Burkina Faso/Local governance: Koudougou and the Centre-West, best-performing communities in the DEPAC zone
On Thursday, July 17, 2025, Burkina Faso's capital hosted a ceremony to honor the country's best-performing local authorities. This initiative is part of the implementation of phase 3 of the Decentralization and Citizen Participation program (DEPAC-3), and is financed by the Swiss Cooperation. The commune of Koudougou and the Centre-Ouest region were crowned winners for the second time running. The event was piloted by the General Directorate for Decentralization and Local Development (DGDDL), with technical support from the Decentralization and Citizen Participation Support Unit (CADEPAC).
Excellence in local governance has once again been celebrated and rewarded in the partner local authorities of the Decentralization and Citizen Participation program (DEPAC). The thirty partner local authorities - regions and communes - are spread across the Centre-West, East, Sahel and North regions.
This approach to performance measurement is one of the innovations developed by the Cellule d'appui à la décentralisation et à la participation citoyenne (CADEPAC), one of the mandatories of the DEPAC program, since its first phases.
Its aim is to help local authorities identify their own shortcomings, and take the necessary steps to improve their capacity to deliver local services and manage local public works. This has led to the introduction of a system of self-criticism within each local authority, to enable them to question themselves and reflect with a view to finding appropriate solutions to improve the quality of their local public services.
For Marcel Stoessel, head of the "Governance and Democracy" department of the Swiss Cooperation in Burkina Faso, this initiative is designed to support the Burkinabe government in its vision of decentralization and strengthening local governance. In addition, today's ceremony is part of a drive to encourage the efforts of specific communes and regions.
It also testifies to Swiss Cooperation's commitment to promoting inclusive and equitable development, by providing tangible support to local players so that they can better meet the needs of their citizens.
"Together with the authorities, Switzerland has decided to set up the DEPAC program to increase the capacities of local authorities, to enable them to better manage their affairs, to identify their needs and to support them.to identify their needs on the ground, and then to implement these needs to make investments", he explained.
Marcel Stoessel also reminded the audience that to achieve the objectives set, solid, long-term support is needed, which will benefit the beneficiaries of this program, as it is also a source of social cohesion.
"I think that what's lacking a little bit, and what we're doing together to resolve, is the capacity at local authority level to achieve their own development, but also the resources to achieve this development. You can't transfer a lot of resources without having the capacity, you can't ask someone who has the capacity but not the resources to carry out local development. We are convinced that this not only contributes to investment, but also to social cohesion, living together and peace for women, young people and men", he said.
In the commune category, Koudougou once again came out on top with a score of 85.86%. It took home a certificate of recognition, a trophy and the sum of 19,600,000 FCFA.
It was followed by Diapangou and Fada N'Gourma, each with a performance score of 80.21%. These two communes each received a trophy, a certificate of recognition and the sum of 9,800,000 FCFA.
Kordié came fourth with 78.60%, followed by Dori, also tied for fourth with 77.78%. They in turn received trophies, certificates and the sum of 8,400,000 FCFA.
As for the regions, it was the Nando region (formerly Centre-West) that came out on top. It was awarded a certificate, a trophy and the sum of 14,000,000 FCFA. Twice winner in his category, Judicaël Kafando, acting president of the special delegation (PDS) of the said region, stressed that activities that activities have been carried out with the bonus obtained at last year's award ceremony.
"This is the second time we've won in the regional category, and we're delighted. As far as the bonus we received last year is concerned, we and all the stakeholders decided to build a pastoral borehole in the commune of Biéha commune, in the Sissili region, a commune with enormous livestock potential that was in great need of assistance", he confided.
Expressing his delight at being awarded the prize, the PDS of the commune of Koudougou, Amédée Paré, speaking on behalf of the prizewinners, expressed his gratitude to the partners who enable them to offer a quality service to the various communities.
"It is with a sense of joy that I receive this award based on community performance this evening. This distinction is the fruit of the hard work, collaboration and innovation shown by our teams, and in this we are working to improve. I would like to express our gratitude to our partners and all those who support our communities, enabling us to offer them better living conditions," he said.
He also spoke of the activities carried out thanks to last year's bonus, namely the construction of schools, a health center, a health center and a health center.These included the construction of schools and health centers, as well as training courses for internally displaced persons (IDPs), equipping them with kits to enable them to generate income and look after themselves.
According to him, no one is left out of this local development process. He therefore intends to stay the course and still hold the throne.
In his speech, Saidou Sankara, Secretary General of the Ministry in charge of decentralization, indicated that this was a desire reflected in the adoption of a new law on local government.a desire reflected in the adoption of the decentralization referentials in April 2018, marking the third cycle of decentralization in Burkina Faso.
Through these guidelines, the State aims to have, by 2040, "high-performing local authorities that deliver quality and accessible local public services and accessible local public services, promoting inclusive and sustainable local development, and fostering local democracy rooted in the socio-cultural substratum", he said.
He congratulated all the communes who had spared no effort to undergo this self-assessment exercise in order to improve the quality of their services for the benefit of the population.
It should be noted that the Decentralization and Citizen Participation program (DEPAC), financed by the Swiss Cooperation, has been working for the benefit of local authorities in Burkina Faso since 2015, and will continue to do so until 2026.
Source: lefaso.net/
