Governance final:Layout 1 26/11/10 10:28 Page i Governance in the Commonwealth: Current Debates Edited by Seth Lartey and Deepti Sastry i Governance final:Layout 1 26/11/10 10:28 Page ii © 2010 Commonwealth Foundation British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: 978-0-903850-51-3 Published by the Commonwealth Foundation Cover design by Cog Design Edited by Seth Lartey and Deepti Sastry Views and opinions expressed in this publication are the responsibility of the contributing authors and should in no way be attributed to the institutions to which they are affiliated or the Commonwealth Foundation. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any forms or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or otherwise without the permission of the publisher. The citation for this publication is: Commonwealth Foundation. 2010. Governance in the Commonwealth: Current debates. 104 pp. For further information contact: Commonwealth Foundation Marlborough House Pall Mall London SW1Y 5HY United Kingdom Tel: +44(0) 20 7930 3783 Fax: +44(0) 20 7839 8157 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.commonwealthfoundation.com Governance final:Layout 1 26/11/10 10:28 Page iii Contents List of Illustrations v Preface vii Acknowledgements ix List of Acronyms x 1 Governance in the Commonwealth: Current Debates 1 Seth Lartey and Deepti Sastry, Commonwealth Foundation 2 Democratic Governance in West and Central Africa 9 Obadiah Mailafia, Chairperson, Centre for Policy and Economic Research, Nigeria 3 Consolidating Liberal Democracy in Ghana: Regime 15 Limitation and the Imperative of Reform Emmanuel O. Akwetey, Executive Director, Institute for Democratic Governance, Ghana 4 The ‘Projectisation’ of Governance: Its Implications for 23 Development Eric Ngang Ndeh Mboumien, Coordinator, North West Association of Development Organisations (NWADO), Cameroon 5 Governance in the Caribbean: Toward Renewal 33 Wendy C. Grenade, Lecturer, University of the West Indies, Barbados 6 Good Governance as an Anti-corruption Tool 41 Victor Hart, former Chairman, Trinidad and Tobago Transparency Institute (TTTI), with input from Josh Drayton 7 Minority Rights and Participatory Governance 49 Jagadananda and Kuldip Gyaneswar, Independent Researchers, India iii Governance final:Layout 1 26/11/10 10:28 Page iv 8 Integrated Local Self-governance Through Participation 57 of the Most Marginalised and Socially Excluded Groups Asha Kotwal, General Secretary, All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch, National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, India 9 The Institutionalisation of Citizen Participation in 69 Democratic Processes in the Pacific Islands Deepti Sastry, Commonwealth Foundation, with input from Sione Faka’osi, Tonga Community Development Trust 10 People’s Participation in Democratic Reform: Lessons 77 Learned from the Community in Tonga Sione Faka’osi, Executive Director, Tonga Community Development Trust, Tonga References 89 iv Governance final:Layout 1 26/11/10 10:28 Page v List of Illustrations Figures 4.1 Model A: The current situation for service delivery in 27 Cameroon 4.2 Power distribution among different entities that occupy 27 the social and economic landscape in Cameroon 4.3 Model B: ‘Desired’ good governance model for Cameroon 29 6.1 Ethnic composition of Trinidad and Tobago 43 6.2 The parliamentary governance chain 44 6.3 Tripartite partnership model 45 Boxes 7.1 Articles in Constitution on minority rights 51 8.1 Case study on women in Panchayats 61 Tables 10.1 2007 general election for district and town officers in 81 Tonga 10.2 Block meeting and people’s participation rate 84 v Governance final:Layout 1 26/11/10 10:28 Page vi Governance final:Layout 1 26/11/10 10:28 Page vii Preface The value of civil society–government engagement in the Commonwealth is well documented. As long ago as 1999 Commonwealth Heads of Government noted in the Fancourt Declaration on Globalisation and People-Centred Development ‘If the poor and vulnerable are to be at the centre of development, the process must be participatory, in which they have a voice ... good governance and economic progress are directly linked ... Good governance requires inclusive and participatory process ...’ The Commonwealth Foundation has an established track record of working in the area of citizens’ participation in governance processes. As the inter- governmental organisation mandated to support the work of civil society in the Commonwealth, the Foundation is uniquely placed to work effectively at the interface between government and civil society. The Foundation sees partici- pation not as an end in its own right, but as a means of delivering more effective development for Commonwealth people. Focus on the Commonwealth Foundation’s work became evident in 1991, when it convened the first Commonwealth NGO Forum in Harare, Zimbabwe. At the Forum, the Commonwealth Foundation was urged to consult among governments and NGOs in order to produce what became the Foundation’s landmark publication Non-Governmental Organisations: Guidelines for Good Policy and Practice. From then on the Foundation brought a new perspective to government/civil society relations – the aspirations of cit- izens themselves, and their views of a good society. Today, civil society organisations play a greater role in shaping national policies and delivering services. In some cases the relationship between govern- ment, the public sector and civil society has become close and there is a spirit of partnership. Civil society’s relationship with the private sector has also evolved, with each borrowing a little from the other’s way of doing things. Paradoxically, it is the view of civil society that at the same time as their contributions are being increasingly recognised by governments, their opera- tional space is being constrained by anti-terror laws and other legal restrictions, repressive policing, cultural stereotyping, suspicion and limited freedom of information. Civil society organisations today are operating in a rather complex climate. On one hand they have higher levels of visibility and influence on government and business, but on the other hand, they are under new kinds of pressures revolving around their ‘operating environment’ and the need to respond to challenges to their accountability, transparency and legitimacy. The challenge we all have is how to manage this tension creatively and in ways that strengthen both national governments and civil society. vii Governance final:Layout 1 26/11/10 10:28 Page viii GOVERNANCE IN THE COMMONWEALTH: CURRENT DEBATES viii This book is the latest in a series of governance related publications by the Governance and Democracy Programme of the Commonwealth Foundation. A compilation of presentations from the Deepening Democracy Assembly at the 2009 Commonwealth People’s Forum, held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, this book is a collection of practitioner-led case studies highlighting key governance challenges faced by them in their own countries, through their work as civil society practitioners. These case studies are more than the musings of civil society. They are frontline experiences of civil society groups as they work in their respective thematic areas. The chapters highlight the importance of specific facets of governance, in the respective countries, as a means to demonstrate both the challenges they face as well as the work that civil society is doing to address some of the challenges. Each chapter is forward looking, with recommendations and suggestions to the public and governments about what issues need to be addressed. For clarity and context each chapter is preceded by a brief overview of the history of the specific governance theme for the region or country. The book aims to bring interesting civil society experiences to a wider audience, and to serve as a platform through which a wider audience is given the opportunity to see the important work of civil society. Mark Collins, BA, MBA, PhD Director, Commonwealth Foundation Governance final:Layout 1 26/11/10 10:28 Page ix Acknowledgements This book would not have been possible without inputs from a host of people. ToTim Shaw and Mihir Bhatt we owe great thanks for their substantive feed- back. We also acknowledge the support and encouragement from the Commonwealth Foundation’s Civil Society Advisory Committee. Kimberly Clarke untiringly helped us with the final text. We would also like to thank our colleagues at the Commonwealth Foundation for their feedback on various drafts of the manuscript. Finally, we would like to thank the authors who helped translate the idea of the book into reality and have given us a fantastic insight into the often lost world of development practice. ix Governance final:Layout 1 26/11/10 10:28 Page x List of Acronyms AIDMAM All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch AU African Union BV Block-voting CARICOM Caribbean Community DRC Democratic Republic of the Congo DDR Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration ECOMOG Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States ECPF ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework FPTP First Past the Post IMF International Monetary Fund INGO International NGO MDGs Millennium Development Goals MSC Mediation and Security Council NACC National Anti-corruption Committee (Cameroon) NCDHR National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights NWADA North