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The current five-level adminstrative subdivisions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are set out by the constitution of 2006, the follow-up organic laws, and other legislation including a 2011 revision of the constitution. There are nine different types of subdivision in a new hierarchy with no new types but with two from the previous one abolished.

The new constitution called for going from ten provinces to twenty-five. In addition it and the follow-up laws defined new elected provincial government as well as elected local government at lower levels. However, the full measure of local autonomy in subdivisions below the Province will only be in place after January 25, 2020.

Territorial organization
The hierarchy of administrative subdivisions in the Congo is as follows: (French names in italics. Subdivisions with a local government underlined.)

So a Province is divided into territories and cities; a territory into sectors, chiefdoms, and communes; a sector or chiefdom into groupings; and so on. An older term, collectivity (collectivité), is still sometimes used unofficially to refer to both a sector and a chiefdom.
 * Province
 * Territory (territoire)
 * Sector or Chiefdom (secteur or chefferie)
 * Grouping (groupement)
 * Village
 * Commune
 * Quarter (quartier)
 * embedded Grouping (groupement incorporé)
 * Village
 * City (ville) - Kinshasa is a city and province in one.
 * Commune
 * Quarter (quartier)
 * embedded Grouping (groupement incorporé)
 * Village

Subdivisions with elected local government
These subdivisions all have a government with an executive and a deliberative body. They are also the only subdivisions that are legal entities.

Province
The deliberative body of the province is the provincial assembly made up of elected and co-opted (up to 10%) provincial deputies. Election of deputies is by universal suffrage with each elected deputy representing a city or territory. A governor, vice-governor, and up to ten ministers make up the executive body called the provincial government. The governor and vice-governor are elected by the assembly and the ministers are appointed by the governor. The assembly approves the government as a whole.

City-Province of Kinshasa
Being both a city and province Kinshasa has city subdivisions with a provincial government that assumes the responsibilities of city government. Thus Kinshasa does not have a mayor but a governor and does not have a city council but a provincial assembly with each elected deputy representing one of the city's twenty-four communes.

Decentralized territorial entities
The constitution declares the decentralized territorial entities to be: the city, commune, sector, and chiefdom. They have the legal right to 40% of the national revenue allocated to the province. Each entity has a council made up of councilmen and an executive college consisting of a chief executive and a few other officers. The details are summarized in the following table: Executive authorities of a decentralized entity are representatives of both the state and the province. The provincial governor has an oversight duty over a decentralized entity. For instance he pre-approves the budget and contracts. For those that are part of a territory, the governor is allowed to delegate this duty to the territory administrator.

The very first elections for these decentralized entities have been delayed and have yet to occur. The current election schedule calls for a series of elections to be held between September 22, 2019 and January 25, 2020. Until then mayors, bourgmestres, sector chiefs, and their deputies continue to be appointed by the central government.

Purely administrative subdivisions
The remaining subdivisions are called the deconcentrated territorial entities and are the territory, quarter, grouping, and village. These are purely administrative in nature with no elected officials. They are not legal entities but their actions are under administrative control and subject to judicial appeal.
 * A territory is led by an administrator assisted by two assistant administrators. They are appointed by the central government and are placed under the authority of the provincial governor who may also delegate her duty of oversight of some or all the territory's chiefdoms, sectors, or communes to the administrator.  The territory administrator represents both the state and the province in his territory.
 * A quarter is led by a chief assisted by a deputy chief. The bourgmestre appoints them by a communal order deliberated in the executive college.  The quarter chief and deputy are under the authority of the bourgmestre.
 * A grouping is led by it's customary chief selected by tradition and recognized by the central government. A grouping inside a commune is said to be embedded. The grouping chief is under the administrative authority of the chiefdom/sector chief or the bourgmestre in the case of an embedded grouping.
 * A village is led by a chief selected by custom or local practice and recognized by the territory administrator or the bourgmestre in the case of an embedded grouping. The village chief is under the administrative authority of the grouping chief.

Cities and communes
A provincial capital is a city no matter it's population otherwise an urban area must have a population of at least 100,000 to become a city. Similarly a territorial seat is a commune but otherwise a candidate commune must have a population of at least 20,000. However, the capital of a chiefdom or a sector can not be a commune. In the Congo a commune can be an urban subdivision of a city, a country town, or even a mostly rural area.

Traditional communities
The constitution recognizes customary authority.

To mention in text:
 * Chiefdoms and groupings
 * Consequences of not recognizing a chief
 * Difference between Chiefdoms and Sectors
 * Chiefdoms can be non-contiguous.
 * Territories can be only one chiefdom (and communes)

New provinces
The new provincial scheme was implemented by taking the six largest provinces and splitting each one into multiple new provinces to yield twenty-one in all. In the previous territorial organization these six provinces where divided into districts and cities with the district being divided into territories and cités (towns). Each new province is either a former district or, for two of them, were formed by combining two districts. The six provinces were split as follows: (If not indicated new province and former district have the same name.)
 * Bandundu → Kwango, Kwilu, Mai-Ndombe (Mai-Ndombe + Plateaux districts)
 * Équateur → Équateur, Mongala, Nord-Ubangi, Sud-Ubangi, Tshuapa
 * Kasaï-Occidental → Kasaï, Kasaï-Central (Lulua district)
 * Kasaï-Oriental → Kasaï-Oriental (Tshilenge district), Lomami (Kabinda district), Sankuru
 * Katanga → Haut-Katanga, Haut-Lomami, Lualaba (Lualaba + Kolwezi districts), Tanganyika
 * Orientale → Bas-Uele, Haut-Uele, Ituri, Tshopo

To these are added the four unsplit provinces: Bas-Congo (renamed Kongo Central), Maniema, Nord-Kivu, and Sud-Kivu to make the current twenty-five provinces.

New cities
To mention in text:
 * 6 of 10 provinces split up - districts
 * controversy over split
 * creation of new cities and communes - cité
 * controversy over new cities
 * expense of new setup