PPP On Chpter - 5 - Accountability

Institute of Leadership and Good Governance
Masters Program for Leaders

Legal Frameworks for Governance
(LGG-5011)
By:-Serkaddis Zegeye (PhD)(Asst. Prof.)
Sep. 2018
By- Serkaddis Zegeye (PhD)
CHAPTER- FIVE
ACCOUNTABILITY
Major Contents of the Unit
General Introduction to Good Governance

Brainstorming Session
Discussion on accountability
Types of accountability
Formal and informal control
Accountability at the central, regional….level.
Principles of collective and individual
Financial accountability

5.1. INTRODUCTION
Major Pillars of Good Governance
1. Good governance is participatory.
 Anyone who will be affected by decisions and services should be
given the opportunity to participate:-
♠ from the initiation/beginning
♠ throughout the process and
♠ in the outcome of any developmental matter.
 This can happen in several ways such as by:-
♠ providing information,
♠ asking for opinion and
♠ seeking recommendations
INTRODUCTION....
2. Governance is transparent
Transparency means that:-
♠ decisions taken and their enforcement should be done based on
rules and regulations.
♠ information is freely available and directly accessible to those
who will be affected by.
♠ enough information is provided in easily understandable
forms and medias.

INTRODUCTION.....
3. Good governance follows the rule of law
• The rule of law refers that decisions are consistent
with relevant laws and are within the powers of legal
institutions.
• Absence of law of man and arbitrariness of measures
and decisions
• In the case of Ethiopia, relevant legislations include
Federal and Regional Government laws and policies
on economic, social, political…. etc areas.
INTRODUCTION.....
4. Good governance is responsive
• Governments should always try to serve the needs of
the entire community while balancing competing
interests in a timely, appropriate and
responsive manner.
5. Good governance is effective and efficient
• Governments should implement decisions and
follow processes that make the best use of
the available resources to ensure the
best possible results for their community.
INTRODUCTION....
6. Consensus Oriented
 Good governance allows to mediate different
interests in a society to reach a broad consensus on
what is in the best interest of the whole community
and how this can be achieved.
 Good governance also helps to have long term
perspectives on what is needed for sustainable human
development and how to achieve such development.
 This can only result from an understanding of the
historical, cultural and social contexts of a society.
ACCOUNTABILITY AS ONE
OF THE PILLARS OF
GOOD GOVERNANCE
MAJOR POINTS OF CCOUNTABILITY

BRAINSTORMING SESSION
Case-One
Picture yourself in a council meeting in your
organization in which series of discussions and
decisions are made. Suppose at the end, someone
says I am going to hold you accountable for what we
discussed and decided.
Group Activity
 What will be your immediately feelings? What
words immediately come to your mind?
5.2. Discussion on Accountability
Accountability Normal Assumes:-
 Power/task + Responsibility +Accountability +Commitment
1. Power/task is given to meet a given objective and to meet
the objective, actions must be taken.
2. Responsibility is taken for the actions carried out to meet
the objective set based on the power given.
3. Accepting responsibility means being held accountable;
that is accountability.
4. At the bottom of taking responsibility and accountability,
there is commitment.
Discussion on Accountability…
 Accountability is misunderstood by many experts,
politicians, leaders, managers because, for some them
accountability:-
♠ is perceived as only a punishment for not doing
something or doing it wrongly.
♠ is considered as something always directly related
to negative consequences.
♠ shows up when something goes wrong and people
start to lay blame.
What is Accountability Real?
Webster's Dictionary defines accountability simply as
the quality of being willing to accept responsibility.
In reality, principle of accountability:-
♠ should be perceived as a means of preventing
something from going wrong.
♠ is a quality of being up to the commitment that
someone makes.

 In reality, winning begins with accountability and it is
impossible to sustain success without accountability.
 The secret that successful organizations have
discovered is to install accountability on the front end
of each interactions before the outcome is known.
 Accountability means being committed in preventing
something from going wrong.
 Hence, accountability refers to clear commitments
made that have been kept in the eyes of others.
 When we make commitment, we have to fulfil that
commitment in the eyes of others, not in our eyes.
 If we want to be accountable, it is necessary to the
people we work for and the people who work with
us- and ask them “how are we doing?”
 By doing so, we allow them to hold us accountable in
their eyes for our commitments.

5.3. Types of Accountability
There are five types of accountability

1. Political (Horizontal) accountability
2. Administrative(Vertical) Accountability
3. Judicial/legal Accountability
4. Democratic Accountability
5. Professional Accountability

Types of Accountability….
1. Political (Horizontal) accountability

 Political accountability is also known as
Parliamentary accountability
 Political accountability is the cornerstone of a
well functioning democratic system and
responsive government.
 the parliament carries ongoing oversight in
order to keep the executive body accountable
Government officials and politicians are responsible

to the public and to legislative bodies.
Under FDRE Constitution, any public official or an
elected representative is accountable for any failure
in official duties.(Article 12(2)
In case of loss of confidence, the people may recall
an elected representative.(Article 54(7).
The executive is responsible to the House Peoples
Representatives. (Article 72(2)) FDRE
 Political accountability has a dual purpose.

1. To check the powers of political leaders and to prevent
them from ruling in an arbitrary or abusive manner.
2. To ensure that governments operate based on the
pillars of good governance.
 Political accountability is implemented by:-
 budgetary control (Art.55/11)
 questioning power (Art.55/17,18)
 appointment of government officials (70/1&2,74/2)
 statutory control (55/2) 72/2)
Types of Accountability…
2. Administrative(Vertical) Accountability
• It is the control by internal rules and norms
within administrative agencies.
• Administrative accountability has sacrificial
accountability.
• Because administrative agencies are subordinate,
they are accountable to the superior executive body .

Types of Accountability…
Executive/administrative control and

accountability
 Determining the organizational set up (77/2)
 Coordinating their activities (74/4)
 Appointment of officials (74/9)
 Supervision (74/5,6) such as:-
- issuing directives (77/13)
- requiring reports (74/11)
- controlling the activity (77/4)
Types of Accountability……
3. Judicial Accountability
• The judiciary, an essential wing of the government,
is also accountable and it holds the executive
legally accountable
• Judicial Accountability has explanatory type of

accountability
• A tension exists between Judicial Independence

and Judicial Accountability.

Pursuant to Art. 79 (2) of the FDRE
constitution, courts of any level shall be
free from any interference of:-
♠ governmental body and official
♠ private organizations
♠ Civil societies
♠ Religious institutions
♠ Private investors
♠ Political parties………….
The judiciary is basically controlled by the
Federal Judicial Administration Commission.
(Art 81(2).
No removal of judges before retirement
except for:-
♠ violation of disciplinary rules,
♠ gross incompetence or inefficiency, or
♠ illness that prevents the judge from carrying out
his/her responsibilities (Art. 79(4)……...
4. Democratic accountability
Democratic accountability refers to many ways in
which:-
♠ citizens in general
♠ customers/clients
♠ political parties and
♠ other democratic actors can provide:-
- important feedbacks
- important rewards or
- sanction………on decisions, actions and services of
government.
 Democratic accountability entails the existence
of a direct relationship between the government
and the society at large.
 As a result of actual popular participation, there
exist direct relationship between the society and
the government.
 Ultimately, the executive branch of government
is accountable to the legislative bodies and to
the electorate.
5. Professional Accountability
Professional accountability is characterised
by the existence of a special set of norms
and practices with peculiar nature.
Members of a particular profession are
subject to the normative set with special
code of conduct.

5. 4. Collective and Individual Accountability
1. Individual accountability
 Any public official or an elected representative is
accountable for any failure in official duties” (FDRE
Constitution Art. 12)
 Ministers bear the ultimate responsibility for
the actions of their institutions.
 This is obvious even if the minister had no
knowledge of the actions.
 this is because the minister has approved the hiring
and continued employment of those civil servants.
Collective and Individual Accountability…
2. Collective accountability
Members of the council of ministers are
collectively responsible for all decisions
they make as a body (FDRE constitution
Art. 72(2).
 Collective accountability can be practiced
based on the following major principles.

Principles of collective accountability

1.Principle of Unanimity
• Cabinet is an intensively collective form of
government.
• Ministers consider policy options jointly
and once a decision is passed by the
cabinet, ministers shall defend it in public.

2. Principle of Confidentiality
•Discussion at Cabinet and Cabinet committee
meetings is confidential.
•Details of cabinet discussions are not formally
recorded, or contained in the minutes.
•What is said in cabinet stays in cabinet.
•This is to enable ministers to engage in frank
robust policy debates with out being
constrained.
3.Principle of Confidence
•A cabinet that is visibly and publicly
fractured is politically vulnerable.
•The Governor might fall if he/she lacks
ministerial confidence
•The governor must in confidence act based
on the advices of the executive body.

5.4. Formal and informal control in Government
A. Informal Control
• Informal Control is exercised by a
society without any:-
- written rules
- legal frameworks
- formal procedures

Formal and informal control ..…
• Informal Control expressed through norms,
customs and sanctions are:-
 criticism,
 ridicule and
 disapproval.
• Informal Control is most appropriate and
effective in small group settings.

Formal and informal control ..…
B. Formal Control
Formal control is practiced through or based on
law - rules, and regulations.
Formal control is conducted by government
through law enforcement mechanisms.
Example: -the police, courts, prison
administrations
Democratic institutions also play vital role in
formally controlling the government.
Formal and informal control .…
1. Ombudsman
Ombudsman is an independent institution
who has the mandate to receive complaints
about mal-administration and finally
submits its findings and recommendations
to the parliament.

Formal and informal control..…
Powers of the ombudsman
Conducts investigation
Make recommendations to the malpractices .
No power to make a binding decision.
Make recommendations to parliament.

Formal and informal control in Government…
2. Human Rights Commission

•ensures that the human and democratic rights
provided for under the FDRE constitution are
respected by citizens, organs of state, political
organizations and other associations…..
•Ensure that laws, regulations, directives and
administrative decisions do not contravene the
human rights of citizens guaranteed by the FDRE
constitution.
•Undertake investigation on human rights violation issues and
submits a report to the HPR on matters of human right.

Formal and informal control in Government
3 . Office of Federal Auditor General

• The office Conducts financial performance and
compliance audit
• It notifies its audit findings to the audited organ
and finally to the HPR
• If the audit finding shows that a crime has been
committed, the FAG shall notify the same to the
concerned body.

4. Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission

•It studies or causes to be studied the practices and
procedures in public offices and enterprises to secure
the revision of methods of work which may be
conducive to corrupt practices and follow their
implementation.
•It informs or reminds the concerned body when deemed
essential to take the proper measure.
• It investigates alleged complaints, give decision,
advise or assist on the same.
•Prosecute any alleged suspected corruption offences, mainly
focusing on grand corruptions.
5. National Election Board of Ethiopia

•It supervises and regulates the process of elections and
it is responsible for the:-
– preparation,
– organization and
– adoption of all necessary measures
•It oversees that elections are conducted in a free, fair and
democratic manner.
•It recognizes and registers political parties, registration of
parties and candidates for election etc.
5.5. The Legal and Institutional Framework for
financial accountability
Framework for financial accountability is based on:-
- laws,
- regulations
- rules, and
- international standards, adapted to local conditions.
The legal and regulatory framework covers:-
- Revenue administration;
- Budgeting;
- Financial accounting and reporting;
- Procurement;
- Controls in budget execution and external oversight.
The Legal and Institutional Framework for financial
accountability…
Treasury regulations are the tax regulations and
in Ethiopia, the tax collection system is regulated by
– the federal and
– regional government laws.
•The FDRE constitution (Articles 94-101)
• The income tax proclamation N0.286/2002
•The value added tax (VAT) proclamation No. 285/02
•The excise tax proclamation No. 610/08
•The turnover tax Proclamation No. 308/02
•Other customs laws………….
5.6. Frameworks for Accountability: Federal,
Regional and Local level
Determined by the FDRE and Regional
Constitutions and other laws
Ethiopian Federal Government Procurement
and Property Administration Proclamation (2009
House of People's Representatives Regulation
(1998).
The Disclosure and Registration of Assets,
Proclamation No. 668/2010.
Federal Civil Servants Proclamation, 515/2006
AREAS OF FINAL EXAM
From unit one
1. Characteristics of law- generality of law
2. Hierarchy of law-why constitution is at the top
From unit two
3. State obligation about human rights
4. Common mistakes about human rights
From unit three
5. Advantages and disadvantages of federalism
6. Philosophy of federalism- the two forces
From unit five
7. Principles of collective accountability

Thanks a lot
for your
attendance


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Institute of Leadership and Good Governance

Masters Program for Leaders

General Introduction to Good Governance

By- Serkaddis Zegeye (PhD)

MAJOR POINTS OF CCOUNTABILITY

By- Serkaddis Zegeye (PhD)

By- Serkaddis Zegeye (PhD)

By- Serkaddis Zegeye (PhD)

There are five types of accountability

By- Serkaddis Zegeye (PhD)

1. Political (Horizontal) accountability

Government officials and politicians are responsible

 Political accountability has a dual purpose.

By- Serkaddis Zegeye (PhD)

Executive/administrative control and

• Judicial Accountability has explanatory type of

• A tension exists between Judicial Independence

By- Serkaddis Zegeye (PhD)

By- Serkaddis Zegeye (PhD)

By- Serkaddis Zegeye (PhD)

Principles of collective accountability

By- Serkaddis Zegeye (PhD)

By- Serkaddis Zegeye (PhD)

2. Human Rights Commission

By- Serkaddis Zegeye (PhD)

3 . Office of Federal Auditor General

4. Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission

5. National Election Board of Ethiopia

By- Serkaddis Zegeye (PhD)

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