Introduction

Decentralization has been considered by many as one of the most important strategies on the agenda of public sector reform. This is because donors and governments in sub-Saharan Africa have considered decentralization as a strategy that will bring service delivery closer to consumers, improve the responsiveness of the central government to public demands and thereby reduce poverty, improve the efficiency and quality of public services and empower lower units to feel more involved and in control. In this connection, decentralization is linked to the concept of subsidiarity, that is, making decisions at the lowest feasible level. It is also meant to reduce overload and congestion at the centre and speed up operational decision-making and implementation by minimizing the bottlenecks associated with over-centralization of powers and functions at just one or two points in the hierarchy of a public service organization or ministry; in other words, greater efficiency of public management, arising from improved co-ordination and shorter decision-making hierarchies (‘less bureaucracy’), and improvements in political stability through the legitimization of differences in local needs and perspectives (pluralism). Consequently, decentralization seeks to increase the operational autonomy of line managers and agencies, leaving only broad policy guidelines to be worked out at the centre (Smith, 1985; Rondinelli et al., 1989; Mawhood, 1993; Crook and Manor, 1998; Wunsch and Olowu, 1995; Olowu and Wunsch, 2004).