Burkina Faso Governance, Economy and Political History

By Umar Keita

Burkina Faso Governance, Economy Political History Since its independence on 5August 1960, the political scene has been characterized by the succession of constitutional regimes and emergency laws resulting from military coups d’etat. The return to constitutional life started in 1991 with the adoption of the constitution which lays down the free existence of parties. The new constitution instituting a semi-presidential regime enabled Burkina Faso to embark on multiparty politics and the establishment of democratic institutions. Originally elected by direct universal suffrage for seven years, the president inter alia, sets the major guidelines for state policy and appoints the Prime Minister. However, the early period of the fourth Republic unfolded in a context marked by a crisis born of the protest movements for democracy at the national level (pressing demands from opposition parties and civil society), clamours for opening up to the outside world (La Baule Speech) and.....

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jan 26, 2017
• ISBN: 9781365710094

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Burkina Faso Governance, Economy and Political History

Burkina Faso Governance, Economy and Political History.

Burkina Faso General Environmental Study

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Author

Umar Keita

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First Printing: 2017

ISBN: 978-1-365-71009-4

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Burkina Faso Governance

SUMMARY

Context

A landlocked country with a surface area of 274,000 km2 and a population of 13 million inhabitants in 2004, Burkina Faso is one of the world’s poorest countries. According to the 2004 human development index Burkina Faso is ranked 175th among 177 countries. The country has scarce natural resources and partly depends on external aid and income from immigrant workers. Recent estimates show that some 46.4% of the population lives below the monetary poverty line, a situation which is exacerbated among women and in rural areas. These recent analyses also highlight a worsening of poverty in urban areas. The problem of Burkina Faso’s economy is the persistence of poverty despite relatively sustained growth over the past few years and the reforms initiated since 1991. This situation led to the formulation of the poverty reduction strategic framework as from 2000 in a bid to reduce the number of people living below the poverty threshold by one-third by 2015. It was revised in 2003 and led to the drawing up of a programme of priority actions for the 2004-2006 period.

Greater political stability came as a result of consensual reforms introduced in 2000 and which led to adoption of a new electoral code, an independent national electoral commission (CENI) with broader powers and a voting system closer to proportional representation. Following the smooth conduct of the 2002 legislative elections, marked by a net increase in turn-out (64% of registered voters) the National Assembly put in place was more representative of the country’s different political leanings, the absolute majority being held by the ruling party known as Congrès pour la démocratie et le progress (CDP). One major challenge facing the government lies in the need to promote good governance in a context of poverty, limited institutional capacity, vulnerability of the economy to external shocks and sub-regional instability.

Objective of the Profile

This country governance profile (CGP) falls within the framework of the Bank’s economic and sector work (ESW). It is a tool for overall assessment and dialogue concerning the major governance problems of Burkina Faso. Its objective is to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of governance mechanisms. The CGP helps to foster a common approach between the authorities and development partners, as governance constraints hamper the attainment of development objectives. Good governance is a concept covering the following elements: (i) an effective state. (ii) a mobilized civil society; and (iii) an efficient public administration and private sector. Indeed, an effective state creates a political and legal environment conducive to the rule of law and development, with laws that are clearly laid down and enforced by an objective and independent judiciary. Similarly, a dynamic civil society mobilizes individuals, groups and communities, facilitates political and social interaction, helps to generate human capital and promotes social cohesion and stability. The productive private sector for its part generates jobs and incomes.

Organization

In a bid to help provide an insight into governance in Burkina-Faso, a joint mission of the Bank and UNDP stayed in Ouagadougou from 5 to 22 December 2004 to prepare this country governance profile (CGP). The document is based on policy documents, Bank guidelines mainly those relating to governance, government documents as well as the proceedings and findings of the mission. During the mission, a memorandum specifying the points for discussion was transmitted to the government and the various interlocutors met. After submitting the detailed aide-memoire of the mission, a briefing session was organized. The CGP was thus drawn up following consultation of available documents and following in-depth discussions with many officials and representatives of the

administration, the private sector, civil society and other development partners. The Bank guidelines and directives on drafting governance profiles notably as concerns analysis, participatory work, stages to be followed, resources to be mobilized and time allotted are quite useful in successfully obtaining governance profiles that meet the needs of set objectives.

This CGP conducts a diagnosis of the governance situation by considering the following aspects: accountability; transparency; stakeholder involvement; legal and judicial reform; the fight against corruption; and private sector governance. It makes recommendations for identifying priority areas where ADB, UNDP and other donors could intervene. The report is divided into five chapters. This introduction describes the historical context and the key elements of governance. The detailed diagnosis of governance in Burkina Faso is then treated in Chapter II followed by an assessment of the Government’s governance strategy. The approach used facilitates the identification of governance priorities and recommendations for future actions that could contribute to its improvement.

Diagnosis of the Governance Situation Governance and Accountability

The CGP has been able to bring out the elements of appraisal of accountability and examine how accountability was observed at the political level. It shows that progress has been made in terms of political accountability. Political life is marked by greater stability but the gains need to be consolidated. The Burkinabe Constitution is based on the separation and balance of the legislative, executive and judicial powers. However, the reality is more complex given that the institutions are in their infancy and that the means to strengthen them are lacking. Consolidating these gains requires that the reforms initiated since the year 2000 should be pursued in a bid to ensure effective separation and balance of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, promotion of ethics and its observance by political parties, and the stabilization of electoral processes and codes. In the run-up to the November 2005 presidential elections, the opposition remains divided and the CDP is going to the polls under favourable conditions. Although democracy has made unquestionable progress in Burkina Faso, (even if political competition in rural areas is not as open as in urban areas), the majority party would like to go back on what the opposition considered two gains, namely (i) prohibition enshrined in the 1991 Constitution, against an outgoing President running a third time, and (ii) the proportional representation voting system.

Regarding administrative accountability in Burkina Faso, it can be seen through the progress achieved in the Overall Public Administration Reform (RGAP) which was launched in 1998 and whose achievements include notably, a better definition of the jurisdiction of each government service (abolition of direct management activities, as in the case of the ministry of public works), and launching of a single public service computer file with the adoption of the integrated system of state personnel administrative and salaries management (SIGASPE). However, it must be acknowledged that SIGASPE has incurred delays and that the Burkinabe administration must improve its accessibility, performance, service quality and transparency. The 2002 National Ethics Committee report highlighted the politicization of the administration. Such politicization can spread a culture of impunity within the administration thereby encouraging bad citizenship, corruption and economic crimes. All these constraints contribute to weaken the capacities to formulate, implement, monitor and evaluate policies notably those relating to sustainable growth and poverty reduction. Accordingly, Burkina Faso must pursue its efforts to reorganize and modernize the state machinery.

Accountability in government’s economic management has been examined in relation to the economic performance and the initiatives taken to promote sustainable development. On the whole, the macroeconomic policies followed have been in line with the PRSF formulated in 2000 and were supported and welcomed by the Bretton Woods Institutions and other development

partners. Priority was to be given to drawing from the findings of the Burkina 2025 Prospective Study, the key strategic guidelines capable of producing structural changes in the economy and fostering sustainable development. The main problems are the inadequacy of fiscal revenue and resistance to a reduction of public spending. Indeed, the share of tax revenue in the GDP since 2000 is well below the WAEMU convergence norm. This situation which results in the country’s overdependence on foreign aid in general poses the problem of tax and customs revenue collection, strengthening of the assessment services and broadening of the tax base. There is a need to improve the methods used in these domains and to equip the services with effective management tools. Accountability in the management of state-owned enterprises has improved through the use of international competitive bidding for most of the enterprises eligible for the programme. However the implementation of the programme is incurring delays and the overarching objective of privatization, which is to improve the quality of public utilities, has not yet yielded tangible results. In spite of progress in the business environment, Burkina Faso is yet to become a destination for major foreign direct investments.

Accountability concerning the budgetary process has improved thanks to the use of the medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) and the programme approach to annual budget preparation. However, the inadequate capacities and financial means represent real constraints. In 2004 for instance, the appropriations of the annual budget law were technically in conformity with the 2004–2006 MTEF estimates. There is progress in the MTEFs of certain sectors such as education and health. However, most interventions are implemented through projects. To date, employees of sectoral ministries do not have a good grasp of the MTEF which is a programming and management tool. Furthermore, the presentation of the annual budget solely in its administrative form does not allow its in-depth analysis from the standpoint of its contribution to the implementation of multi-year sectoral programmes.

Furthermore, private sector accountability must be focused on as it represents over 70% of the GDP. The informal sector is far from transparent. In the formal sector, most enterprises are not strict in their bookkeeping. As concerns corporate governance, efforts must be pursued to regulate bookkeeping in accordance with WAEMU accounting standards and also to harmonize national laws with OHADA provisions. Moreover, the non-resolution of the land tenure issue and the non-existence of a land register is a setback to investment and security of land tenure.

Governance and Transparency

Regarding transparency, the progress noted in the political system, government procurement