Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / Zambia has, since independence in 1964, endeavoured to build an effective local government system anchored on decentralisation in an effort to attain the values and principles of democracy, autonomy and transparency. These values and principles are essential in enhancing service delivery and development. Within the South African context, De Visser and May argue, in keeping with the developmental imperatives for decentralisation, that local governments should be entrusted with fundamental powers and functions related to basic service delivery. A local government entrusted with fundamental powers is said to be the best foundation for building democracy, social and economic development. Therefore, the desire to build a strong foundation for an effective local government system is what motivates the design of local government administrations in many countries. One of the essential aspects in the design of a local government system is administrative autonomy. Administrative autonomy is important because it plays a complementary role to the realisation of political and fiscal autonomy. Administrative autonomy refers to the discretion to appoint, remunerate, discipline and dismiss staff as well as determining internal administrative procedures. It further ensures that the implementation of local policies is locally directed and driven by promoting accountability of local administrative officials to sub-national governments. In an effort to have a local government system that promotes accountability of local administrative officials to sub-national governments, Zambia has over the years employed three systems of local government administrations from 1964 to 2016 namely, the separate, unified and integrated systems.

Magister Legum - LLM (Public Law and Jurisprudence) / Zambia has had a system of local government whose origin can be traced back to the colonial era. This system of local government, which is comprised by local authorities, did not have constitutional recognition. The 1996 Constitution of Zambia was the first to recognise the institution of local government. Nevertheless, the only aspect of local government which was entrenched was the provision that councils were to be democratically elected by universal adult suffrage. Other key principles of local democracy, such as citizen participation, local accountability and transparency, that are necessary pillars to an effective system of local government, were not recognised in this Constitution. It was not a surprise that most Zambians experienced challenges in accessing basic public and social services such as water supply, sanitation, housing and health care, which are a responsibility of local government. The absence of sufficient democratic content in the 1996 Constitution and in the enabling legislative and policy framework partly contributed to the ineffectiveness of local authorities.

Magister Legum - LLM (Public Law and Jurisprudence) / Since gaining independence in 1964, Zambia has embarked on a number of reforms, including legislative, aimed at improving the effectiveness of its decentralised system of government. Local government received constitutional recognition in 1996. In 2002, the national government adopted the National Decentralisation Policy (NDP) which was reviewed in 2013. The NDP established Ward Development Committees (WDCs) as the lowest tier of government. It also defined the roles and responsibilities of local authorities, provinces, and national government. The NDP aimed to address, among other things, the problem of poor service delivery in Zambia that was partially attributed to a high concentration of power at the centre. Despite these various legislative and policy reforms, service delivery remained largely poor in many parts of Zambia. Local government still failed to supply potable water, maintain roads, provide proper sanitation and collect refuse on time, among other service delivery failures.