The dilemmas of managing transitions in weak states: The case of Mozambique

Abstract This article reviews donor initiatives in Mozambique in decentralization policy and intergovernmental relations. Against the background of earlier donor initiatives in the country and the government's transition, it identifies the complexities confronted in working outside the centre and in the periphery, in the midst of economic and political liberalization. The lessons learned from the project experiences described emphasize the extensiveness of the changes necessary in government and the donor community if subnational authorities, governors and local administrators, in this instance, are to be empowered to resolve local development issues at the grass‐roots level rather than await authorization to act from the centre, be it a government ministry or donor organization. The dilemma posed by such initiatives concerns how to enable subnational governments to respond to unmet development needs locally (through the transfer of economic and skilled human resources to the provinces), without undercutting endeavours to strengthen the capacity of the central government to implement economic and social policy (through the concentration of the same resources in the centre).