ecentralization and citizen democracy continue to be a work in progress in Uganda and other African countries. The Local Government Councils’ Scorecard Initiative (LGCSCI) Report 2016/17 titled Civic Engagement: LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCILS SCORECARD ASSESSMENT DActivating the Potentials of Local Governance in Uganda explores a wide range of actions for holding governments accountable for executing their mandate ADVOCATES COALITION FOR DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENT (ACODE) and providing effective services to citizens. The book highlights an innovative methodology grounded in evidence-based performance scorecards and social accountability practices for direct citizen engagement. While other studies focus on the effects of participatory budgeting and monitoring of public expenditure, LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCILS SCORECARD evidence-based evaluation of government performance by civil society has received less attention at the level of practice. This book fills that gap. ASSESSMENT 2016/2017 Civic Engagement: Activating the Potentials of Local Governance in Uganda highlights the civic engagement action plan process, a mechanism for activating the demand side of local governance. The book analyzes the most effective mechanisms for building issue-based civic consciousness of citizens as well as cementing the social contract between the elected leaders and their electorate. The LGCSCI methodology will inspire practical ways for innovators in the fields of social accountability, civic engagement and development to build on successes and address challenges in the decentralization process. The lessons learned provide an invaluable guide for government officials and CIVIC ENGAGEMENT politicians, academics, civil society and development practitioners to grasp ACTIVATING THE POTENTIALS OF LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN how to implement and strengthen local governance, democratic mechanisms UGANDA for citizen engagement, and positive social change. This study should be on bookshelves everywhere, representing an important contribution to the case study literature on decentralization and accountability in Africa and beyond. Professor Russell D. Rhoads Grand Valley State University (USA) 2016/2017 ADVOCATES COALITION FOR DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENT Plot 96, Kanjokya Street, Kamwokya. P. O. Box 29836, Kampala. Tel: +256 312 812150. Email: [email protected] / [email protected] Arthur Bainomugisha|Lillian Muyomba-Tamale |Wilson Winstons Muhwezi | Kiran Cunningham Website: www.acode-u.org Eugene Gerald Ssemakula | George Bogere | Jonas Mbabazi |Phoebe Atukunda |Naomi Asimo ISBN: 978-9970-567-05-8 ACODE Policy Research Series No.83, 2017 CIVIC ENGAGEMENT: ACTIVATING THE POTENTIAL OF LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN UGANDA ADVOCATES COALITION FOR DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENT (ACODE) THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCILS SCORECARD INITIATIVE REPORT 2016/17 CIVIC ENGAGEMENT: ACTIVATING THE POTENTIALS OF LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN UGANDA Arthur Bainomugisha|Lillian Muyomba-Tamale|Wilson Winstons Muhwezi Kiran Cunningham|Eugene Gerald Ssemakula|George Bogere|Jonas Mbabazi Phoebe Atukunda|Naomi Asimo ACODE Policy Research Series No. 83, 2017 i LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCILS SCORECARD ASSESSMENT 2016/2017 Published by ACODE P.O.Box 29836, Kampala – UGANDA Email: [email protected], [email protected] Website: http://www.acode-u.org Citation: Bainomugisha, A., Muyomba-Tamale, L., Muhwezi W., W., Cunningham, K., Ssemakula, E.,G., Bogere, G., Mbabazi, J., Asimo, N., Atukunda, P. Local Government Councils Scorecard Assessment 2016/17: Civic Engagement: Activating the Potentials of Local Governance in Uganda, Kampala, ACODE Policy Research Series No.83, 2017. © ACODE 2017 Photo Credits: Picture 1: The Soroti - Kabermaido Road Photo by: Vision Group Picture 2: ACODE Researchers facilitating a Community Engagement Action Plan (CEAP) meeting in Rupa Sub County, Moroto District Photo by: ACODE Digital Library All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission of the publisher. ACODE policy work is supported by generous donations from bilateral donors and charitable foundations. The reproduction or use of this publication for academic or charitable purpose or for purposes of informing public policy is exempted from this restriction. ISBN: 978-9970-567-05-8 ii CIVIC ENGAGEMENT: ACTIVATING THE POTENTIAL OF LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN UGANDA ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS t is with pleasure and humility that ACODE presents to our esteemed audience the 7th Annual Local Government Councils Scorecard Report with findings from Ithe assessment for FY 2016/17. The financial resources for the assessment that was conducted in 35 districts around the country was provided by development partners through the Democratic Governance Facility (DGF). ACODE is grateful to the DGF contributing partners (Austria, Denmark, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU)) for their generosity. ACODE would also like to appreciate support from USAID and UKaid under GAPP, who provided funding for the assessments in the districts of Arua, Masindi, Nwoya and Apac. We are also indebted to the Think Tank Initiative (TTI) for providing core funding to ACODE. In a special way, we would like to thank the Hewlett Foundation, whose support to ACODE’s Centre for Budget and Economic Governance (CBEG) enabled us to deepen civic engagement and citizens demand for better service delivery through Civic Engagement Action Plans (CEAPs). ACODE is indebted to the following government agencies for their continued support of the scorecard assessment; Ministry of Local Government, the Office of the District Chairpersons, District Speakers District Councils, Chief Administrative Officers and the District Clerks to Council in all the 35 districts, We are also grateful to the district councilors who are the primary focus of the scorecard assessment. In addition, we are grateful to the very many community members who put aside their time to attend the community meetings that were organized in all the sub counties of the scorecard districts. ACODE acknowledges the unreserved support of Uganda Local Government Assessment (ULGA), which works in partnership with ACODE to implement the scorecard assessment in the local governments. We appreciate the support of the Executive Committee and the Secretary General of the ULGA Secretariat and the entire staff for the support provided during the assessment. We are also indebted to the LGCSCI Expert Group that continuously provides intellectual guidance with regard to the development of a robust methodology and the entire process of assessment. ACODE recognizes the contribution of the following to this report, Mr. Mark Oscord Otile a Research Assistant at ACODE and project interns including Ms. Chealcious Angom, Ms. Miriam Gabriella Abalo and Ms. Katryn Kay Walsh. We are also in a special way, appreciative of the input of students of Kalamazoo College, Michigan (USA) who assisted with the analysis of the qualitative data presented in this report. We also wish to acknowledge ACODE’s network of district researchers who are responsible for conducting fieldwork in the 35 districts that produced the data for analysis in this report. Lastly, we would like to acknowledge the effort of Dr. Cornelius Gulere who edited this report. iii LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCILS SCORECARD ASSESSMENT 2016/2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents iv List of Tables vii List of Figures vii Abbreviations and Acronyms viii Executive Summary x 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 The Local Government Councils Scorecard Initiative (LGCSCI) 3 2 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 6 2.1 Defining Decentralization 6 2.2 Evolution of Decentralization in Uganda 6 2.3 Local Government Councils’ Scorecard Initiative as a Social 10 Accountability Intervention 2.4 Theory of Change 13 3 Methodology 17 3.1 Introduction 17 3.2 Selection Criteria of Assessed Districts 17 3.3 Core LGCSCI Activities 20 3.3.1 Capacity Building 20 3.3.2 Civic Engagement Action Plans (CEAPs) 21 3.3.3 ACODE’s Local Government SMS Platform 22 3.3.4 Multi-District Leadership Forums 22 3.4 The 2016/17 LGCSCI Assessment Design and Methodology 22 3.4.1 Participants in the Assessment 23 3.4.2 Assessment Participant Selection 23 3.4.3 Assessment Tools and Their Administration 23 3.5 The Scorecard and the Local Government Structure 24 3.6 Data Collection Processes 24 3.7 Specific Instruments for Data Collection 26 3.8 Data Management and Analysis 27 3.9 Quality Control Measures in LGCSCI Assessment 28 3.10 Ethical and Implementation Challenges and their Mitigation 29 3.11 Strengths and Limitations Associated with LGCSCI 30 3.12 Report Dissemination 31 4 SCORECARD PERFORMANCE AND ANALYSIS 33 4.1 Introduction 33 4.2 Composition of the District Councils 33 iv CIVIC ENGAGEMENT: ACTIVATING THE POTENTIAL OF LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN UGANDA 4.3 Performance of District Councils 34 4.3.1 Overall Performance 38 4.3.2 Legislative Role of Councils 38 4.3.3 Accountability to Citizens 38 4.3.4 Planning and Budgeting of District Councils 39 4.3.5 Monitoring Priority Development Areas 39 4.4 Performance District Chairpersons 39 4.4.1 Overall Performance 42 4.4.2 Political Leadership of District Chairpersons 43 4.4.3 Legislative Role of District Chairpersons 43 4.4.4 Contact with the Electorate 44 4.4.5 Initiation of Projects in Local Governments 44 4.4.6 Monitoring Priority Development Areas (PDAs) 45 4.5 Performance of Speakers of Council