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Overlapping authorities: Governance, leadership and accountability in contemporary Vanuatu Wesley Morgan and Nelly Willy

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Overview of presentation Introduction Considering what we know Global discourses: Good governance, civil society and developmental leadership Uniquely complex: Hybrid modernity and community governance in post-colonial Vanuatu Improving accountability and affecting change: A case for building bridges? What role for civil society? Oxfam and Leadership Vanuatu

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Good governance: A global discourse Governance represented 33% of the AusAID expenditure in 2004 Global influence: From the World Bank to AusAID - to the Pacific?

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A liberal market and an effective state AusAIDs good governance implementation principles 1.) promotion of trade and investment 2.) promotion of more clearly defined property rights 3.) helping partner governments create an efficient and equitable taxation system 4.) strengthening banking sector and financial markets 5.) improving corporate governance 6.) supporting the development of micro-enterprises 7.) improving the delivery of basic services, 8.) strengthening the rule of law and improving legal systems 9.) promoting respect for human rights, and strengthening democratic process

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But good governance needs developmental leadership 2005: AusAID white paper recommends a focus on improving Pacific leadership 2007: Leaders, Elites and Coalitions Research Program launched 2007: Pacific Leadership Program launched

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From developmental leadership to good governance to poverty reduction: Poverty reduction needs economic growth needs a dynamic private sector needs an enabling policy environment needs effective state institutions needs good governance needs coalitions that foster demand for change needs developmental leadership. Developmental leadership leads to coalitions that foster demand for change leads to good governance leads to effective state institutions leads to an enabling policy environment leads to a dynamic private sector leads to economic growth leads to poverty reduction. Perceived links in a universal causal chain

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Fostering developmental leadership in the Pacific Australia will help develop the current leadership cadre in the Pacific, focus on the next generation of regional leaders and build the demand from within countries for improved governance performance. White Paper on the Australian governments overseas aid program - 2005

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Local context: Vanuatus hybrid modernity Divisions between tradition and modernity are misleading: Vanuatus cultures, as with all cultures, are ever-changing. They are both resilient and adaptable. Can be thought of as an indigenisation of modernity (Sahlins 2007) Orthodox and universal prescriptions for good governance need to be understood as they interact with a particular lived experience of hybrid modernity in which Western notions of rationality and ethics co-exist with resilient indigenous ways of knowing and being.

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Leadership and governance in Vanuatu: A bird that flies with two wings* Kastom governance [indigenous / local] State government [modern / national] *Phrase borrowed from Miranda Forsyths 2009 book: A bird that flies with two wings: The kastom and state justice systems in Vanuatu

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Hybrid economics: modern markets and traditional economies Small formal sector Food production (on communal land) and distribution (through socially embedded systems of exchange) is central to national economy Traditional and global economies inter-linked

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The past is in the present Diverse models of localised authority Complex array of pathways to political and social power Grading systems for men and women in some parts of Vanuatu Over 115 distinct cultures and 106 languages spread across 83 inhabited islands No institutional structures above village level, and no common identity attached to the territory of contemporary Vanuatu (Cox et al. 2007)

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Chiefs in the missionary/colonial era Chiefs does not accurately reflect pre-existing forms of leadership Mid-1800s: Missionaries created chiefs to help them preach 1906: Establishment of Condominium administration (largely concerned with land appropriation by French/British plantation owners) Threadbare administration allowed continuation of local forms of governance Consistently, missionaries and other Europeans looked for leaders in Vanuatu, and found influential individuals whom they described as chiefs. But the European notion of a chief rarely matched local conceptions of authority... (Bolton 1998)

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Chiefs, kastom and dispute resolution A broad overview of governance in Vanuatu during the missionary / colonial era Colonial administration also created chiefs as community representatives Condominium appointed assessors - increasingly given powers to settle disputes The thin line of administration relied on chiefs and indigenous conflict management to maintain good order Over time, chiefs as formal village adjudicators was reinforced as kastom

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Towards independence! The new nation of Vanuatu encompassed 83 inhabited islands and the culturally and linguistically diverse peoples who lived there. In some respects, the construction of a new nation has been arbitrary people are unified as much by a shared colonial past as by indigenous self-identity. 1970s Indigenous nationalism led by church leaders Customary land ownership a rallying cry for independence A renaissance of kastom tied to nascent national identity

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Kastom governance and the new nation In recent years the Malvatamauri has helped to stimulate community debate through national summits on land and regarding the traditional economy 1977 Malvatamauri National Council of Chiefs established 1980 Constitution. Malvatamauri must be consulted with regard to custom and tradition and land law 2006 National Council of Chiefs Act setting out roles and responsibilities of chiefs

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Contemporary kastom governance Vary considerably across the country Rests on authority of chiefs as adjudicators Oversee community life, dealing with common infractions: alcohol and marijuana use, fighting, theft, unapproved relationships. Sometimes more serious issues like domestic or sexual violence. Chiefs also adjudicate on land usage Ideally transparent / public decision-making through discussion and consensus building Processes of dispute resolution often involves reconciliation through the payment of reparation

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Urban kastom governance Chiefs generally linked to place Increasingly important in urban settings (Vila and Luganville) Important for mitigating violence during riots in 1998 and 2007 During 2007 disputes in Vila, PM sent pigs and mats to chiefs from Tanna. Also important in stand-off between Vanuatu Police and Vanuatu Mobile Force (1998) and a prison escape (2006)

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Institutions of the Vanuatu state Republic (1980). Based on Westminster parliamentary democracy State power vested in Constitution (mama loa) Largely ceremonial President Single-house national parliament (52 seats) Executive power rests with Prime Minister and cabinet a council of ministers (13 MPs) responsible to parliament Formal oversight of the executive: Leadership code, ombudsman and auditor general Elections every four years 1 National/ 6 provincial/2 municipal council

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1980s dominated by Vanuaaku Pati (English speaking / Presbyterian) and UMP (French speaking / Catholic) 1990s - Major parties marked by leadership disputes, factionalsm, and splits... A process of political centrifugalism (Morgan 2005) Post 2000: increasing numbers of small parties and independent MPs (associated declining representation) Today: volatile governments formed by unstable coalitions Contemporary state government 1980-2013

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Features of state government today Patron-client dynamics between some MPs and communities Leadership almost exclusively reserved for men Poor decentralisation (few state services outside urban centres) Highly politicised public service Breaches of leadership code (or the law) poorly prosecuted Good media scrutiny High participation rates at election time

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Extending service delivery (especially health and education) Identifying and prosecuting corruption Improving womens participation in decision-making Managing land resources Deriving benefits (employment/income) from the formal economy Serious governance challenges?

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Holding leaders accountable? Requires access to, often unfamiliar, means of redress Ombudsman Auditor general Leadership code Public prosecutor Media Parliamentary oversight Current government considering giving ombudsman the power to prosecute leaders if public prosecutor does not action reports. If the Ombudsman is given powers to prosecute and its implementation is retroactive, some past and current leaders will not be sleeping well at night (Daily Post 2013)

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What role for civil society? Typically urban-based Facilitate dialogue and informed discussion regarding processes of governance Bridge kastom and state governance? Rural and urban conversations? A Nakamal Way (Huffer and Molisa 1999) Strengthening kastom governance?

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A word on Christian churches Ni-Vanuatu overwhelmingly Christian (30 denominations) Churches key to service delivery (education and health) - 33% of schools Important for nation building: God and custom must be the sail and the steering paddle of our canoe - Fr Walter Lini (1980) Vanuatu Christian Council (umbrella body)

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From global discourse to local choices Universal discourses of developmental leadership and good governance are blunt instruments Global in nature, they fail to accommodate the complexity of the local As a nation, Vanuatu is young and unique, and is still locating its postcolonial identity Overlapping models of governance and systems of accountability (state/kastom) are not fixed. Negotiations toward consensus on forms of governance remain ongoing.

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Thank you