Abstract

This study is a political economy analysis of Development Budget in Mzimba District. The study employed a qualitative research design and used several data collecting tools for analysis. The tools used included review of documents, key informant interviews and Focus Group discussions. This approach enabled me to assess roles of critical players at central and local levels and their interests, incentives and influence. The role of politics was equally analyzed. The study also used Public Choice Theories to explain actors‘ behavior in decision making which revealed some of the problems with projects identification. The study established that there have been different initiatives for development in Malawi since decentralization reforms in 1995. Such initiatives include Malawi Social Action Fund (MASAF), Local Development Fund (LDF) and Constituency Development Fund (CDF). Public financial management reforms have also been established, and local communities have been empowered to facilitate development. However, these initiatives have not yielded significant outcomes as stories about mismanagement of development funds and lack of improved basic infrastructure have become order of the day as indicated by reports and media. The study revealed numerous underlying factors which include diversity of interests and influence by stakeholders, politics, and weakness of institutions governing District Development Budget implementation which has effects on the relationship among various actors/players. The study, therefore, concludes that regardless of all reforms and initiatives to promote local development, factors such as formal and informal institutions, political influence and minimal community participation suppress the performance of such initiatives. The study, thus proposes further research to understand the degree of community involvement in District Development Budget (DDB) resource allocation and implementation.

More details

School	: School of Law, Economics and Government
Issued Date	: 2021

Download full document