Strengthening institutions as the basis for a stronger federal system

Mesle A

The Ethiopian government is based on the parliamentary system whereby the political party or parties with the greatest number of seats form and lead the executive. The Parliament appoints the Prime Minister from the dominant party, and the Prime Minister in turn appoints the ministers and vice-ministers. Though the appointment of the ministers is approved by the Parliament, they are accountable to the Prime Minister. Currently, the Federal Executive branch is organized into 30 ministries, a dozen commissions, authorities, agencies, parastatal corporations and institutions each with a different organizational setup.

Apart from the central government and the civil service, the decentralized local governments constitute the remaining part of the executive structure in Ethiopia. In fact, the regional institutions employ no less than 87% of the public servants and are organized into legislative, executive and judicial branches similar to those of the Federal Government. Each region has a regional executive, administration, an elected assembly, an official language, a separate flag and a court system. The powers and functions of the states include enacting and executing the state constitution and other laws, collecting resources, and planning and executing development policies.

Renewal and good governance

The relation between strong, capable institutions and good governance has been clearly acknowledged by most African governments over recent years. Efficient and effective institutions are indeed understood to be essential prerequisites for establishing and entrenching a culture of accountability and transparency in the management of national affairs.

Therefore, capacity is about the capability to promote democratic governance, to improve the structures and institutions of economic policy making, invigorate the strength of civil society to contribute to national development, and create a context of social empowerment for the people - in which they can contribute meaningfully to decisions that affects their life chances and the developmental process. Capacity is usually described as representing the ‘missing link’ in the development and democratization process. Despite the differing contexts and circumstances, certain capacity gaps appear to be cross-cutting, affecting both state and non-state actors and institutions throughout the country.

Without being exhaustive, some of the most critical capacity gaps that need to be addressed include the following: Most state legislators in Ethiopia lack the necessary institutional capacities to perform their constitutionally mandated functions. Some of the most common deficiencies include inadequately educated legislators, who lack relevant knowledge, access to information, sophistication, and independence that would enable them to perform their mandated duties efficiently and effectively.

The capacity gaps cutting across the institutions of the Executive, including the central and regional/local government tiers, the civil service and public parastatals, generally concern the employment of inadequately trained, remunerated and motivated human resources, which often results in corruption, misuse of office and poor government service delivery, especially at the decentralized levels of government. Capacity gaps also affect civil society organizations in Ethiopia, which often fail to fulfill their role of creating cultural transformation and enhancing participation. Weaknesses include their internal organization, poor management and leadership skills, limited resources and human capacity, and concentration in the capital, which limits their presence in rural areas where they are sometimes most needed.

Many political parties across Africa are also largely failing to mobilize and aggregate public opinion. This is partly due to adverse local practices inhibiting their performance, but mostly due to their weak leadership and internal governance structures, which limits their capability to effectively articulate issues, engage in meaningful and organized debates, and promote their political principles or visions of society.

Finally, the private sector contribution to good governance remains inadequate across the country, which is often a consequence of unstable policy frameworks and unpredictable regulatory enforcement capacities. Furthermore, existing mechanisms for consultations and partnerships between the public and private sectors remain weak and unstructured, whilst the government have adopted policies acknowledging the existence and promoting the development of the rapidly growing informal sectors towards the formal sector.

Whilst these are some of the most commonly observed shortcomings affecting the capacity of our institutions in achieving good governance, each regional state and institution also has its own, specific capacity issues to address and prioritize in light of both, the differing stages of development with regards to the capacities of institutions of governance, and of existing resource constraints.

The principles guiding the appointment, promotion and career development of civil servants, including the law enforcement organs, need to be enforced to improve their motivation and capacity. Local governments need to be equipped with the adequate authority, physical and human resources to discharge their duties and deliver services more effectively, especially with regards to the poor and women. The interface between the Government and civil society, as well as government and the private sector needs more structured to enhance their contribution and influence in the policy-making process.

Public watchdog institutions need to be strengthened and provided with adequate oversight and enforcement powers as well as resources to enhance the transparency and accountability of government actions. Civil society organizations and private media suffer from a lack of access to resources, which is partly due to an adverse regulatory environment discouraging their growth and capacity development.

Seeking to address some of the above issues, the government developed a multi-sectorial national capacity building strategy which is being implemented by the Ministry of Capacity Building established for the purpose of coordinating the different capacity building efforts throughout the country. The capacity building strategy upholds the principles of decentralization, regional autonomy and efficiency and its basic tenets are to lessen the role of the state in the economy in favor of the private sector, to enhance popular participation in economic management across sectors and regions and to promote good governance, accountability and transparency.

The capacity building programs currently implemented in the public sector are being applied at the levels of higher education and vocational trainings, civil service, justice system and tax system reforms, district level decentralization, urban management and development, access to information and communication technologies, as well as civil society and NGOs. The capacity building programs also include the private sector, and more specifically the construction sector, co-operative development, as well as the textile and garment industry.

Enhancing the capacity of the Legislature is also an important component of the government’s “Comprehensive Strategic Public Sector Capacity Building Program”. The program aims to enhance the capacity of the legislature by enhancing the institutional capacity of parliamentary and affiliated organs including skills upgrading for members of parliament on parliamentary procedures and upgrading their legal skills; and enhancing the institutional capacity of legislative and affiliated organs, systems and processes of law making and related tasks.

Similar and deeper capacity-building measures have to be developed for all branches of government and public institutions to realize a deep renewal and better governance.