Local Government Expenditures
Local Government Expenditure Assignments
Local governments are responsible for most services to citizens, such as
primary education, health, roads, agriculture extension, and water and sanitation.
The central government is present in policy making, regulation of
local governments, and certain national key functions.Table 3.1 outlines the
key responsibilities for service provision in the main sectors and the extent
to which legal or other issues are outstanding.
Figure 3.4 shows the sector distribution of local government expenditure
in the 2002/03 budget. Education is by far the most important sector in
terms of share of local government expenditure (more than 40 percent). It
is followed by administration (25 percent)—which also encompasses costs
for political functions and for general and financial administration—and
then by health (16 percent). The health and agriculture sectors, although
small compared with education, have increased in importance.