NAME: VERONICA KANDEWO

REG NUMBER: P1952042C

COURSE: PERSPECTIVES IN DEVELOPMENT

STUDIES

CODE: BSDS 101

LEVEL: 1.2
The concept of good governance has been on the agenda of development institutions now for
more than 20 years and it has become indispensable in development co-operation. The term
was introduced in the development discussion by a World Bank study, which focussed on the
role of the state in the development process. Good governance is an essential precondition for
sustainable development. Various countries that are quite similar in terms of their natural
resources and social structure have shown strikingly different performance in improving the
welfare of their people. Much of this is attributable to standards of governance. Poor
governance stifles and impedes development. In countries where there is corruption, poor
control of public funds, lack of accountability, abuses of human rights and excessive military
influence, development inevitably suffers.Good governance and strong institutions have an
essential role for development. Good governance promotes accountability, transparency,
efficiency and rule of law in public institutions. Additionally it allows for sound and efficient
management of human, natural economic and financial resources for equitable and
sustainable development.

UNDP. Governance is viewed as the exercise of economic, political and administrative

authority to manage a country’s affairs at all levels. It comprises mechanisms, processes and
institution s through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal
rights, meet their obligations and mediate their differences. Implement policies and discharge
functions. Institute of Governance, Ottawa. Governance comprises the institutions, processes
and conventions in a society which determine how power is exercised, how important
decisions affecting society are made and how various interests are accorded a place in such
decisions. Commission on Global Governance. Governance is the sum of the many ways
individuals and institutions, public and private, manage their common affairs. It is a
continuing process through which conflicting or diverse interests may be accommodated and
co-operative action may be taken. It includes formal institution s and regimes empowered to
enforce compliance, as well as informal arrangements that people and institution s either have
agreed to or perceive to be in their interest. Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
defined Good governance as a process of ensuring respect for human rights and the rule of
law; strengthening democracy; promoting transparency and capacity in public administration.
According to Australia Ministry of foreign Affairs ‘Good governance’ means competent
management of a country’s resources and affairs in a manner that is open, transparent,
accountable, equitable and responsive to people’s needs. Key elements of good governance
are outlined at left. Good governance in the World Bank’s perception comprises certain
political and civil human rights, as freedom of expression, freedom of the press, freedom of
assembly, freedom of information, and participation in political decision-making processes.
However, for the World Bank human rights are not an independent component of good
governance. Human rights issues arise throughout the whole good governance agenda. In that
sense, human rights constitute a cross-cutting topic, like the issues of corruption and
participation.

Rule of laws is critical principle of good governance that promote sustainable development.
According to Palacio (2006), “the concept of governance is widely acknowledged to be
indispensable to sustainable development. That focus would be significantly strengthened by
anchoring it in the international human rights framework. Human rights offer a clear
conceptual and legal framework for connecting the supply and demand sides of governance
in terms of its basic correlative notions of rights and duties. Acknowledging the relevance of
human rights to the Bank and integrating human rights into its work is an important element
in our efforts to step up the Bank’s promotion of good governance and its global fight against
corruption. Indeed, in substantive terms, these areas share common legal principles“.

Sustainable development thus requires the participation of diverse stakeholders and

perspectives, with the ideal of reconciling different and sometimes opposing values and goals
toward a new synthesis and subsequent coordination of mutual action to achieve multiple
values simultaneously and even synergistically

landmark study by the World Bank, Assessing Aid – What Works, What Doesn’t and Why
(1998), demonstrated the crucial role that good governance plays in enhancing the
effectiveness of aid. The study found that where there is sound country management, an
additional one per cent of GDP in aid translates into a one per cent decline in poverty and a
similar decline in infant mortality – whereas in a weak policy and management environment
aid has much less impact. Findings like this clearly indicate that the ‘returns’ from
development assistance are generally greater in developing countries characterised by good
governance. One element of good governance that is needed for sustained development is an
economy that operates in an ethical, accountable and appropriately regulated environment,
which facilitates competition in the marketplace. Without this, there will be no driver for
economic growth and sustainable development will not be possible. A dynamic private
sector, operating in a properly functioning competitive market system, creates jobs and
income, generates wealth and helps ensure that resources are used efficiently. In this spirit,
the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights stated with regard to article 22
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights clearly state that, “United
Nations agencies involved in the promotion of economic, social and cultural rights should do
their utmost to ensure that their activities are fully consistent with the enjoyment of civil and
political rights. In negative terms this means that the international agencies should
scrupulously avoid involvement in projects which, for example, involve the use of forced
labour in contravention of international standards, or promote or reinforce discrimination
against individuals or groups contrary to the provisions of the Covenant, or involve large-
scale evictions or displacement of persons without the provision of all appropriate protection
an compensation. In positive terms, it means that, wherever possible, the agencies should act
as advocates of projects and approaches which contribute not only to economic growth or
other broadly defined objectives, but also to enhanced enjoyment of the full range of human
rights”.

According to Rodrick (1997) “Institutions are the rules of a society or of organisations that
facilitate co-ordination among people by helping them form expectations which each person
can reasonably hold in dealing with each other. They reflect the conventions that have
evolved in different societies regarding the behaviour of individuals and groups relative to
their own behaviour and the behaviour of others. The quote asserts that policies for macro-
economic stability will be less effective where governance is poor and weak. The institutions
which design and implement these policies should be strong and not polarised. It is believed
that strong and effective institutions ensure good governance and promoting growth with
equity and stability. Governance has three dimensions which are technical, political and
institutional. Institutions refer to norms, rule of conduct and to well defined and formal
organisations that govern the society operate e.g. role of state in economic life ,
administration system , judiciary system , mechanism of getting in to power , laws relating to
private property and contracts ,agencies for regulation economic and financial system.

According to the Short Term Economic Recovery Programme(STERP) which was introduced
in Zimbabwe in February 2009 to be implemented under the Global Political
Agreement(GPA) posed a free market system yet on the ground there was continuous and
high degree of interference by the state which militates economic growth. There was more of
a deliberate political obstruction going on in Zimbabwe for governance to play its magical
role. The three political parties in the GPA were prioritising their selfish needs at the expense
of the economy and the despondent populace. Policies such as indigenisation empowerment
refuted the free market system posed by STERP. The implementation of the indigenisation
empowerment act under the public institution was politicised to the western investors while
the East was given leverage due to ideological reasons. Quality of governance depends on
institutions yet rent-seeking is high in these institutions .Different scholars argue that
corruption and bureaucracy are indicators of lack of responsiveness by governments while
democracy and accountability are indicators to which politicians respond to the public goods.
Institutions should support macro-economic stabilisation. In addressing transparency as a key
tenant of governance, there was lack of press freedom to provide information to markets so
that policymakers continue to expedite their own interests. Majority of Zimbabweans
believed that STERP and GPA were letting them down by playing cat and mouse with
people’s lives. Taking governance under a closer scrutiny, it is evident the politicians are
policymakers. Relationship between policymakers and citizens for good governance to be
achieved is crucial. In Zimbabwe, policies are passed and implemented without participation
or passed and implemented without participation or involvement of the public / citizens. It’s
also evident where delivery agents and the people as clients , clients are disgruntled by the
provision of public goods and services such as infrastructure , for example , roads , water and
electricity supplies. There is manipulation of tax and spending system to assist ruling party
supporters at the expense of the citizens.

In Zimbabwe, the rule of law is weak when looking at institutions like army, policy,
parliament and the judiciary. In parliament issues are not debated thoroughly and have
political interests. Citizens are limited to acquire leverage because of victimization when
building or joining powerful civil society organizations for example the Voluntary
Organization (NGO) bill.

In short, actions to foster good governance concentrate on attenuating two undesirable

desirable characteristics that had been prevalent earlier: the unrepresentative character of
governments and the inefficiency of non-market systems. As governance is the sum of the
ways that individuals and institutions, in both public and private spheres, manage their
affairs, the systems of governance in much of the Third World and Eastern Europe had to
change. As Baose has written, ‘the World Bank operationalised “bad governance” as
personalisation of power, lack of human rights, endemic corruption and un-elected and
unaccountable governments’. And so, ‘good governance must be the natural opposite’. Since
good governance has become an important component of the international agenda, discourse
about good governance was linked to new policies in those countries receiving development
assistance or investments from international lending agencies. Good governance has become
a political and economic conditionality that is inseparable from debates about appropriate
bilateral and multilateral. Financing for developing and formerly socialist bloc countries.
International efforts, in recent decades, have thus supported political democratization
(including elections, accountability and human rights) and economic liberalisation. Recent
experience with good governance has led to criticism from the UN system, which seeks to
balance assessments about costs and benefits as well as to confront the political and economic
conditionality viewed by many recipient countries as unwelcome intrusions. Good
governance is definitely on the international agenda. But three types of substantive UN
commentary have applied the brakes and slowed the momentum of the Washington
consensus. The first is the need to capture the complex reality of governance, which
encompasses all the structures and processes for determining the use of available resources
for the public good within a country. Although debate continues about its precise
components, good governance is more than multiparty elections, a judiciary and a parliament,
which have been emphasised as the primary symbols of Western-style democracy. The list of
other attributes, with the necessary resources and culture to accompany them, is formidable:
universal protection of human rights; non-discrimatory laws; efficient, impartial and rapid
judicial processes; transparent public agencies; accountability for decisions by public
officials; devolution of resources and decision making to local levels from the capital; and
meaningful participation by citizens in debating public policies and choices.
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