Exploring community-based auditing as an instrument of pro-poor delivery of public services by local authorities in Zambia: a case study of the decentralized delivery of Water Supply and Sanitation (WSS) services in Nakonde District of Zambia

Abstract

This study explores the possible causes of unsatisfactory service delivery by local authorities in Zambia, arguing that Zambia will continue to experience high poverty levels until community-based auditing (C-BA) is effectively institutionalized as an instrument of pro-poor public service delivery by local authorities. The main objective of the study was to demonstrate that the problem of high poverty levels in Zambia may be reversed by improving the pro-poor performance of local authorities through the institutionalization of community-based auditing at the decentralized (local) level.