice.gov.bf/ o Secretariat General of the Government http://www.sggcm.gov.bf/ o Executive secretariat for good governance http://www.sebg.gov.bf o NISD National Institute of Statistics and Demography www.NISD.bf o Directorate General of the Treasury. www.tresor.bf o Privatisation commission www.privatisation-bf.com o Chamber of Commerce, Industry and handicraft. www.ccia.bf o Maison de l’entreprise www.me.bf o Sidwaya, daily, www.sidwaya.bf o Express, daily o Daily. www.evenement-bf.net o L’Observateur, www.lobservateur.bf o L’Hebdo www.hebdo.bf o Le Journal du Jeudi www.journaldujeudi.com o UNDP Burkina Faso www.pnud.bf o Centre for democratic governance www.cgdbf.org o Burkina Faso legal data bank http://www.legiburkina.bf o Francophone legal website http://droit.francophonie.org o Burkina Faso Bar Association www.barreau.bf
AFRICAN DEVELOPEMENT BANK (ADB) ADB DOCUMENTS ON GOVERNANCE • Vision ADB, ADB 1999. • Governance Policy, ADB 2000. • Evaluation of country Governance Profile. Checklist/Questionnaire, Guidelines for personnel. ADB/ Governance Division, Oct. 2003. • Chad, Country governance profile report, ADB/OCCC, 2004. • Cameroon, Country governance profile report, ADB/OCCC, 2004. • Guidelines for policy-based lending on governance (PBLG), BAD 2003. • Corporate Governance Developments and implications for the African Development Bank, OPSD/Adam Smith Institute, May 2003.
ADB/OCCW DOCUMENTS ON BURKINA FASO • Terms of reference of the consultation on the Governance Profile of Burkina Faso, ADB/OCCW. • Governance Profile: draft table of contents, ADB/OCCW. • Situation report of preparation governance profile mission, ADB/OCCW. • Governance Profile: points for discussion with government, ADB/OCCW. • Burkina Faso: country strategy paper 2002-2004. ADB, May 2003 and update 2004. • Appraisal report of Good Governance Project, ADB/OCCW.
INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS UNDP/Ouagadougou • Human development report 2003, Corruption and human development. • Human development report 2000, the role of Governance. • 2004 DHD report on the private sector in Burkina Faso, terms of reference.
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ECA (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa) • Monitoring of progress made in good governance in Burkina Faso, Centre for Democratic Governance and ECA, Addis Ababa/Ouagadougou, February 2003.
TFP COORDINATION • Joint declaration of technical and financial partners at the NGGP 2004-2008, validation workshop of 18 - 20 September 2003 at Ouahigouya. • Appréciation conjointe sur la mise en œuvre du protocole d’intention SBC-CSLP en 2003 et perspectives pour 2004-2006, novembre 2004.
IMF • Burkina Faso: First review under the three-year arrangement under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility, IMF, April 2004. • Burkina Faso: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Progress Report IMF Country Report No. 04/78 March 2004. • Burkina Faso: Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes—Data Module, Response by the Authorities, and Detailed Assessment Using the Data Quality Assessment Framework Country Report No. 04/87, March 2004. • Burkina Faso.: The budget, crucial element in the implementation of the PRSP; review of public expenditure, report no. 29154-BUR 25 June 2004.
WORLD BANK • Proposed 4th poverty reduction support credit for Burkina Faso, April 2004. • Country assistance strategy progress report for Burkina Faso, March 2003. • Proposed poverty reduction support credit for Burkina Faso, July 2001. • Burkina Faso: Assessment of accountability in public finance management and private sector book-keeping practices, AFTQK, Africa region, January 2002.
OTHERS UN • Overview of governance in West Africa. Recommendations and Plan of Action Preparatory workshop to ADF IV for West and Central Africa. UN/ECA 1-3 December 2003 Accra, Ghana.
MISCELLANEOUS • Democracy in Burkina Faso, international Institute for Democracy and electoral assistance, Stockholm, 1998. • Electoral system reform in Burkina Faso, International Institute for Democracy and electoral assistance, Stockholm, 1999. • National representative and civil participation: what mechanism for dialogue between the National Assembly and Civil Society. Luc Ibriga, Civil society, UNDP and National Assembly, 2004. • Legal and institutional framework of the fight against child trafficking in Burkina Faso Luc Marius Ibriga and Ferdinand Ouedraogo June 2003 • The land tenure issue in hydro-agricultural areas in Burkina Faso, Dr Basga Emile Dialla, DT-CAPES N°2003-07, Document de Travail Series, December 2003. • 2003 rating of the political instability risk, Credit risk international ([email protected] ) • Web sites
Annexe 13 Page 5/5 o ADB. www.afdb.org o World Bank. www.worldbank.org o IMF. www.imf.org o IZF. www.izf.net o OHADA (Org. Harmo. Droit des Affaires en Afrique). www.ohada.com o NEPAD. www.nepad.net o WAEMU. www.umeoa.int
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Donor intervention in governance (in million currency units) (grants) Bilateral donors Canada Denmark United States France Rep. Netherlands Sweden Switzerland Japan Total of Germany Elements of Governance 1-Political -accountability Democratic * electoral process Governance CFAF 620 -Administrative accountability *RGAP PRCA -Capacity building PAREF 2004 financing CFA F 64.35 ABRP (2004) of study € 12.842 USD 0.473950 -Macro economic PAREF (2004) management and HIPC (2004) CFA F 63.85 Interest Interest ABRP (2004) stability USD 1.5804 PRGB PRGB € 5.158 Financing of 2 CIR (AT) PAREF 2004 (2003 PRGB CFAA experts 189 (PRGB) CFAF 30.35 € 23293 (2004) -Financial management DGTCP CFAF PAREF 2005 (PRGB study 40. SEK 104 USD 1.2 (CFAF SBC/PRSP) (Swedish 800) kroner) and USD 5 (PRSP/SBC) -Micro finance (CFAF 3287.5) 2002-2005 CFAF5588 Banking System 2) Transparency -procurement procedure CPAR financing -public expenditure audit of Committee expert)
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Donor Intervention in Governance (in million currency units)
Multilateral donors AD B/ ADF World Bank European Union IMF UNDP WFP Total
Elements of Governance 1) Political accountability Loan don loan grant grant grant grant
* Electoral process
€ 1.40 -Administrative (CFAF 918.339) accountability CFAF 1493.7 PRCA PRCA PRGE *Capacity building USD 305 $ 5.5 .Action No.2 -R.G.A.P. -Support to legislation on USD $ 0.967 external trade Competition - Macro economic SNAT (2007) PDSSN(2007) - Support to monitoring the -ROSC (2003 PRGE Action No.1 management and stability USD 2.0 USD 10 PRGB 2004-2006 (8 BK 40 -CID (Steering of the – 0.3 € ) AT. to DGI economy and aid - Institutional support NISD DGD/NISD coordination) -Public finance management ADB 2005-2006 (8 BK 40 – 0.7 €) Action No.3 ABRP (2004) ADF - Institutional support DSI (poverty monitoring 2)transparency USD 25.0 ABRF (2005) 2004-2006 (8 BK 40 – 0,9 €) unit) CFAF $USD 1.553 -Procurement procedure 24208.75 Public contracts audits 2001- -Expenditure auditing 2002 and 2004 CFAF 13.6 CPAR CPAR (€ 0,4 )
CFAF 266.1
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- PACDE : Business Competitiveness and Development Support Programme
- PAREF : Economic and Financial Reform Support Project
- PACS : Mass Communication Support Project
- CEF : Corporate Financial Centre
- PIJE : Young Entrepreneurs Programme
- PADEG : Democratic process, rule of law and good governance strengthening support programme
- PRCCU : Urban Councils Strengthening Project
- PADN : Nahouri Decentralization Support Project
- PREL : Local economies revival programmes support project