Fix Local Government or Perish

Local government is the frontline of service delivery for human dignity, yet across many municipalities, it has become a site of dysfunction, decay, and broken accountability. In Fix Local Government or Perish, Misheck Mugabe offers a sharp, unflinching diagnosis of why local government is failing and what it must do to restore it.Drawing on his global exposure, lived experience, policy insight, and practical engagement in governance and institutional reform, this book exposes the structural weaknesses, leadership failures, and systemic habits that have eroded municipalities' capacity to serve their communities. It challenges complacency, confronts difficult truths, and calls for a decisive shift from rhetoric to action.More importantly, this is not merely a critique. It is a call to rebuild. The author advances bold, solution-oriented proposals to strengthen governance, enhance accountability, and restore developmental impact at the local level. He argues that fixing local government is not optional; it is essential to safeguarding human dignity, rebuilding public trust, and securing the future of communities.A must-read for policymakers, practitioners, leadership, management, scholars, residents, and ratepayers alike, Fix Local Government, or Perish is both a warning and a roadmap for those committed to meaningful change in municipalities.