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1. The dangerous watchdog: How corruption shapes support for media scrutiny in Africa

Author:
Nnaemeka Ohamadike
Publication Date:
12-2025
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Afrobarometer
Abstract:
“Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants,” U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously said, referring to the belief that vigorous reporting on corruption helps citizens hold their leaders accountable and punish wrongdoers. Yet the politics of exposure is rarely so simple, especially where corruption is entrenched, and rulers have incentives and/or power to manage what the public sees. South Africa offers a textbook example supporting the view that the press should act as a watchdog: Years of media investigations and independent ombud reporting helped publicise state-capture abuses and contributed to President Jacob Zuma’s eventual resignation in 2018 (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, n.d.). However, when sunlight burns, exposure can feel perilous rather than purifying. Across the continent, many citizens view the negative reporting of government wrongdoing as harmful rather than beneficial to their country. One possible explanation for this is that when corruption is high, governments may take more stringent measures to suppress reporting that might be embarrassing to them, such as framing critical journalism as divisive, unpatriotic, and a threat to the public good (Teplyashina & Golubev, 2019). Citizens may internalise these cues, expressing concern about the harm of reporting on corruption or political failure. This possibility motivates this paper’s central hypothesis that where corruption is high, citizens are more likely to view reporting on government mistakes and corruption as harmful to the country. Put differently, corruption may shape not only the supply of news (through censorship or self-censorship) but also the demand for scrutiny – public support for watchdog journalism itself. Accordingly, the paper addresses two core questions: (1) What do Africans think about media involvement in investigating and reporting government wrongdoing? (2) How is corruption related to citizens’ views on media reporting of government wrongdoing? I test the hypothesis and address the questions by conducting a multilevel logistic regression analysis based on Afrobarometer Round 9 (2021/2023) data from 39 African countries. The aim is to bring citizens’ attitudes into a discussion that often focuses on institutions, newsroom practices, and content framing (Stapenhurst, 2000; Solis & Antenangeli, 2017; Fadairo, Fadairo, & Aminu, 2014; Quayle & West, 2025). The results show that most Africans want the press to investigate and report on government mistakes and corruption. However, the relationship between corruption and support for media scrutiny is nuanced. At the country level, citizens in countries with weaker corruption control are more likely to say that reporting on government wrongdoing harms the country. If corruption can erode support for investigative reporting, it weakens an important accountability mechanism precisely where it is most needed. However, a very different outcome emerges when we examine perceptions of corruption at the individual level: Those who perceive corruption as widespread are more likely to support media reporting on the issue, indicating that they are less likely to share concerns about potential detrimental effects of media exposure of corruption on the country’s image.
Topic:
Corruption, Government, Democracy, and Media
Political Geography:
Africa

2. Financial Autonomy of Decentralized Local Authorities and Local Development

Author:
Herve Ondoua, Bin Meh, Boris Andzanga Ndzana, and Jean-Cedric Kouam
Publication Date:
02-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
The financial autonomy of Decentralized Territorial Collectivities (DTCs) is today considered as the foundation of local governance. It confers decision-making power in financial matters to municipalities and regions, as well as a certain level of independence in the management of the resources at their disposal. In Cameroon, the general principles of financial autonomy are defined in the law on the General Code of DTCs, in particular in the Fifth Book, which repeals the law establishing the financial regime of local authorities and that on the financial regime of the State. Thus, financial autonomy should enable DTCs to develop by using their own resources in improving the living conditions of their populations. Despite these powers, DTCs still depend for the most part on income from municipal taxes and income transferred by the State. However, DTCs in Cameroon have real economic and financial potential but not a degree of financial autonomy that would allow them to accelerate the development of their locality. This reflection is aimed at local elected officials, political authorities, government authorities and civil society, with the aim of examining the effectiveness of financial autonomy in the face of the economic and financial potential of DTCs and their ability to implement their own local development projects. This article relates financial autonomy and local governance, on the one hand, and shows how financial autonomy is a factor of valorization of local resources, on the other hand.
Topic:
Development, Government, Finance, Local, Decentralization, and Autonomy
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

3. The Regional Administrative Structure in Cameroon

Author:
Ebenezer David Ngahna Mangmadi
Publication Date:
01-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
Be it from a common law or a special status, a regional and local authorities[1] resulting from the constitutional reform of January 18, 1996[2], has an administration in charge of instructing and implementing the decisions taken by its executive organs. Under the authority of a secretary general who is appointed by the President of the Republic[3], it is implemented according to the standard organisation set out in decree n°2021/742 of 28 December 2021. It should be noted that this important legal text taken in application of article 496 of law n°2019/024 of 24 December 2009 on the general code of regional and local authorities (hereafter CGCTD), has greatly contributed to the acceleration of the process of establishing the regions initiated by the elections of December 6, 2020. The configuration of the standard model of regional administration that it suggests, highlights a complex combination of structures with diverse functions, the articulation of which may vary from case to case. This organisational scheme reveals the extent of the tasks that a regional administration must undertake, but it is not easy to access. As such, it deserves to be explained. This note is intended for professionals in the field of decentralisation, researchers and citizens seeking information. More clearly, the aim is to inform the reader about the subtleties of the structuring of the regional administration. To achieve this, it relies on an interpretive approach to the texts, mainly, the law n°2019/024 of 24 December 2019, and the decree of 28 December 2021. After presenting the different structures of the regional administration (I), the text will dwell on their articulation (II).
Topic:
Government, Local, Decentralization, and Regionalism
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

4. Halting the Kleptocratic Capture of Local Government in Nigeria

Author:
Matthew T. Page and Abdul H. Wando
Publication Date:
06-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
Too often viewed as a monolithic state, Nigeria has complex subnational governance systems that can have outsized impacts on its trajectory. The state is covered with a vibrant but frayed political quilt, consisting of three layers: the federal government in Abuja, thirty-six state governments, and 774 local governments. Frequently overlooked, Nigeria’s local governments are disproportionately important; if they functioned well, they would be best positioned to meet people’s basic needs and to build their resilience to cope with everyday challenges. Matthew T. Page Matthew T. Page is a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. In reality, however, “no local government [in Nigeria] works for the people.”1 Instead, “every household is its own local government,” sourcing its basic needs—water, electricity, education, and healthcare—however it can.2 Exhausted by local government kleptocracy—a system in which those who govern steal from the governed—Nigerians understand that they must fend for themselves. While local government corruption is a global problem not unique to Nigeria, it is nevertheless crucial to address. It fuels democratic backsliding, communal conflict, and poverty. By hurting governance outcomes at the subnational level, local government corruption is quietly hobbling Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and most populous nation.
Topic:
Corruption, Government, Domestic Politics, and Kleptocracy
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

5. Social Determinants and how they Influence Councillor Performance in District Local Government Councils in Uganda

Author:
Fred Kasalirwe, Jonas Mbabazi, Phoebe Atukunda, Oscord Mark Otile, Eugene Gerald Ssemakula, Rebecca N. Mukwaya, and Walter Akena
Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE)
Abstract:
This paper analyses how social determinants influence councillor role performance in the district local government in Uganda. The extent to which elected local government leaders perform their roles is critical for the quality of social services delivered to citizens. In the analysis, social determinants are conceptualised as; the education level of councillors, political party affiliation, electoral terms served/experience, councillor category, gender, and geographical location of the constituency represented by a councillor. In the same analysis, councillors' roles were conceptualised to include; legislation, contact with electorate, participation in lower local governments, and monitoring service delivery.
Topic:
Government, Politics, Governance, Leadership, and Services
Political Geography:
Uganda and Africa

6. Getting Real about Unknowns in Complex Policy Work

Author:
Matt Andrews
Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
As with all public policy work, education policies are demanding. Policy workers need to ‘know’ a lot—about the problems they are addressing, the people who need to be engaged, the promises they can make in response, the context they are working in, and the processes they will follow to implement. Most policy workers answer questions about such issues within the structures of plan and control processes used to devise budgets and projects. These structures limit their knowledge gathering, organization and sense-making activities to up-front planning activities, and even though sophisticated tools like Theories of Change suggest planners ‘know’ all that is needed for policy success, they often do not. Policies are often fraught with ‘unknowns’ that cannot be captured in passive planning processes and thus repeatedly undermine even the best laid plans. Through a novel strategy that asks how much one knows about the answers to 25 essential policy questions, and an application to recent education policy interventions in Mozambique, this paper shows that it is possible to get real about unknowns in policy work. Just recognizing these unknowns exist—and understanding why they do and what kind of challenge they pose to policy workers—can help promote a more modest and realistic approach to doing complex policy work.
Topic:
Education, Government, and Public Policy
Political Geography:
Africa and Mozambique

7. Why Elections Won’t Happen in Libya

Author:
Asma Khalifa
Publication Date:
12-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
The 2021 agreement on holding elections was perceived by many Libyans as the light at the end of the dark tunnel of civil war and a reset to the political stagnation and the legal crisis. More than 2.5 million Libyans registered to vote, only for them to watch on the media a deliberate sabotage by those who were trusted in the process to commit to the agreement. While Libya is again setting the ground for future elections, this paper puts forward three points on why elections will not happen in Libya.
Topic:
Government, Democracy, Conflict, and Voting
Political Geography:
Africa and Libya

8. Fake Civil Society: The Rise of Pro-Government NGOs in Nigeria

Author:
Matthew T. Page
Publication Date:
07-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
Nigeria’s dynamic and expansive civil society is one of its greatest strengths and is crucial to maintaining what democratic space still exists in the country. Yet its independence, outspokenness, and unwavering commitment to democracy, transparency, and human rights have long antagonized the kleptocratic, power-hungry—but also image-conscious—ruling elites. To help protect themselves from domestic pressure and outside scrutiny, Nigeria’s top powerbrokers have cultivated a new generation of pro-government non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Like the fake grassroots groups bankrolled by past military juntas, these surrogate organizations masquerade as authentic civil society groups, singing the praises of top officials and attacking their critics. A symptom of the country’s more fundamental political ills, Nigerian elites’ growing use of civil society surrogates should set off alarm bells both domestically and internationally. It is both corrupting and corruptive, compounding the country’s downward democratic trajectory. Like many countries in Africa—and, for that matter, elsewhere in the world—Nigeria has recently experienced democratic backsliding that threatens its long-term stability and prosperity. The rise of pro-government NGOs is both a cause and a consequence of this backsliding and must be addressed as part of any effort to arrest and reverse it.
Topic:
Civil Society, Government, Democracy, and NGOs
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

9. Access and Use of ICT in Budget Transparency and Accountability in Local Governments

Author:
Florence Kuteesa, Susan Namirembe Kavuma, and Richard Ayesigwa
Publication Date:
07-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE)
Abstract:
This study examined the levels of awareness, access and capacities of local Government administration to use ICT tools and e-government services in the budgeting process in the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pursuit of improved e-government services for budget transparency and accountability became the norm in Uganda. The Public Finance Management Act 2015, Section 12(2) mandates all stakeholders to promote and enforce transparent, efficient, and effective management of public expenditure.The findings of the study showed the potential of ICT to significantly enhance Budget Transparency and Accountability.
Topic:
Government, Science and Technology, Communications, Budget, Accountability, and Transparency
Political Geography:
Uganda and Africa

10. The Financial Decentralization Of Local Governments Tested By The Principle Of Cash Flow In Cameroon

Author:
Theophile Nguimfack Voufo and Steve Tametong
Publication Date:
07-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
In the face of the multiple socio-political crises that Cameroon is experiencing, the form of the state is now being debated, against the backdrop of the issue of governance. Seen in its political, administrative or financial dimensions, state governance has failed miserably in terms of socio-economic development issues. To remedy this, the public authorities recognize the need to complete the decentralization process. Is this commitment, which is regularly reinforced by the media, a way out of the crisis? From a legal point of view, the evolution of the decentralization process is marked by two fundamental requirements: the transfer of powers on the one hand, and the subsequent transfer of resources to exercise these powers on the other. Since 2010, the central executive has been committed to the transfer of powers to local authorities. However, the principles of complementarity, subsidiarity and even concomitance mark the return of the state, whereas decentralization implies a priority of action for the decentralized communities. In this respect, the transfer of powers is accompanied by the transfer of resources, in particular local taxation and allocations from the State budget. Local taxation, grants and own resources acquired by decentralized authorities constitute the basis of financial decentralization. It requires that the resources transferred to local governments be freely managed. This refers to the ability to mobilize these resources without being hindered by state bodies. This freedom remains an illusion in the presence of the principle of the unity of the treasury. This principle links the treasury of decentralized communities to that of the State, which can have several implications for the financial freedom of action of these communities. Given the current challenges of decentralization in Cameroon, the question arises as to whether the unity of the treasury is compatible with the financial decentralization of decentralized local authorities. Questioning the relevance of this principle allows us to verify whether this classic rule is not already obsolete in Cameroon. Analysis shows that the principle of the cash unit is incompatible with financial decentralization (I) and should be reconsidered (II).
Topic:
Government, Finance, Local, and Decentralization
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon