The political history of Senegal has been stable for the past three decades providing a basis for further political development. The country is divided into 14 regions, 34 departments and 320 rural councils. The regions are headed by a governor that is appointed by and responsible to the president. On the local level, community councils form the first administrative unit for the management of local government. These councils are elected every four years, most recently in 2009. Local government in Senegal falls under the Ministère de la Décentralisation et des Collectivités locales that facilitates the appointment of governors and has a supervisory role within the decentralized government structure, for example on issues of municipal infrastructural development.
Â
Senegal’s decentralization policy has undergone substantial changes starting in 1996 with the Law on Decentralization, equipping local governments with significant responsibilities. Besides reforming the institutional divisions, legislation aimed at strengthening local authorities was further meant to move further away from the centralized system inherited from the period when Senegal was a French colony. Fields in which responsibilities were transferred vary from land planning, public land administration, urbanization, health, education, environment to youth and sports. Financial responsibilities however remained under the control of central government. An example of legislation in 2004 supporting local authorities is the Build-Operate-and-Transfer Law that aimed at the set up of an appropriate environment for private sector involvement in public infrastructure development. The National Infrastructure Council (CNI) was created to execute the law.
Â
Although local government has a strong basis in Senegal the autonomy of localities is not undisputed. External donor projects for example strive to allocate more financial responsibilities to local authorities making them more accountable for their own policies. Furthermore the possibilities created by the 1996 legislation require skilled personnel for successful execution and thus increase the demand for training and education of regional and local officials. Local authorities seem well poised to increase their pivotal role in the country’s government as was made clear by the impact the 2009 municipal elections made. Local elections then confronted national politics with a shift in voter allegiance which is expected to also play a role in the national elections of 2012.
|
