View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Wits Institutional Repository on DSPACE Decentralisation and Urban Governance in Uganda By Sabiti Makara Supervisor: Prof. Tom Lodge Thesis submitted to the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg For the award of a Ph.D in the Faculty of Humanities 2009 i Declaration I declare that this is my own work which, to the best of my knowledge, has not been submitted to any university for any academic award. ii Dedication This work is dedicated to the memory of my late father, Eliab Makara who taught me that life and work have the same meaning, and to my late grandmother Egransi Baroza, under whose care and guidance I grew to realise my childhood dream. iii Acknowledgement I am indebted to many people for their contribution to this work. I thank my supervisor Professor Tom Lodge, who despite the challenge of transferring from Wits to Limerick University retained and guided me to the end. It is a privilege accorded to very few students and I am lucky to have associated with him in this regard. To the members of my family, especially my wife Beatrice Kabahinda, children: Janet Kukundakwe, Jessica Namara, Joy Asiimwe and Joseph Ruteikara and to my dear mother, Medias, I owe you a pat on the back for all kinds of support to me. It was never a bed of roses, it was a struggle throughout. I am grateful to Makerere University for a grant that enabled me to pursue this degree. Last but not least, I thank my colleagues who contributed in various capacities to the process of writing this work: William Muhumuza, Paul Omach, Andrew Ellias State, R. Sibongile, Kitty Tweyanze, Aziz Manuel Kanyemibwa, Mable Ekyarikunda, Beatrice Kabahinda, Charity Makara, Arthur Makara and P.Bwire Lumumba. I am equally grateful to all persons who responded to my questionnaires and interviews, and offered information in all forms that enabled the writing of this work. Bravo! iv Table of Contents Declaration .............................................................................................................................. i Dedication............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgement.................................................................................................................iii Table of Contents.................................................................................................................. iv List of Tables.......................................................................................................................... x List of Acronyms.................................................................................................................xiii Abstract… .......................................................................................................................... xvii Chapter 1: Background to the study: Decentralisation and urban governance.............. 1 1.0 Background to the Study................................................................................................. 1 1.1 A brief Historical Reflection........................................................................................... 6 1.2 Rationale......................................................................................................................... 10 1.3 The problem of urban governance in Uganda: focus on Kampala........................... 14 1.4 The Structure and Responsibilities of Urban Local Governments in Uganda ........ 16 1.5 The key objective of the study ...................................................................................... 19 1.6 Kampala City: A Case Study........................................................................................ 22 1.7 The Genesis and Process of Decentralisation in Uganda ........................................... 26 1.8 Locating the Conceptual Underpinnings of this Study .............................................. 29 1.9 Unpacking: “Good Governance” ................................................................................. 34 1.10 Connecting Good Governance with Decentralisation .............................................. 41 1.11 The thesis of this study ................................................................................................ 41 1.12 Methodology................................................................................................................. 42 1.12.1 Primary Data Collection .......................................................................................... 43 1.12.2 Type of Data Collected ............................................................................................. 43 1.12.3 Sampling Procedure.................................................................................................... 44 1.12.4 Key Informants Interviewed at KCC Headquarters............................................. 45 1.12.5 Other Selected Key Informants............................................................................... 45 1.12.6 Category of Respondents Interviewed within Civil Society.................................. 46 1.12.7 Administration of Questionnaires........................................................................... 46 1.12.8 Challenges experienced in Questionnaire Administration ................................... 48 1.12.9 Observation ............................................................................................................... 49 1.12.10 Data Processing and Analysis................................................................................ 50 1.12.11 Success and limitations of the Study ..................................................................... 50 Chapter 2: Decentralisation and Urban Governance: A Theoretical Framework........ 52 2.0 Introduction.................................................................................................................... 52 2.1 Decentralisation in Perspective .................................................................................... 54 2.2 The Meaning of Decentralisation ................................................................................. 55 2.3 Decentralisation versus Centralisation........................................................................ 56 2.4 The Primacy of Local Government Reforms .............................................................. 58 2.5 Inter-governmental Relations and Service Delivery .................................................. 61 2.6 Urbanisation................................................................................................................... 68 2.7 Legal and Social Framework for Urban Development .............................................. 70 2.8 Importance of urban governance................................................................................. 76 2.9 A Governance Approach to Urbanisation................................................................... 77 v 2.10 State–Society Relations as “Good Governance”....................................................... 82 2.11 Linking Good governance and decentralisation in the urban context.................... 85 Chapter 3: Local Governance in Uganda: An Historical Overview ............................... 88 3.0 Introduction.................................................................................................................... 88 3.1 The Colonial Heritage of Uganda’s Local Government System ............................... 88 3.2 Colonial Government Reforms at the Local Level ..................................................... 95 3.3 Urban Development and Governance Reforms........................................................ 100 3.4 Post – Colonial Local Government ............................................................................ 109 3.5 Centralizing Tendencies in the Post-colonial Era..................................................... 110 3.6 Deficit of Local Democracy......................................................................................... 115 3.7 Urban Authorities Administration in the Post-Colonial Era .................................. 116 3.8 Institutional Decline and Its Implications for Kampala City .................................. 119 Chapter 4: Decentralisation: The Case of Rebuilding Institutions of Local Governance in Uganda…………………………………………………………………...…122 4.1 Introduction.................................................................................................................. 122 4.2 Uganda: “The Bloody Pearl”...................................................................................... 125 4.3 Understanding State Collapse in Uganda.................................................................. 126 4.4 Decentralisation as a Response to Institutional Collapse......................................... 130 4.4.1 Decentralisation Phase I: Resistance Councils (RCs) ................................................ 131 4.4.2 Decentralisation Phase II: From Resistance Councils to Local Councils.................. 135 4.4.3 Centre – Local Relations under Decentralisation ....................................................... 144 4.4.4 Implications for the Debate on the Nature of Local Government .............................. 149 4.4.5 Democratic decentralisation in the context of an authoritarian centre ....................... 150 4.5 Fiscal Decentralisation ...............................................................................................