FISCAL DECENTRALIZATION IN THE DRC: EVIDENCE OF REVENUE ASSIGNMENT
Abstract
The rationale for central government to devolve resources for service provision
has been debated in decentralization literature. Decentralization enhances
democracy, encourages participation in local development initiatives and
promotes local political accountability. This discourse has been complemented by
the implementation of fiscal decentralization to increase the ability of sub-national
government in financing municipal service delivery. Fiscal decentralization has
often been adopted by African states since the onset of the New Public
Management era in an effort to improve the standard of governance. The concern
is that African states have taken minimal steps to adopt fiscal devolution that
promotes revenue assignment which in turn limits sub-national governments’
ability to generate own source revenues.
This article examines the revenue assignment function of fiscal decentralization in
the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the light of decentralization
concerns that have been raised by civil society, as the country charts its course to
democracy. The article is a desktop study that will consider documents and
policies in the DRC on the national, provincial and local level as far as state
revenue sources are concerned. Revenue assignment should enable DRC’s
provinces and local authorities to generate significant revenue independently.
However, post-conflict reconstruction and development efforts in the Great Lakes
region and in the DRC have largely isolated decentralization which would
otherwise entrench local fiscal autonomy in financing for local services and
development. The article concludes that revenue generation for local authorities
and the provinces in the DRC is still very centralised by the national government.
The article proposes policy recommendations that will be useful for the country to
ensure that decentralization efforts include fiscal devolution to enhance the
financing for local development initiatives.
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