The Collapse of Local Governments and Decentralization Policy in Ugand

The Collapse of Local Governments and Decentralization Policy in Ugand PDF

Author: Mahiri Balunywa

Publisher: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing

Published: 2012-06

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 9783659146824

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The bastion of the birth of Decentralization in Uganda no doubt created a sense of hopefulness in the previously hopeless citizenry whose mandate to take charge of their own affairs had been usurped by the previous regimes. The positive fascinations of people's participation, closer service delivery, end of bureaucracy and local accountability were believed to be a renaissance for the people of Uganda and their country. With the passage of time, however, the central government began to interfere with local politics by re-centralizing power and accountability, appointing key authorities in LGs, and subdividing or completely taking over some LGs; all of which (have) led to the collapse of the original philosophical underpinnings of Decentralization in Uganda. As a result, the future of Decentralization and LGs in Uganda is increasingly becoming bleak as their structures appear fragile and withering. As Chinua Achebe observed, "when the centre fails to hold, things fall apart." The centre, therefore, needs to get back on the drawing board, and set back LGs and the Decentralization Policy to their original plan; otherwise their future in Uganda will end up in a state of oblivion.

Uganda

Uganda PDF

Author: Ehtisham Ahmad

Publisher:

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 38

ISBN-13:

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A politically driven and ambitious decentralization program implemented by the authorities since the late 1990s has had mixed results in terms of enhancing service delivery. Paradoxically, concerns with the results of service delivery, partially driven by donors' requirements, have resulted in a deconcentrated system relying on conditional grants and unfunded mandates. This has reduced the incentives, responsibility, and ownership for local authorities to improve service delivery. Crucially, for functions where the local authorities have had full responsibility, better service quality has resulted than in those areas in which there are overlapping responsibilities between the center and the local authorities

Does Decentralization Enhance Service Delivery and Poverty Reduction?

Does Decentralization Enhance Service Delivery and Poverty Reduction? PDF

Author: Ehtisham Ahmad

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2009-01-01

Total Pages: 411

ISBN-13: 1849801851

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Does decentralization enhance service delivery and poverty reduction? The expert contributors to this book address this fundamental question faced by policymakers and scholars in developing and advanced countries. The book illustrates that it is equally important for international agencies as well as bilateral donors to provide advice and assistance on decentralization that effectively supports poverty reduction. The volume builds on insights from the recent, political economy developments in the intergovernmental literature reviewed in the Handbook of Fiscal Federalism, and presents new empirical evidence on the effects of decentralization in different parts of the world. Policy-oriented papers evaluating the effectiveness of decentralized service delivery are presented. The role of institutions and the importance of sequencing of policies in ensuring effective outcomes are also considered. The volume presents some insightful empirical studies of the decentralization process from Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Africa. With a detailed empirical analysis of effective outcomes of public policies implemented at the sub-national level, and a focus on method, this book will be of great interest to academics specializing in public sector economics and public finance, and to national and international policymakers.

Decentralization and Service Delivery

Decentralization and Service Delivery PDF

Author:

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 29

ISBN-13:

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Dissatisfied with centralized approaches to delivering local public services, a large number of countries are decentralizing responsibility for these services to lower-level, locally elected governments. The results have been mixed. The paper provides a framework for evaluating the benefits and costs, in terms of service delivery, of different approaches to decentralization, based on relationships of accountability between different actors in the delivery chain. Moving from a model of central provision to that of decentralization to local governments introduces a new relationship of accountability-between national and local policymakers-while altering existing relationships, such as that between citizens and elected politicians. Only by examining how these relationships change can we understand why decentralization can, and sometimes cannot, lead to better service delivery. In particular, the various instruments of decentralization-fiscal, administrative, regulatory, market, and financial-can affect the incentives facing service providers, even though they relate only to local policymakers. Likewise, and perhaps more significantly, the incentives facing local and national politicians can have a profound effect on the provision of local services. Finally, the process of implementing decentralization can be as important as the design of the system in influencing service delivery outcomes.

Decentralization and Development Partnership

Decentralization and Development Partnership PDF

Author: Fumihiko Saito

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 4431539557

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Decentralization - an essential pillar of institutional reform - is of critical importance in developing countries, particularly in regard to democratization, effective development, and good governance. Uganda, since 1986 and the start of decentralization measures under Yoweri Museveni and the National Resistance Movement, has represented one of the most serious commitments in Sub-Saharan Africa. With the benefit of extensive fieldwork, Fumihiko Saito demonstrates how conflict resolution, information dissemination, and encouragement of the many and varied stakeholders to form partnerships are critical to successfully bringing services "closer to the people. Decentralization and Development Partnerships: Lessons from Uganda goes beyond theory to compare academic assumptions to the reality of decentralization implementation in modern Uganda. Although the process is by no means free of difficulties, Saito concludes that a "win-win" outcome is a real possibility.