Research consultancy in uganda
Question
Decentralization is one of the essential institutional reforms achieved in developing countries as one of the new public management approaches to improve service delivery and is considered to contribute to Uganda’s democratization more efficient and effective service delivery , good governance and development.
Critically analyze as a student who is undertaking public administration and management at UMI and also drawing from your managerial experience on Uganda’s decentralization, critically analyze the above statement giving clear examples.
Definition of decentralization,
Decentralization refers to the transfer of responsibility for planning. management, resource raising and-allocation, and other functions from the central government and its agencies to field units of central government ministries or agencies, Subordinate units or levels of government, semi-autonomous public authorities or corporations, or nongovernmental or voluntary organizations.
Decentralization is transforming the structure of governance among countries in the sub-Saharan Africa, Since the middle of the l980s most African countries have started a transfer of power, resources and responsibilities to their sub national governments showing a fasters pace of transformation, this pace differs among countries, Some countries -namely, Ethiopia, South Africa and Uganda are proceeding fast. A number of countries have just started the process and are presently creating new units and/or transferring responsibilities and revenues to them. A large group has only adopted legal texts that engage the central government to proceed towards a more decentralized system.
Africa shows an impressive institutional creativity. Two countries, Ethiopia and South Africa, have chosen a federal, or quasi-federal system. Nigeria, which used to be the only federal state in Africa, has adopted a new constitution that maintains the federal framework and gives more powers to its subnational governments. A number of countries on the east and the west of the continent have chosen a multi-layered system. More specifically, an intermediate layer has been inserted between the central and the local government. In other countries, decentralization means strengthening existing local government units in the urban areas and the creation of new units in the rural areas. This amounts to the revitalization of the two-tiered system that prevailed in these countries in the immediate aftermath of independence. In general, rural areas are receiving priority over the urban ones in the current decentralizing trends in African continent.
Most governments in Africa and some proponents of decentralization in developing countries share the view that local government may be a major vehicle for specific poverty alleviation policies, such as the distribution of basic food to the poorest segments of the population or the implementation of growth-inducing policies, through the mobilization of local resources and increased participation.
Furthermore, the view is becoming increasingly popular, particularly among donors, whereby the responsibility for these policies should be assigned to very small local governments or to informal communities to avoid the risk, which is substantial where democratic institutions are fragile, of capture by vested interests.
According to Mampe, (2012), Service delivery is a contemporary issue for most governments and researchers alike. Most scholars are in agreement that public service delivery is critical to ensuring the national welfare and stimulation of economic development. This is because often governments undertake a number of activities to provide citizens with services and at the same time guarantee that these services are provided in accordance with the service delivery requirements within the rule of law. The provision of health services by the government is essential in ensuring the citizens of Uganda have quality life and this can be achieved by decentralization process in Uganda.
In Uganda Service delivery principles have been developed in line with the mandate of the Ministry of Local Government. The Ministry develops sector policies, coordinates, monitors, guides, supervises, mentors and supports local governments in implementation of decentralized services. Finally, in a few countries decentralization is still at the stage of the announcement of the policy
The decentralization policy in Uganda is guided by the Constitution, the Local Government Act (cap 243), the Decentralization Policy Strategic Framework (DPSF), the Fiscal Decentralization Strategy (FDS), the Local Government Sector Strategic Plan (LGSSP), the Public Sector Management Strategic Investment Plan (PSM-SIP) and the National Development Plan (NDP). PSM-SIP outlines strategic coordination and investment in key strategic sectors of government. The Office of the Prime Minster (OPM) coordinates the sectors. Strategic public sectors under PSM-SIP include: Ministry of Local Government, Local Government Associations, Local Government Finance Commission, Ministry of Public Service, Public Service Commission, and Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA). PSM-SIP recognizes that in local governments “Public service delivery challenges are currently very serious”.
It points at key decentralization challenges including: a high rate of district creation, lack of implementation capacity, understaffing, revenue shortfalls, waste and corruption, poor funding, and low local revenue generation. On its part, the NDP calls for streamlining of the planning processes and harmonization of service delivery sectors.
The Ugandan decentralization reform initiated in 1992 is exceptional among developing countries in terms of the scale and scope of the transfer of power and responsibilities to the local level.
According to Francis and James, (2003) Uganda’s democracy has been as one of the most far-reaching local government reform programs in the developing world; this is because Uganda’s decentralized system is more participatory than for most of the other countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
National Resistance Movement (NRM) government under the leadership of President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has been strongly committed to decentralization supporting such an ambitious and exemplary form of devolution. Local councils (called “resistance councils” at that time) played an important role for the NRM during and after its guerrilla warfare in the first half of the 1980s.
These councils were meant to resist the incumbent government before the NRM came to power and to maintain social order and peace as well as secure democracy thereafter, Decentralized governance represented part of the political strategy of the new regime to install a new and revolutionary concept of democracy: democracy that is participatory, grass-roots based, and popular.
Political, Administrative, and Fiscal Elements of Decentralization
The current decentralization reform was officially launched in October 1992 through a presidential policy statement. It was first enshrined in the Local Government (Resistance Councils) Statute of 1993 and later in the Constitution of 1995 and the Local Governments Act of 1997. The local government system is formed by a five-tier pyramidal structure, which consists of the village (LC1), parish (LC2), sub-county (LC3), county (LC4), and district (LC5) in rural areas, and the village (LC1), ward or parish (LC2), municipal division, town, or city division (LC3), municipality (LC4), and city (LC5) in urban areas. The district and the city are the highest local government levels, while the sub-county, municipality, municipal division, town, and city division are referred to as lower local government levels.
The remaining entities are classified as administrative units. The major difference between higher and lower local governments on the one hand and administrative units on the other hand is that only the first are corporate bodies with perpetuate succession and a common seal and can sue or be sued in their corporate name.
The political organ at all local levels is the council, whose members are elected in regular elections. Councilors either represent specific electoral areas or interest groups, namely women, youth, and disabled persons. In past elections, voter turnout appears to have been relatively high, Steffensen et al. (2004) report that turnout was 47 percent in local elections in 2001, and Azfar et al. (2001) state that 80 percent of the households interviewed by them voted in local elections.8 The administrative organs of both higher and lower local governments comprise of administrative officers and technical planning committees who are respectively in charge of accounting and coordination as well as monitoring of the implementation of sectoral plans.
The district technical planning committees are responsible to collect and integrate plans of lower local governments in order to allow for bottom-up participatory planning and budgeting. Since the district (and city) is the highest local government level, the administrative structure is here much more comprehensive than that in lower local governments. Districts have several directorates for different sectors; typically, these are directorates for finance and planning, education and sports, health services, management support services, production, works and technical services, and community-based services
With regard to the assignment of responsibilities to different local levels, the Local Governments Act is very comprehensive and precise in determining which levels of government are in charge of which functions and services. In line with the principle of subsidiary, it is established that local governments and administrative units are responsible for those functions and services, which the respective higher levels are less able and appropriate to fulfill. In general, local governments and administrative units are thus responsible for all functions and services that are not assigned to the centre. In very broad terms, the central government is responsible for the provision of national public goods, such as defense, security, foreign relations, and the elaboration of national guidelines for sectoral policy-making, while local authorities deliver local public goods and services and manage facilities. For example, district councils are in charge of all education services except tertiary education, for all health services except referral hospitals, and for water services; urban councils are in charge of street lighting, ambulance services, and fire brigade services; and lower local governments councils are in charge of the provision of nursery and primary education, the provision of agricultural ancillary field services, and the control of soil erosion.
The following are some of the advantages of decentralization;
Decentralization efforts of the government, with donor support, have especially been accelerated since 1993. With the Local Government Act 1997, Uganda now has a fairly clear local government structure, which has created opportunities for different stakeholders to consult and negotiate mutually agreeable outcomes. Yet there is a serious challenge in the near future to turn these opportunities into sustainable improvement of local livelihood. Only then would the exercise of changing a long-lasted centralized administrative structure to a decentralized one is really successful.
In 1993, a first group of thirteen districts were decentralized. This was also the year that the Local Government (Resistance Councils ) Statue, 1993 was passed. This Statue firmly provided the legal basis for the earlier practices of the RC system, and rationalized the confused line of authority caused by the five-tiered hierarchy. It also clarified that the public servants are answerable to the respective RC , this step in decentralization helped in enabling the government officials to follow the laws, and prevent corruption systems in the government, therefore it became one of the first steps towards making Uganda become democratically mature country.
In the meantime, another significant political and social exercise was embarked to develop a new Constitution for the country. After a series of debates, the new Constitution, adopted in 1995, advocates, among others, principles of democracy, national unity, human rights, role of the people in development, gender equality, and environmental protection. Its Chapter 11 describes the principles and structures of the Local Government. Following this new Constitution, especially its Article 206, the Local Government Act 1997 was enacted.
Decentralization helps in cutting through red-tape and highly bureaucratic procedures, in the centralized system of governance there is high level of bureaucracy since the lower levels of management have to first consult before they are given the power to carry on with an activity.
Strengthening service delivery is a key strategy to achieve the sustainable development Goals, This includes the delivery of interventions to reduce child mortality, maternal mortality, and the burden to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria generally decentralization is key in achieving a quality health system in a country. Service provision or delivery is an immediate output of the inputs into the health system, such as health workforce, procurement and supplies and finances. Increased inputs should lead to improved service delivery and enhanced access to services. Ensuring availability and access to health services is one of the main functions of a health system, Such services should meet a minimum quality standard, which can be met possibly with minimum costs in a decentralized.
In a decentralized system the officials are empowered to make decision, this benefits an organization or the society because the people who make decisions they are the first hand people who feel the economic effects of the systems within.
Decentralization Expands administrative capacity among wider variety of organizations and allows them to perform functions not efficiently or effectively performed at the center, this helps to improve on the quality of service delivery in the society.
Increases efficiency of central government by relieving top officials of routine management tasks
Provides focus for coordinating activities of ministries on problems at local level.
Decentralization helps in increasing people’s stake in the political system by providing them with greater opportunities for participation, in the political process.
Throughout these years, the Decentralization Secretariat, created in 1992, has been vigorously advancing the decentralization by providing resources and technical support to various parties. This is a semi-autonomous organization of the Ministry of Local Government. Its training programmes target variety of stakeholders: civil servants, Councillors and the concerned citizens. The Secretariat also prepares and issues various manuals and guide books to enable the Councillors (politicians) and administrators to manage various duties. The Secretariat, with the support of donors, especially United Nations Development Programme and Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), has been generally performing satisfactorily despite shortages of financial resources and manpower.
With decentralization, ordinary people have opportunities to participate in decision-making process for the first time since colonial rule was imposed. This is a very significant change because before decentralization people felt little relationship with the administrative offices except being asked to pay taxes and other duties. Now the people have the opportunity to exercise their rights.
After the Local Government Act 1997 became effective, a series of local elections were held throughout the country in 1997 and 98. The election results indicate the high turn over, and many representatives elected during the recent election process are new. Voters did not prefer the incumbent to stay on leadership positions when they felt their representatives were incompetent, and/or corrupt. Among the forty-five posts of chairpersons of LC 5, only three incumbent 8 candidates were reelected.
In the current system, local political leaders have a fair amount of autonomy, They are elected by their constituency, and they are held accountable in managing their jurisdiction. Yet on the other hand, a new post of NRM Representative, introduced by the government in 1998, may create some obstacles for full autonomy, this new post is considered to reinforce the polity of the NRM as a movement to encompass various political positions as complete as possible.
However there some Disadvantages of decentralization which includes;
Can lead to greater inequity in the distribution of resources And services if decentralized units are not concerned about Equitable distribution, in the decentralization process the resources are sometimes distributed unequally which causes discontent with in the citizen population in a country like Uganda.
For some functions central governments have advantages of expertise Resources and economies of scale to deliver routine services more effectively, this may sometimes be very expensive for the government since in a decentralized government system , there is requirement of a large number of workforce which is expensive for the government.
Lack of financial resources and management skills at local level May lead to inefficient or ineffective service delivery, this is mainly due to expensive nature of maintaining highly expensive workforce in the rural areas , this may hinder effectiveness of decentralization in such rural areas.
Local officials or organizations may be hesitant or reluctant to take initiative in performing decentralized functions.
Local beneficiaries may not be organized strongly enough to participate effectively or protect their interests in planning and Decision-making.
Though decentralization is good for an economy in Uganda Decentralization has been meant with numerous challenges these has hindered Uganda from achieving most of the benefits of decentralization and some of these challenges in Uganda include;
Corruption with the local government system, according to transparency international Uganda is one of the most corrupt countries in the world, this high levels of corruption renders a big challenges to decentralized system of governance adopted by the government of Uganda.
REFERENCES
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Bardhan, Pranab, Mookherjee Dilip, “Expenditure Decentralization and the Delivery of Public Services in Developing Countries”, Department of Economics, University of California Berkeley, W.P. No. C98-104, December 1998.
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IMF, Uganda achieves impressive results in reforming public service sector . IMF Survey, May 25, 1998.
Uganda, Constitution of the Republic of Uganda
Uganda, Ministry of Local Government, Decentralization Policy Strategic Framework, (2004)
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Uganda, Ministry of Local Government, Local Governments Act. Cap 243, (1997)
Uganda, National Planning Authority, National Development Plan 2010/2011 –2014/2015, (2010)
