How well is your town run?

Mayors from across the continent are meeting in Nairobi this week at Africities 2006. How successful is your local government?

Local governments are increasingly looking to the business sector for ideas on how best to provide services such as electricity and sanitation.

Street lamps in Kenya's capital are being funded by advertising and in Egypt, a local business woman runs a rubbish recycling facility that's so far benefited over 30,000 people.

What do you expect from your local government? Is your mayor making a difference? How can we make local governments more efficient? Does central government stand in the way of local development? How can people get involved in local government?

This debate is now closed. Thank you for your comments.

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Your comments:

Kenyans' views on the Africities meeting underway in Nairobi In pictures

My city is the biggest garbage bin in the world. In the seventies and eighties, Douala used to be a good example for other African cities, but today this city is almost not habitable. There is garbage everywhere. There is constant power failure and the water is not safe for drinking. This city's mayor is simply not working.
Joachim Arrey, Douala, Cameroon

I am proud to be Kenyan, Nairobi is my city and am happy that it is hosting this event. I had been away for about two years and I recently visited Nairobi. The city has changed a great deal, water is flowing, traffic lights are working, flower beds and trees have sprung up every where and street lighting has been restored. I think the city mayor deserves praise for his efforts to clean up the city. And to the Kenyans who whine all day, nobody will come and fix our problems, we better appreciate this fact and forge ahead. Lets stop being sceptics, we can restore Nairobi's glory. After all, is it not the city in the sun?
Jonathan Nzuma, Guelph, Canada

Nairobi's city authority seem to adhere to the notion of "cleaning the house before the guests arrive" while all they are doing is "sweeping the dirt under the carpet". The clean-up efforts done in Nairobi prior to the Africities conference should be regular. City officials should be responsible; after all they are elected. Perhaps they should take some lessons from city leaders of kampala or Johannesburg.
Mbogo Gichuru, Kenyan in Atlanta, USA

Frankly speaking, my city is in crisis. It is unfortunately that city councils leaders and staff have no eyes to see, and ears to hear. Dar es Salaam is exploding in terms of population,infrastructures are not adequate to cater ever increasing population. Dar is experiencing acute water supply, no electricity during the day, terrible traffic jams, limited sanitation lay out and Machingas (hawkers) along along all major main roads and pavements of shops in the city centre. It is pathetic. My last word to the city leaders and officials is a call for public dialogue to debate and come up with an amicable solutions to these problems in a transparent manner by involving all the stakeholders.
Mboje, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

I live a town which has its drainage network blocked, the road network is not something to talk about in certain areas.
Chola Chalwe, Ndola, Zambia

I never thought my "one year old" home town of Juba would grow wings and learn to fly like any other Africans old birds sooner than it has. The two or three decades of war have completely levelled the city. For Juba to compete with those old African birds, it probably needs half of those lost yeas of war to recover to its original level. Still, I am glad the city is able to have a voice as one of the top African poorest cities.
George O Ateib, USA

I live in Lubumbashi, DR Congo's second city. It's the cleanest city in this huge country. The most surprising thing is that while Congo is in very bad economic shape, the people of the eastern Congo are clean.
Alain Ntezi, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo

In Lusaka, the local government is virtually unheard of and unseen. That tells you how much the local government has done for its people.
Judy, USA

In my opinion; let us all talk about how to solve problems in Africa rather than complain. I dare the editor to ask for solutions to Africa's problems. I guarantee you that George Onwnya Daniel, Stella Pepple will have no suggestion as to how their country's ills will be solved. I agree with Tope and Elias because they have better Ideas. Let talk on how to solve problems than the problems themselves.
Ty, Washington DC, USA

Nairobi Kenya is my city; Security is Nairobi's biggest problem! And especially so to motorists in the night, the lighting is poor and no drivers stop at the traffic lights by night for fear of being carjacked. The problem needs to be addressed by the local council and the Kenya Police, the so called civilian dressed flying squad police operate in very old unmarked Peugeot 504 station wagons with faulty lights, and how are we, innocent drivers meant to differentiate between thugs and the police when being stopped in the dead of the night? This is a huge problem and must be addressed for Nairobi to reclaim its once authoritative and admirable position as one of Africa's leading cities!
Franklin, London, UK

I think Mogadishu could be the New York of Africa. However its people are not ready to make that move to their city I will keep my dream to see one day that happens. Thank you let me have my say.
Mr. Ibrahim, Mogadishu, Somalia

As you know, floods has washed half of my city away. But the government is doing a lot and other Ethiopians are helping us in every way. We are in good spirits even though half our country is in ruins.
Selamawit, Dira dawa, Ethiopia

I can confirm that local government is hugely under-resourced Randal, London, UK

My job is to do comparative research on local government in the Commonwealth. I can confirm that local government is hugely under-resourced. Where Accra has 4 members of staff to manage the waste collection and disposal contracts, Birmingham in the UK with a similar population has 396! Another outstanding statistic is that local government in the UK spends (in purchasing power parity) $2700 per resident, in Canada this is about $1800, in South Africa $800, India $700 New Zealand $650 but then it drops to Uganda $110, Ghana $18 and Zambia $3. There are costs to street cleaning and efficient administration. But perhaps for the moment, some of the luxury costs need to be foregone while focus is on basic equitable services. some local governments are making real headway in local economic development, others are focusing on collecting the revenue due to them (the first step in delivering the services). It is tough to turn things around, and everyone needs to get behind the ones ! trying to do so, and equally use the ballot box to get rid of those who are failing.
Randal, London, UK

If conferences are what get the local officials to do their jobs then by all means lets have more of them. A conference for every African city every 3 months please!
Kemi (Kenyan), Germany

The cancer afflicting Africa is that of political opportunism. Whereas in the West development and cleanliness are not privileges bestowed on their citizens but rights. On the contrary in Africa the opposite perception is rife. No more apparent is this than in my home town of kwaBulawayo in Zimbabwe, which due to its being historically aligned with the opposition it has bore witness to massacres of its people, been starved of development despite injecting millions of US Dollars in tourist revenue into the national economy. Last but not least, its local council is deprived of funds and can only watch as the town slides into the abyss of rubbish. Thanks Zanu PF!
Thando Siziba, Birmingham, UK

Harare was once one of the best maintained cities in Africa. Up until about 2001, it maintained itself to the same standards that Salisbury, Rhodesia had. However, the demise of public services has been devastating, and services we once took for granred are non-existent. Rubbish disposal. road quality, etc. Many parks that were once clean and beautiful are now uncared for, and filthy. It would not take a monumental effort to put Harare, or Zimbabwe, entirely back on track. But it needs to be soon, before Zimbabwe plummets to a point of no return.
Ben Stevens, Harare, Zimbabwe

Badly, is my answer. I live in Igando, at Alimosho, one of the local government areas of Lagos, a large suburb of more than 100,000 inhabitants. Electricity was connected in August last year and, as in the whole of the country, we're lighted up less than four hours a day - where there is at all. There is no public water supply in sight; the only access road to it - Agric Road - is so bad that it's dangerous even to walk on, never mind driving a car or motorcycle. This is symptomatic of most local communities in Nigeria: residents are on their own. Whatever amenity they need must be provided by residents themselves.
Abdulai MUSA, LAGOS, Nigeria

Many of our African cities look good today thanks to the unrelenting efforts of our mayors. But I must confess that much still has to be done. In Buea, the local government has some modern waste disposal trucks that are not regular in disposing the waste.That makes the town to look shabby.
Kwiyuh Michael, Buea, Cameroon

I live in Onitsha South in Anambra State. It is an urban area. It was the past state government that did some of the roads. The local government does nothing to the remaining roads. The drainages are all filled. Street lights is no longer remembered. During the rainy season, rain water flows on the roads and most times people got drown.
Madueke Chika, Onitsha, Nigeria

Windhoek is a very clean city with proper infrastructure. The only that thing we need to do is to improve the living standard of those living in informal settlements because they lack basic necessities such as water and electricity.
Nabot, Windhoek, Namibia

The cost of living is not high so everybody is living very well Bendahou Anouar, Agadir

My town is called Agadir, the most important city in the south of Morocco. Conditions of life are quite good and the cost of life is not high so everybody is living very well. Agadir is know by its port and also know as the most attractive touristic destination in Morocco since we receive thousands of tourists from all over europe and the US each week, and thanks to that, people get more opportunities to work in hotel and other touristic places. Talking about the crime rate, i can say that Agadir is one of the safer cities in Morocco thanks to the big number of policemen that patrol that patrol the city 24/7.
Bendahou Anouar, Agadir, Morocco

In Kampala, the mayor is doing more than I expected. Being one who is ill-learned, it was easier before to think that doom loomed over the city upon his election. Trenches are being cleaned in the suburbs and the prospects of better things is closer to mind than I had thought.
Sembatya Rosey, Kampala, Uganda

I agree with the sentiments of many who say that our towns are run by incompetent officials. Its foolhardy though to compare the level of service provision of our host nations to those of our towns with struggling economies. Lets us criticise but also compliment when its warranted. Nairobi has made some strides in the past few years. The gains are not many but the let's face it, the streetlights are now working. the government needs to do more but congratulations on the progress even though its slow.
Stanley Ngaira, Copenhagen Denmark

It's time Africa form a city developing and maintenance body, cause the high level of negligence on our cities is nothing to write home about.
Gozzy Peterson, Onitsha, Nigeria.

In Africa in general, people need to be educated about the local government taxation schemes. I've come to realise that we Africans like free services without contributing anything for either improvement or repair. Most of the town's conditions has been getting worse over the years. Nobody cares about tomorrow. Whatever we are enjoying today will be history for our kids.
Nginyo, London, UK

What a nice question! Juba, the capital of Southern Sudan and the state's capital, may not be run well. Something has to be done. I think decentralisation would be an amiable solution otherwise there will be no development.
Arou Job Adier, Juba, Southern Sudan

Almost a decade ago, my home town, Bamenda was turned overnight into one of the cleanest towns in Cameroon by the radical but very successful campaign of a controversial Government delegate. Any business place that looked out of place was bulldozed without second thoughts. We were even amazed by modern compaction waste disposal trucks. Unfortunately we africans are very poor at maintaining clean sheets.Our Town now seems to have returned to normal african conditions.
Anchang Julius, Bamenda Cameroon

I have lived in Warri, Port Harcourt & Lagos, Nigeria. The former two are oil rich areas, and Lagos is the booming industrial centre of Nigeria. Whereas my Ghanaian friends talk about constant electricity and clean water in their cities (in fact many Nigerian businesses are moving to Ghana), I cannot find anything commendable to say about the state of affairs in any of these three regions.
Anon, Nigerian in USA

I come from Kenya, my home town is Eldoret. This is the fifth largest city in the country whose economy is largely agricultural. Of late the town has registered an upward growth in terms of business and buildings-thanks to our hardworking athletes. As a result of this, the town is experiencing congestion due to poor planning by the Municipality. For example, traffic jams are a common occurrence. There are no traffic lights, drainage systems overflow when it rains, litter is an eyesore mainly in estates. Planning is required urgently.
Jackson Cherutoi, Baton Rouge, USA

Kampala city is not run as it should. We've got inadequate water supply, sewage and garbage problems. The roads have potholes that are making the city dirty and dangerous to the inhabitants. The traffic in Kampala is another hell. In the mornings and evenings, its very difficult top move because the roads are small to accommodate the number of vehicles coupled with bad driving habits. Kampala's new mayor Alhaji Sebagala is trying to do something about the garbage and cleaning the city, but corruption is still a big challenge in Kampala City Council. .
Jackson Byaruhanga, Kampala Uganda

My local government is run by people who forcefully got the electorates mandate through "selection election" instead of proper election. In my opinion the mayor mismanages funds without questions from anyone.
Stella Pepple, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

The question is "how well is YOUR town run". Whether your town is well-run or not, you should not generalise what you think ALL African towns are like without personal knowledge- stick to the point (your town). For Ono Orogun and others, cities like Kigali and Windhoek seem to contradict your theory of general African managerial ineptitude.
Wairimu, Kenyan

Our town is very well run, thanks to the mayor who are making a very big different in our communities rather than the national government leaders.
Meyan Fien, Denver, USA

There is no 24 hour electricity, no better roads no better water sanitations,in some areas,people have not seeing running water from their pumps for about six-seven years now, we get electricity one day after another,the city of conakry is becoming the city of loose and sick Dogs,which may also give the population other bad diseases,the dogs populations is really getting increase in the city of Conakry,nobody is doing anything to help improve the situation,beggers are everywhere most especially children that are begging to get their daily bread,the poverty rate is high,the inflation has become one of our mean preoccupations.
Mariama Sacko, guinea Conakry

Accra has big problems. Too many hawkers roaming the streets. Too many uncovered gutters. Too many signboards at road junctions. Poor street naming and house numbering system. Cleanliness improving but can be better. More law enforcement to the letter required!
Harry Abutiate, Accra, Ghana

No city in Africa beats Kampala as the city in Africa with the highest number of potholes. Virtually every road within the city and its suburbs are filled with potholes. Its even more disheartening to know that the city council has recently lost of 1.8 Billion shs to their fraudulent staff. The city drainages are covered with filth, so when it rains all we have are man-made lakes on the streets.
Akol Malinga, Kampala, Uganda

We has no sanitation, no jobs and there are thousands of beggars on streets. Most poor people are trying to leave country to Arab nations maybe find a better life or go to Ethiopia or try to find way to go to Europe. We are living in an outdoor prison.
Bereket, Asmara, Eritrea

I am residing few kilometres ilometers from the avenue of the meeting in Nairobi and its business as usual in the estates in suburbs of the cities. delegates will meet and brainstorm on paper work but go home empty with few allowances siphoned from cash-trapped council. Africa need radical surgery to improve service delivery.
Yussuf Dayib Ali, Nairobi, Kenya

Freetown is the most filthiest city in the world. Since the local government came in to power the city is just going from bad to worst. when you talk light good road network that history the my city. With bid gun at the city council ready to eat the money they suppose to use to improve the city they prefer using it for their personal affairs. I don't see any need for local government
Maddieu A.A.T.Kabbah, Freetown, Sierra Leone

Lets just hope that the effort is not a passing cloud Njenga Gathecha, Nairobi

It is all a charade; the facelifts and displacing hawkers. Not many of the African leaders are genuine in what they do.What is going on in Nairobi is seasonal and after the summit, the city goes back to the old days where not much counts.Corruption is rife and even though there has been good effort to rid the city of the garbage,other ills thrive and insecurity is prime.With the amount collected by the city council, alot can be done and individuals like Ms. Muthoni Passaris have done their part in lighting the city.If one person can do that,then the city council which rakes in billions can do wonders with good management. Lets just hope that the effort is not a passing cloud.
Njenga Gathecha, Nairobi, Kenya

The Northeastern Moroccan town of Nador is badly run by its government. This town with 200.000 inhabitants has virtually no museums, no theaters, no cinemas, no parks and there is nothing to do for the youth. Besides that the roads and streets of the city are in a deplorable state and the police do molest people just to get some money.
Moussa Aynan, Nador, Morocco

Kampala city use to be a beautiful city, with some part of the city looking very green and attractive, that was the yesteryear Kampala. The Kampala of today is one of the disorganised cities in the world; no city planing, overcrowding of "boda boda" motorcycles used for transportation, no traffic laws. So even if there are some part of town worth admiring, your life is constantly threaten by these non-traci law abiding border borders, this people are all over town. Uganda government please keep border borders out of the city, let's regain control of Kampala city and make it as beautiful as it was meant to be.
Ayuka Oyet, Ugandan in USA.

Ghana's local governance system is a model worthy of copying by others but the problem is lack of full financial independent or autonomy to enable the system detached itself from the appendages of the centre. that needed to be done is to for the local system to enhance revenue generation and human resource drive in order to be assertive.
Freeman Tettey, Nsawam, Ghana

Local authorities in Africa should incorporate African cultural practices in planning for their cities. Their cities don't necessarily have to look like western cities. It is ridiculous asking poor Kenyans to pay to use public toilets when they can hardly afford a day's meal.
Richard Okech, Nairobi, Kenya

In my part of the world the local government is accountable to one man; the part leader. It is a shame!
Kemo Cham, University of The Gambia

Our local government is a nightmare. We have no street lights, garbage collectors and the housing system is in total chaos. The city council has failed to deliver services to the people because it does not involve the people. The roads are resemble trenches in battle zones while uncollected garbage around city stinks. We dig pits to alleviate our garbage problem, but our yards are now looking like mass graves. I have seen national game parks that are far much better organised than Kitwe city council.
Shuttie F.N. Libuta, Kitwe, Zambia

Our country has had problems for so long, but now people are trying to do some voluntary work to clean the city to change the shape of the city. Mogadishu used to one of the cleanest cities in Africa during Siad Barre's era but now it one of the most dirtiest African cities. If government officials are not willing to get involved in the local people, we, the people, can make local governments a lot more efficient. We should cooperate with them and also they should be willing to do the same.
Abdifatah BAshir, Mogadishu, Somalia

Conferences will come and go, nothing changes George Onmonya Daniel, Abuja

Our towns and cities in Nigeria are not really cared for by the government. Sanitary conditions are so poor and pathetic, hospitals are dirty, street lights are broken and the new ones are not working because dishonest contractors conspire with government officials to loot funds. Conferences will come and go, nothing changes.
George Onmonya Daniel, Abuja, Nigeria

Hawkers need to be allocated space within the city of Nairobi to sell their goods. They provide affordable consumer products for most of the urban poor. They have a stake in developing the city just like the multi-million multi-national corporations.
Richard Okech, Nairobi, Kenya

It very encouraging and surprising that the emerging and impoverished countries are good examples in order and good running, while wealthy ones are characterised by bad governance and corruption. Also some countries are influenced by cultural and colonial masters ideology. Country like Rwanda is run exemplary with little means, very clean, organised, etc.
Arnaud Emmanuel Ntirenganya, Rwandan in Cameroon

My town is doing very well. People from all over the world are coming to Windhoek as result of peace around the town. The town is very clean, green and crime has been reduced as result of city policing being introduced.
Frans S Hafeni, Windhoek, Namibia

Virtually every city in Africa lacks the capacity to provide the infrastructure and services necessary to foster local development. Most cities cannot generate enough revenues to function properly and often have their authority undermined by the policies of the central government. The movement towards decentralisation in many countries has begun to improve this problem. However, central governments must provide the necessary authority, training, and financial resources to allow towns to determine their own futures. Think local!
Gerrit McGowan, Vancouver, Canada

I am not sure if this question is appropriate. When you look at the state of affairs in Africa, management skills are totally absent. You have under-qualified people in charge or affairs, and if you have such, then what will be the consequence? I look forward to the day we can start measuring how well things are been run in Africa. For now we need to get rid of the self serving leaders we have right now, and elect people-minded leaders.
Ono Orogun, London

In Asmara the local government is one of the best run in Africa. It is less corrupt and Asmara has one of the lowest crime rate in africa
Ermias, Seattle, USA

It is indeed a nice thing that all local governments are meeting to discuss on how to improve their economic standards by developing their business sectors, current, sanitation and in many more fields. To do all this you need a lot of money. This should be used in a proper way with transparency in every project to get rid of corruption. It is very good to hear if the central government also stand next to local government to fulfil their duties. As the government is democratic the local government should take the opinions of the people to develop in the fields they are required.
Anon

I live in the biggest shanty town of Africa. No electricity or water to all parts of the city. Crime is too high.
Rev. Rabson Tembo, Lusaka, Zambia

We expect the very best from our local government. Good roads, clean pipeborne waters, health care etc but this is contrary to what we actually have. People with good track records should only be voted for and we the community people should contribute our own quotas by forming NGOs to augment the local government resources as at times we ask more from them and contribute less
Tunde Onibode, Lagos, Nigeria

The Windhoek City Council is one of the most efficient in Africa, which is why Windhoek is regarded as one of the cleanest cities in Africa. The city does all the necessary things on time be it garbage collection, maintaining roads, maintaining street and traffic lights all done promptly
Helao Nafidi, Windhoek, Namibia

I live in Ojo local government in the suburbs of Lagos state in Nigeria. In terms of service provision my local government has been non-existent, the only time we see them is when they shamelessly come to collect tenement rates from residence or levies from stall owners. Like most streets in Lagos, my street is a bad road with clogged drainage systems, no street lights and rubbish laden. In the rainy season we have to resort to pulling off our shoes rolling up our trousers or skirt as the case maybe to knee level and wade through the water all in a bid to get to the bus stop; it's a really pathetic sight. Due to the deteriorating nature of the road the most popular form of transportation here is the motorbike popularly called "okada". It may sound unbelievable but each trip these greedy okada riders carry as many as three person per trip! Two people seat at the back and one person seats on the tank of the bike. It's a sight that I guarantee would bring tears to the manufacturers of these bikes.
Thomas Ayeni, Lagos, Nigeria

The mayor of my home town Pietermaritzburg has somehow managed to get the local council to award him a salary higher than that of South Africa's president. Not surprisingly rates have gone up well ahead of the country's inflation. And for our rates we receive ever shoddier and more infrequent services from the local city council.
Robert, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

Local governments should be able to take care of certain basic issues like small roads running across streets in the urban areas and also provide same for rural areas,at least. I would like to see regular meetings between local government officials and residents in several areas to review contributions and areas of impact instead of they just seeing their offices as merely political opportunities.
Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria

Our capital city, Lilongwe, is now well organised. The new president is setting good standards in the cities. All vendors are in one place. You cannot find street vendors selling their commodities. The previous government allowed too much freedom to vendors and the towns were very dirty.
Allanie Njateni, Mtengowanthenga, Dowa, Malawi

My home town is booming John Aguma, Kigali, Rwanda

My home town is booming; it's clean, the street lights are working, garbage is collected on time and the KCC (Kigali City Council) is in charge. The main thing I love about Kigali? It's the city growing day and night, and for us Kigalians, the sky is not the limit either.
John Aguma, Kigali, Rwanda

I have been living in Beira for many years now. The first local governing authority in charge of running the city of Beira was the party in power, Frelimo. They failed tremendously on their mission to better the locals lives. Their failure included providing city cleaning, ordering of the urban spaces, control of the markets, no transparency in public funds management. Eventually the opposition took over. With their energised president Davis Simango they are caring for all the basics and even doing more. Although I'm a Frelimo supporter, I am forced to recognise their achievements.
Paulino Adolfo Posse, Beira, Mozambique

I am not a Kenyan, but I study in Nairobi. Since the conference is going to be held in Nairobi, the City Council has been working hard to give good impressions to the participants. I think for the conference to be effective, the real scene must be seen. What the City Council is doing now, such as forcefully removing hawkers, is not fair and it is fake. The City Council should leave the city as it is so as the conference's participants to know where to start. Chasing hawkers is not a sustainable solution, since they will come back and allowed to operate as usual, after the conference is over. To keep towns clean, development measures must be key considerations. Cities and towns are dirty due to widespread poverty.
Aikande Kwayu, Nairobi, Kenya

Like everything else in this country, Nairobi relies on the private sector or donors for everything. All our taxes seem to get "diverted" to who knows where. Though there is a boom in the luxury car industry!
Mark, Nairobi, Kenya

My mayor is in prison and a puppet mayor has been put by the government. But how can I blame the government? Power hungry diaspora Ethiopians continue to stir young emotional students to violence and cripple our nation. When will diaspora use their knowledge for peace instead? Who knows. Until then my mayor is in jail and a new mayor is just starting from scratch.
Tesema, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

What I think could work is, there should be a local government that was properly and carefully elected by the people whom they represent, not some central government selected body. It should be able to sit at the same table with the central government and put across a case and get results. It should also be able to question the actions of the central government effectively about issues or laws that stands in the way of local development. A local government with such muscle should be able to turn proposals of development in there local communities into actions.
Tamimu Thomas, Norfolk, Virginia, USA

Local governments are supposed to be at the grassroots and help the local people. Instead what we see is another arm of government which tends to propagate the ideals of the government in power and make sure they are adhered to. This situation has contributed to the lukewarm attitude of many people in the communities, myself included. Local government should be free of government interference and pave way for active participation by the local people.
M, Ghanaian in Bergen, Norway

My local government boasts of projects initiated and implemented by the central government without having anything viable to show for itself. Development is a bottom-top approach; and unless the people are involved in programmes designed and implemented by them they cannot benefit fully. Local government revenue should be shared among wards, village development committees (VDCs), Districts and the like for development to be felt at the peoples level otherwise many would be paying taxes and rates without reaping any benefit.
Besenty Gomez, Kitty Village, The Gambia

Kitale is among the earliest towns that sprung out of colonial activities. It was founded in 1908. Even though it is known for its agricultural productivity, Kitale is still wallowing in the many evils that afflict many other Kenyan towns, for example, improper disposal of waste, influx of street children, disorganised bus stations for commercial vehicles etc. I would expect the local government to do more. There are no street lights in Kitale town. There is always a shortage of water supply etc. For all this to happen, politics should not be mixed with the local government.
Terah Kipchiris, Kitale, Kenya

Irrespective of how many conventions, conferences or seminars African local government leaders attend; Nothing will change as long as the culture of corruption exists. And it won't certainly change as long as incompetent council men lead the cities. In my hometown of Mombasa, Kenya for instance, councillors don't even have direct control of the county or city. A government clerk, who is not elected by the people, runs the day to day activity of Kenyan councils. For African cities to succeed; they must get central government out of local government. Still, I love Mombasa. "Mombasa Raha" goes the slogan, literally translated as: Blissful Mombasa.
Ahmad, Mombasa, Kenya

I am Nigeria and in Nigeria most of the mayors do not know their responsibilities. That said, the mayors aren't entirely to blame for the inefficiencies of the local government. The system in Nigeria where there is so much reliance on the federal government for allocation of funds also hinders the functionality of the local governments. A way to make these governments more effective is to encourage public participation by educating the public on what to expect from the government, what contributions they are to make as citizens, and also educate the local government officials too. And try encouraging people to stop complaining about not being paid enough for what they do, but getting satisfaction from what they do.
Tope, California, USA

My local government Esan North East, Local Government, Uromi, Edo State, Nigeria lacks virtually everything. There is no clean water supply. There is no electric power supply. The roads are not tarred nor graded. There are no sporting nor recreational facilities. The women, children senior and disabled citizens are not given special attention. There are no sanitation nor drainage facilities. There are no programs in place to attract investors and there are no industries to absorb the unemployed populace. There are no modern libraries. No fire service, no cemeteries. There are no tourist attractions. The school buildings are dilapidated. There are no laboratories, chairs and workshops for the students in schools. There is no post secondary institution for higher learning. The hospitals are an eye sore. It is really sad.
Anthony Okosun, USA

I went back home to Cameroon this March and I just cried when I saw my hometown of Bamenda. The infrastructure has been virtually abandoned - thanks to a corrupt system which thwarts development. Despite all this, the people's resilience shows in the internet cafes, schools and other small businesses that manage to clamber their way up.
Ngum Ngafor, Manchester, UK

My town, like most towns in my country, is not properly run. The reason is because of the endemic corruption in the land. It is very difficult to find a virtuous public officer in Nigeria. You certainly should not look for such an officer in the presidency! When the head is bad, it affects the whole body.
Elias, Lagos, Nigeria

Yes, African governments have been stumbling blocks to local government development and incomes. But all this is changing now with more information, internet and transparency. Central governments should quickly devolve power to councils to collect levies and fees for them to develop new infrastructure and services. However these funds should be controlled by not less than four bank signatories to avoid misappropriation and fraud
Gabriel, Lusaka, Zambia

I wonder if the mayors of our cities in Malawi and other towns are able to see the piles of rubbish that are turning into mountains in front of their very eyes, and thereby becoming health hazards to the city dwellers. I am sure there's a lot the mayors would learn from the Egyptian woman who runs the rubbish recycling facility. Who said a woman's place was in the kitchen? Maybe this lady should be made mayoress!
Peter Mtika, Nottingham, Malawian in UK

I expect my local government to do more than is been done right now. In Oredo local of Edo state, Nigeria, there is absolutely no good road, water and electricity. Despite the huge revenue and Federal Allocation, everything remains stagnant. When it rains, the roads are not motorable and the streets are littered with dirt. The local government Chairman has to wake up from slumber. My local government is the gateway to the east and north, yet there is no improvement. It is sad and pathetic. Local government will be more efficient when there is proper accountability. As it is right now, everyone does his own thing.
Omorodion Osula, Boston, USA