A body of African municipal structures was launched in Pretoria on Monday with calls for a renewed focus at the lowest level of government on improving the lives of indigent Africans.
”Delegates to the founding congress are carrying the hopes, dreams, wishes, yearnings, aspirations and expectations of millions of people in our continent for a better life,” Deputy President Jacob Zuma told the first gathering in Pretoria of the United Cities and Local Government of Africa (UCLGA).
”These are ordinary Africans who long for clean water, electricity, sanitation, tarred roads and decent housing,” he said.
It is incumbent on the new organisation, Zuma said, to ensure that the basic minimum requirements for a life of decency and dignity are available to all Africans.
”It is imperative upon us to invest all that we have — morally, intellectually and materially — in the cause of development of our continent.”
African Union chairperson Olusegun Obasanjo said the new body should ensure that African local governments pursue a common, sustainable development agenda.
This requires of them to be efficient, well-led, effective, focused and dedicated to the values of transparency, accountability, inclusion, fair competition, equity, social justice and good governance.
Obasanjo advocated the strengthening of oversight and democratic institutions, adding: ”A bad leader cannot run a good local government system.”
He checked the audience’s cheers for this statement, saying: ”Rather than applause, I would want introspection.”
Obasanjo said he hopes the congress marks the beginning of strong local governance structures, and assured the grouping of the AU’s support.
”Even when we think globally, we must always act locally because ‘local’ is where people are based and where the needs of people are felt and must be addressed,” he said.
No independence without freedom
Former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano said political independence is meaningless without socio-economic freedom.
The main challenge for the UCLGA, he said, is to ensure the sustainability of local governments, whose viability are undermined by financial, material and personnel constraints.
Africa has to look at itself first in finding solutions to its challenges, Chissano said. But it also needs assistance from the international community.
Tshwane mayor and UCLGA interim president Smangaliso Mkhatshwa urged the body not to let down the people of Africa.
”In the context … of our people’s crying need for such bare necessities as clean water, electricity, clinics and hospitals, affordable public transport and basic housing, our congress becomes hope for the hopeless, comfort for the despondent and life for the dying.”
Rich in natural resources, Africa is ironically the poorest continent on Earth, Mkhatshwa said.
”In the UCLGA, we are creating an instrument to share ideas and experience to better utilise all those resources to benefit our people.”
Zuma described the creation of the united body as another step towards the regeneration of the continent.
”This congress is yet another example of the forward movement towards finding African solutions to African challenges, on African soil. It will definitely contribute to peace and stability on the continent,” he said.
Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa said many Africans have yet to taste the economic fruits of their freedom.
He warned against the pursuit of self-interest, saying: ”The people must never be able to say, ‘Politicians are fighting over positions while we are still crying out for better-quality services.”’
The congress ends on Wednesday with the election of office-bearers and the adoption of a charter and constitution.
The meeting’s resolutions are to be unveiled at a media briefing on Wednesday afternoon.
A ”shopping outing” to the Menlyn Park centre was part of the official programme for Tuesday. — Sapa