Institutional Impacts of the Local Government Reform Program on Good Local Governance in Tanzania

Ever since the early 1990s, Tanzania’s government has embarked upon ambitious and far-reaching reform programs to improve the socioeconomic condition of the country. Among them was the development of anti-corruption strategies and the local government reform program. Overall, these reform programs were expected to improve good governance through reformed and autonomous local institutions. As such, this paper provides a detailed analysis of two reform initiatives, namely, anti-corruption strategies and LGRP based on their main policy goals as well as impacts on the overall institutional performance of local institutions in Tanzania. Drawing upon review of some empirical studies, the paper discusses what is seen as major structural concerns in the workings of these reforms in their entirety. This paper builds on the proposition that, unless someone addresses “institutional shortfalls” within the greater system of governance, any policy or reform initiative aimed at improving good governance will ultimately fail to deliver.