Abstract

Democratic decentralization is the policy direction that Malawi adopted to harness local development by opening up the space to diverse actors. This study explored the role of informal civil society in enhancing democratic local governance in Nkhata Bay district with Nkhata Bay Citizens Caretaker Committee and Citizen Forum Committees as case studies. This was a qualitative study with data collected through focus groups discussions with members of various informal citizen groups and key informant interviews government officers, members of parliament, civil society representatives and community opinion leaders. The study also relied on available literature and participant observations. The findings demonstrate that through informal civil society the citizens are able to influence decision making, policy changes and responsiveness on service delivery of the district council although the improvements in service delivery are mostly short lived and non-sustainable as they are not strategically thought through. While reinforcing accountability, it proved to be a difficult endeavor due to unavailable and inaccessible public information contrary to the decentralization agenda. In conclusion the informal civil society enhances democratic local governance regardless of the mechanisms used but for sustainable changes there is need to maximize both the vertical and horizontal linkages.

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School	: School of Law, Economics and Government
Issued Date	: 2015

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