Lessons from Tanzania’s Experience of Rural Local Government Reform

Rural local government is an important aspect of development planning and implementation in third world nations and, for that reason,has received a lot of attention in post‐colonial Africa. Tanzania′s experience is reviewed and provides important lessons for those countries currently involved in local government reforms. Such lessons concern the relationship between party and local government; the central‐local financial relationship; the popular belief that central government is capable of everything; and flexibility and openness on the part of central government policy makers.