Civil society, social accountability and service delivery in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Post- 2000, the deterioration of Zimbabwe’s socioeco-nomic and political conditions is widely acknowledged as phenomenal and unprecedented. Consequently, govern-ment and local authorities are struggling to provide basic services. At the same time, civil society initiatives are pro-moting transparency and accountability in service deliv-ery. The article explains how civil society coalitions and citizens are promoting and demanding accountability in the delivery of public services by local authorities. In par-ticular, it focuses on four critical issues; namely local au-thority–citizen engagement, social accountability focus areas, social accountability tools and emerging social ac-countability issues.