The Local Governance System in CAMBODIA

Geography
Cambodia is located in the
southwestern part of the Indochina
peninsula. Bordered to the west by
Thailand, to the north by Laos and to
the east by Vietnam. The total land
area of Cambodia is 181,035 square
kilometers. In 2022, population for
Cambodia was 16.8 million persons.
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
A Historical Overview
Ancient Time
• Archaeological data has revealed
that the area we now call
"Cambodia" was inhabited by human
beings at least 40,000 years ago.
Cities developed along the coast in
the centuries before and after the
birth of Christ.
• We know about them from the
remains of small religious
monuments in brick, laterite and
stone, from massive stone
sculptures, and from inscriptions in
Sanskrit and Cambodian, or Khmer.
The earliest dated inscription comes
from the 4th century CE.
Angkorian Empire
• In the late 8th century, a Khmer
prince later crowned as
Jayavarman II began to
consolidate the kingdom. In 802,
he declared himself a universal
monarch, and founded a dynasty
that lasted until Angkor was
abandoned in the 16th century.
• In its heyday, Angkor was a
powerful kingdom that dominated
much of mainland Southeast Asia.
Its capital, Yasodharapura,
probably housed as many as a
million people—most of them
farmers—making it one of the most
populous cities in the world.
Almost Disappearance
• Over the next 200 years, the empire
shrank, as tributary states in what is
now Thailand invaded Cambodian
territory. By 1450 or so, the capital
had shifted southward to the region of
present-day Phnom Penh, where it
has remained ever since.
• Over the next four centuries,
Cambodia became a small Buddhist
kingdom dependent on the goodwill
of its neighbors, Thailand and
Vietnam. In the mid-19th century,
conflict between these kingdoms
spilled onto Cambodian soil, and
Cambodia almost disappeared.
A Historical Overview
French Colonization
• In 1863 the Cambodian king, fearful
of Thai intentions, asked France to
provide protection for his kingdom.
France kept Cambodia from being
swallowed up, but the protectorate
developed into a full-scale colonial
relationship that the king had not
foreseen.
• French rule lasted until the 1950s,
and improvements in infrastructure
strengthened the economy and
brought Cambodia to the edges of
the developed world. French rebuilt
many of the temples, providing
Cambodians with a glorious past that
had been largely forgotten.
Khmer Rouge Era
• In 1975, Communist forces, known
to the outside world as Khmer
Rouge or Red Khmers, overthrew
the pro-American regime that had
seized power five years before.
• In the Khmer Rouge era that
followed, history shows that at least
1.2 million Cambodians died of
malnutrition, overwork, executions,
and mistreated diseases as the
Maoist-inspired regime sought to
achieve total communism
overnight.
Vietnamese Occupation
• In November 1978, Vietnamese
troops invaded Cambodia in
response to border raids by the
Khmer Rouge and conquered it.
The People's Republic of
Kampuchea (PRK), a pro-Soviet
state led by the Kampuchean
People's Revolutionary Party was
established.
• The refusal of Vietnam to withdraw
from Cambodia led to economic
sanctions by the US and its allies.
• Peace efforts began in Paris in
1989 under the State of Cambodia.
Mr. Hun Sen has been the guiding force for decentralization
(and public policy more broadly) in Cambodia over the past
three decades. Hun Sen first became prime minister in 1985
and, apart from the brief United Nations period from 1991-
1993, has remained the country's prime minister. As the
leading figure of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), Hun
Sen has championed Decentralization and Deconcentration
(D and D) as one of the main components
of the post-conflict democratization
process since the early to mid-1990.

Mr. Hun Sen

Modern-day Cambodia
ln 2005, the country adopted the
Strategic Framework for
Decentralization and Deconcentration
Reform, which was followed by the
Law on Administrative Management
of the Capitol, Province, Municipality,
District and Khan (known as
the Orgonic Low) in 2008.
 Historical Perspective of LGS

Ancient time Strong Local Governments

Angkorian Empire Monarchy, Strong Central Government

Almost Disappearance Monarchy, Strong Central Government with lesser

territory
French Colonization Strong Central Government, strong centrally
appointed governors and tax collectors
Khmer Rouge Era Communist State, Strong Central Government

Vietnamese Occupation Vietnamese-dominated single-party central

control, Strong Central Government

Modern-day Cambodia Sectorally deconcentrated local governance

system
 Overview
Cambodia's public sector provides an example of a sectorally deconcentrated local
governance systems. The hallmark of a sectorally deconcentrated system is that the
responsibility for delivering services is not assigned to local governments. lnstead, service
delivery responsibilities are generally assigned to provincial-level departments (or other local-
level departments) of relevant central line ministries.
The subnational governance system in Cambodia is relatively complex with three different levels
or tiers
of local governance, and with different types of local entities in urban and rural areas. Although
the legal framework declares that local bodies at the provincial and district level are local self-
governments, in
reality, the local bodies at these levels are almost completely deconcentrated in nature.
Cambodia's territorial-administrative governance
structure
• Cambodia's territorial-administrative structure is formed by the
top-down state administration on one hand (formed by various
deconcentrated tiers of the central government, dominated by the
provincial level) and by the "bottom-up" mechanism that starts at
the commune (village) level, which forms the government level
closest to the people.

Despite the ongoing decentralization reforms, the central government

continues to retain a high degree of top-down political, administrative
and fiscal control over the local public sector in Cambodia. For
instance, although provincial officials have some degree of de facto
discretion over the delivery of public services within their jurisdiction,
provinces lack their own political leadership, have only limited
administrative discretion, and rely almost exclusively on financial
resources received from the center.
The assignment of The functional assignments in Cambodia's public
sector are quite centralized. The provincial level is
de facto the only functioning subnational
functional administrative level with responsibility for the
delivery of key front-line social services, including
responsibilities in primary and secondary education as well as
basic health services.
Cambodia The Law on Commune and Sangkat Administrative
Management (2001) specifies the general roles and
functions of communes and sangkats, without
providing specific functional responsibilities. In
practice, Communes and Sangkats focus largely on
providing community-level infrastructure and
services.
Local political Provincial and district-level jurisdictions have
indirectly elected councils. As already noted, in
practice, these councils lack authoritative decision-
systems in making power and are more supervisory and
advisory in nature. Furthermore, provincial and
Cambodia district councils are not elected through a political
process that would generally be considered open
and competitive.

Despite the ongoing decentralization reforms in

Cambodia, the central government continues to
retain a high degree of top-down political control
over the local public sector. ln fact, it is fair to say
that provinces and districts lack their own political
leadership
Local control over While the absence of its own local political
leadership is one of the defining characteristics of a
administration and deconcentrated local governance system, the
situation in Cambodia also suggests that the
service delivery in leadership of local bodies (i.e., the Provincial
Governor, or the Provincial Governor together with
Cambodia the Provincial Council) has limited control over the
provincial administrative and service delivery
apparatus.

ln fact, neither the Provincial Governor not the

Council appoint the heads of their local service
delivery departments or units; approve the budgets
for the local departments; determine their own
organizational structure and staff establishments; or
have authoritative control over the human resource
decisions for locally-posted staff.
 Cambodia's public sector is primarily
Local fiscal autonomy deconcentrated, meaning that (other than at the
Commune level) all "local" spending is contained in
and local PFM in the national budget.la Because provinces are a
hierarchical part of the central government,
Cambodia provinces do not collect their own revenues. lnstead,
to the degree that provinces collect any revenues,
they deposit the proceeds in the national treasury.

The budgets for each of the main line ministries

(such as the budgets for the Ministry of Health and
the Ministry of Education) are
divided into a central-level budget-which includes
the budgets for each of the central-level ministerial
departments-as well as a provincial-level budget. As
such, provincial line departments are recognized as
"secondary budget units."
 The limited effectiveness of local participation and
Local participation accountability in Cambodia is heavily shaped by the
fact that its public sector is largely deconcentrated in
and accountability in nature. ln reality, neither the appointed Provincial
Governors nor the elected councils have authoritative
Cambodia decision-making power over the provincial line
departments, and therefore, their ability to hold
sectoral officials and staff accountable is quite limited.
Furthermore, the indirect nature of provincial elections
means that there is no strong
link between the electorate and the political
representatives present at the provincial level.

Thus, although provincial budget allocations are

deconcentrated in a relatively transparent manner, it is
almost impossible for community-based organizations
to effectively translate this greater transparency into
accountability at the local level.
Cambodia is a country with a highly centralized past, and a country where
a single political party dominates the national political landscape. As such,
it should come as little surprise that the country’s institutional framework
does not provide local governance entities with extensive functional
responsibilities, political space, administrative control, fiscal discretion, or
responsive service delivery mechanisms.

SUMMARY
 Lessons/Implications
The discretionary
space for the local The implementation

1 public sector in
Cambodia is not zero 2 of local governance
reforms takes time.
but it is limited.

The different dimensions Lessons about local

4
of Cambodia's local governance reforms
3 governance system are
fairly balanced, albeit in a
negative way
in Cambodia's
experience
THE COMPARATIVE OVERVIEW OF
LOCAL GOVERNANCE SYSTEMS IN

MOZAMBIQUE
Geography

is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the

Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and
Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and
Eswatini and South Africa to the southwest. The sovereign
state is separated from the Comoros, Mayotte and
Madagascar by the Mozambique Channel to the east. The
capital and largest city is Maputo.
History of Mozambique
(Early Mozambique)

● After 100 AD Bantu speaking people arrived in what is now Mozambique. They lived by
farming and they made iron tools. They were organized into small kingdoms. By the 9th
century, Arab merchants arrived at the coast of Mozambique. For centuries afterward,
there was trade between Africans and Arabs.
● Then in 1498 the Portuguese sailor Vasco Da Gama landed at Ilha de Mocambique on his
way to India. In 1511 A Portuguese called Antonio Fernandes explored the interior of
Mozambique. During the 16th century, the Portuguese established trading posts along the
coast of Mozambique. They also took over some of the lands and divided them into large
estates called prazos. However, for centuries Portugal only had very limited control over
Mozambique.
● The situation changed in the late 19th century when Europeans carved up Africa between
them. In 1891 Britain and Portugal signed a treaty. The British recognized the borders of
Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique). A network of railways was built in Mozambique but
nothing was done for the native people.
History of Mozambique
(Modern Mozambique)

• In the 1950s and early 1960s, the situation in Africa changed and many African countries
became independent. In 1962 the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) was founded.
However, the Portuguese were determined to hang on to their colonies in Africa.

• In 1964 Frelimo began an armed struggle. The war went on for 10 years with the
Portuguese gradually losing ground. Finally, on 25 June 1975 Mozambique became an
independent nation.

• However, the new government in Mozambique adopted Socialist policies which left
Mozambique impoverished. Worse, from 1977 Mozambique was riven by civil war. An
anti-Communist organization called Renamo fought the government for 15 years.

• However, by 1989 Frelimo had given up its Socialist policies and in 1990 they published a
new constitution. Then in 1992, a peace agreement was made with Renamo. In 1994
elections were held. Mozambique recovered from the war and today it is developing
rapidly.
Overview
Mozambique is a good example of a highly transparent,
territorially deconcentrated public sector. 16 Its territorial‐
administrative structure comprises a deconcentrated
provincial administrative “sphere” and deconcentrated
district administrations. Although there are no elected local
governments in rural areas, urban public services in urban
areas are delivered by elected municipal governments.
However, Mozambique’s budget structure is quite
transparent, and allocates a relatively substantial share of
sectoral resources (in health, education, as well as in other
sectors) towards the provincial and district level. Provincial
and district‐level sectoral officials are involved in subnational
budget planning and execution.
A brief History of Mozambique’s Local
Government System

• Before its 1990 constitution, it was governed in a highly

centralized manner, inherited from its Portuguese
colonial Ruling.
• The Rome Peace Accords(1992) stipulated that the
country would pursue devolution of powers and
functions.
• Devolution is not pursued in the entire national territory ,
but it embarked on a decentralized process.
Territorial-Administrative Governance of
Mozambique

• Law on the Local Organs of the State (Law 8/2003, also known as
LOLE) sets the organization, competencies and functions of
Mozambique.
• Provinces have elected councils, but does not have a decision-
making authority.
• LOLE designated the district level of Mozambique as the
“principal unit for organization and functioning of local
administration”. . .
• Municipalities have their own elected leadership, and has
political autonomy and discretion over the delivery of public
urban services
Functional Responsibilities in Mozambique

• The delimitation of responsibilities among different levels of

government is not very clear.
• Provision on local public services is the responsibility of provincial
and district level departments.
• Central ministries provides capital infrastructure to local services
Assessment Indicator 1. Effective Assignment of
functions to the local level in Mozambique
Local Political System
• Provinces and Districts are deconcentrated entites without local
political leadership.
• Provincial Governors are appointed by the President
• District Administrators are appointed by the Minister of the State(Prime
Minister)
• Directly-elected provincial assemblies lack meaningful decision-
making power over the provincial administration
• Municipalities has direct elections.
• Municipalities are led by locally elected leaders
• Municipalities with elected leaders have a local self-governments.
Assessment Indicator 2: Local Political Systems and
Leadership in Mozambique
Assessment Indicator 3: Local Control over
Administration and Service Delivery in Mozambique
Assessment Indicator 4: Local Fiscal Autonomy and
Local Financial Management
Assessment Indicator 5: Local Participation and
Accountability in Mozambique
Lessons/Implications

• Decentralization can have important benefits

• Territorial breakdown of the national budget has allowed a considerable
share of public resources to flow down to the local level
• Public spending is protected from abuses/corruption.
• Devolution has played an important role in post-conflict balances between
ruling party and the opposition party.
The Comparative Overview of Local Government Systems between

Cambodia and
Mozambique
 Overview of LoGICA Scores in Cambodia and Mozambique
Maximum
Criteria Cambodia Mozambique
LoGICA Index

A. Functional Assignment 3.00 5.00 10.00

B. Local Political Leadership 1.50 2.75 10.00

C. Local Administrative Control 0.25 1.25 10.00

D. Local Fiscal Autonomy and PFM 3.00 3.50 10.00

E. Participation and Responsive Services 0.50 2.50 10.00

TOTAL 8.25 15.00 50.00

A. Assessment lndicators: Effective assignment of functions to the local level
in Cambodia and Mozambique
INDICATORS CAMBODIA MOZAMBIQUE MAXIMUM
Do local governments / local executive bodies meet the key
definitional criteria of a local government organization? 1.00 1.00 2.00
According to the legal framework, do LGs/LBs have clear
responsibility for providing education and health services (in 0.00 0.50 1.00
accordance with the subsidiarity principle)?
ln practice, are LGs/LBs responsible for the recurrent provision of
education and health services (in accordance with the subsidiarity 0.50 0.50 1.00
principle)?
ln practice, are LGs/LBs responsible for the capital infrastructure
required for providing these services (in accordance with the 0.00 0.50 1.00
subsidiarity principle)?
According to the legal framework, do LGs/LBs have the clear
responsibility for providing municipal/community services (in 0.50 0.50 1.00
accordance with the subsidiarity principle)?
ln practice, are LGs/LBs responsible for the recurrent provision of
municipal /community services (in accordance with the subsidiarity 0.50 0.50 1.00
principle)?
ln practice, are LGs/LBs responsible for the capital infrastructure
required for providing these services (in accordance with the 0.50 0.50 1.00
B. Assessment lndicators: Local political systems and leadership in
Cambodia and Mozambique
INDICATORS CAMBODIA MOZAMBIQUE MAXIMUM
Does the local political leadership include elected Local
0.75 0.50 2.00
Councils?
ls the Local (political) Executive directly elected? 0.00 0.25 1.00
Are the local election system and local elections competitive? 0.00 0.50 2.00
Have local elections been regularly held over the past 20
0.25 0.50 1.00
years?
Does the LG/LB's political leadership recruit, appoint and
hold human resource authority over the core local 0.00 0.00 1.00
administration team?
Does the LG/LB's political leadership recruit, appoint and
hold human resource authority over the heads of local service 0.00 0.0 1.00
delivery departments (including education and health)?
Do the main stakeholders within the LG/LB have a
0.25 0.50 1.00
constructive and cooperative relationship?
ls the LG/LB effective in achieving results in the service
0.25 0.50 1.00
delivery areas that constituents care about?
C. Assessment lndicators: Local control over administration and service
delivery in Cambodia and Mozambique
INDICATORS CAMBODIA MOZAMBIQUE MAXIMUM
Does the LG/LB's political leadership appoint its own core executive
team, including core local administrators and the heads of the local 0.00 0.00 2.00
service delivery departments?
Does the LG/LB's political leadership approve its own budget
(including the budgets of the local service delivery departments)?
0.00 0.00 2.00
Does the LG/LB determine its own (core) organizational structure
and staff establishment?
0.00 0.00 1.00
Does the LG/LB determine the organizational structure and staff
establishment of the local service delivery departments (including 0.00 0.00 1.00
education and health)?
Does the LG/LB have control over its (core) human resource
decisions?
0.00 0.00 1.00
Does the LG/LB have control over the human resource decisions of
the local service delivery departments (including education and 0.00 0.25 1.00
health)?
Does the LG/LB plan and manage the procurement of capital
infrastructure and development activities required for core local
functions, including local administration and municipal/community
0.00 0.50 1.00
services?
D. Assessment lndicators: Local fiscal autonomy and local financial
management in Cambodia and Mozambique
INDICATORS CAMBODIA MOZAMBIQUE MAXIMUM
Do LGs/LBs have an orderly annual budget process? 1.00 1.00 2.00
Are LGs'/LBs' expenditure out-turns consistent with the original
approved budget?
0.50 0.50 1.00
What is the quality and timeliness of annual financial statements? 0.00 0.50 1.00
Are LGs/LBs free to define their own local revenue instruments (e.g.,
specify user fees, adopt new revenue instruments, or modify existing 0.00 0.00 1.00
local revenue instruments)?
Do LGs/LBs have the right to set the tax base or tax rate for all local
revenue instruments?
0.00 0.00 1.00
Do LGs/LBs effectively and equitably collect property tax revenues? 0.00 0.00 1.00
Do LGs/LBs have access to credit from public or private financial
institutions (or bonds) to fund local capital infrastructure expenses?
0.00 0.00 1.00
Do LGs/LBs receive (conditional or unconditional) grants/transfers from
a higher level government to support local administration and to provide 1.00 1.00 1.00
general local public services?
Do LGs/LBs receive formula-based grants/transfers from the higher
level government in a complete and timely manner, without unnecessary 0.50 0.50 1.00
E. Assessment lndicators: Local participation and accountability mechanisms in
Cambodia and Mozambique
INDICATORS CAMBODIA MOZAMBIQUE MAXIMUM
Do affordable national (or "minimum") service delivery standards
exist (including in education and health) to guide local service 0.00 1.00 2.00
delivery?
Are local performance frameworks in place and being applied for
0.00 0.00 1.00
local services? (E.g., Citizen Service Charter?)
Are local budgets and finances managed in a participatory and
0.00 1.00 2.00
transparent manner?
Do local services / local service delivery facilities (in education,
health and solid waste) have their own effective participatory 0.50 0.50 1.00
planning / social accountability / oversight mechanisms?
Do LG/ local councils monitor the performance of local service
0.00 0.00 1.00
delivery departments?
Do LGs/LBs (separate from the SDDs) have an effective
mechanism in place to receive and resolve complaints about 0.00 0.00 1.00
local services?
Do service delivery facilities (in education and health) have a
0.00 0.00 2.00
degree of administrative or managerial discretion?
Local Governance lnstitutions Comparative Assessment: Cambodia and
Mozambique
INDICATORS CAMBODIA MOZAMBIQUE MAXIMUM

Effective assignment of functions 3.00 5.00 10.00

Dynamic local political leadership 1.50 2.75 10.00
Local control over administration and service delivery 0.25 1.25 10.00
Local fiscal autonomy and local financial 3.00 3.50 10.00
management
Participatory and responsive local service delivery 0.50 2.50 10.00

TOTAL 8.25 15.00 50.00