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The World Bank

Assessment of Localities’ Compliance with Minimum Qualifying Criteria and Identification of their Capacity Needs in Northern Sudan, World Bank/LICUS

Ed DamazinAssessment report

September 2006

Assessment of Localities’ Compliance with Minimum Qualifying Criteria and Identification of their Capacity Needs in Northern Sudan, World Bank/LICUS

Ed Damazin Assessment report

September 2006

Report no. 1

Issue no. 1

Date of issue 6 October 2006

Prepared Erik Bryld and Jeremiah Lima

Checked Thomas Juel Thomsen

Approved Thomas Juel Thomsen

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Table of Contents

1 Introduction 3 1.1 Ed Damazin 4 1.2 Assessment context 5

2 Minimum qualifying criteria 6 2.1 Development planning and budgeting capacity 6 2.2 Fiscal capacity and financial management 7 2.3 Procurement 8 2.4 Functioning of Political institutions 8 2.5 Staff functionality 8

3 Capacity Building Support Access criteria 9 3.1 Capacity building plan 9 3.2 Human resource management function 9

4 Performance assessment 10 4.1 Development planning and budgeting capacity 10 4.2 Fiscal capacity 11 4.3 Financial management and audit capacity 11 4.4 Procurement capacity 12 4.5 Transparency and accountability 12 4.6 Functioning of political institutions 12 4.7 Human resource development/capacity building 13 4.8 Project supervision and monitoring 13

5 Conclusions 14 5.1 Compliance with Minimum qualifying criteria 14 5.2 Compliance with Capacity Building Support Access

criteria 15 5.3 Capacity building needs and functional gaps based

on performance indicators 15

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6 Issues arising 18

Appendix A: Check list 19

Appendix B: People met 41

Appendix C: Documents made available and consulted 42

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1 Introduction A Community Development Fund project, executed by the Ministry of Finance, and funded by the Northern Sudan Multi-Donor Trust Fund is planned to pro-vide urgently needed local public infrastructure and, in the longer term, to es-tablish the capacities, mechanisms, and procedures in selected localities to en-able them to support sustainable, locally-led development. In the short-term a Programme Implementation Unit will be responsible for transferring funds for locally defined priority projects in the localities while over time the project will build the capacity of localities to plan, allocate re-sources and implement and manage such investments on their own. It is ex-pected that some localities here and now will be able to efficiently manage such grants for improved service delivery at the community level, while other locali-ties through the support will develop the necessary capacities over time. In support of these objectives a capacity assessment of 16 selected localities in Northern Sudan was undertaken to:

1) Identify localities that comply with the Minimum Qualifying criteria (MQC) for accessing funding under the community development win-dow of the CDF programme.

2) Identify localities that comply with the Capacity Building Support Ac-cess Criteria (CBSAC) for accessing funding under the capacity devel-opment window.

3) Assess the functional capacity needs of localities using the tentative Performance indicators.

This report is the capacity assessment of Ed Damazin, which supplements simi-lar reports for each of the 15 other localities assessed. All the localities have been assessed based on the same set of criteria and per-formance indicators that were defined in a separate exercise. The criteria and indicators focus on functional areas such as planning, budgeting, financial management, human resource management, political institutions, etc., and re-flect the legal framework in place in 2005 combined with a vision of decentral-ised local governance. However, since 2005 new State constitutions and state local government acts have been developed, and in three of the four states in-volved in the assessment the new legal frameworks are not yet approved.

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The assessment was undertaken by COWI A/S in collaboration with DEGE Consult Ltd over a period of two weeks in September 2006. Four different sub-teams covered the 16 localities. Each sub-team was composed of an interna-tional consultant and two Sudanese representatives from local or national gov-ernments, private sector or the NGO sector. The teams spent one to two days in each locality interviewing relevant staff and political representatives, and re-viewing relevant available documentation. The assessments were guided by a checklist based on the toolkit which was filled by all team members to ensure a systematic coverage of all the capacity criteria and indicators. Moreover, the State administrations in Blue Nile and North and South Kordofan were visited for interviews on the decentralisation setup and projected future arrangements in the given State. The structure of the report follows the presentation of functional areas in the toolkit. Following the introduction, chapter 2 addresses the locality's compli-ance with the MQC. Chapter 3 looks at the locality's compliance with the Ca-pacity Building Support Access Criteria. Chapter 4 assesses the locality's ca-pacity based on the performance indicators. The conclusions regarding the lo-cality's compliance with the MQC, CBSAC and assessment of functional gaps and capacity needs are presented in chapter 5. Here summary tables on the MQCs and performance indicators are also presented for easy reference. Issues arising from the assessment of relevance to future assessments are presented in chapter 6. The appendices include, among other, a summary of the relevant checklist filled by each sub-team. It is noted that the 2006 assessment is the first assessment of the capacity of the localities under the CDF programme and the findings will serve as a baseline for future assessments, including the definition of performance criteria. In addi-tion, a synthesis report outlines the general capacity level and challenges of the localities in Northern Sudan, including considerations regarding capacity build-ing strategies.

1.1 Ed Damazin Ed’Damazin is the Capital of Blue Nile State and has a population of about 300,000. The locality has a joint SPLM/NCP Legislative Council which has been in place since March 2006 and a total of 81 People’s Committees.

Blue Nile State is one of three transitional areas covered by special provisions in the Power Sharing Agreement of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. As a consequence commissioner posts are split between the NCP and SPLM. In Ed Damazin the Commissioner is from the NCP.

Ed Damazin will receive funding from the CDF for project implementation and has a LIU manager and office established with secondments from the locality. The CDF Steering Committee has met three times and has now identified the People's Committees eligible for project support. At the time of the assessment no funds had yet been channelled for project activities.

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1.2 Assessment context Issues influencing the outcome of the assessment: 1) Staff not available. At the second day of the assessment locality staff were not present at the locality due to: a) heavy rains; and b) the fact that the previ-ous day was payday. It is a tradition in Eastern Sudan that employees do not attend work the immediate days after payday. As a consequence a number of relevant staff were not available for the assessment, including the Head of Fi-nance. 2) The Blue Nile State Auditor-General is still in the process of finalising the 2005 audit reports of the localities in the State. As a consequence the Team has not been in a position to assess the locality's accounting performance for 2005 and compliance with the Auditor's recommendations. Instead the Team has fo-cused on the 2004 report. 3) Legislative Councils were re-established in March 2006 in Blue Nile State following the introduction of the State Local Government Act. There was no Legislative Council in place in 2005, and Ed Damazin does therefore not com-ply with any of the assessment questions related to the operations of the Coun-cil prior to March 2006. 4) State regulations do not require the locality have an Executive Committee, consequently, Ed Damazin does not have an Executive Committee, and does therefore not comply with any of the assessment questions related to the Com-mittee. 5) The LIU manager provided helpful assistance to the team throughout the as-sessment

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2 Minimum qualifying criteria

2.1 Development planning and budgeting capacity Functioning of the locality Executive Committee in development planning: Since no requirement in the 2006 Local Government Act exists for having an Executive Committee at locality level, no such Committee exists in Ed Damazin.

Existence of a timely and council approved annual social and economic plan: The annual social and economic plan is in place and was approved by the State on 30 March 2006. The plan is divided into sectors, which outline indi-vidual projects, such as construction of a school for women, with specific in-formation on project objectives; target groups (e.g. women, vulnerable); num-ber of beneficiaries; duration; expected results; and budget.

The plan was not discussed by the Legislative Council since it was not in place until early 2006. Since then issues related to planning have been discussed by the Council.

Existence of a timely and Legislative Council approved annual budget: The annual budget for Chapter 1 was signed by Executive Director and submitted to the State timely on 24 December 2005. The annual budget for Chapter 3 (reha-bilitation) and 4 (development) were submitted and approved by the State 30 March. The annual budget complies with the budget guidelines. As with the annual plan, the budget was not discussed by the Legislative Council which was not in place at the relevant time.

Clear link between annual plan and annual budget: There is a link between the annual plan and the annual budget. The technical departments propose pro-jects to be included in the plan. The technical departments and Head of Finance prioritise the projects and all priority projects are catered for in the annual budget. A good example is the rehabilitation of primary schools, which is also reflected in the annual budget

Capture of operational costs in the budget derived from the capital in-vestments: There is consent from the authorities to meet the operational costs of prioritised projects in the annual plan as evidenced by the State approval of the plan on 30 March 2006. It is not clear whether operational costs of these investments have been captured in the annual budget.

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Capture of maintenance costs in the budget derived from the capital in-vestments: Maintenance costs of capital investments have been captured in Chapter 2 of the annual budget. The Team did not however find evidence of a clear maintenance strategy for capital investments included in the plan.

2.2 Fiscal capacity and financial management No decrease in own revenues in nominal figures from the previous year-but-one to the previous year: There was an increase in own revenues in nomi-nal figures from 2004 to 2005 by 33%.

Year Revenue (SD) 2004 120,552,081 2005 160,568,111 Revenue increase 40,016,030

Co-funding requirements complied with for capital investments: Ed Damazin will receive funds under CDF only in the future, which means this criterion is not relevant to assess at the present stage. The Steering Committee has recently identified people's committees eligible to receive funds for devel-opment projects, however, projects are still to be identified and initiated.

Entire final accounts for the previous financial year produced on time and submitted for audit: The locality prepared and completed its final accounts on time although the accounts do not show the date they were completed and signed. Also, there is no date of submission of the accounts for audit.

All books of accounts maintained up-to-date, including bank reconcilia-tion: All the relevant books of accounts are maintained and they are up to date. Bank reconciliation statements are prepared and they are also up to date.

Project specific bank account(s) opened and ready for operations: This cri-terion is not relevant as no CDF projects have been initiated at this stage. It should be noted that localities are only permitted to open one bank account.

Internal audit function in place, including quarterly reports submitted to the Council and the State: The internal audit function is in place and opera-tional. The Internal Auditor prepares regular reports for submission to the Council and to the State as required. The Council debates the audit reports on a quarterly basis.

Clean audit report for the last audited year: The 2005 audit report has not been approved yet by the State. The Auditor-General had a number of minor comments to the 2004 audit. These include:

1) Purchases must be entered into the register before delivered to the relevant department; 2) Collection of housing tax must be fully documented; 3) Locality assets must be recorded more carefully;

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4) So purchases were provided to people's committees, which is not in line with regulations. All four points have been dealt with in 2005.

No major financial irregularities noticed during the year and/or irregulari-ties unsettled from previous years: There were no major financial irregulari-ties and all issues raised by the auditors have been resolved.

2.3 Procurement Tender evaluation committee has been established and tender procedures are as per the regulations: Procurement is made by an organ/committee estab-lished as per the regulations. There is a technical evaluation committee whose members are the Executive Director, Financial Controller, Internal Auditor, Store Keeper, and a representative from relevant department; established by the Executive Director in August 2005.

Minutes from the procurement committee meetings show that standard proce-dures are in place for undertaking purchases. The criteria for purchases are based on price and quality from three different local suppliers. No major pro-curements have been undertaken in 2006.

2.4 Functioning of Political institutions Legislative Council in place and operational: The Legislative Council is in place and operational. It was established in March 2006 following the introduc-tion of the Blue Nile State Local Government Act 2006.

The Council meets three times a week and all meetings are minuted and signed by the Chairman. The Team observed the functioning of Legislative Council in action, with approximately 20 members present. The Legislative Council dis-cussed relevant issues such as finance committee reports; budget; and local fee levels.

2.5 Staff functionality Position of Executive Director filled with requisite qualifications: The posi-tion of the Executive Director is filled with a qualified candidate. The Execu-tive Director is a university graduate with a BA degree from Omdurman Is-lamic University. He has over 22 years of experience in local government.

Head of Administrative and Finance Affairs Section filled with requisite qualifications: The position is filled with a qualified candidate. He is a univer-sity graduate with 22 years of work experience in Darfur, North Kordofan, Al Jazeera and Blue Nile States.

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3 Capacity Building Support Access criteria

3.1 Capacity building plan The locality has a capacity building plan for year 2006, in addition to the plan implemented by the State. The plan has been developed under the auspices of the Executive Director to improve the qualifications of key staff members. The plan comprise of a single sheet outlining courses and staff numbers. The capac-ity building plan has three major items:

Master education for executive staff in accounting, MBA, ICT, and agricul-ture, 5 persons.

Diploma for 4 employees in economics and accounting.

Medium level training to clerks "to raise standard".

3.2 Human resource management function The human resources management function is in place and staffed. The unit is primarily involved in personnel administration.

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4 Performance assessment

4.1 Development planning and budgeting capacity Existence of a participatory planning process: The participatory planning process is weak, particularly in the use of bottom-up approaches. Planning is undertaken via inputs from the technical departments to a Planning Committee chaired by the Executive Director. The Committee presents the plans to the State at their annual visit to the locality in October. The final prioritisation and approval is undertaken by the State.

The People’s Committees occasionally identify projects and forward them to the technical departments. The departments carry out field and desk appraisal of projects, and decide on whether to include these projects in the plans.

Since the establishment of the Legislative Council, the projects are discussed by the relevant sub-committees of the Council, for inclusion in the upcoming plans.

Quality of the annual development plan – must adhere to the provided format: The annual plan is in place and contains detailed project profiles for each project and the costs and sources of funds for each project. The plan does not provide: background information to the locality; description of the process through which it has been developed; strategies for implementation, including monitoring and evaluation; and analysis of peculiar challenges and opportuni-ties although there are poverty specific projects and projects focusing on gender issues.

Comprehensive/strategic medium term (3-4 years) plan in place: The stra-tegic plan is not in place, only a list of projects running for 3 – 4 years without background information to the locality; vision, goals and objectives; description of how it has been developed; challenges and opportunities; implementation strategies; analysis of cross-cutting issues and strategies for monitoring and evaluation.

Budgeting capacity: The budgeting process takes into account the previous year’s performance, however the budget for Chapter 3 and 4 is independent of the previous year except for carry over projects. The locality is aware of the sources of funds for the different Chapters of the budget and takes them into consideration. There is no medium-term revenue projection. Budget prediction

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capacity is very high with only 3% deviation (positive deviation) on revenue collection. 7% of the total budget is allocated to priority sectors in the PEAP and 45% of the budget is allocated on non-chapter 1 items.

4.2 Fiscal capacity Revenues: The own sources of revenue for the locality increased by 33% over the past two years. The locality meets its revenue collection targets and there are ideas for improving revenue collection, including: tax on new permanent houses of former internally displaced persons. These have previously been ex-empted, but will be included now as the conflict is over; and planned increase in fee of house taxes and shop license taxes.

Revenue management (administration): Revenue collection exceeded the target by 7%. Accountability measures are in place including: sub-revenue committee; special revenue accountant who performs checks following collec-tors round; internal audit function; external auditor; regular training of collec-tors; all expected revenue registered, e.g. the number of payers and their ex-pected pay, so the locality knows the amount to be generated - by name; re-ceipts provided for payers; and follow-up from 'State Legislative Council reve-nue sub-committee.

The transparency in the revenue collection process is limited, and the locality does not communicate to the public information on revenue collection and how the collections have been utilised.

Expenditures: Own revenues cover only 13.8% of administrative expenditure and a share of the Legislative Council costs to the total budget is only 0.09%. Capital investments are financed in full using transfers from the State, the local-ity’s spending on capital investments from own sources are therefore zero.

4.3 Financial management and audit capacity Budget execution and cash flow: There is no proper system of managing cash inflows and outflows although there is evidence that the locality maintains ade-quate liquidity position. A system of commitment control is in place, all com-mitments are authorised by the Commissioner and the Executive Director ap-proves the commitments. The Financial Controller provides daily reports on liquidity position to the Executive Director.

Accounting: All the books of accounts are maintained and are up to date. There is a system of asset management and physical inspection is carried out annually and the records updated accordingly. Financial records are kept in a closet and locked away safely.

Internal Control: The internal audit function is in place and operational as evidenced by regular reports to the Legislative Council and to the State. The locality has policies and procedures to: ensure adherence to state policies and procedures; safeguard against mismanagement, errors, frauds and irregularities;

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safeguard against conflict of interest; ensure segregation of duties; and promote orderly, economic, efficient and effective operations and delivery of services.

4.4 Procurement capacity Procurement Organs: The technical evaluation committee is constituted with appropriate membership and considers all procurements made by the locality. There is adherence to the recommendations made by the technical evaluation committee.

Procurement Process: The locality does not have a procurement plan. In the case of the purchases examined for 2006, bills of quantities are prepared as re-quired and proper evaluation criteria are used in evaluation of bids. Tenders are awarded timely but there is no transparency in tender awards and the public is not informed about tender awards (see also MQC section).

4.5 Transparency and accountability Downward reporting/accountability: Downward accountability is limited. Information to the public is only through the Legislative Council. There is no wide circulation of information to the general public on indicative planning fig-ures; approved projects in the annual plan; approved budget; receipt of funds for implementing projects; audit reports; and there is no public access to finan-cial information.

Horizontal accountability: There is a decent level of horizontal accountability at the locality level. Departmental sharing of information is ad hoc and through the Executive Director. There is a flow of information to and feedback from the Legislative Council. There are no NGOs operating within the locality therefore no sharing of information with NGOs.

Upward accountability: The locality prepares and submits reports to the State on time. Three meetings of the Project Implementation Committee have been conducted and minutes taken and signed. The locality has not reached a stage of preparing and submitting reports to the committee.

4.6 Functioning of political institutions Locality Legislative Council: As of March 2006, the Legislative Council is in place and discusses relevant issues such as plans, budgets, audit reports, local fees, etc. The Council has established three sub-committees: Services, for de-livering public health, roads and market; Legal, for preparing decisions for Council; and Economic, for dealing with Chapter 3 and 4 issues. Minutes of the sub-committees are recorded and a review of these minutes indicates that they discuss relevant issues.

People’s Committees: There is no evidence that the locality has developed guidelines and a plan to mentor the people’s committees. Also, there is no evi-dence that the locality has trained the committees to improve their performance.

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According to the 2006 promulgated State Local Government Act, the locality has the responsibility to train these committees. However, this is yet to be ap-plied. Some NGOs have carried out training of the people’s committees.

4.7 Human resource development/capacity building Capacity building planning process: There is no documentary evidence that the locality has conducted capacity building needs assessment. According to the Human Resources Management function the needs assessment has been con-ducted. There is a capacity building plan for year 2006 with three items as indi-cated under CBSAC section.

Quality of the Capacity Building Plan: The capacity building plan that is in place does not provide background to the locality and a summary of capacity building needs of staff, councillors, peoples committees, etc. In part it provides strategies for implementing the plan; however it only focuses on individuals and nothing on the institution.

Capacity building implementation: Implementation of the plan has started and is in accordance with the plan.

Monitoring and reporting: Since the plan is being implemented indicators relating to its monitoring and evaluation are not relevant at this stage.

4.8 Project supervision and monitoring Contracts management and technical supervision: All indicators under this contracts management and technical supervision are not relevant at this stage since no projects have been implemented?

Monitoring and reporting: All indicators are not relevant at this stage since no projects have been implemented by the locality.

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5 Conclusions

5.1 Compliance with Minimum qualifying criteria Minimum Qualifying Criteria: Summary of status Criteria Compliant Not

compliantN.A.

Development planning and budgeting capacity

Functioning of the Locality Executive Committee in devel-opment planning

X

Timely and council-approved annual social and economic plan

X

Timely and Legislative Council-approved annual budget X

Clear link between annual plan and annual budget X

Capture of operational costs in the budget derived from capital investments

X

Capture of maintenance costs in the budget derived from the capital investments

X

Fiscal capacity and financial management

No decrease in own revenues in nominal figures for the pre-vious-year-but one to the previous year

X

Co-funding requirements complied with for capital invest-ments

X

Entire final accounts for the previous financial year pro-duced on time and submitted for audit

X

All books of account maintained up to date X

Project specific account opened and ready for operations X

Internal audit function in place, including submission of quarterly reports to the Council and the State

X

Clean audit report for the last audited year X

No major financial irregularities noticed during the year and/or irregularities unsettled from previous years

X

Procurement

Tender evaluation committee has been established and tender procedures are as per regulations

X

Functioning of political institutions

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Legislative Council in place and operational X

Staff functionality

Positions of Executive Director filled with requisite qualifica-tions.

X

Head of Administration and Finance Affairs Section filled with requisite qualifications

X

5.2 Compliance with Capacity Building Support Access criteria

The locality has complied with the two CBSAC therefore qualifies to receive funds for capacity building.

5.3 Capacity building needs and functional gaps based on performance indicators

The main functional gaps and capacity building needs are in the following ar-eas: • Development planning and budgeting capacity: a) the need to strengthen

participatory planning approaches, in particular, to build the capacity of the people to determine their needs and actively participate in preparation, dis-cussion and negotiation of their projects as they move upwards; b) capacity building is required in preparing the annual development plan and strategic plan in appropriate format instead of the current format which is in effect a list of projects and their costs.

• Fiscal capacity: training in undertaking three-year projections of expected revenue generation.

• Financial management and audit capacity: cash flow management to en-sure timely payments and adequate liquidity, this should therefore be closer linked to the locality commitment system.

• Procurement: Procurement planning and transparency in the procurement process including award of tenders.

• Transparency and accountability: a) need to provide guidelines on commu-nication of information particularly downward to keep the public aware of what is happening and increase accountability; b) there is a need to strengthen horizontal accountability particularly sharing of information among the departments.

• Functional political institutions: a) as no Legislative Council has been in place for a number of years the locality should be assisted in servicing and cooperating with the forthcoming Council; b) monitoring of people's committees operations and provision of training from the locality to the committees in their functional role and operations is needed.

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• Human resource development/capacity building: assistance in assessing training needs of locality staff and developing capacity building plans to meet the current capacity gaps of locality departments. Introduce a system of staff audit and appraisal as the basis for capacity needs assessment and capacity building planning.

• Project monitoring and supervision: if the locality is expected to imple-ment projects in the future capacity building is needed in all facets of the project management cycle.

The table overleaf is our attempt to illustrate the general performance status of the locality. It shows the indicative level obtained by the locality in each func-tional area based on the performance indicators. An "A" thus indicates a gener-ally favourable assessment in the sense that "most" questions in the tool kit un-der that performance area were answered positively. A "B" indicates that some capacity was shown but significant scope for improvement exists; only 1-2 questions in the tool kit under that performance area were answered positively. A "C" indicates that very weak capacity was shown in the sense that none of the questions defined in the tool kit under that performance area was answered positively. It is emphasised that wide intervals have deliberately been set for each cate-gory, A, B, or C. It reflects that the categories should not be seen as scientifi-cally established scores that determine the exact performance level of the local-ity for each functional area. The categories should only be seen as a general and tentative indication of the locality's performance level. On this basis it is noted that Ed Damazin obtained 7 A's, 8 B’s and 8 C’s, which suggests that it shows "good" or "some" capacity in most functional areas ex-amined but also that it remains weak in a number of areas.

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Performance/Capacity Area Level

Development planning and budgeting capacity Existence of a participatory planning process C

Quality of the annual development plan – must adhere to the provided format B Comprehensive/strategic medium term (3-4 years) plan in place C Budgeting capacity B Fiscal capacity Revenues A Revenue management (administration) A Expenditures B Financial management and audit capacity Budget execution and cash flow B Accounting A Internal Control A Procurement Capacity Procurement Organs A Procurement Process A Transparency and Accountability Downward reporting/accountability C Horizontal accountability B Upward accountability B Functioning of political institutions Locality Legislative Council A People’s Committees C Human resource development/capacity building Capacity building planning process C Quality of the capacity building plan B Capacity building implementation B Monitoring of capacity building C Project supervision and monitoring Contracts management and supervision C Monitoring and reporting C

A: Most questions relating to the performance measure answered positively B: Only 1-2 questions relating to the performance measure answered positively C: No questions relating to the performance measure answered positivel

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6 Issues arising Future assessments should take into consideration the extent to which the new Legislative Council is involved in the annual planning and budgeting process of the locality. In addition, since planning and execution of Chapter 3 (rehabilita-tion) and 4 (development) budgets are undertaken by the State, it should be considered to include the State administration in the assessment.

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Appendix A: Check list

Check list and background information for localities assessment, Sudan 20

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Background information about the locality

Name: Ed Damazin

Size of the local government in terms of population: 300,000

Number of staff: Not available

Number of administrative units: Four departments as per 2003 act.

Number of people’s committees: 81

Geographical location: Capital of Blue Nile State

Special features: Joint SPLM/NCP Legislative Council. Council in place by March 2006.

Note: 1) Locality Commissioner very sceptical about the assessment, questioning the need for this, and the distrust such an assessment signalled. This approach to the assessment was very unusual compared to other localities assessed. 2) At the second day of the assessment only a few number of staff were available, others were absent due to rain and the fact that salaries were paid the day before.


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Minimum Qualifying Criteria

Development planning and budgeting capacity

Performance/capacity area (MQC) Performance/capacity area (MQC) Coordination of the planning function Functioning of the locality Executive Committee

in development planning Obtain and review minutes from the Executive Committee for the previous and current financial year. - No Executive Committee. Did it meet as required (at least once per month)? N.a. Were meetings attended by the appropriate staff (the EC may co-opt technical resource persons)?

Did it discuss development planning and budgeting issues including e.g. the annual plan and budget, desk and field appraisal of projects, etc.?

Planning capacity Existence of a timely and council approved an-nual social and economic plan (Section 10 B of the LG Act, 2003)

Obtain and review the annual plan for the current year (2005): Was the annual plan signed as per guidelines (Council Chairman, Commissioner)? - Approved by state 30/3/2006. Signed by State-MoF Did the annual plan include a project profile for each of the prioritized projects following the recommended format? - Plan divided into sector, with individual project descriptions. E.g. construction of school for women, w. objectives, target group (women, vulnerable), number of beneficiaries, 1 yr duration, expected results and budget: 43,000,000 SD. Review the minutes of council. On this basis, have the Legislative Council discussed and approved the an-nual plan? (Note the dates and relevant minutes).

- Not feasible due to late CPA implementation, i.e. no Council until early 2006. But planning has been dis-cussed at several council meetings since then.

Budgeting capacity Existence of a timely and Legislative Council ap-proved annual budget

Obtain and review the annual budget for the current year (2005). Has the annual budget been signed as per guidelines (Council Chairman, Commissioner)? - Annual budget for Chap. 1, signed by Exec. Dir. and submitted 24/12/05. Annual budget for chapter 3 and 4 submitted and approved by State 30/3/06. Signed by Governor 29/3/06.


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Has the annual budget been prepared as per guidelines? - Yes, very comprehensive budgeting with individual budgets for each chapter. Review the minutes of the Council. On this basis, does it appear that the Council discussed and approved the annual budget before the end of December? (Note the dates and relevant minutes.)

- Not feasible. See above.

Financial interpretation of the plan Clear link between annual plan and annual budget

Review and compare the annual plan and budget. Based on the review/comparison, does it appear that the priority projects in the annual plan have been reflected in the annual budget (budget linked to activities and outputs)?

- Technical departments propose a plan, then the plan is prioritised jointly between the department and fi-nance, as there is not funding for all suggested projects. The prioritised projects are then included in the budget. Shown to team with example of rehabilitation of schools. Identical budget in plan and budget.

Sustainability in the budgeting process Capture of operational costs in the budget de-rived from the capital investments

Ascertain whether there is consent from the relevant authorities to meet operational costs of investments prioritised in the annual plan and budget. Does there seem to be consent from these authorities to meet the operational costs of investments prioritised in the annual plan and budget? - Yes, as budget approved by state 30/3/06

Review the budget. On this basis, have the major investments been catered for in terms of operational costs (cross reference to the operational issues in the project profile)?

N.a.

Capture of maintenance costs in the budget de-rived from the capital investments

Review the annual plan (including project profiles). Has the locality an elaborated maintenance strategy for capital investments? - Reflected in budget only. Review the budget. Has the locality made provisions to meet maintenance costs of major investments?

- Maintenance in chapter two: postings include petrol, maintenance of houses, water.

Fiscal capacity and Financial Management Fiscal Capacity No decrease in own revenues in nominal figures

from the previous year-but-one to the previous


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year Obtain a copy of the final accounts for the previous year-but-one and for the previous year. Review accounts and note the total locality own revenue in both years. 2005: 160,568,111 SD 2004: 120,552,081 SD Have locality own revenues increased? By what percentage have they increased/decreased? - Yes, 33%. Co-funding requirements complied with for capi-

tal investments Obtain and check bank statement for the Project Account. N.a. Have co-funding obligations been met as per project requirements (for example, if it has been posted for the first quarter of the first year)? Is there a record the amounts deposited on the bank accounts (co-funded) and dates? Obtain and review the budget for the current financial. Is there a provision for meeting the co-funding obligations? (In the second year, it will be important to ascertain whether co-funding obligations for the previous year were actually complied with.) Communities made their matching contributions

for specific community projects

N.A. This only applies for the second assessment.

Financial Management Entire final accounts for the previous financial year produced on time and submitted for audit

Obtain the final accounts for the previous financial year. Were they prepared and completed on time?

Yes. No date available.

Were they submitted for audit before end of March (review submission letter and note date of submission)?

- Not available.

All books of accounts maintained up-to-date, in-cluding bank reconciliation

Obtain and review the major books of accounts such as the daily accounts book, ledger books, liability reg-isters, deposit books, vote books (item expenditure book/allocation of funds), sample of bank accounts. Are they maintained?


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Yes, Bank account statements. Balance 31/8/06: 179,303,900 SD - Yes, to others, see Performance measures. Are they posted and up to-date (note dates of last postings)?

- Bank Account 31/8, Bank book 15/8, see also performance measures section on revenue and accounting books and ledgers.

Project specific bank account(s) opened and ready for operations. (There may be need to open up two bank accounts – one for the capital and the other for capacity building funds)

Has a project specific bank account been opened with the required approvals (e.g. resolution of Council specifying bank and branch)? N.a. Who are the signatories of the bank account? Do the signatories meet the guidelines?

Financial Reporting – applicable in the second assessment year

Regularly and timely submission of financial statements to the State

N.A. (only for second assessment)

Regularly (minimum quarterly) financial statements provided to the Council


Regularly and timely submission of financial state-ments (accountability reports) to the PIU


Internal audit Internal audit function in place, including quar-terly reports submitted to the Council and the State

Review internal audit reports for the previous and current financial years. Were they are prepared as required? - Yes, but 2005 audit still not approved. 2004 all in place. Were the internal audit reports submitted to Council? - The financial sub-committee of the Council monitors the accounting on a monthly basis. IA submits report


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to Council, which is then discussed every third month, the Commissioner and Executive Director reports on the planning, budgeting and accounts to the Council. - Council did not approve IA report 2005, as Council was not in place at the time. Were the internal audit reports submitted to the State?

- 2004 and 2005 yes, but 05 not returned yet.

Audit reports Clean audit report for the last audited year Check the audit report and review the opinion of the auditors.

2004 report:

1) Some purchases are not fully in compliance with regulations. I.e. not first entered into the register and delivered to relevant department.

2) Tax house collection is not fully documented.

3) Locality assets not well recorded.

4) Some purchases were provided to PCs, which is not in line with regulations.

Were the comments "minor" only?

- No, but dealt with

Have the comments already been addressed by the locality?

Yes:

1) Fully registered now.

2) Tax collection has now been removed from PC responsibility and is now undertaken by Locality.

3) Yes, full register in place, dated 4/1/06.

4) Not allowed anymore.

If yes to these two questions, the locality has passed the MQC.

No major financial irregularities noticed during the year and/or irregularities unsettled from pre-vious years

Review the audit reports and other documentation. Has the locality reported major financial irregularities during the finance year? - No. All reports to Council approved. Has the locality not addressed financial irregularities from the previous year audits?


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N.a.

Procurement Procurement Organ Tender evaluation committee has been estab-

lished and tender procedures are as per the regu-lations

Is procurement being made by an Organ/Committee established as per procurement regulations?

Yes, members are: Executive Director, Financial controller, IA, store keeper, representative from relevant department. Document signed by Exec. Dir. 22/8/05.

Review minutes of the committee/organ. Establish the technical evaluation and procurement criteria and processes.

- Price and quality.

Adherence to Procurement Guidelines – Second year

Adherence to the procurement procedures

N.A. (second assessment only)

Expenditure performance – Second year Actual expenditure on pro-poor sector areas (as per project investment menu)

N.A. (second assessment only)

Functioning of political institutions Legislative Council in place and operational, e.g.

regular meetings, decisions etc.

Review the minutes from the council meetings. Does the Council meet as stipulated in the relevant laws and regulations? - Yes, it meets three times a week. All meetings are minuted and signed by Chairman. Seen 13/6, 5/6, 9/3 all in 2006. Also observed the functioning of Legislative Council in action. Approximately 20 members pre-sent. The Chairman was interviewed. Does the Council discuss the relevant issues (i.e. annual plans and budgets, audit and financial reports etc)?

- Yes, first and second meeting concerned who would be Chair, Secretary, sub-committees, and council regulations.

- Meeting 13/6/06, agenda: 1) Follow-up on previous session, 2) Finance committee report, 3) Discussion of budget, 4) discussion of local fees.

- Resolution 1006: Organisation of markets in Damazin Locality. Resolution 35: Request for each sub-


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committee to report to Council on plans and budget. Resolution 1: appointment of Secretary.

Staff functionality Staffing Position of Executive Director filled with requi-

site qualifications Review the structure and the staffing position of the locality. - They have admin chart, with Commissioner at the top. Exec. Dir. and then the four administrations. What are their qualifications? - Post of Exec. Dir. has BA from Omdurman Islamic University. Graduated 1978. Now grade 3. What level and type of experience do they have? - Worked in Blue Nile State for 11 years, and White Nile for five years. Kassala State for 6 years. Jazeera state for the rest of his service time. Diploma from Sudan Academy of Admin. science. How many are on duty / actually working in the position?

- All working first day. Second day, staff missing due to 1) rain and 2) payday the day before.

Staffing Head of Administrative and Finance Affairs Sec-tion filled with requisite qualifications

1 pers. What are their qualifications? - University degree from Khartoum University Cairo branch. 22 years of work experience. What level and type of experience do they have? - North Kordofan. Then Al Jazeera State. Then Darfur. Lastly in Blue Nile. How many are on duty / actually working in the position?

- All posts filled with suitable technical staff according to Executive Director.


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Capacity Building Support Access Criteria (CBSAC) Human resource development capacity Capacity building/training plan in place (schedule), specifying how the capacity building support funds will be spent

Review the plan.

- Yes, in place for 2006.

Three items: 1) Master education for executive staff in accounting, MBA, ICT, and agriculture, 5 persons. 2) Diploma for 4 employees in economics and accounting. 3) Medium level training to clerks "to raise stan-dard".

Yes, funded by Locality. The above is in addition to State training.

Human resource management function in place (designated unit/person)

Review the functional division of HRD tasks at the locality.

HRM function in place and staffed.


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Performance Measures Development planning and budgeting capacity Existence of a participatory planning process

NOTE, each time in October the Council of Planning from State MoF goes to Localities and sit down and decides on which all projects. - Chapter 3+4. After an agreement these projects are approved. Then submit-ted to state ministerial body. Then submitted to State Legislative Council for final approval. Then becomes a law. Then informed to localities. !!!! So, PC - tech dept. - plan section - state discussion - state level - council - approval. Are participatory consultations undertaken with the community members through involvement of the peo-ple’s committees? - PCs prioritise projects, and put these forward to technical departments. in Locality to be forwarded to planning. Take problems to Locality. Projects first approved internally by Committee. Usually open bank account. - Legal Council had meeting with PC which were minuted 20/7/06. Name of attendees ca. 15 pax. discussed water and sanitation plans. - "bottom-up not fully possible as people are too weak to determine their own needs." Does the planning process capture the needs of special groups? - Sub-committees in PCs for among others women. Are NGOs’ participatory planning processes and approaches harmonised with those of the Localities (non-state actors involved in the participatory planning process)? N.a. Are technical departments involved in the desk and field appraisal of development projects? - Yes. They recommend to the plan. Are the annual plans, including project priorities, discussed by the Locality Executive Committee? N.a. Are the Committees of Council involved in the discussion of draft annual plans? - Yes, mentioned in minutes.

Does the Locality Legislative Council discuss and approve the annual plan?

- Yes, but due to late implementation of CPA the plan was not pre-approved as no Council, but plans dis-cussed afterwards.

Does the state level (Council of Ministers and State Assembly) review and endorse priority investments with recurrent cost implications to the state level?


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- Yes, and example shown. Letter of approval as well as letter of submission 11/9/2005.

Quality of the annual development plan – must adhere to the provided format

Does the annual development plan provide background information to the Locality, including, for example, location, number of people’s committees, economic activities, etc.? - No. Does it describe the participatory planning process through which the annual plan was developed? - No. Does it analyse the locality-peculiar challenges and opportunities (e.g. in relation to gender, environment and poverty)? - No, but there are poverty specific projects focusing on e.g. women and girls. Does it outline the prioritised investments to address the identified challenges? - Yes. Does it propose the strategies the locality will use to implement the annual plan? - No. Does it provide the strategies through which the locality will monitor and evaluate the annual plan? - No. Does it give the costs of each of the prioritised investments (budget allocation) and sources of funding? - Yes.

Is it attached with detailed investment profiles for each of the prioritised projects (e.g. the project title, background/objectives, technical description, implementation strategies, funding requirements and sources, strategies for operation and maintenance, environment and gender screening, etc.)?

- Yes, see above.

Comprehensive/strategic medium term (3-4 years) plan in place

Is there a strategic, medium term plan in place? - 3-4 years projects exist. But no strategic plan. Does it provide details of the background to the locality? - No. Does it describe the process through which the medium term plan was developed (linked to the annual plan-ning process)? - There are clear guidelines for this. The Locality submits its projects. Then the selection will be in accor-dance with these guidelines. E.g. 20 projects submitted and 10 accepted. State level, but not Locality. - The main state plan determined at state level. Priorities are determined at this level. State support fund at


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centre in Khartoum, which also determines which project is to be the first and so on. This year for water. Does it list challenges encountered during the previous process and strategy for deepening of the participa-tory planning process? No. Does it give detailed analysis of locality challenges and opportunities? No. Does it give detailed analysis of crosscutting issues including poverty, environment and gender? No. Does it outline the locality Vision, goals, and objectives? No. Does it specify activities to be implemented in the first year and gives indications of activities to be imple-mented in the proceeding years (to be checked when the plan is being rolled)? - Information not available. Does it give cost projects to implement the medium plan with indicative sources of funding? - all projects funded by state and or NGOs. State plan…. Does it elaborate the implementation strategies for the medium term plan?

No.

Does it elaborate the strategies to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the medium term plan?

No.

Budgeting capacity

Does the locality take into account its previous performance in budgeting and budget follow-up when it does the yearly budgeting? - Yes, budget is based on the first 9 months of 2005. Chap. 3 budget is however independent of 05, except for carry-over projects. Are revenue projections made over the medium term (3-4 years)? No. Is budgeting based on available funds and identified sources? Yes, Chapter 1 is state sources, chapter two is own revenue, chapter 3 and 4 is state and NGOs. What is the budget prediction capacity/execution performance (% of deviation from budget)? - Comparing accounts of first three moths against actual budget (clearly outlined in document for each post)


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gives a delivery rate of 103%. Signed by Financial controller. (Chapter 2). Are budget deviations legally approved? N.a. What is the share of total budget allocated to services prioritized in the PEAP?

- 7.0% (18,800,000 SD out of total chapter 2 budget of 270,344,000). Postings include funds for: IDPs, gifts for the poor, social welfare.

What is the percentage of total budget on non-chapter 1 salary items?

- 45%

Chapter 1: 1,160,254,000

Chapter 2: 270,344,000 SD

Chapter 3: 388,340,000 SD

Chapter 4: 283,084,000 SD

Total: 2,102,022,000 SD

Fiscal capacity Revenues

Has been the increase in own source revenues over the past two years? - Yes, 33% What is the percentage of revenues collected against the planned revenues (targets)?

- see above.

Are there clear strategies to improve own-revenues and fiscal capacity?

Yes,

- Tax on new permanent IDP houses. Have previously been exempted, but will be included now as the war is over.

- Planned increase in fee of house taxes and shop license taxes

Revenue management (administration)


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Does the revenue collection reach the targets set? - Yes, 7% over.

Are accountability measures on revenue collection in place, such as registers, authorised collectors, bank-ing, etc.?

- Yes,

- Sub-revenue committee; special revenue accountant who performs checks following collectors round; IA function; external auditor; regular training of collectors; all expected revenue registered, e.g. the no. of pay-ers and their expected pay, so the Locality knows the amount to be generated - by name; receipts provided for payers.

- Follow-up from state Legislative Council revenue sub-committee.

Is feedback given to communities on the amounts of revenue collected and how it is used?

- Not published, but legislative Council and thus PCS, is informed. Monthly reporting.

Expenditures

What is the level of administrative expenditure compared to own source revenues (%)? Revenue: 160,568,111 SD Chapter 1: 1,160,254,000 SD. Revenue covers 13.8% of Admin. What is the share of the costs for the Legislative Council out of the total budget? 0.09% only.

Budget: 3,750,000, used: 18,838,000.

What is the share of the local revenue spent on capital investments?

0%

Financial management and audit capacity Budget execution and cash flow

Are cash inflows and outflows managed so that the LG is able to meet current payments promptly, accord-ing to financial commitments? "We look at the year from seasonal point of year: Rainy season focuses of health, school season on school-


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ing." Is the Locality maintaining adequate liquidity, and not accumulating arrears or debts?

Yes, as Bank balance is 100 million SD plus.

Is there a commitment control system in place?

Yes, the Commissioner authorises Exec. Director to approve commitments. All commitments are then to be approved by him. Financial controller provides daily reports of accounts to Exec. Dir. to ensure liquidity. See also below.

If so, who orders, signs, authorises, etc?

See above.

Accounting

Are all books of accounts properly maintained and up to-date including:

• Creditor register; - Yes

• Control of debt (registers etc.). - Yes Is the imprested/petty cash management, including register, functioning and up-to date? - check system used. Example no. 725413 signed by Exec. Dir. and receiver 31/8/06 - Daily sum of cash provided to exec. dir. and commissioner. These will then be required to file reports be-fore new amount is released. - Petty cash register seen. Signed by Exec. Dir. and Accountant dated 4/7/06 Is there a functioning system of assets register and management? - Yes, updated and signed by Commissioner 4/1/06. Are inspections undertaken and inventories maintained of fixed assets?

Yearly. See above.

Are financial management documents kept safe and locked away (safes)?

Yes, in closet with lock and safe.

Internal Control

Is the internal audit function operational? Yes, and submits reports to Council on monthly basis w. special reporting together with commissioner every three months.


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Is there evidence of follow up on the IA results? - Yes, see MQC. Is the any evidence of an active system of internal control, such as written policies and procedures adopted/customised by the management (internal procedures)? - Yes, see revenue section. - Yes, see petty cash section. Is there any evidence of locality policies and procedures in place to ensure adherence to state policies, di-rectives, laws and regulations? - Yes, as approved by state. Several references to state policy under different interviews. Is there any evidence of policies and procedures in place to ensure safeguarding against mismanagement, errors, fraud, and other irregularities? - Yes, see revenue section and petty cash mgt. section. Is there any evidence of policy procedures in place to promote orderly, economic, efficient and effective operations and delivery of services? 3 policies: 1) Division of locality into 4 sub-administrative units in order to improve effectiveness and be closer to the people. 2) Sub-administrative unit for market as well. 3) 5% bonus for revenue collectors. Do internal accounting and reporting regulations and procedures exist? - Reporting, yes see legal council section. IA, yes, see revenue section. Is there any evidence of policies and procedures to ensure segregation of duties, such as:

• authorization to execute a transaction, • record an action, and • custody of assets involved in the transaction.

- Exec. Dir sign - Financial admin checking budget availability - IA check - External auditor (has office in locality) - official in financial admin to fill in check - exec. Dir. to sign check.

Do policies and procedures exist that safeguard against conflicts of interest?

- Revenue registers in place.

- Continues transfer of collectors to new districts.


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Procurement Capacity Procurement Organs

Is the technical evaluation committee constituted with appropriate membership? - Yes Does the technical evaluation committee consider all procurement proposals before procurements are made? - See MQC.

- Examples: In case of purchase, three offers are collected from relevant stores for comparison. E.g. tires for vehicles. Three proposals. Evaluation sheet outlining type and price. Cheapest bought.

- Considering procuring vehicle as per procurement committee meeting, but no decision yet. No capital in-vestments.

- Signed by Exec. Dir.

Does the procurement authorities (Commissioner) adhere to the recommendations of the technical evalua-tion committee (or explains non-adherence)?

- Yes.

Procurement Process

Does a Procurement Plan exist (and is it derived from the approved plans and budgets)? - No. Are bills of quantity (for works) and terms of reference (for services) prepared? - Yes, but as purchase only, these are limited. Are all procurements advertised (as per the thresholds)? N.a. Are proper evaluation criteria used for the bids and proposals? Yes, see above. Is there timely and transparent award of contracts? Yes, timely. Not transparent

Is there any communication to the locality about the tender awards?

Not transparent.

Transparency and Accountability Downward reporting/accountability

Is the public informed about:


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- Through legal council - yes to all.

• Indicative planning figures (before the start of the planning process)? - No • Approved projects in the annual plan (with reasons for some of the community needs not to be im-

plemented in a particular year)? - No • Approved budgets indicating sources of funding and clearly specifying the required community

contributions (both the volume and nature of contributions)? - No • Funds received to implement the projects and how they have been allocated? N.a. • Opinion of the audit reports and how the locality is addressing the queries? No. • Project implemented (ongoing and completed) with explanations of variations with the plans if any? - PCs involved in CDF project selection process and application. • Public access to financial information (plans, budgets, accounts and audit reports)? - No

• Feed-back and information to the people’s committees. - No, except for CDF related activities.

Horizontal accountability

Is there a reasonable level of information flow maintained among the departments, i.e. are departments up-dated on what is happening in other departments? - All information requests must go through Exec. Dir. - Plan of holding cross-departmental meetings. Not happening yet. Is the regular submission of reports and provision of information to the Legislative Council?

- Yes, see legal council section.

Does the locality provide information to the non-state actors of the locality (other donor programmes, NGOs, private sector) to enhance synergies?

- No. As no NGOs working in Damazin currently.

Upward accountability

Is the submission of the required reports to the State timely?

- Yes, except for Annual accounts 2005 - no submission or approval letter. Budget submitted 24/12/05, ap-proved 30/3/06.

Is the submission of the required reports to the project implementation committee timely?

- Three meetings held. Minutes signed. No need for reporting as of yet.

Functioning of political institutions


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Locality Legislative Council

Are discussions in the Council of a reasonable quality, i.e. do they discuss the annual plan, budget, financial and audit reports etc.? - Yes, discuss fees, budget, audit, plans. E.g. planning of market and employment opportunities in Locality. Are council sub-committees established in required areas?

- Yes, three: Services, for delivering public health, roads and market; Legal, for preparing decisions for Council; Economic, for dealing with Chapter 3 and 4 issues.

Are council sub-committees discussing the relevant issues related to their sectors?

- All sub-committees have separate minutes. Three different books of minutes seen. All minutes are signed by sub-committee chairman. E.g. 11/4/06: Finance Committee. Resolutions: 1) Committee should meet weekly, 2) Tour of team to monitor tax collection, 3) Delivering of accountant report of chapter 1, 4) deliv-ering accountant report on chapter 3. E.g. II) Services. discussed agriculture issues, women and children, education and health planning.

People’s Committees

Is there evidence that the Locality has developed guidelines and a plan to mentor the people’s committees in the execution of their functions, especially in relation to enhancing community driven development? - According to State local government act the name has been transferred to neighbourhood or village devel-opment committees. As per the same law, membership btw. 10 and 20. Free selection of membership. TO be approved by Commissioner. Projects discussed in PC, after that they submit project to relevant admini-stration. Is there evidence that the Locality has actually trained the people’s committees in the execution of their roles in relation to community-driven development?

- Must do so in accordance with act promulgated two weeks ago. But not yet applied. Have plans for this. Some NGOs provide training to the PCs.

Is there evidence that the Locality has given feedback to the people’s committees regarding their perform-ance (achievements and challenges) and guidelines for further improvement?

- No evidence

Human Resource Development/ Capacity Building Capacity building planning process

Has the locality conducted a capacity needs assessment to strengthen its function, with precedence given to


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institutional rather than individual needs (e.g. derived from systems for staff audit and appraisal)? - No written plan. But assessment made according to HRM. Has the locality developed a comprehensive capacity building strategy/plan (formulated as per the recom-mended format)? - See CBSAC

Are the priorities in the CB plan within the project specified menu?

N.a.

Quality of the Capacity Building Plan

Does the capacity building plan provide the background to the locality in the context of capacity building? - No. Does it summarize the capacity building needs of staff, councillors, and people’s committees identified through the capacity needs assessment? - No Does it detail the mix of strategies through which the capacity building needs should be addressed? - In part. Does it cover both human resource development (enhancement of individual competencies) and institu-tional strengthening (re-tooling)?

- Individual yes, institutional no.

Does it outline strategies through which CB activities will be monitored?

- N.a.

Capacity building implementation

Are capacity building activities implemented by the providers recommended by the project? - N.a.

Are capacity building activities implemented as per the capacity building plan?

- Yes. Education started.

Monitoring of CB

Has the locality received reports from the training/CB activities? - N.a.


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Has the locality followed-up on the capacity building efforts, e.g. through monitoring and evaluation? - N.a.

Has the staff and other stakeholders performance improved – are the expected outputs are in place?

- N.a.

Project Supervision and Monitoring Contracts management and technical supervision

Are all projects implemented with appropriate contracts (agreements)? - N.a. Are all payments made with the required certification (no advances, payments made against outputs)? - N.a.

Does the technical staff ensure that the projects are implemented on schedule and following the specifica-tions?

N.a.

Monitoring and reporting

Has the locality developed a clear strategy for monitoring the implementation of projects? - N.a. Does the locality monitor all projects being implemented (monitoring of progress)? - N.a. Is there evidence that the locality conducts technical inspections of projects? - N.a. Are progress reports arising from the monitoring and technical inspections exercises compiled? - N.a. Is there evidence that the Executive Committee discusses the monitoring and technical inspection reports and makes management decisions? - N.a.

What is the percentage of projects implemented against the plan?

N.a.

Check list and background information for localities assessment, Sudan

41

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Appendix B: People met Locality:

Chairperson of Legislative Council

Commissioner

Executive Director

Financial Controller

Accountant

Head of Education

Head of Planning

Internal Auditor

Store Keeper

Clerk

Other people met:

LIU Manager

State Minister for Local Development, Blue Nile State

Head of Planning Department at the Ministry of Finance, Blue Nile State

Check list and background information for localities assessment, Sudan

42

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Appendix C: Documents made available and consulted Annual plan 2006

Annual budget 2006

Final accounts 2004 and 2005

Major books of accounts, i.e. ledgers; petty cash register; check receipts

Bank book and reconciliation

Revenue documentation, i.e. receipts, registers etc.

Inter audit reports

Auditor-General's report 2004

Minutes and other documentation from procurement process

Minutes from locality Legislative Council meetings

Locality training plan

Locality organisational chart