Municipal Development Project

MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT 2001 – 2007

Project Overview
In the mid-1990s, the urban population of Mozambique was estimated at about 38 percent of the total population, and was growing at 6 percent per year. The rural exodus put pressure on cities’ infrastructure. During the same period, the process of decentralization and de-concentration began, and with it the need for the creation of an enabling legal environment for the establishment of local governments.

In early 1997, and with the support from two previous World Bank funded projects (Urban Rehabilitation Project 1989-1996, and Local Government Reform and Engineering Project 1994-2000), the National Assembly approved a package of laws for urban development. Collectively known as Pacote Autarquico, the law established the creation of 33 autonomous municipalities.

The Municipal Development Project was designed in support of previous efforts to establish municipal

governance in Mozambique. The project focused on improving civil service capacities for policy

development, analysis, and the implementation of local governance in Mozambique. 

Project Financing

Project Results

The project was implemented from 2001 to 2007. The following are the main results achieved in each of the three main components of the project.

1.       Legal and Institutional Reform

This component helped operationalize the legal and technical frameworks for municipal governance. At the project start, the enabling environment, both technical and legal frameworks, were weak and in many situations non-existent.

The Pacote Autartiquico was reviewed and a series of decrees, draft policies, and regulations were produced with the aim of improving the understanding among the Government’s key personnel about the legal and administrative framework governing municipalities and the devolution of authority, responsibility and resources to the 33 municipal governments.

Specific accomplishments of this project component included:

• Proposed framework law to define the criteria for the creation of new local governments
• Regulations to allow representation of the state in the municipalities
• Decree to allow for mobility of personnel between the state and the municipalities (CM Decree No.  45/2003)
• Corrective measures regarding the legal relationship of municipal personnel with respect to the municipal governments (CM Decrees Nr.  36/2004)
• Decree creating and providing for the functioning of the municipal police
• Creation of specific functions for the local governments and approval of qualification standards and salaries

2.    Municipal Capacity Building 

The project helped develop capacities among the municipal officials and personnel on a variety of topics and tasks.  At the project start, the municipalities had little capacities to handle bids, contracts, and procurement related issues, as well as fulfill some basic municipal functions and deliver basic services.

The project developed training programs in the areas of finance, human resources management, fixed asset management, and urban planning to increase the technical capacity of municipal staff and elected officials in the 33 municipalities.

The Training Institute in Public Administration and Local Governance was established to design and deliver capacity building courses. The component also established new facilities in Beira (Sofala Province) and Lichinga (Niassa province), as well as equipped the center in Maputo so that training could be provided to local staff in a more cost effective manner.

3.    Municipal Grants 

A new operating system was put in place to provide grants to municipalities through a pilot program in eight cities. That operating system also provided finance to promote investments in municipal capacity building and infrastructure development.

Staffs of the target municipalities have developed skills to identify, design, and manage the implementation of large number of infrastructure projects.  The component also established municipal planning processes, created project planning mechanisms and consultancies, and introduced mechanisms for municipalities to work with communities to identify priority investments.

Opportunities were provided for the staff to apply the knowledge obtained through the capacity building efforts done through component one. As a result, the personnel of the eight pilot municipalities are now able to plan for, procure, and supervise a number of contracts for goods and works.

Through the municipal grants, the project also funded a number of public works in the municipalities, including the construction of markets, water points, drainage improvements, and other civil work that had previously never been undertaken by municipal staff.

Project Impact   

The target municipalities acquired the ability to fully function as local governments. These municipalities developed autonomy and capacity to plan and implement policies, services and public works for the communities they serve.

The municipal administrations have also reduced significantly the cycles to award contracts, thus improving their ability to attract investments.

The establishment of mandatory annual municipal audits has also contributed to raise the profile of the municipalities vis-à-vis the population, the central government, donors, the private sector, and other stakeholders.  

This project also impacted positively on people’s lives by allowing their participation in the decision-making process of their communities, through the election of their representatives (Municipal President and members of the Municipal Assembly) and other mechanisms of inclusive decision making.

There is an increasing sense of downward accountability between the municipal authorities and municipal citizens.  

The project also positively impacted people’s health through investments in sewage and drainage systems of some municipalities.