POLITICAL DECENTRALISATION AND GOOD GOVERNANCE ACASE STUDY OF NAMUTUMBA TOWN COUNCIL IN NAMUTUMBA DISTRICT BY SEWAVA FRANK BPA144132/143/DU A RESEARCH REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE COLLEGE OF HUMANTIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES AS A PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE AWARD OF BACHELORS’ DEGREE IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION OF KAMPALA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY AUGUST, 2017 DECLARATION I, Sewava Frank do here by declare that this work is original and has never been submitted to any other institution for award of any degree where the work of others has been used, reference has been ma~ ere of. Signed: ~ Date: ~ SEWAVA FRANK BPA/44132/1431DU APPROVAL This research report titled “Political decentralization in promoting good governance”: A case study of Namutumba Town council has submitted by Sewava Frank for examination with my approval as the university supervisor and it’s now ready for presentation for the award of a Bachelor of public Administration of Kampala International University. Signed~ Date: ..~- AHEEBWA SANURA (Supervisor) DEDICATION I dedicate this piece of work to my beloved Daddy and Mammy because he really struggled too much for my being and completion of my studies, for supporting me both morally and financially. May the Almighty God reward them abundantly. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I extend a vote of thanks to a number of people who unreservedly, contributed towards the accomplishment of this research work and my studies at large. I also would like to acknowledge the assistance and role played by the following personalities as they have been engines behind my success. I cannot say exactly how grateful I am to my supervisor. His guidance in this study is beyond measure. Thank you for also for providing me with professional advice, encouragement and your time that has spurred me to success. I cannot forget the efforts of the staff of Kampala international university especially lecturers at faculty of humanities and social science for their input and effort that made me acquire the invaluable knowledge. Your contribution can never be quantified but will always be appreciated whenever I look through this book. Lastly I warmly thank my parents for sacrificing the little they had, in thick and thin and invested in my education .This sacrifice that you made failed in other people’s homes. Thank you for looking after me and enabling me to acquire the best among the best life investment. iv ABSTI~ACT The study was carried out to find out the relationship between Political decentralization and good governance in Namutumba town council Namutumba district Uganda. The study aimed at three objectives which included; To examine the role of political decentralization in promoting good governance, challenges of political decentralization and establish the solutions to the challenges facing political decentralization in promoting good governance in Namutumba town council Namutumba district. The study applied both qualitative and quantitative research designs where interviews and questionnaires were used. Data was collected from both primary and secondary sources. Data was processed and analyzed using fonnal, tables, pie charts, narrative text and correction to find out the relationship between political decentralization and good governance. A total of 80 respondents were considered out of the entire population in Namutumba town council. The findings indicated that the nature and the magnitude of the political decentralization in the Namutumba town council include: Decentralization provides opportunities to marginalized sectors of the community, like women in some countries, minorities, political decentralization increases effectiveness in service delivery, Political decentralization provides bureaucrats with early warnings of potential disasters, enabling quick remedial action, challenges affecting political decentralization in promoting good governance these included the following among other factors; Specialists within broad disciplines create confusion by focusing, limited empirical evidence to support decentralization and clarify how to reap its potential benefits, in Uganda, most of the mayors have a difficulty to manage the communes and political environment is always unstable. The solutions to the challenges facing political decentralization included; Effective sensitization and participation of the public, training of the local elected members. Basing on findings recommendations involves; the government should invest more in the will to expand the political capacity necessary to implement and enforce the very comprehensive, further training is required for Local government authorities to and a consultative forum is recommended for the promoting good governance and the various agencies involved in management of public funds. V TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION APPROVAL DEDICATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv ABSTRACT TABLE OF CONTENS LIST OF TABLES CHAPTER ONE i 1.0 Introduction 1 1.1 Background of the study 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem 4 1.3 General Objectives 5 1.4 Research Questions 5 1.5 Scope of the study 6 1.5.1 Content scope 6 1.5.2 Geographical scope 6 1.5.3 Time scope 6 1.6 Significance of the study 7 1.7 Conceptual Framework 8 1.8 Definition of concepts 9 CHAPTER TWO 11 LITERATURE REVIEW ii 2.0 INTRODUCTION 11 2.1 The role of political decentralization in promoting good governance 11 2.2 The challenges of political decentralization in promoting good governance 13 2.3 The solutions to the challenges of political decentralization in promoting good governance. 16 2.4. The researche?s view about the literature 19 vi CHAPTER THREE .21 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 21 3.0 Introduction 21 3.1. Research design 21 3.2 Study population 21 3.3 Sample size 22 3.4 Sampling procedures 22 3.5 Methods of data collection and instruments 22 3.5.1 Questionnaire 22 3.6 Validity and reliability of research instruments 23 3.6.1 Research validity 23 3.6.2 Reliability 23 3.7 Data Analysis 24 3.8 Ethical consideration 24 3.9 Study limitations 24 CHAPTER FOUR 26 DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF FINDINGS 26 4.0 Introduction 26 4.1 Socio Demographic characteristics of respondents 26 4.1 .1 Distribution of respondents according to Age in Namutumba town council Narnutumba district 26 4.1.2 Distribution of Respondents according to marital status 27 4.1.4 Distribution of respondents according to education level 28 4.2 The role of political decentralization in promoting good governance in Namutumba town council Namutumba district 28 4.2.1 Political decentralization provides opportunities to marginalized sectors arole in promoting good governance 29 4.2.2 Political decentralization increases effectiveness in service delivery 29 Table 6; Represents political decentralization increases effectiveness in service delivery 29 1.2.3 Political decentralization encourages communities to find solutions to their needs 30 Table 7: Represents political decentralization encourages communities to find solutions to their needs 30 4.2.4 Political decentralization makes development of projects more sustainable 31 4.3 Challenges of political decentralization in promoting good governance in Namutumba town council Namutumba district 31 4.3.1 Limited empirical evidence to support political decentralization 32 4.3.2 The level of centralized revenue in Uganda 33 4.3.3 Responsibility is complex concerning the political decentralization 33 4.3.4 Mayors have a difficulty to manage the communes 34 4.4 Solutions to the challenges of political decentralization in Namutumba town council Namutumba district 35 4.4.1 Effective sensitization and participation of the public in politics 35 4.4.2 Training of the local elected members 36 4.4.3 institutionalization of the communes’ agent states 36 4.4.4 Implementation of incentive measures allowing the development of local economic activities susceptible to improve the potential of taxes 37 CHAPTER FIVE 38 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 38 5.0 Introduction 38 5.1 Summary of findings 38 5.1.1 Summary of findings on roles of political decentralization in Namutumba town council Namutumba district 38 5.1.2 Summary of findings on challenges facing political decentralization in Namutumba town council Namutumba district 38 5.1.3 Summary of findings on solutions to the challenges of political decentralization in Namutumba town council Namutumba district 39 5.2 Conclusions 39 5.3 Recommendations 40 5.4 Suggested Further Research 41 REFERENCES 42 VI I I APPENDIX I: QUESTIONNAIRE TO THE RESPONDENTS 45 APPENDIX II: WORK PLAN 50 APEPENDIX III: BUDGET ESTIMATES 51 ix LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Represents gender characteristics of respondents 26 Table 2: Represents the characteristics of the respondents according to age 26 Table 3: Represents marital status of respondents 27 Table 4: Represents Level of education of respondents 28 Table 5; Represents opportunities to marginalized sector in promoting good governance 29 Table 6; Represents political decentralization increases effectiveness in service delivery 29 Table 7: Represents political decentralization encourages communities to find solutions to their needs 43 Table 8: Represents political decentralization makes development projects more sustainable. ...3 I Table 9: Represents limited empirical evidence to support decentralization 32 Table 10: Represents the level of centralized revenue in Uganda is much higher 33 Table 1 1: Represents the responsibility complexity concerning the political decentralization 33 Table 12: Represents mayors have a difficulty to manage the communes 34 Table 13; Represents effective