Decentralisation and local governance have garnered currency in Eastern Africa in recent decades. Deliberate efforts towards decentralisation in Eastern Africa started during the late 1980s and early 1990s. This wave of decentralisation was induced by disappointing progress in meeting national goals through centralised processes. The authoritarian practice of post-colonial states, under the guise of national unity, never yielded the desired results (Makara, 2018:25). This led many countries to think more seriously than before about top-down development strategies.
GGA-EA initiated a research project to review the policy and practice of decentralisation and local governance in five countries to make sense of the current state of affairs, aiming to assist in improving practice on the basis of research findings and potentially improving the lives of citizens. The countries selected include Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, and Uganda, all of which fall within GGA-EA’s geographic scope of operation. Attached is the review report.
