THE DILEMMAS OF MANAGING TRANSITIONS IN WEAK STATES - THE CASE OF MOZAMBIQUE

This article reviews donor initiatives in Mozambique in decentralizati on policy and inter-governmental relations. Against the background of earlier donor initiatives in the country and the government's transiti on, it identifies the complexities confronted in working outside the c entre and in the periphery, in the midst of economic and political lib eralization. The lessons learned from the project experiences describe d emphasize the extensiveness of the changes necessary in government a nd the donor community if subnational authorities, governors and local administrators, in this instance, are to be empowered to resolve loca l development issues at the grass-roots level rather than await author ization to act from the centre, be it a government ministry or donor o rganization. The dilemma posed by such initiatives concerns how to ena ble subnational governments to respond to unmet development needs loca lly (through the transfer of economic and skilled human resources to t he provinces), without undercutting endeavours to strengthen the capac ity of the central government to implement economic and social policy (through the concentration of the same resources in the centre).