The École Nationale d’Administration (ENA) hosted a high-level conference-debate this past Friday afternoon, featuring former Prime Minister and current Senator Albert Pahimi Padacké. The event, part of the institution’s « Grandes Rendez-Vous » series, focused on the pressing topic of decentralization and the role of provincial councils in local development.
The packed amphitheater brought together a diverse audience: students, civil servants in training, administrative officials, and political stakeholders. Albert Pahimi Padacké, a seasoned politician with two terms as Prime Minister and a background in civil administration, delivered a speech that was both insightful and grounded in reality, captivating attendees with a structured and pedagogical approach.
He opened by emphasizing the significance of discussing decentralization—a topic deeply intertwined with local development—and its implications for provincial councils. His analysis rooted the debate in both historical and international contexts, highlighting how Chad’s decentralization process gained momentum in the 1990s. This shift was driven by democratic transitions across Africa, international donor pressures, and the rise of a governance paradigm centered on citizen participation.
The conference’s central question was clear: Are provincial councils already engines of development, or can they become one? Pahimi Padacké framed the discussion as interdisciplinary, breaking his presentation into three key areas:
- Political and normative foundations of decentralization as a development catalyst.
- Barriers preventing provincial councils from fulfilling their potential.
- Actionable solutions to transform these councils into true local development hubs.
Tracing the origins of decentralization, Pahimi Padacké noted its roots in the 1993 Sovereign National Conference, which championed a unitary yet strongly decentralized state. This vision was enshrined in the March 31, 1996 Constitution and reaffirmed in later texts, including the December 29, 2023 Constitution (Fifth Republic).
On the legal front, several organic laws have since concretized this commitment, including Organic Law No. 14 (2024), which governs the status of autonomous local authorities, and Organic Law No. 28 (2024), which delineates the division of competencies between the central state and these authorities.
The Senator underscored two core principles: the transfer of competencies and resources and the principle of subsidiarity (Article 271 of the Constitution). The latter ensures decisions are made at the most local level possible, closest to citizens. While Organic Law No. 28 transfers significant competencies to provincial councils—albeit in areas requiring further implementing texts—he acknowledged progress remains uneven.
In his second segment, Pahimi Padacké delivered a candid assessment of current obstacles. Delays persist in transferring financial and human resources, while provincial councils grapple with technical and administrative capacity gaps. Governance challenges, coordination issues between deconcentrated administrations and elected local bodies, and resource constraints continue to hinder progress.
To overcome these hurdles, he outlined actionable solutions: accelerating the actual transfer of resources—such as revenue from oil and fiscal sectors—strengthening the skills of elected officials and council staff, establishing robust monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, and fostering greater civil society and development partner involvement. He stressed the need to uphold subsidiarity rigorously to ensure decentralization is substantive, not superficial.
Concluding with a call to action, Pahimi Padacké urged the next generation of administrators to embrace these challenges. The success of decentralization, he argued, is pivotal to balanced national development and bridging the gap between citizens and public institutions.