The Task, Services and the Challenges Before our Newly Elected Local Councillors Sunday, 4th July 2021

[Deeq A.]

The Task, Services and the Challenges Before our Newly
Elected Local Councillors
Sunday, 4th July 2021

Councillors are elected by their local community to represent community views on council, provide leadership and make sure local needs are met. They do this by directing a council’s affairs, allocating resources for the benefit of the local area, developing policies and reviewing the council’s performance in relation to delivering services and other matters.
A councillor’s role is important. The decisions a councillor makes and the services provided by councils can impact on our lives, our local community and our local environment.
Being a councillor can be rewarding because it provides an opportunity to:
• make decisions that help people within the local community
• influence the long-term, strategic direction of a local community
• learn new skills such as public speaking and advocacy
• Work with a diverse range of people on a wide range of issues.

Being a councillor can also be challenging as councils need to:
• balance community needs and priorities, some of which are at odds with each other
• Work within a limited budget and a complex set of laws.

Councils control certain activities within their areas such as waste removal and disposal. Councils also have the power to order people to do certain things such as demolish a building or restrain any harming companion animals like dogs, cats etc. They can also order people to stop doing things, such as running a business in a residential area or creating a noise nuisance.

Local Councillors are mandated by law to render services to the people in their localities as stated in the constitution, article 112, and the Regions and Districts Law, article 20. The services one could expect from immediate local government include solid waste management, street-lighting, sewage system, drainage facilities and, to some extent, the provision of primary education and health services. Apart from delivery of services, local governments are mandated to administer land management and planning issues (spatial and strategic) as well as revenue collection and public expenditure management at the district level. However, in this part of the world -Somaliland, the situation is quite different; local governments provide only a small portion of the legally-mandated services, because they are seriously constrained by limited resources, fiscal disparities, and an inadequate legal framework.

Inevitably some decisions a council makes are not popular with some members of the community.
While having quite a bit of autonomy, if a council acts outside of the law it may be found by a court to be acting beyond its power. A council may also be liable for actions carried out negligently that result in damage or injury to people or property.
This can often result in financial loss to the council.
Councils therefore need to take care to exercise their powers properly and in accordance with the law.
When a council has to make a decision involving a value judgment, it must do this fairly and without bias so that everyone whose rights and interests are affected is given the chance to express their views before the decision is made.
As well as the Local Government Law there are a number of other laws that councils are responsible for enforcing or complying with.

Things councils need to consider when carrying out their responsibilities

• to provide directly or on behalf of other levels of government, after due consultation, adequate, equitable and appropriate services and facilities for the community and to ensure that those services and facilities are managed efficiently and effectively
• to exercise community leadership
• to promote and to provide and plan for the needs of children
• to properly manage, develop, protect, restore, enhance and conserve the environment of the area for which it is responsible, in a manner that is consistent with and promotes the principles of ecologically sustainable development
• to have regard to the long term and cumulative effects of its decisions
• to bear in mind that it is the custodian and trustee of public assets and effectively plan for, account for and manage the assets for which it is responsible
• to engage in long-term strategic planning on behalf of the local community
• to exercise its functions in a manner that is consistent with and promotes social justice principles of equity, access, participation and rights
• to facilitate the involvement of councillors, members of the public, users of facilities and services and council staff in the development, improvement and co-ordination of local government
• to keep the local community and the Central government (and through it, the wider community) informed about its activities
• to ensure that, in the exercise of its regulatory functions, it acts consistently and without bias, particularly where an activity of the council is affected
• to be a responsible employer.
In reality councils do far more than this. They pursue their community’s visions and ideas, provide leadership, and express local ideas and concerns about important issues to other levels of Government. They have more divined responsibilities mentioned on the Local Government law Particularly Xeerka Is Maamulka Gobolada iyo Degmooyinka JSL. (Law No: 23/2002) which has been revised and
Signed by the President of Somaliland in 2007.
A community also often looks to its council to protect it from potential natural dangers, and for support in times of need.

Councils and their Functions
The duties and tasks of the councils are clearly stated in the Regions and Districts Law 23/2007. It includes the following:
• Promotion of economic growth and development, including initiation and implementation of development programmes and projects at the local level;
• Promotion and care of the social welfare, such as education, health, water, electricity, sanitation;
• Care and welfare for the environment, forestation, and animals and economic infrastructure, in collaboration with relevant sector ministries;
• Generation, mobilization and allocation, including accounting, for the use of public resources;
• Inspection of new buildings, and those that are being renovated or require demolition, in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Works and Housing;
• Provision and maintenance of public infrastructure, e.g. construction, improvement and care of roads inside the towns of the district, in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Works and Housing;
• Promotion of participatory planning and community participation in local decision making;
• Establishment of sub-committees as required. (Regions and Districts Law,
2007)

Apart from these legal provisions, the ability of local governments to provide all these services is undermined by limited resources and absence of viable and just subsidiary plans.

Services and functions should councils provide

Councils provide a very wide range of services and functions. Broadly, these may be grouped into five categories:

1. Planning for Strategic development
2. Providing and Maintaining Infrastructure
3. Protecting the Environment
4. Supporting Community Development
5. Safeguarding Public Safety

Examples of services that fall into each of these categories are below. These represent a sample only. Councils provide other services which are listed in Law No:
23/2002.
– Providing and maintaining infrastructure
Providing an appropriate and affordable level of infrastructure is one important contribution a council makes to its community. For example, councils provide and maintain local roads, bridges, public car parks, footpaths, sporting fields, parks and art galleries. Councils must consult with their local community about providing and maintaining these public assets.
– Planning for sustainable development
Councils have a major role in providing long-term strategic planning for a local government area as well as town planning, zoning and sub-divisions. In addition councils are responsible for processing most development applications, for building site and compliance inspections, building regulations and connections to water and sewerage.
– Protecting the environment
Councils have a role in helping to protect the environment. They regularly assess the state of their local environment, provide environmental programs and use their regulatory powers to prevent pollution or restore degraded environments. They carry out activities such as garbage collection and recycling, street cleaning, regulating parking, controlling dogs and cats (or ‘companion animals’), controlling noxious weeds, regulating pollution and building control.
– Supporting community development
Councils regularly consult with and assess the needs of their community with a view to supporting community development. They provide a range of services, including some aimed at groups in the community with special needs. Community services include libraries, swimming pools, playground facilities and child care centres. – Safeguarding public health
Councils help maintain high standards of public health and reduce the risk of exposure to a wide range of diseases through activities such as food shop inspections, waste disposal, pest and vermin control and hazardous material containment.

The Challenges before the Newly Elected Councillors:
The challenges that the councillors are presently facing are countless and complex in nature. They include capacity concerns, limited resources, over-staffing and service delivery issues and many more mentioned some as follows
1. High Population: Somaliland’s liberalised economy has attracted a high number of businesses to the Regional Capital Cities particularly the Capital of Hargeisa. Those businesses have attracted a high number of potential workers and their families to the city. Unofficial estimates put the daytime population of Hargeisa in the 1 million to 1.5 million range.
2. Corruption: Corruption is a global problem, but over the last fifteen years in particular, the officials of the now defunct Hargeisa, Burao and Borama City Councils have been particularly corrupt. Public property has been disposed of for personal gain and millions of Dollars have been siphoned off into personal accounts.
3. Garbage: The A Grade Cities include the Capital of Hargeisa generates an estimated 500 to 800 tonnes of garbage daily, but has capacity to pick up less than ¼ a day. This has caused garbage to accumulate in
neighborhoods, on street corners and in local markets with resultant health risks and other environmental concerns.
4. Potholes: Most of City streets were constructed in the 1950s and 1970s.
The majority have never undergone any repairs or renovations since then. The city’s roads outside the central business district are heavily potholed and in a high state of disrepair.
5. Sewer service: Due to rapid population expansion, general disregard of proper urban planning and failure to adhere to existing construction guidelines and failure to make sewer system leads to the City population to extremely health risks.
6. Construction: The economic boom has led to a mushrooming of both commercial and residential construction. However, due to either (a) total disregard of existing laws governing construction or (b) selective and lax enforcement of those laws, many buildings are built in road reserves, in gazetted wetlands and often without following established construction specifications. On a regular basis, buildings under construction collapse, killing or injuring construction workers, bystanders or both.
7. Traffic management: Due to poor planning and lax enforcement of existing traffic regulations, combined with crumbling infrastructure, the traffic jams in Hargeisa are particularly chronic, intractable and a drag on the country’s economy.
8. Health services: Due to selective and lax application of existing public health laws, many public eating places lack health licenses or regular health inspections.
9. Environment: There has been no effort to mitigate the environmental degradation visited upon the city by the rapid population explosion, including the destruction of green spaces and wetlands. Noise pollution and smog are also of particular concern.
10. Stray livestock: Stray cattle, goats, dogs, cats and chicken are common in the Cities. These animals pose traffic and other environmental concerns, but are also a health risk.
11. Management of markets: The management of the city’s markets is a highly controversial topic, but for the councillors it is very important to have knowledge about it.
12. Financial Management
The local government financial management practices were a very old fashioned manual system – and often an erroneous one.
13. Poor Methods of Revenue Collection and Infringed Sources of Revenue : Since Somaliland has not, until today, created an up to date database system of collecting revenues of taxable sources for example, agriculture and commercial sectors, it is therefore a challenge for Somaliland Local Government to facilitate smooth financing strategies. It is unless the local government places a more advanced collection system, while it aims at creating new financial sources.
14. Limited Resources
The availability of adequate resources is understandably a paramount concern in almost every institution – and local governments are not exceptions. Despite the fact that grade A districts can be regarded not only solvent but some of them are relatively well off, the vast majority (grades B, C&D) do not generate sufficient revenues to cover operational costs and provide social services. If one could closely look at local governments’ budgets, the inevitable finding would be that revenue collection is very low in all of them and, to make matters worse, most of the generated revenues are used just to cover operational costs.
Inter-governmental fiscal transfer is another source of income for most of the local governments. But it is not systematic, predictable, and it often takes months to get this fund released to the respective districts. This uncertainty of timing regarding the transfer of the grants from the central government, that appear not to follow a regular disbursement schedule, compromises to some extent the ability of local governments to plan their recurrent expenditures and operations.
Central government transfers are meant to be financed with developmental projects; however, this remains unverified and unchecked.
15. Low Capacity and Demoralized Staff
As explained above, most of the elected councilors did not have a clear understanding of how councils work; thus, their functions as leaders, negotiators, facilitators, planners, and advocates for local development and policy making, were severely undermined. Similarly, the existing local governments have an acute shortage of qualified man-power, and they are unable to discharge their functions effectively and efficiently. Nevertheless, their performance has gradually improved.
The technical capacity to adequately and strategically plan district activities was often non-existent or very weak at the district level. Some UN agencies such as UN-HABITAT at an early stage, and the United Nations Joint Programme on Local Governance (UN JPLG), at a later stage, trained most of the councilors and local government staff on relevant modules, so that they can carry out their functions more appropriately. This effort, however, needs to be sustained through a permanent training cycle. attention, as it grossly affects the health and well-being of the society. It is, therefore, imperative that premier consideration should be given to better ways of waste management. This includes the availability of adequate sanitary infrastructure.
Councillors, on their part, should pass by-laws imposing fines on those who are behaving unscrupulously and throwing garbage in every place they can find. This should be embedded in an aggressive and sustained civic education programme, educating citizens on their rights and responsibilities. Citizens should also contribute to the betterment of their environments and, in this regard, properly dispose of garbage.
Local governments should also capitalize on the willingness of the local communities and systematically plan and finance quick impact projects that are sustainable and beneficial to all. The recent practice of local governments in enhancing service delivery capacity should therefore be sustained and strengthened.
16. Lack of Community Awareness : Somaliland is one of the few countries with lack of community awareness on tax payment. Majority of the people also do not like paying because the countries’ history never advocated for the importance of paying taxes. Additionally, the locals in Somaliland fear for their contribution to the local government citing corruption and minimal evidence of the use of revenues. Majority of the locals believe that their money would go directly to individual pockets with not clear structure put in place
17. Improved Oversight Role of the Central Government
Though local governments are autonomous, the law also gives the Ministry of
Interior the oversight role related to the performance of local governments. Presently, the Ministry of Interior is over-loaded, since it is responsible for national security, coastal guard, immigration issues, as well as local governments. One would not expect a close oversight role from such an over-burdened national institution.
In order to enhance institutional development of local governments as well as service provision capacity, Ministry of Local Governments should be established. Since the Ministry of Interior is over-burdened, and often preoccupied with issues other than the enrichment of local governance, the creation of a separate entity that sets the required legal framework and formulates relevant policies is much needed. The proposed ministry can take care of additional national tasks, when and as required, but its primary focus should remain on local government development.
Some skills, knowledge and attributes which will help the New Councillors

While you don’t need any special formal qualifications to be a councillor, having or being able to develop the following skills, knowledge and attributes will help the Councillors in their role

Good communication skills
This includes good listening and interpersonal skills, public speaking skills, the ability to accept alternative points of view as well as the ability to negotiate, mediate and resolve conflict.
Good problem solving and analytical skills
This includes being able to get to the bottom of an issue and to think of different ways to resolve it, including advantages and disadvantages of each.
Good teamwork skills
This includes being able to work with others in meetings and on committees and being able to complete any tasks on time that you agree to do.
Good organisational skills
This includes being able to plan and manage your time, keep appointments and deadlines, make priorities and manage stress.
Knowledge or understanding of strategic planning and financial planning and reporting processes
This includes strategic management and understanding the budgetary process and financial reports.
Ability to engage with your community
This includes why this is important and ways to consult such as through meetings, the media, the internet, public forums, debates and surveys. Knowledge or understanding of social justice principles
This includes why it is important to make sure all people in the community are treated equally, have the right to be heard and are able to participate in public forums and events if they choose to. Groups of people whose voices are not always heard include the Aboriginal, people with a disability, older people, women and young people.
Knowledge and understanding of local government functions
This includes, for example, land use planning, environmental management or community development and services.
Understanding of relevant State Government legislation
This includes, for example, the Local Government law 1997 and the Environmental Laws.
Leadership qualities
This includes, for example, attributes such as energy and optimism, motivation, resilience, confidence, assertiveness, strategic thinking, advocacy, networking, active listening and negotiating.
Ethical and accountable behaviour
This includes being able to follow a code of conduct that involves, among other things, acting in the best interests of the community as a whole, transparent decision-making and accountability.

By: Abdi Halim Mohamed Musa
BA (Economics), MBA, Msc in Finance E-mail: halimusa4@gmail.com

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