The three-day gathering is to tackle development challenges, especially in the restive north.
Some 600 delegates yesterday, October 21, 2013, began meeting at a national conference on decentralisation aimed at resolving the development problems of the often restive northern part of the country , Radio France Internationale, RFI, reported yesterday, October 21, 2103.
The three-day gathering is being attended by elected local administrative officials and donors. In over 10 years of decentralisation, the number of local councils in the country has risen from under 20 to 703! However, the central authorities are yet to effectively devolve resources and powers to these local governments to enable them play their role. Experts say this explains the slow pace of development in rural areas.
The decentralisation policy, like other ongoing reforms, were partly affected by the 2012 insurgency in the north, says the Maliactu website. This calls for a better definition of decentralisation choices, explains Adama Cissouma, the Director of Local Government. It is in this light that participants are expected to propose solutions to the main challenges of funding local governments, defining their powers and guidelines on allocating resources to them.
According to Malick Alhousseini, the Minister Delegate in charge of Decentralisation, the conference is expected to proffer lasting solutions to recurrent revolts in the north and thereby ensure equitable development across the country. Observers say the discussions holding at the Bamako International Conference Centre come at a crucial time as government has restarted talks with Tuareg rebels. The rebels who had earlier insisted on the independence of the northern region are today seeking some autonomy in managing their area. On its part, the government has promised to hasten up the process of decentralisation in all of Mali’s eight regions as basis for the talks.
According to the BBC, landlocked Mali, one of the poorest nations in the world, experienced rapid economic growth after the 1990s, coupled with a flourishing democracy and relative social stability. This was however interrupted in early 2012 when the steady collapse of State control over the north of the country was followed by an inconclusive military coup and French military intervention against Islamist fighters who threatened to advance south.
