Fiscal decentralization in Cape Verde status and perspectives46

Fiscal decentralization in Cape Verde
status and perspectives⁴⁶

Status of Decentralization

1. 
   Decentralization was launched in 1989. During the post-independence period, Cape Verde kept the structure inherited from the colonial era. Fifteen Councils (conselhos), were the centers of public activity outside the capital. Each council could include several parishes, themselves divided into various “areas” (several villages or hamlets). In each island, a delegate appointed and accountable to the central government represented the central government. In 1989, Law 47/III/89 created “decentralized territorial collectivities,” with a decree-law (Decret-Law 52-A/90) that stated the principles of administrative, financial, and patrimonial autonomy of the municipalities. With the move to multiparty democracy in 1991, the political decentralization option was strengthened⁴⁷ and the first local elections held. The elected municipalities’ territories match the 15 former conselhos, to which 2 additional municipalities were added in 1991 and 5 more in 2005.
   
2. 
   According to their 1995 Statute, municipalities are defined as “territorial collective entities with representative bodies emanating from their respective population, and which pursue the interests of these populations.” The municipalities have administrative, financial, patrimonial, normative, and organizational autonomy. They can establish municipal taxes and fees, manage and part with their physical assets, issue licenses, manage public works and destroy public buildings, and attract investment. Furthermore, political decentralization in Cape Verde is embedded in the Constitution, which under the title of “Local Power” states the main principles of decentralization (box 4.1).
   
3. 
   The issues of solidarity among municipalities, regional imbalance, and risks of inequalities between islands and municipalities have remained persistent concerns in the country. Indeed, municipalities and their economic potential are vastly diverse (table 4.1). However, these inequalities are not accompanied by strong tensions among regions. Regional identities in the country are relatively strong (with the main distinction between the Barlavento and Sotavento islands, and some islands’ identities) but Cape Verdeans perceive themselves foremost as Cape Verdeans. Furthermore, the regional identities are not associated with any ethnic or religious divides.⁴⁸
   

Central administration:

• 
  Recognizes the existence of elected representative local governments, specifically municipalities (Inframunicipal or supramunicipal entities may also be created).
  
• 
  Ensures solidarity among local governments.
  
• 
  Grants technical, material, and human support to local governments.
  
• 
  Controls (tutela⁴⁹), but the control is restricted to legality (that is, the control only checks that legal and regulatory rules are complied with. It does not check the opportunity of the decision.
  

Municipalities:

• 
  Have their own finance and assets, and fiscal powers.
  
• 
  Have an elected assembly and a collegial executive accountable to the assembly.
  
• 
  May delegate powers to community organizations.
  

Responsibilities of the Municipalities

4. 
   Following the first local elections, various mandates were specifically transferred to the municipalities through protocols or decrees. These were public works (through various protocols), Retail Trade (Decree Law 31/92), Collective Road Transports (Decree Law 68/94), Social Promotion (Decree Law 12/94) and Water Supply.
   
5. 
   The 1995 Statute of Municipalities describes in detail municipalities’ responsibilities.⁵⁰ These include local planning, basic sanitation, rural development, primary health care, preschool and primary education, urbanism, road transportation, social promotion, culture, sports, tourism, environment, local trade, civil protection, public works, professional training, local security, and municipal investments. Furthermore, the law specifically states that attributions not legally pertaining to the central government belong to the municipalities, which is a very bold statement in favor of decentralization. Transitional rules for implementation specify that attributions will be delegated progressively.
   
6. 
   Municipalities have become active in their areas of responsibilities, but organization of the transfer has been sketchy at best. Weaknesses of the protocols signed between the central government and the municipalities for transferring some of these responsibilities are well documented. Most of the devolution protocols left gray areas. For instance, the decentralization of social promotion did not clarify the responsibility for managing social equipments. In addition, the process was somewhat improvised: lack of planning and evaluation of needed resources and staff, lack of organization of coordination of activities and phasing of the transfers).
   

Table 4.23: Diversity of Municipalities

ISLAND and Municipality	Total pop. (2007)	Pop.<=17 (2007)	Poverty rate head family (2001-2)	Female	Male	Infant mortality	Vaccina-tion rate <= 1 yr.
BOA VISTA––Boa Vista	5.621	1.973	12	24	8	30.6	98
BRAVA- Brava	6.333	2.783	22	29	18	22.5	70.8
FOGO ISLAND	38.192		31	48	22		29.5
Fogo––Santa Catarina	4.874	2.417
Fogo––Mosteiros	9.853	4.638				16.8	53.6
Fogo––S. Filipe	23.465	11.071				28.3
MAIO––Maio	7.868	3.626	20	26	15	18.1	60.6
SAO NICOLAU ISLAND	13.192		23	34	15	17.6	79.2
S. Nicolau––Tarrafal	5.007	2.205
S. Nicolau––Rª Brava	8.185	3.31
SAO VICENTE––S. Vicente	77.535	30.088	21	33	13	22.2	73.4
SAL- Sal	18.966	7.161	10	24	5	20.1	92
SANTIAGO ISLAND	279.449		29	42	18
Santiago––São Lorenço dos Orgões	8.903	4.48
Santiago––RªG. Santiago	9.27	4.977
Santiago––São Salvador do Mundo	10.507	5.529
Santiago––S. Domingos	14.118	7.084				2.2	37.3
Santiago––São Miguel	17.339	8.937				7.2	32.2
Santiago––Tarrafal	22.078	11.098				6.3	57
Santiago––Santa Cruz	28.814	15.287				7.5	58.3
Santiago––Santa Catarina	46.576	23.457				12.3	53.9
Santiago––Praia	121.844	52.279				35.5	69.6
SANTO ANTAO ISLAND	49.163		34	51	26
Santo Antão––Paúl	8.782	3.935				0	90.3
Santo Antão––Porto Novo	18.393	8.291				8.6	70.3
Santo Antão––Rª Grande	21.988	9.425				23.8	63.3
TOTAL	496.319	224.051	27	40	18	20.2	63.1

Sources: Population per municipality and youth population DGAT, Poverty rate PRSP, infant mortality and vaccination health statistics 2005.

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