Decentralisation and urban governance in Uganda
Date
2010-04-13T10:43:20Z
Authors
Makara, Sabiti
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Abstract
The study examines the nature and context of the debate on state-society relations, focusing
on the socio-economic and political reforms that have taken place in the governance of the
public realm in the past three decades. It analyses the process and impact of the new
governance reforms undertaken in Uganda since the early 1990s on the performance of state
institutions. It focuses on the implementation of the programme of state reform through
decentralisation; putting in perspective the ramifications of the claim that decentralisation
brings about effective, efficient, participatory and citizen-focused service delivery in the
management of public organisations, including urban authorities. Drawing from the peculiar
failures of state institutions in post-colonial Uganda, the study critiques the theoretical and
empirical premise of devolution by attempting to link the process of institutional recovery to
experimentation with the “new governance models” as applied to the management of the
urbanisation process. It interrogates the claim that decentralisation reforms bring about
demand-driven service delivery, democratic discourse and greater organisational
performance. Anchored in the premises of good governance theorem, the study questions
the realities of decentralisation in engendering a new official behaviour, taming rigid
bureaucratic practices, engineering a new service culture and espousing a dictum of statecivil
society engagement. These goals raise the key argument, that is, whether the quest for
realisation of organisational change in the implementation of urban governance reforms in
Uganda has been facilitated by the conscious readiness of the state to realise tangible public
goods such as popular accountability, improved livelihoods of the ordinary people and the
increased capacity of the state to build sustainable management systems.
Furthermore, the study discusses and questions the capacity of decentralisation to adequately
address the myriad of urban governance challenges that include explosion of the urban
population, high poverty levels, scarcity of employment, poor service delivery, deterioration
in urban infrastructure, low management capacities and a poor management culture, raising
complex political questions surrounding the decision making process that seem to have
undercut the possibility of a new governance model to effectively take root.
This study concludes that although decentralisation has improved relations between
government officials and the ordinary people, there are still many challenges in the
management of Kampala city. The challenges encountered in urban service delivery include
the failure of state institutions to perfom their functions, lack of pro-poor policies,
demotivated local government officials and prevalence of corruption. The interventions of
civil society in service delivery have helped the ordinary people to survive. However, civil
society organisations have their own limits and weaknesses. The attempts by government to
reform the public sector generally have yielded some positive attitudes but have also lacked
commitment and resources to realise tangible benefits to the ordinary urban dweller. Finally,
while decentralisation created strong hopes of better service delivery, tangible results in the
case of Kampala city have been minimal. The study suggests that successful decentralisation
requires a dynamic pro-people urban policy, increased avenues of popular participation;
cultivation of trust, horizontal power relations and strong accountability mechanisms in the
public domain.