29 March 2016

Local governments should move beyond being mere service delivery points


In Summary



If local governments are to remain relevant to the expectations of the local people they serve, they should begin to invest in profitable business ventures.






With the adoption of the decentralisation policy in Uganda in 1993, most central government powers and responsibilities for planning and the delivery of public services were devolved to local governments – the Local Government Act (1997 – CAP 243). It was assumed that decentralisation would quicken decision-making processes and increase participation by the local people.






It’s fair to say that some progress has been registered under decentralisation. For instance, local people are involved in electing their leaders who should represent their interests in local government councils. Whether the elected leaders actually perform their roles as stipulated in the Local Government Act or not, that is a discussion for another article.
Local contractors are involved in the construction of roads, classroom blocks, pit-latrines and other projects in districts; Universal Primary Education (UPE) enrollment has been a success with a rate of 90 per cent (Acode, Scorecard Assessment 2014/2015); health facilities have been constructed countrywide up to the level of health centre IIs in most parishes, thereby reducing the average walking distance to a health unit.






However, the quality and state of public services in districts such as the road network, education, health, water and sanitation, and agriculture are wanting. The Second Schedule (Part 2) of the LGA – CAP 243 clearly stipulates functions and services for which district councils are responsible, subject to Article 176(2) of the Constitution of the republic of Uganda.
Many a leader in local governments, when elected, come to council with desire and a lot of ambition to positively change things and improve the delivery of services in their respective local governments. However, they soon get frustrated by the existing realities such as a low local revenue base, heavy reliance on central government transfers, limited budget allocation to district sectors, long procurement cycle, to mention but a few.






The scorecard findings by Acode for the financial year 2014/2015 revealed that most local governments were not able to respond to existing service delivery gaps due to limited finances. Jinja District, for instance, continued to rely on central government transfers (94 per cent) to service its budget. Even with the high tax compliance rate of 80 per cent, percentage local revenue contribution to the Jinja District budget remained low at 3.9 per cent.
Like the common saying goes, “he who has the money has the power”. If local governments are to remain relevant to the expectations of the local people they serve, they should begin to invest in profitable business ventures. That way, they will be able to raise sufficient funds to not only cause development in their area, but to also be able to respond to existing deficiencies in the delivery of public services such as improving access to clean and safe water to their communities.






Jinja, for example, is currently attracting a young workforce due to the industries and corporate organisations being established in the district. Investment in the real estate development could, for instance, be a viable project. There is no serious organisation, whether private or public, that is currently involved in real estate development in Jinja and yet there is inadequate and affordable decent housing units.
Currently, the central government allocates only about 15 per cent of the national budget to be shared among all the local governments, yet majority of the population and the implementation of the delivery of public services takes place in local governments.






Mr Otile is a researcher. oscord.otile@gmail.com






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