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.