CREATION OF NEW DISTRICTS ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF UGANDA. A CASE STUDY OF SELECTED SUB-COUNTIES IN KASANDA DISTRICT
BY MBUSA JOCKIM 1161/06404/04058
A RESEARCH DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND POLITICAL STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF A BACHELOR’S DEGREE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION OF KAMPALA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
FEBRUARY, 2019 DECLARATION I MBUSA JOCKIM do hereby declare that this research dissertation is my original work and has not been submitted by any student for an award of a Bachelor’s Degree in any University.
Signature Date.QE’ [2-’2~ 1 MBUSA JOCKIM Researcher APPROVAL This is to certify that this research dissertation has been compiled successfully under my supervision as a university recommended supervisor.
Signatu Date .o~4 ~ MR. KAKOOZA ELIAS University Supervisor DEDICATION I dedicate this research dissertation to the Almighty God for the great love, protection and endurance He availed over to me in the three years course at Kampala International University.
I dedicate this research work to my parents especially my loving mother Mrs. Kabugho Josinta for the moral support, thank you mum for the motivation, encouragement and all the support you extended over to me. May God continue to favour and Bless You.
Further dedication goes to my brothers, family, my in-charges at my place of work, the in-charge security MTN Uganda Mr. Ronald Munduni and all members of RWECOS, Rwenzori region savings and credit society the course of this internship exercise. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I acknowledge Kampala International University to have given me a chance to further my education; I am really so much honored.
I would like acknowledge and give thanks to my supervisor Mr. Kakooza Elias for taking the task of supervising this research work. Thank You so much.
To all my friends at Kampala International University for the moral, physical and emotional support they extended over to me during my three years course in Public Administration.
iv TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION APPROVAL DEDICATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS V
LIST OF ACRONYMS Viii LIST OF TABLES ix LIST OF FIGURES x
ABSTRACT X~ CHAPTER ONE I INTRODUCTION 1 1.0 Introduction I 1.1 Background of the study 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem 3 1.3 Objectives of the study 4 1.3.1 General objective 4 1.3.2 Specific Objectives 4 1.4 Research questions 4 1.5 Scope of the study 4 1.5.1 Geographical scope 4 1.5.2 Content scope 5 1.5.3Timescope 5 1.6 Significance of Study 5 1.7 Conceptual framework 6 1.8 Operational definition of key terms 7 CHAPTER TWO 8 LITERATURE REVIEW 8 2.0 Introduction 8 2.1 Pattern of creation of Local Government jurisdictions 8
V 2.2 Political, economic and socio-cultural reasons for the creation of local government jurisdiction 12 2.3 Challenges that frequent creation of districts poses to economic development 17 CHAPTER THREE 21 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 21 3.Olntroduction 21 3.lResearch Design 21 3.2Target Population 21 3.3Sample Size 21 3.4Data Collection Methods 22 3.4.lSecondary data 22 3.4.2 Primary Data Collection 22 3.5Data Collection instruments 23 3.6Validity and Reliability 23 3.7Data Analysis 23 3.8Expected Output 23 3.9Ethical considerations 24 CHAPTER FOUR 25 PRESENTATION OF RESULTS! FINDINGS 25 4.1 Introduction 25 4.2 General Findings 25 4.3 Questionnaires Distributed and Returned 25 4.4 Presentation of the findings according to the objectives 29 4.5 Political, economic and socio-cultural reasons for the creation of local government jurisdiction 32 4.6 Challenges that frequent creation of districts poses to economic development in Kasanda District 33 CHAPTER FIVE 34 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 34 5.1 Introduction 34
vi 5.2 Conclusion . 5.3 Recommendations 35 5.3.1 Pattern for the creation of local government jurisdiction in Kasanda District 35 5.3.2 Political, economic and socio-cultural reasons for the creation of local government jurisdiction 5.3.3 Challenges that frequent creation of districts poses to economic development in Kasanda District 36 5.4 Areas for further research 36 REFERENCES 37 APPENDIX I 41 QUESTIONNAIRE SCHEDULE 41 APPENDIX iT 44 INTERVIEW GUIDE 44
VII LIST OF ACRONYMS CLGF Commonwealth Local Government Forum DLG Developmental Local Government EU European Union GEAR Growth Employment and Redistribution policy GPT Graduated Personal Tax HDI Human Development Index LED Local Economic Development LG Local Government NGO Nongovernmental Organization NRM National Resistance Movement RDP Reconstruction and Development Programme UK United Kingdom UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme
viii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Sample Size 22 Table 4.1: Questionnaires distributed and returned 25 Table 4.2: Gender of the respondents 26 Table 4.3: Education level of the respondents 27 Table 4.4: Marital status of the respondents 28 Table 4.5: Whether the pattern is based on bringing services closer to the people 29 Table 4.6 Shows whether the legal procedures are not always followed in creating new district in Uganda 29 Table 4.7 shows whether local government jurisdictions matter in serving the electoral interests of local government politicians 30 Table 4.8 shows whether creation of new districts is based on application of democracy to a geographic scale in the set area and beneficiaries 31 Table 4.9: Political, economic and socio-cultural reasons for the creation of local government jurisdiction 32 Table 4.10 Challenges that frequent creation of districts poses to economic development in Kasanda District 33
ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 illustrates the relationship between dependent and dependent variables 6 Figure 4.1: Age of the respondents 26
x ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between creation of new districts and economic development of Uganda. The study was guided by three research objectives specifically to examine the pattern for the creation of local government jurisdiction in Selected Sub-Counties, assess the political, economic and socio-cultural reasons for the creation of local government jurisdictions and assess the challenges that frequent creation of districts poses to economic development. The study was covered using a descriptive survey study research design which seemed applicable to examine the relationship between creation of new districts and economic development. The study was based on a structured questionnaire which seemed suitable in a survey that involves a large number of respondents. A total of 144 employees were randomly selected, although at last only 74 were retrieved. Data was analyzed using frequency tables and percentages and the study concluded that the creation of new districts is based on a pattern of bringing services closer, although the legal procedures are at times not followed. The study recommends the government to consider the outcry of different local communities especially health to reduce on the maternal mortality rates and also improving livelihoods of the community because a healthy free comnnlnity creates development.
xi CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.0 Introduction This chapter provides for the introduction, background to the study, problem statement, objectives of the study, research questions, significance of the study and the scope of the study.
1.1 Background of the study The consequences of economic and political reforms on patronage for development in Africa have been a source of much debate in recent years. On the one hand, more optimistic scholars have argued that these reforms have led to a decline in both the supply and demand for patronage, in as much as structural adjustment programs in the 1 980s limited the supply of patronage at the center while the democratization that swept the continent in the early 1 990s lessened demand for patronage as voters increasingly evaluated candidates on policy differences rather than clientelistic offers (Francis & James, 2013). On the other hand, however, most scholars have remained pessimistic and argue that African leaders have been able to circumvent these reforms and find new sources of patronage, which they then have been able to utilize in buying off voters at election time (Buwembo, 2015).
One of the responses to these perceived failures has been to further reduce the scope of African leaders’ abilities to allocate resources through the promotion of decentralization reforms from the 1990s to the present. Indeed, in developing countries in particular decentralization has been as a palliative for a large number of governance problems and as such many countries have instituted a wide variety of reforms that have devolved the provision of various public services to lower levels of government. As with the other aforementioned reforms, a mini-cottage industry has sprung up to analyze decentralization policies with a large amount of controversy over their outcomes (Bardhan, & Mookherjee, 2016).
As regards Uganda, the creation of new districts in the name of district local governments has become the latest political gimmick in Uganda. At the time of independence the country had only 18 districts. When the National Resistance Movement (NRM) took over power in 1986, there were 33 districts. Today, Uganda is divided into 127 districts and the capital city of Kampala, which are grouped into four administrative regions. The government’s position has been that this 1 move would increase political participation among ordinary citizens, advance social service delivery and above all steer local governance that addresses community needs. From the perspective that local governance is a rule-governed process through which residents of a defined area participate in their own governance in limited but locally important matters (Bogason and Musso, 2016).
There has indeed been a significant change in local government budgets over the past decade, inasmuch as the former main source of local government revenue, the Graduated Personal Tax (GPT) was reduced from 10,000 USh to 3000 UShs per year in 2001 and eliminated completely in 2005 (Therkildsen, 2006). Moreover, upon its abolition the GPT was replaced with an increased transfer of conditional grants from the central government which is tied to social services like education and health and thus, unlike in Nigeria are dependent on district size and population.
Rather, the incentives for demanding a new district have been constant throughout President Museveni’s reign, as they are elsewhere. New districts are examples of what are called ‘club goods’ in the field of political economy, and their creation is an example of what (Fitrani, 2015) calls ‘distributive policies,’ in that their benefits go to a small group of people but their costs are spread out across the entire population. As spelled out by (Fitrani, 2015) in his analysis of special-interest organizations such a policy is likely to encounter little opposition since its cost per capita is so low that those who pay for it have little incentive to organize collectively to combat it. In other words, the cost of creating each district per citizen is very small and as long as new districts are not created along biased lines, all Ugandans have the potential to benefit from a new district in their own area. This logic does not, however, explain why there should have been such a sudden rush in the number of new districts since 1997 and therefore cannot be the primary factor behind district creation.
The total number of districts in Uganda has been growing drastically over the years. At the time of independence (1962) Uganda had 18 districts. In a period of two decades by 1991, they had grown to 38 and rose to 42 by 1997- just after the 1996 general elections within Between the period 2000-2005, Uganda was counting 78 districts; the trend escalated after the 2006 presidential elections and in the space of two years (2008-2010) the total number of districts rose 2 up to 111. By the end of 2011, just before and after the presidential and general elections, new administrative units/districts were announced rising to a total of 127 by the end of the year 2018. This analysis thus portrays a linkage between district creation and political gauge. Thus, the quest to bring services nearer to the people has fast translated into the multiplication of new districts at an alarming rate, rising from 56 districts in 2001 to 127 in 2018 doubling the number.
While the split of new districts is profoundly provided for in the policy and legal framework in Uganda, the law is silent on the geographical demarcations thereafter. According to Chapter 7 of the Local government Act (1997) the boundaries of a local government or of an administrative unit shall be those which existed immediately before the coming into force of this Act.
The 1997 constitution of the republic of Uganda also points out that boundaries of a district unit may be altered or new district units formed, in accordance with article 179 of the Constitution. Article 179 of the 1995 Constitution stipulates thus; Parliament may alter boundaries of districts, and create new districts; any measure to alter the boundary of a district or create a new district shall be supported by the majority of all members of parliament shall by law empower the district councils to alter the boundaries of the lower government units and create new local government units within their districts.
1.2 Statement of the Problem It is believed that new districts stand for bringing services nearer to people, fostering development and above all ensuring rigorous representation. It should be noted, however, that creation of a new district comes with many administration costs which include, establishment of administrative sites, recruitment of staffs, salaries and remunerations for staff, upgrading of health centers and of course election of political leaders which costs constrain the already small national budget. Statistics indicate that as a result of the proliferation of new districts, due to poverty and lack of budget, up to 58 percent of local government positions are not filled and that there is a non-wage recurrent cost shortfall (gap) of UGX627 billion per annum. Further in the newly created districts, it is estimated that primary education and primary health care have annual recurrent funding gaps of U0X65 billion and UGX18 billion respectively, accommodation facilities are poor, even the social amenities are cut off regardless of arguments that the creation of new districts aims at covering those gaps. For that reason Local Governments 3 are unlikely to achieve much of what they are supposed to do (Francis, 2013). Despite the criticism on creation of new districts the government and self-motivated persons still insist on establishing more districts in disguise of increasing political participation and improving social service delivery. Hence, the research examined the relationship between creation of new districts and economic development with special focus on Kasanda, Wilikilagi, (2009).
1.3 Objectives of the study 1.3.1 General objective To examine the relationship between creation of new districts and economic development of selected Towii Councils in Kasanda District.
1.3.2 Specific Objectives i) To examine the pattern for the creation of local government jurisdiction in Selected Sub- Counties in Kasanda District. ii) To assess the political, economic and socio-cultural reasons for the creation of local government jurisdictions in Selected Sub-Counties in Kasanda District. iii) To assess the challenges that frequent creation of districts poses to economic development in Selected Sub-Counties in Kasanda District.
1.4 Research questions i) What is the pattern for the creation of local government jurisdiction in Selected Sub- Counties in Kasanda District? ii) What are the political, economic and socio-cultural reasons for the creation of local government jurisdictions in Selected Sub-Counties in Kasanda District? iii) What are the challenges that frequent creation of districts poses to economic development in Selected Sub-Counties in Kasanda District?
1.5 Scope of the study 1.5.1 Geographical scope The study was carried out from Selected Town Councils like in Kasanda District which is one of the newly formed districts in Central region of Uganda with 9 sub counties, 77 Parishes and 511 villages. The District has over 200 schools currently with 3 Nursery Schools, 178 Primary 4 Schools and 19 Secondary Schools. It is approximately 58 kilometres (36 mi) East of Mubende, the location of the district headquarters. This is about 110 kilometres (68 mi) West of Kampala, the capital and largest city in Uganda. The coordinates of the Kasanda are 0°32’48.0”N, 31°491 1.0’E (Latitude; 0.546670; Longitude; 31.819719).
1.5.2 Content scope The content of this study was based on creation of new districts and Economic Development of selected Sub-Counties in Kasanda District.
1.5.3 Time scope The study was carried out for a period of three months that is to say from November 2018 to February 2019.
1.6 Significance of Study Findings are intended to assist Government in enhancing the role of creation of new districts and how beneficial it can be towards development of local areas.
Further it will help in exposing the accountability needed on local levels especially through exposing performance of private institutions but also exposing how it can be done by government institutions. This will help to reduce on incidents of bribery and corruption in local levels.
The study will provide literature that will increase the body of the existing knowledge and this will provide a basis for further research.
It will also help the researcher accomplish the requirements for pursuing her Bachelors degree of Public administration.
5 1.7 Conceptual framework Figure 1.1 illustrates the relationship between dependent and dependent variables Independent Variables (IV) Dependent Variables (DV)
District Creation Economic Development
Appeasing the More employment demands of masses opportunities
Ensure that unmet Infrastructural needs are sufficiently development served Reduction on the costs of Promote a truly viable doing business growth ______
~Pro-poor agenda of local governments
Remoteness of some areas
Limited resource and capacity
Source; Palermo, (2015) and modified by the researcher, 2019
From the above conceptual framework, district creation has covered the higher demands for masses, it has ensured that unmet needs are sufficiently served and it has promoted a truly viable growth. This has therefore impacted economic development through creation of more employment opportunities, infrastructural development and reduced on the costs of doing business. However, these are challenged by the pro-poor agenda of local governments, remoteness of some areas and limited resource and capacity.
6 1.8 Operational definition of key terms Economic development is the growth of the standard of living of a nation’s people from a low- income (poor) economy to a high-income (rich) economy and when the local quality of life is improved, there is more economic development. When social scientists study economic development, they look at a lot of things.
Local Economic Development as a development concept is characterized by different meanings and interpretations and as Rowe states that “the discipline of local economic development is a complex mix of concepts, practices and rhetoric (2009). As such, it is clear that although there is no single, all-encompassing, concrete definition for Local Economic Development, its approaches are likely to be based on similar characteristics. These characteristics include the fact that Local Economic Development is territorially-based, in that it strives to empower actors to improve the future of the area in which they live.
7 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 Introduction This chapter was based on reviewing the literature related to the three specific objectives of the study. It focused on relating how different authors wrote about the topic in question.
2.1 Pattern of creation of Local Government jurisdictions In Uganda, Article 179 of the 1995 Constitution of the republic of Uganda makes provision for the creation of new districts based on ‘the necessity for effective administration and the need to bring services closer to the people’. The Constitution suggests that such an act may take into account the means of communication, geographical features, density of population, economic viability and the wishes of the people concerned.
Further, Article 179 (Sections 1-4) of the 1995 Constitution empowers parliament to alter the boundaries of districts. The legal process is clearly laid out in the LG Act in the form of bottom- up approach. However, the manner in which districts have been created shows that the legal procedures are not always followed. Contrary to the bottom-up approach, many of the newly created districts have been top-down arrangements that were how local residents described the creation of Dokolo district.
Because of this constitutional provision, Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) (2013) asserts that bringing services closer to the people has become the mantra of Local Government and politicians and bureaucrats to justify the creation of districts. To them more districts mean that more basic services (healthcare, schools, roads, district headquarters, and so on) are brought closer to the grassroots since LGs are responsible for the provision of these services.
Hence to Jones, (2012), LG jurisdictions matter in serving the electoral interests of CG politicians. Gerrymandering is a strategy to win electoral votes by creating new electoral boundaries where ruling governments are expected to win substantial votes from the citizens. So there is no doubt that the creation of districts matters in serving the electoral interests of President Museveni and his NRM party.
8 Green’s (2010) analysis confirms that Museveni benefits politically in terms of votes from creating new districts but to show that there is a deliberate gerrymandering strategy, we expanded our analysis to additional factors that the literature suggests must be present; Redistricting is needed to ward off the threat against CG political interests In 1996 Uganda held its first direct presidential election in 16 years, in which three major political forces vied for the presidency. President Museveni was re-elected, receiving 75.7 percent of the vote, while his closet rival Ssemogerere secured only 22.9 percent. Parliamentary elections were held three months after the presidential election, with all the candidates standing as individuals and not on party platforms.
To Lewis, (2014), sometimes the President, in an effort to appease local people, pronounces an area a district and instructs the Minister for Local Government to ensure that the formal procedure is followed that was how Koboko district came into being. It is widely referred to as the ‘condolence district’ because Museveni granted district status to the area when he went there to mourn the death of the then Attorney-General and Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and MP for the area, Francis Ayume, who had died in a vehicle accident.
Mubangizi, (2013) explains that after revoking the ban on presidential term limits, one of Museveni’s strategies has been to create conditions to sustain the goodwill of his old allies that he started the resistance movement with and to solicit new political support from new elites that were emerging from the LG system that he created. So, behind the facade of deepening decentralization is the unproclaimed use of district creation to appease new groups as well as perpetuate a network of political mobilization. This led to the ending of the cautious approach to creation of districts in 1996.
Bogason and Musso (2016) explain that the creation of LGs is therefore based on the application of democracy to a geographic scale. In Latin America, decentralization policies have created more and small-sized local jurisdictions with the explicit aim of increasing political participation of hitherto marginalized communities.
9 According to Nabukeera, (2015), state-centric literature on decentralization in Uganda tends to describe President Museveni as having transformed the local governance landscape in the country. In a 2002 stocktaking survey on decentralization in Africa, Uganda ranked second among 35 countries in Africa, with only South Africa performing better (Ndegwa, 2012). Nevertheless, other authors suggest the opposite outcomes.
Redman et al. (2017) note a shift in the human resource needs of government from a supply perspective to a demand and/or needs-driven perspective. This demand-driven side requires specialized regulation, facilitation and monitoring skills and the ability to balance vertical and horizontal interactions.
Cristofoli et al. (2014) insist that for networks to successfully perform they “must be able to rely on formalized mechanisms and a pooi of ‘network administrators’ responsible for their governance. Giest and Howlett (2013) argue that good network leaders can attract new members to the network, build long-term networking structures and also attract funding opportunities.
Grydehøj (2013) argues that innovative governance practices can promote economic development in LGs, to an extent, nurturing a small jurisdiction’s core competencies and making government policy more effective (Grydehøj 2013). Using the example of Shetland, UK (a sub- national jurisdiction in the EU) and Grydehoj shows how the creation of a parallel structure to a local government, the Shetland Charitable Trust, gave more autonomy and capacity to LGs to manage their local economy. Upon the discovery of new oil resources, Shetland Council created the Trust to manage the oil reserve fund. The Trust managed taxes and contracts with oil companies and had authority to offer grants and credit to Shetland inhabitants.
According to the ministry of local government of Uganda, (2014), decentralisation and the creation of many LG units has seen some commendable successes such as stabilising local governance by widening involvement, encouraging citizen participation in local decision-making and improving service delivery to a degree. However, there have also been challenges, such as: inadequate local revenues (averaging just 3% of total local government annual budgets); unhelpful business practices such as long registration procedures; inadequate business
10 development services; an insufficiently business-like approach to service delivery by bureaucrats; the informal nature of most businesses; and procurement laws that sometimes hamper effective public-private partnerships.
Although Uganda’s Local Economic Development strategy was adopted by all LG leaders during their joint annual review of decentralisation in 2007 (Bitarabeho 2008), Uganda did not have a national Local Economic Development policy until February 2014. Significantly, this policy, together with Uganda’s Decentralisation Policy Strategic Framework (2013—2023), provides a framework for partnerships and aims to accelerate and galvanise social and economic actors to effectively address Local Economic Development.
The 2013 Commonwealth Local Governance Conference emphasized that Local Governments can steer development of their own localities if they seize local opportunities and encourage community participation. The Kasanda case indicates that LGs do have the potential to imagine and access alternative sources of funding and options for development. These initiatives demonstrate how innovative LG practices can support Local Economic Development, as long as central government does not come to view LG as something essentially different from a scaled- down version of national governance (Grydehoj 2013). Therefore, strong networks at the local level do have the potential to promote LG innovation.
According to the Ministry of Local Government, (2011), the creation of districts resulted in the generation of government jobs at the local level to be shared among the party faithful and to entice new supporters. When a new district is created, it is allowed to recruit 224 technical and clerical staff. By 2010 about 17,500 bureaucrats were employed at the LG level, an increase of 150 percent from 1997 when there were only 7020 bureaucrats in 45 districts. From 2006 to 2010, the number of bureaucrats increased by 35 percent at the LG level. These figures show only employees at the district offices and exclude teachers and health workers.
11 2.2 Political, economic and socio-cultural reasons for the creation of local government jurisdiction According to Swianiewicz (2014), the autonomy of LGs as key actors in Local Economic Development is important because it determines how they become entitled to participate in networks, the role they play in defining public interest, whether they take a leadership or ‘led’ role, their place with regard to funding, and whose interests they represent. From a political economy perspective, autonomy in public administration and governance defines jurisdiction, the power of local actors, dominance, legitimacy and discretionary authority.
The International Labour Organization (2016) sees Local Economic Development as a participatory process that encourages partnership arrangements between the private and public stakeholders of a defined territory, enabling joint design and implementation of a common development strategy by making use of local resources and competitive advantage in a global context with the final objective of creating decent jobs and stimulating economic activity.
In Africa, Huntington and Wibbels (2014) stipulates that the persistent challenges facing decentralisation and local governance have necessitated a refocusing of Local Economic Development efforts. These challenges include inadequate local revenues and business development support; an unfavorable business environment; inadequate management information systems and insufficiently business-like approaches to service delivery.
To Ruecker and Trah (2017); it is envisaged that Local Economic Development will “encourage and support networking and collaboration between businesses and public and private and community partnerships, facilitate workforce development and education, focus inward investment to support cluster growth and support quality of life improvements thus Local Economic Development is understood as being generated by the efforts of many actors.
Mubangizi et al. (2013) explains that many actors contribute to the achievement of governance objectives, but these must find ways to interact that increase effectiveness in implementing policies and programmes. This interaction highlights both intra- and inter-relational issues. In the
12 case of intergovernmental relations, the relationship between local and central government is broadly defined by legislation but needs facilitating initiatives to work effectively.
Read and Parton (2009) explain that there is also growing scrutiny of how the private sector and other actors relate to LGs. The private sector is seen to be critical to local development since it tends to drive growth. In Uganda, for instance, the private sector contributes about 80% of economic growth particularly small and medium-sized enterprises such as smallholder farms, retail and agro-processing businesses, and providers of health, education and financial services.
Choong and Lam (2010) argue that a strong local private sector and/or strong economic growth in a country can then attract foreign investment, For this reason governments are devising new governance approaches such as network governance and public—private partnerships, to include other players in delivering public services.
Park and Park (2009) argue that these horizontal relationships and public/private/community coordination are increasingly the subject of academic focus. Network governance (cooperation between government agencies) and collaborative governance (cooperation with external agencies e.g. through public—private partnerships) are being encouraged as examples of innovative public sector management. The idea of a ‘network’ implies interaction between various actors on the basis of trust, with the aim of solving a policy problem rather than relying on systems of operation.
According to Trah (2014), network governance can create a sense of collective action and mutual support, to harness the network of resources more efficiently and effectively. Creation of new districts is expected to transform local governance by stimulating the local economy to grow, compete and create jobs and make better use of local resources.
Mubangizi et al. (2013) further note that network governance has inherent capacity-building and knowledge exchange benefits. Actors can adapt and innovate, exchange ideas or even increase the numbers of skilled personnel to undertake an activity. Network governance thus departs from debates on governance, e.g. local governance, multi-level governance or ‘good governance’, by
13 considering patterns of interaction in exchange and relationships and flows of resources between independent units (Wilikilagi 2009).
Koppenjan and Klijn (2014) claim that common policy problems faced by local governments can be addressed by network coordination of resources, skills and strategies. In Grant, and Dollery, (2012) state that focusing on whole-government issues and horizontal coordination have affected the autonomy of public organisations, though they do not elaborate how.
To Rogerson and Rogerson (2010), Local Economic Development is a process of stimulating the local economy to grow, compete and create more jobs, in particular making better use of locally available resources. This process is driven by all sectors in development, and the Government of Uganda defines Local Economic Development as “a process where the tripartite partnership between local governments, private sector and community are jointly and collectively engaged in identification, mobilization, management and initiation of resources at the local levels” (Ministry of Local Governments 2013).
Mubangizi et al. (2013) conclude that “in a decentralized system, creation of new districts can indeed contribute to service delivery amidst resource-poor units of LG especially if there is strong and effective collaboration across the different spheres of government, private sector and civil society”. Several scholars for example Bogason and Musso (2006) agree that network governance is a useful local and, as development becomes more complex, and government depends more on other actors to solve problems, network governance offers an overarching strategy for facilitating ordered and collective action (Giest and Howlett 2013).
To Bar-Nir and Gal (2010), legislative frameworks that promote decentralisation recognize LGs as autonomous and powerful institutions in local economies. However, when actors like NGOs become involved in provision of public services, to supplement government efforts, they become more powerful at local levels and their role goes beyond mere service provision. For instance, they are able to determine the absence or presence of a service, and this “has implications for the degree to which local government maintains its control over service provision and the accountability of providers to citizens and their elected representatives.
14 Hansen and Klausen (2012) further note that local development is a process to address an area’s problems related to the openness of the economy and innovation (Corona, 2012). Greffe lists the principles of local development as an evaluation concerned with the strengths and weaknesses of a particular area, the achievement of development needs; the inclusion and strengthening of human capital, the encouragement of a participative and entrepreneurial culture and the integration of the social economy (Corona, 2012).
Kiwanuka, (2014) adds to this by claiming that even though Local Economic Development projects and programmes themselves are not founded on a single integrated theoretical framework, multiple shared basic principles can be identified. First is the principle titled “For the common good” because all Local Economic Development initiatives ought to be grounded on a solid “local and community identity and commitment” since this is a key element in modern social theory.
The International Labour Organization, (2010) stretches the fact that Local Economic Development strategy tends to pursue interventions created to “improve the competitiveness of local firms; attract inward investment; upgrade employable skills; and enhance local infrastructure. Local Economic Development is widely understood as “the process in which local governments, or some agency, authority or organisation on behalf of local government, engage to enhance economic prosperity and quality of life” by increasing a community’s capability to achieve economic progress qualitatively and quantitatively (Federation of Canadian Municipalities, 2016).
Smith and Vawda (2013) asserts that the idea of Developmental Local Government (DLG) emerged from the fusion of the social interventionist goals of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) and the market-driven economic strategies of the Growth Employment and Redistribution policy (GEAR); the two main national policies of the post apartheid era for addressing economic growth and poverty eradication.
As correctly argued by Voets and Rynck, (2008) these two strategies articulate strong developmental orientation, but the mechanism they envisage for achieving them are quite distinct. As the NDP seek to re-duce poverty, unemployment and inequality, the NGP tends to
15 enhance growth and create employment. Arguably, it is seen that though both the NDP and the NGP are oriented to the establishment of a develop-mental state as the key to overcoming inequality, their ideologies are dichotomous.
Palermo, (2015) argues that municipalities are applying a range of interventions in their local areas, some of which are distinctively pro-growth in focus, while others have a clear pro-poor emphasis. For most municipalities, the initial Local Economic Development practice was confined to small projects, many of which were survivalist type initiatives in the form of community economic development projects, the majority of which proved unsustainable once donor or public-sector funding disappeared and with no real impact on poverty reduction.
Kagame (2013) asserts that there is no doubt that building local economies’ capacity to create wealth and wellbeing for local residents requires functional capacity from both private and public actors. President Kagame of Rwanda summed it up well when we believe that effective decentralization does not only require the autonomy of LG institutions but most importantly the requisite capacities to deliver on their mandate as well as continued support from, and coordination with, the central government. In a decentralized setting LGs are supposedly in charge, autonomous and capable of promoting growth and development within their localities.
Ateljevic et al. (2013) emphasize that it is about building the economic capacity of a local area to improve its economic future and the quality of life for all. It is a process by which the public, business and NGO sectors work collectively to create better conditions for employment generation. LED performance and sustainability depend on the active engagement of the private, public and third sectors and of communities.
Awortwi (2013) shows that, during partnerships in service delivery; agents in this case civil society organisations and private companies innovate to save costs and thus develop capacity for future sub-contracting and increase their entrepreneurial confidence; at the same time, the image of local government improves.
Awortwi (2013) emphasized the range of skills that LGs need to improve governance of multiple forms of service delivery for example equipping staff with skills to manage contracts, monitoring
16 progress indicators, implement by-laws and sanctions and improve negotiation skills so as to achieve better terms and build consensus.
Parag et al. (2013) examines the need for coordinated effort among interdependent entities, for collective solutions to public issues, and for recognition of the importance of a range of actors in development, is at the heart of network and collective governance. As a result, governments are employing “looser forms of governance where private actors such as business and NGOs increasingly participate in policy-making” (Khan 2013) such actors are thus involved in policy implementation, unlike governance by hierarchical structures (where rule is based on rigidly structured command structures) or markets (based on demand and supply).
Trah, G. (2014) list some useful distinguishing characteristics of network governance and their relevance to LED processes. He then emphasizes that in networks actors are interdependent, they cooperate with and trust each other, and most importantly stakeholders work in an organized manner towards a common solution.
2.3 Challenges that frequent creation of districts poses to economic development The UNDP (2013), points out that there is a lack of vertical and horizontal linkages between LED partners and other stakeholders which derails implementation and leads to duplication of activities. Furthermore, it is also a challenge to make all Local Economic Development partners participate together with the citizenry (UNDP, 2013). The UNDP in an evaluation of Local Economic Development projects in South Africa found out that the extent to which the local community shares in the definition of the Local Economic Development problem and participates in its identification is a prime factor affecting project success.
The lack of resources and inadequate qualified personnel hamper Local Economic Development particularly in poor resourced areas making implementation of Local Economic Development difficult (UNDP, 2013). Trah, (2014) is of the view that, local authorities often lack the appropriate apparatus or have differential capacities for providing an enabling environment for fostering partnership.
17 As Nabukeera, (2015) had stated, contemporary studies show that most municipalities in South Africa do not fare well in their attempt to assert themselves as developmental local government. This limited perceived success of Local Economic Development in South Africa has meant that its career path lacks credibility, with the consequence that it is associated with low-level staffing and high turnover, especially outside the larger metropolitan areas and cities. Therefore, the practice of LED in many municipalities becomes either a ‘dumping ground’ for ineffective officials or only a stepping stone for competent local government personnel because of Local Economic Development’s constrained career prospect (Rogerson, 2010).
To Awortwi, (2011), local and CG officials admit that the creation of new districts usually brings with it many administrative and logistical problems from the beginning but as time goes on they manage to solve them but recent evidence suggests that this is not so. In fact, the CG is recentralizing many of the key administrative powers that it had earlier decentralized to LG on the basis of LG capacity problems.
As Rees and Hossain, (2010) points out, “despite their growing numerical dominance in urban Africa, informal economic actors continues to suffer from problems of institutional exclusion, internal divisions and the precarious legal status of their enterprises.” The reality is that these small business associations are weak and face capacity constraints. The inability of the associations to offer a range of desirable services to their members has often “undermined their ability to maintain the loyalty of members” (Rees, 2010).
Park and Park (2009) explain another challenge that most Local Economic Development programmes lack poverty reduction targets, making it difficult to monitor and evaluate whether Local Economic Development is reducing poverty. Thus the dynamics of poverty are scarcely explored in Local Economic Development programs (Nadvi, 2009). Inadequate management control systems, at the local level could result in significant difficulties in the implementation of Local Economic Development programmes (Ofei-Aboagye, 2009).
Further according to the Government of Uganda (2010), evidence that the creation of LG jurisdictions has not improved service provision both in the new and old districts comes from analyses of reports of the provision of some of the key basic services (health, education and
18 water) that have been decentralized to LGs (GoU, 2008). Green (2010) uses the UN’s Human Poverty Index (HPI) and Human Development Index (HDI) across Uganda to examine the nexus between district creation and public service delivery.
Imhanlahirni and Ikeanyibe (2009) found LG autonomy in Nigeria was weak, characterized by inadequate finances, weak intergovernmental relations, precarious democracy and corruption on a grand scale. Similarly Kiwanuka (2014) maintains that LG autonomy is very difficult to achieve without a sound local revenue base and an efficient tax collection system. In Uganda, although LGs do have powers to raise funds from services such as property rates, land, licences etc, or to set their own rates and enact laws to reduce tax evasion, there is still limited participation of the private sector in planned Local Economic Development, businesses are largely informal and the capacity of local economies to provide infrastructure to spur Local Economic Development is inadequate (MoLG, 2013).
Previous work on the autonomy of LGs like Jones and Stewart 2012 has mainly focused on the relationship with central government. Such studies have claimed that LGs are not truly autonomous because they are controlled by central government which funds most activities, sets policies and determines structures of operation. Jones and Stewart claim that failure by LGs is often embedded in central government systems like when allocated funding that propels and sustains localism is not provided. LGs are seen simply as extensions of central governments and conduits of funding to civil society organisations which implement local public services. A recent study by Palermo (2015) focuses on four variables to understand the autonomy of LGs: function, structure, administration and finance.
In a discussion about LGs’ capacity to support other actors under LG jurisdiction, Awortwi (2013) investigated examples of governance of basic service delivery in Ghana. He concluded that LG bureaucrats did not have suitable systems to facilitate and incorporate even the activities of community-based organisations (CBOs) in their budgets and financial allocations. He noted that bureaucrats even asked for monetary incentives such as sitting allowances in order to attend CBO meetings which undermine the idea of cooperation and networking. In joint undertakings, he found that LGs did not honour their financial obligations over development interventions,
19 even when these were handed over to them. In the case of a joint sewage scheme in Ghana, Awortwi (2013) noted it was abandoned a few months after inauguration. He concluded that LGs had not yet taken conscious and consistent steps to enable CBOs to access financial resources, or to harness stakeholder participation.
According to Wairarna (2011), these groups are marginalized from Uganda’s economic, political and social-cultural life. Ethnic tension in heterogeneous districts leading to frequent conflicts and demand by minorities for autonomy Ugandan ethnic minorities include Alur, Kakwa, Karamojong cluster, Lugbara, Ma’di, Nubian, Bagungu, Bakenyi, Bavuma, 1k (Teuso), Soo, Batwa and Bakonzo.
To Rogerson, (2010), peaceful settlement of these ethnic conflicts resulted in the creation of Kibaale from Hoima district; Nakasongola district from Luweero district and Yumbe district from Arua district. In contrast, the creation of Tororo, Kabarole and Palisa districts led to ethnic conflicts. The literature on Uganda provides high profile publicity of some ethnic groups’ using bizarre forms of protest to demand autonomous districts.
According to Ocwich, (2015), where such demands coincide with President Museveni’s interests, he acquiesces to ethnic demand for example, at the launch of Nakaseke district in August 2005, President Museveni said that although a new district takes a lot of money, this is the democracy we fought for. People must ask for what they want and get it’. Fifteen out of 32 districts that were created since 2006 could be classified as heterogeneous districts (that is, districts inhabited by more than one ethnic group large enough to form a new district) but there is little evidence to suggest that the carved out districts had ethnic tension or conflict before they were divided. So we concur with Green’s conclusion that districts are not created for the purpose of reducing ethnic tension and conflict (Green, 2010).
20 CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.0 Introduction This chapter discussed the approaches and techniques the researcher used when collecting and analyzing data. These included the research design, target population, data collection methods and data analysis techniques.
3.1 Research Design The study used a descriptive survey study research design which examined the relationship between creation of new districts and economic development of selected sub~counties in Kasanda District. A descriptive survey is usually concerned with describing a population with respect to important variables with major emphasis being establishing the relationship between the variables. The advantage of this type of research design is that it is easy to understand as recommended by (Kothari, 2015).This design collected data from members of the population and describes existing phenomenon with reference to economic development as a result of creation of more districts.
3.2 Target Population The population of the study consisted of the district officials (CAO and the local government officials from Myanzi, Kasanda and Bukuya Sub County) since it was a special source of information in regard to creation of new districts and their benefit to the community. Besides that, the target population varied from local people and political analysts in the district since they were well informed with issues related to their district (Kuada, 2012).
3.3 Sample Size The study sample of 144 respondents was determined from the accessible population, using the following Slovene’s formula specified in Amin (2005). N
1+N (e2) Where n stands for the total sample size N stands for the total population 21 e=O.05 A sample of 144 respondents including district officials, local leaders, political analysts and local people from the district was taken for convenience purposes with special focus on the three selected sub-counties. n= N
1+N (e)2 1+ (224 x 0.052) _
— 144
Table 3.1 Sample Size Department/Officers Population of study Sample Size 1. Sub County Officials 25 17 2. Local Leaders 47 35 3. Political Analysts 17 10 4. Local People 135 82 TOTAL 224 144 Source; Primary Data, 2019
3.4 Data Collection Methods The study used a triangulation method that includes (qualitative method and quantitative methods) with validity and reliability of data, sampling procedures and data analysis techniques as discussed below.
3.4.1 Secondary data This included data from various sources for example library, internet sources and journals plus news papers.
3.4.2 Primary Data Collection Primary information in this study was gathered through the following techniques like questionnaires and interview guide. In other-wards it involved data information from the field. For this case, a questionnaire is one of the methods used in primary data collection in study according to Kothari (2004) who explains that questionnaire is considered the heart of survey. Questionnaire tools which included closed and opened questions were distributed to the selected
22 respondents who were expected to have detailed information about district creation and its relevance to economic development of residents in the district.
3.5 Data Collection instruments The study used structured questionnaires for purposes of collecting data. The questionnaire consisted of both closed and open-ended questions. Closed questions provided a more structured response. A five point Likert scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree was used in measuring the extent of the responses provided. The structured questionnaires were administered through a drop and pick later method at an agreed time with the researcher. To achieve the objective of the study, the dependent variable was measured using development indicators from the recent annual reports of the district since its creation. Secondary data sources were used to supplement the data received from questionnaires.
3.6 Validity and Reliability The participants were briefed early in advance by the researcher on the need and importance of the study and permission were sought for their participation in order to have their full support. Guidance on how to answer the questionnaire was available from the researcher. This ensured high completion rate and accuracy of the information provided. Mugenda and Mugenda (1999) contended that the usual procedure in assessing the content validity of a measure is to use a professional expert in a particular field.
3.7 Data Analysis The data collected was edited for accuracy, uniformity, consistency and completeness and then it was arranged to enable coding and tabulation before final analysis. The data was then coded and cross-tabulated to enable the responses to be statistically analyzed using descriptive statistics such as percentages, frequencies and the results were presented in frequency tables and percentages.
3.8 Expected Output The researcher came up with a project paper that highlighted different ways in which the Creation of New Districts has impacted economic development. The paper was stored in the
23 university’s resource centre where it is expected to be of use to future researchers and scholars as they engage in related studies.
3.9 Ethical considerations This consisted of the ethical standards that were used by the researcher to accomplish the tasks of his research work. Under this, he asked for the letter of acceptance from the head of department for public administration which will act as a reference to Kasanda District. After he proceeded to the field and in the process asked for an acceptance letter from the manager in charge at the district.
24 CHAPTER FOUR PRESENTATION OF RESULTS! FINDINGS 4.1 Introduction This chapter deals with the presentation, analysis and interpretation of the findings in relation to the objectives of the study and the research questions. The data is presented using Tables and Figures for easy interpretation and understanding.
4.2 General Findings The research considered a sample a sample size of 144 respondents and 74 were retrieved; of which fifteen (15) were Sub County Officials (10.4%), six (6) were Local Leaders (4.1%), ten (10) were Political Analysts (6.9%), forty three (43) were Local People (29.8%).
4.3 Questionnaires Distributed and Returned One hundred forty four (144) questionnaires were distributed to the respondents, seventy four (74) of which were returned while seventy (70) were not returned. This was because of the commitments the respondents had at their places of work. This was illustrated in the Table below 4.1:
Table 4.1: Questionnaires distributed and returned Response Frequency Percentage (%) Returned 74 51.3 Not Returned 70 48.7 Total 144 100 Source: Primary Data, 2019
The Table illustrates that one hundred forty four (144) questionnaires were issued for the research study, (51 .3%) of which were returned and (48.7%) were not returned. This portrayed maximum cooperation of the respondents.
25 Table 4.2: Gender of the respondents Gender Frequency Percentage (%)
Male 48 64.9
Female 26 35.1
Total 74 100
Source: Primary Data 2019
Gender of the respondents was found necessary for consideration by the researcher so as to ensure gender sensitivity and equality. However, of the returned seventy four (74) questionnaires, it was discovered that forty eight (48) respondents were male while twenty six (26) respondents were female an implication that the research also took into consideration gender sensitivity. However, it was discovered that the creation of new districts has focused more on recruitment of more male counterparts than it is to female and some of the reasons expressed were based on men being more energetic and can thus handle the pressure from local people on the newly created districts.
Figure 4.1: Age of the respondents
Age of the Respondents
40 :~. 24.3% 20 Age of thc Respondents 0 II Age of the Respondents 21~35 36-45 46-55 56 and
above
Source: Primary Data
This was deemed necessary for the study by the researcher so as to ensure the age limit of the respondents to be considered for the research since the minors (respondents below the age of l8years) were not considered liable for the study since their ideas were still believed to be 26 premature as opposed to the great level of mature reasoning that the research required and in accordance to the constitutional rulings of the republic of Uganda, anybody below the age of 18 is considered a child hence cannot express a mature reasoning. This was observed in objective three of the research questionnaire which required the respondents to fully examine the challenges that frequent creation of districts poses to economic development in Kasanda District.
However, responses to this showed that 25.7% were at the age of 21-35, 35.1% were at the age of 36-45, while 24.3% were at the age of 46-5 5 and 14.9% were at the age of 56 and above. Taking the age limit of 36-45, which is a simple majority figure, the results portrayed that the new formed districts are based on legal authorities of Uganda, where public servants have to be mature enough with a strong reasoning and holding some skills which can defend their capacity to serve in the republic of Uganda. Thus the research was based on well skilled and qualified staff which helped it enhance its smooth running and enabled the researcher to make conclusions and recommendations for the study easily.
Table 4.3: Education level of the respondents rducation I c~ ci l’rcquencv Pci ccn~agc ~
Primary 9 12.2
UCI. 13 17.6
UACE 18 24.3
Graduate 23 31.1
Post graduate 11 14.9
Total 74 100
Source: Primary Data, 2019
From study results in Table 4.3, majority 3 1.1% of the respondents were graduates in different bachelor’s degree, 24.3% were UACE holders, 17.6% were UCE holders, 14.9% had post graduate awards and the least with 12.2% had primary level certificates. Education level of the
27 respondents was taken into consideration so as to establish the quality of staff the newly created district had as well as investigating whether it was one of the factors to be relied on to investigate the impact it has imposed over economic development . This therefore showed that most of the respondents were graduates (31.1%) and they could easily read and write which is one of the requirements by the public service commission for at least any public servant.
Marital status of the respondents
This was also put into consideration by the researcher so as to identify the responsibilities possessed by various respondents. Responses to this were however acquired using question 3 of the research questionnaire where the responses found out that 19 of the respondents were single for both male and female with a percentage of (47.5%) while the married respondents were 15 (37.5%), 4 of them were widowed (10%) and 2 of the respondent were divorced (5%).
Table 4.4: Marital status of the respondents
Single 17 23.0
Divorced 10 13.5
Widowed 11 14.9
Separated 9 12.2
Total 74 100 Source: Primary Data
Considering the responses above, it was established that 36.5% of the respondents were married, 23.0% were single, 13.5% were divorced while 14.9% were widowed and 12.2% were separated. Taking 36.5% as a simple majority figure, this concludes that Kasanda District had responsible staff capable of boosting its performance to outwit the newly formed and created districts allover the country.
28 4.4 Presentation of the findings according to the objectives Objective number one of the research questionnaire was to examine the pattern for the creation of local government jurisdiction in Kasanda District. Responses to this were acquired as below: Table 4.5: Whether the pattern is based on bringing services closer to the people
No 26 35.1
Total 74 100
Source: Primary Data, 2019 On the question whether pattern is based on bringing services closer to the people as in question i) section B of the research questionnaire, (64.9%) respondents approved that services have been extended to the people while 35.1% disapproved that the district created has not led to extension of new services because less like education and infrastructure have been achieved. This response therefore portrayed that the district actually uses this chance of being set into portions to extend services closer to the people taking 64.9% as a simple majority response figure.
Table 4.6 Shows whether the legal procedures are not always followed in creating new district in Uganda
~om ment i~ req ucucy ‘crcen gage ~
Srongly Agree 23 3 1 .
Agree 27 36.5
Disanree 16 21.6
Strongly Disagree $ 1 0.8
l’otal 7~l 1 00
Source: Pnmak Data, 20 ~9 From study findings in Table 4.6, 31.1% of the respondents strongly agreed that the legal procedures are not at times followed by the government in creating new districts; 36.5% agreed to the view that legally the government doesn’t follow procedures, while 21.6% disagreed to the
29 view and 10.8% strongly disagreed that the government does not follow legal procedures because they argued that the government does everything following the legal procedures of the country. This gives a broad view that government has based on its political motives rather than considering what the locals need in practice. This is attributed to the fact that the creation of new districts has not been beneficial to the local but rather delayed social services.
Table 4.7 shows whether local government jurisdictions matter in serving the electoral interests of local government politicians
Srongly Agree
Agree 12 16.2
Disagree 24 32.4
Strongly Disagree 16 21.6
Total 74 100
Source: Primary Data, 2019
Results in table 4.7 above indicated that Local Government jurisdictions matter in serving the electoral interests of local government politicians. This was so due to the fact that majority respondents with 32.4% disagreed to the view that it is not a matter of serving the electoral interests of local government politicians, 21.6% strongly disagreed while 29.7% strongly agreed to the view and 16.2% had an agreement. This therefore implied that creation of new districts is not highly based on electoral interest of local governments. Table 4.8 shows whether creation of new districts is based on application of democracy to a geographic scale in the set area and beneficiaries
Agree 30 40.5
Disagree 10 13.5
Strongly Disagree 14 18.9
Total 74 100
Source: Primary Data 2019 Table 4.8 results depicted that majority 40.5% agreed to the view that creation of new districts is based on application of democracy, 27.02% strongly agreed to the view and 18.9% strongly disagreed while 13.5% had a disagreement an indication that whether creation of new districts is based on application of democracy because local people are given a chance to decide for themselves about the new leaders and the social services like schools, this can be based in regard to the number of people residing in a particular area. for example they can decide to ask the government for a technical schools if they have many school drop outs or unemployed youth.
3 4.5 Political, economic and socio-cultural reasons for the creation of local government jurisdiction Objective number two of the research was to examine the political, economic and socio-cultural reasons for the creation of local government jurisdiction and responses to this were given as below: Table 4.9: Political, economic and socio~cultural reasons for the creation of local government jurisdiction
It is has determined how local people become entitled to 50 67.5 participate in networks on the local ground It has encouraged partnership arrangements between the 3 4.05 private and public stakeholders in local areas It has supported networking and collaboration between 1 1 14.8 businesses and public and private and community partnerships There is also growing scrutiny of how the private sector 7 9.4 and other actors relate to Local Governments. Creation of new districts has created a sense of collective 3 4.05 action and mutual support, to harness the network of resources more efficiently and effectively Total 74 100 Source: Primary Data 2019 Results from table4.9 above indicated that majority 67.5% of the respondents acknowledged that the creation of new districts has determined how local people become entitled to participate in networks on the local ground followed by 14.8% who accepted that it has supported networking and collaboration between businesses and public and private and community partnerships and the least with 4.05% had a similar arguments that it has created a sense of collective action and mutual support, to harness the network of resources more efficiently and effectively as well as encouragement of partnership arrangements between the private and public stakeholders in local areas. This therefore implied that the creation of Kasanda district has been so much effective to economic development of Sub counties like Bukuya which has so far situated 5 public schools. 4.6 Challenges that frequent creation of districts poses to economic development in Kasanda District Objective number three of the research was aimed at finding out whether there are challenges to frequent creation of districts and how they affect economic development of Kasanda District and responses to this were therefore given as seen below:
Table 4.10 Challenges that frequent creation of districts poses to economic development in Kasanda District
~1 n~e is a lack of vertical and horizontal linkages between Local Economic Development partners and other stakeholders which delays implementation The lack of resources and inadequate qualified personnel 14 18.9 hamper LED particularly in poor resourced areas making implementation ______The lack of credibility with the consequence that it is 12 16.2 associated with low-level staffing and high turnover especially outside the larger metropolitan areas and cities. The creation of more districts creates nothing but 17 23.0 weakening and opening gaps for capacity constraints at the local level. Ethnic conflicts is attributed to creation of new districts 1 1 14.9 Total 74 100 Source: Primary Data, 2019
Results further depicted that majority 27.2% agreed to the view that there is a lack of vertical and horizontal linkages between Local Economic Development partners and other stakeholders which derails implementation, 23.0% stated that the creation of more districts creates nothing but weakening and opening gaps for capacity constraints at the local level while 18.9% stressed that the lack of resources and inadequate qualified personnel hamper LED particularly in poor resourced areas making implementation though 16.2% stated that the lack of credibility with the consequence that it is associated with low-level staffing and high turnover especially outside the larger metropolitan areas and cities and 14.9% argued that ethnic conflicts is attributed to creation of new districts 3 CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 Introduction This chapter gives a succinct summary of the major findings of the research, conclusion, recommendations and areas for further research. The recommendations are based on the researchers’ analysis and interpretations of the findings. The summary of the research findings outline briefly the objectives of the research.
5.2 Conclusion In a wrap-up, the researchers observed that the creation of new districts is based on a pattern. This was concluded basing on the following responses as summarized in chapter four, 64.9% of the respondents stated that it is based on bringing services closer, 67.6% stated that the legal procedures are not always followed while 55.9% stressed that local government jurisdictions matter in serving the electoral interests of local government politicians though 67.5% stated that new districts is based on application of democracy to a geographic scale in the set area and beneficiaries. The results indicated that in Kasanda district’s formation more focus was based on extension of services closer to the local people. Among the mentioned services were health to protect women from loosing their lives and as well building more infrastructures.
The study also found out that there are many political, economic and socio-cultural reasons for the creation of local government jurisdiction; like determination of how local people become entitled to participate in networks on the local ground (67.5%) and others argued that it is set to encourage partnership arrangements between the private and public stakeholders in local areas (4.05%), others with a response rate of 14.8% argued that it is based on supporting networking and collaboration between businesses and public and private and community partnerships, 9.4% stated that it is based on the growing scrutiny of how the private sector and other actors relate to Local Governments while 4.05% argued that the creation of new districts has created a sense of collective action and mutual support, to harness the network of resources more efficiently and effectively.
34 Furthermore, it was discovered that there are challenges from creation of new districts since 27.2% of the respondents stated that there is a lack of vertical and horizontal linkages between Local Economic Development partners and other stakeholders which delays implementation, 18.9% stated that at times that there is lack of resources and inadequate qualified personnel hamper LED particularly in poor resourced areas making implementation while 16.2% stressed that the lack of credibility with the consequence that it is associated with low-level staffing and high turnover especially outside the larger metropolitan areas and cities though 23.0% stated that the creation of more districts creates nothing but weakening and opening gaps for capacity constraints at the local level and 14.9% argued that ethnic conflicts is attributed to creation of new districts. This therefore implied that majority respondents accepted that 27.2% of the respondents jointly accepted the view that there is a lack of vertical and horizontal linkages between Local Economic Development partners and other stakeholders which delays implementation.
5.3 Recommendations The research therefore provided the following recommendations for the study, chapter four of the study:
5.3.1 Pattern for the creation of local government jurisdiction in Kasanda District From the findings of the study results depicted that the creation of new districts is attributed to extension of services closer to the public, following the legal procedures and application of democracy however it is recommendable that the government follows legal authorities governing creation of local authorities in Uganda and it should always consult from the public on their views concerning what thy want and what they do not.
5.3.2 Political, economic and socio-cultural reasons for the creation of local government jurisdiction From findings in chapter four it was analyzed that the political, economic and sociocultural reasons affect creation of new districts, hwoevre, in regard to the responses collected from the filed, it has more political base there in. It is therefore recommended that the government considers the socio outcry of different local communities especially health to reduce on the increasing maternal mortality rates and also improving livelihoods of the community because a 35 healthy free community creates development. This should be backed by eenhancement of more projects to involve youth because they are the able bodied group of people which can help to extend government initiatives.
5.3.3 Challenges that frequent creation of districts poses to economic development in Kasanda District From study results, it was indicated that creation of ew districts is challenged by political involvement at the ground which delays implementation, there is lack of resources and inadequate qualified personnel which hampers Local Economic development particularly in poor resourced. Hence it is recommneded that creation of new districts should be backed by avoiding politics, extension of social services for a better Uganda.
5.4 Areas for further research The researcher feels that due to the limited time and resources available to them during the period of this study, enough research has not been exhausted in this study and therefore recommends other upcoming and intending researchers to carry out a further research on the role played by local governments in extending social services to local people. Effectiveness of the new formed districts in enforcement of the NRM ten points programme in Uganda.
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40 APPENDIX I QUESTIONNAIRE SCHEDULE CREATION OF NEW DISTRICTS ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF UGANDA. A CASE STUDY OF SELECTED SUB-COUNTIES IN KASANDA DISTRICT QUESTIONNAIRES FOR KEY INFORMANTS Dear Respondent I am Mbusa Jockim a student from Kampala International University pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree of Public Administration and Political Studies year three, semester two. The questionnaire has been designed for sole purpose of collecting data on the creation of new districts on economic development of Uganda. Thus the questionnaire below will help me gather the data required for my topic of research, therefore you are requested to respond to the following questions appropriately for the purposes of my academic research and I declare that the information given shall be treated with maximum confidentiality it deserves for academic purpose. Tick one or write the relevant information in the space provided.
PART A: GENERAL INFORMATION Please tick the appropriate box that suits your agreement. 1. Gender Male El Female El 2. Age bracket of respondents 21-35 years I I 3 6-45 years I
46-5 5 years _____ 56 and above ____I 3. Education Background of respondents Primary El UCE El UACE El Graduate L1
41 Post graduate 4. Marital Status of respondents Single Married Widowed Divorced
PART B: Creation of New Districts and Economic Development of Uganda Kindly indicate the extent to which you agree with the following statements concerning Creation of New Districts and Economic Development of Uganda Use the scale of; Code 1 2 3 4 5 Status Strongly agree Agree Strongly disagree Disagree Not sure
~ 1~2~3~4~5 Pattern for the creation of local government jurisdiction in Kasanda District
The pattern is based on bringing services closer to the people which has become — — — the mantra of Local Government and politicians and bureaucrats to justify the creation of districts
The Legal procedures are not always followed in creating new district in Uganda — — — —
Local Government jurisdictions matter in serving the electoral interests of local — — — government politicians
Creation of new districts is based on application of democracy to a geographic — — — — — scale in the set area and beneficiaries Political, economic and socio-cultural reasons for the creation of local government jurisdiction
The creation of this district has determined how local people become entitled to — — — — participate in networks on the local ground
It has encouraged partnership arrangements between the private and public — — — — stakeholders in local areas 42 It has supported networking and collaboration between businesses and public and private and community partnerships There is also growing scrutiny of how the private sector and other actors relate to Local Governments.
Creation of new districts has created a sense of collective action and mutual — — — — support, to harness the network of resources more efficiently and effectively Challenges that frequent creation of districts poses to economic development in Kasanda District
There is a lack of vertical and horizontal linkages between Local Economic — — — Development partners and other stakeholders which derails implementation
The lack of resources and inadequate qualified personnel hamper LED — — — particularly in poor resourced areas making implementation
The lack of credibility with the consequence that it is associated with low-level — — staffing and high turnover especially outside the larger metropolitan areas and cities.
The creation of more districts creates nothing but weakening and opening gaps — — — — for capacity constraints at the local level.
43 APPENDIX II INTERVIEW GUIDE 1. What does the creation of new districts mean to you? 2. How beneficial are the new district to you as local people? 3. What are some of the challenges posed to your areas by the new created districts? 4. Do you think there is any relationship between creation of new districts and economic development? 5. What would you recommend the government to improve on the new formed district for better service delivery? Thank you so much for your cooperation
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