Evaluation of the "supporting electoral choice" : political party, electoral campaign, finance program -- (USAID project no. 656-0247)

Other donors included The Netherlands, Switzerland, and Sweden. Taken together, contributions from the four donors nearly tripled the level of donor support for public campaign finance. The 1999 public campaign finance program in Mozambique suffered from implementation delays and, according to some, underfunding. As a result, the Government of Mozambique"s (GRM) own support of the program was at times suspect in the eyes of some close to the process, though in a country as poor as Mozambique allocations for democracy often reduce allocations to important social sectors. In any case, once the funding was released, nearly all of it was used for legitimate campaign purposes -- contrary to what took place in 1994. The involvement of an independent financial accounting and audit firm was key to this improvement, as were the program requirements developed by the National Elections Commission (CNE) with the support of the donors. Given that less than 5% of the funds disbursed were not properly accounted for, the major concern expressed by USAID/Washington and some in the U.S. Congress when approving the program proved largely unfounded. While it is difficult to come to a definite conclusion, the program appears to have contributed to more competitive elections. USAID should again finance this type of campaign finance program in Mozambique"s 2004 general elections, and perhaps increase its contribution, subject to an increased allocation from the GRM budget. For future elections, the political parties should be informed early on if the formula for distributing funds is to remain unchanged. Any amendment to the formula should be done at least 30 days prior to the start of registration of political parties in order to allow time for inter-party negotiations on the forming of coalitions. In order to minimize costs, political parties need to know how much they will receive and when the funds will be disbursed. Parties need to be able to plan their political campaign strategies much earlier in the process. Well before the electoral process begins, there should be a fixed budget for electoral campaign finance, and a fixed CNE formula for distributing campaign funds. The tight timeline of the electoral calendar 1999 and the resulting lateness of funding disbursement seriously impeded the effectiveness of the program. These issues must be addressed by a permanent CNE well in advance of the 2004 elections. USAID should indicate early in the process, along with the other donors, the amount of its expected contribution to the campaign fund and other electoral costs. Conversely, any decrease in contributions to the electoral process as a whole should also be indicated early in the process. The close coordination between USAID and the three other donor countries was an extremely positive aspect of this program. Having more than one donor finance such a fund is essential and reinforces the impartiality of all donors. A collective agreement between USAID, other donors, and the GRM could speed up the negotiation process and thus allow the most expeditious release of campaign funds to political parties. Establishing allocation criteria and disbursement and accounting procedures, and training political parties in the application of the latter enhanced the program. This was evident by the fact that in 1999 the campaign finance fund was not criticized by the media as was the 1994 U.N. Trust Fund. Equally important is public accountability of how these funds are spent. Hiring an independent accounting firm was crucial to maintaining the integrity of the process and should be a permanent feature of the program. Donors and the GRM should continue this aspect of the program in 2004. The size of Mozambique, logistical difficulties, and lack of media coverage make it difficult for political parties to reach all voters even with additional funds. Hence, besides contributing to the electoral campaign fund, USAID should consider supporting provincial resource centers for use by political parties during the campaign.