Gouvernance locale, maîtrise d'ouvrage communale et stratégies de développement local au Sénégal : l'expérience de la ville de Saint-Louis

Abstract

Decentralization in Senegal and its most visible pillar, municipalization, give rise to several issues. A<br />strong general sentiment exists that, once political quitus acquired, elected officials seem to content<br />themselves with the representative democracy that brought them to local power. In particular, these<br />issues are manifested by the populations' distrust of local public action and by social divisions, in which<br />underdevelopment remains very visible.<br />Several attempts at reform have been carried out between 1966 and 1996 with the laws on regionalization.<br />Local government authorities have conducted several experiments, often with foreign impetus,<br />particularly as a result of decentralized cooperation. Although it soon becomes clear that a considerable<br />part of this impetus comes from abroad, the experiment carried out in Saint Louis, with the help of<br />decentralized cooperation in the form of the Lille-Saint-Louis Partnership, demonstrated that it is possible<br />for local development to become a reality. Despite constraints faced by the city and its Institution, local<br />politicians expressed a willingness to relay outside impetus.<br />What lessons can be learned from this process?<br />To what extent do the funding and construction of infrastructures, mainly financed by foreign sources,<br />help strengthen the vision and abilities of elected officials to conduct development policy, while taking<br />into account the point of view and expectations of different social groups? On a more general level, how<br />do the systems set up in Saint Louis (Agence de Développement Communal or Municipal Development<br />Agency, and Conseils de Quartier or Neighbourhood Councils) encourage democratic, efficient and<br />transparent management by local government?<br />In examining these questions through a thesis, the goal was, on one hand, to build upon ten-years' field<br />experience in an academic framework and, on the other hand, to gain sufficient perspective in order to<br />problematize the various development practices induced by this experiment, in a context characterized<br />by an exceptionally complex game and system of actors. Working toward these two aims led to further<br />questioning of the transformations which Saint Louis has undergone and their impact on the ability of the<br />municipality to maintain control over communal development projects as contracting owner, which, along<br />with the strengthening of local democracy, seem essential foundations for a municipalization worthy of<br />such a name.