Mauritians offer mixed, and declining, assessments of their elected municipal and district councillors’ performance and trustworthiness, according to the latest Afrobarometer survey.
Only half of citizens of Mauritius think their local officials are doing a good job, and even fewer say they trust them. Most citizens believe that at least some local government councillors are involved in corruption.
But the majority gives local government good marks for maintaining street lights, keeping the community clean, and maintaining the local market and public buildings.
Key findings
▪ Half (50%) of Mauritians “approve” or “strongly approve” of the performance of their elected local government councillors, while 42% “disapprove” or “strongly disapprove.” Approval has declined by 11 percentage points since 2014
▪ Only four in 10 Mauritians (40%) say they trust their municipality or district council “somewhat” or “a lot,” a 12-percentage-point decline since 2014. A similar proportion (38%) express “just a little” trust, while 19% say they don’t trust their council at all.
▪ About one in five citizens (18%) say “most” or “all” of their local government councillors are involved in corruption, while 70% say “some of them” are. These numbers have not varied greatly over the past eight years.
▪ Majorities of Mauritians say local government councillors are doing “fairly well” or “very well” in maintaining street lights (75%), keeping the community clean (72%), and maintaining the local market (60%) and public buildings (54%). Fewer approve of councillors’ performance in maintaining local roads (50%) and managing derelict land (34%) and private buildings (31%).
▪ Only a minority of respondents say it is “somewhat” or “very” likely that they would be able to obtain information from their local government councillors about a contract for a government-funded project or purchase (25%) or about their local development plan and budget (30%).
▪ Almost half of Mauritians say it is “somewhat” or “very” likely that their local government councillors would take action if citizens reported corruption (49%) or requested assistance for a development project in the community (47%).
Source: Afrobarometer
