The accountable governance of provincial governments of a Pacific island country

ABSTRACT

Using the theory of indigenous alternatives and a benchmark of indigenous financial reporting expectations, this paper examines the challenges to accountable governance of the nine provincial governments of the Solomon Islands for the years 1998 to 2017. Every provincial government consistently received disclaimed or qualified opinions from the state auditor. The author explains why the regional development of all provinces of the Solomon Islands could be improved if rudimentary forms of financial reporting were to be addressed.

IMPACT

This paper has important lessons for regions seeking devolution, for example the quality of bookkeeping. Developing countries are warned that the assistance provided by outside agencies on the devolution process may sometimes be limited; the use of local knowledge might be a better way of meeting local reporting expectations.

KEYWORDS:

• Devolution
• financial reporting
• provincial governments
• Solomon Islands
• theory of indigenous alternatives

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.