Seychelles gears up for decentralisation process |06 September 2017
Actors and stakeholders in government, politics, the private sector, non-governmental and civil society bodies who will be playing key roles in the decentralisation process Seychelles will embark on next year are learning more about the process and what it entails.
This is through a three-day education and information awareness session which the Office of the Mayor of Victoria in collaboration with the Local Government Department and the United Cities and Local Government –Africa (UCLGA) is organising this week at the ICCS.
Members of the National Assembly, district administrators, local government officials, representatives of NGOs, Ministry of Finance and businesses have come together to learn and discuss the principles of decentralisation, local governance and development.
Seychelles is an executive member of the UCLGA and the Mayor of Victoria David Andre is currently holding the position of vice-president for the eastern African region and as a result Seychelles is benefitting from the expertise of two decentralisation experts to lead the three-day session.
They are François Paul Yatta, the head of programmes of UCLG Africa and Dr Juma Nyende, the director of the East African Regional Office of UCLG Africa.
It is expected that after the session Seychelles will be better equipped to enter the decentralisation process as everyone will have a better understanding as to what it is all about, as well as its benefits and challenges.
Designated Minister Macsuzy Mondon, who is also responsible for local government, officially launched the session yesterday morning in the presence of the Minister for Youth, Sports and Culture Mitcy Larue, members of the diplomatic corps, among other guests.
She expressed appreciation and gratitude to the UCLGA and the Office of the Mayor of Victoria for the initiative, noting that the decentralisation process is considered a key element of good governance and it gives more space and visibility to local communities.
She said it also fits in well with President Danny Faure’s call for transparency, accountability and good governance.
Minister Mondon added that learning more on the decentralisation process is both significant and timely, as it reflects a strategic effort by the government to continue to strengthen the governance system and improve the effectiveness of local governments in terms of service delivery.
“The government of Seychelles believes in the empowerment of its people. Since 1979, the government has always adopted a community-based approach towards local government and local development which has helped us significantly in mitigating the influence and impacts of globalisation on our local communities,” Minister Mondon pointed out, noting that we also recognise that more remains to be done.
“Seychelles can further gain significant benefit from a decentralised governance especially in the protection of the environment, addressing climate change, the Blue economy initiative and other priority areas such as addressing the pressing issues of poverty, substance abuse and all associated social ills,” she said.
Before her the Mayor of Victoria David Andre had pointed out that decentralisation of governance and the strengthening of local governing capacity is in part also a function of broader societal trends. It is being driven by a strong desire for greater participation of citizen and private sector organisations in governance.
“The decentralisation process is also being referred to as the new public management – as it is being seen as management by objectives, contracting out, competition within government and consumer -oriented. It aims to give citizens or their elected representatives more power, more influence in the formulation of laws and policies where there will obviously be a lot of challenges and we should prepare ourselves to be challenged, excited and inspired,” Mr Andre noted.
He said the education session will be an opportunity for national stakeholders to be presented with the experience of other countries in order to learn and draw lessons that would help us define the Seychelles model.
