Summary

This Discussion Paper highlights in complementary ways the problems and challenges for governance issues under centralized state agencies, which base their authority and legitimacy on a dominant party and its influence.

The case study on Namibia argues for a need for parliamentary and administrative reform to improve the efficiency of lawmakers. The Botswana chapter explores the decision on the location of the country's second university as an act without consultation of the local population. The Zimbabwe paper advocates an approach in favor of using the African Peer Review Mechanism as an instrument to assist in a change towards better governance.

All the authors have intimate knowledge of the matters discussed through their own involvement with the respective cases and/or their individual positioning within these societies. This publication is among the final results of the project "Liberation and Democracy in Southern Africa", which was undertaken at the Institute between 2001 and 2006.