Governance practices in Ugandan Non-government organisations
Date
2011-03-28
Authors
Komuhendo-Byaruhanga, Clare
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Abstract
Good governance has become a global concept that is not only a basic
requirement to government and the business sector but also to civil society.
Civil Society organisations (CSOs) popularly referred to as ‘the third sector’,
have become an important partner in the country’s development. Civil Society
Organisations constitute various kinds of organisations including NGOs.
Given the significant contribution of NGOs in the development process, their
effectiveness and efficiency is crucial. Recently, enormous attention has been
paid to the internal governance of NGOs in Uganda. Complaints among the
public have indicated that NGOs are inefficient, mainly because they seem to
focus more on receiving donor funding for selfish reasons other than
efficiently deliver what is expected of them.
This study sought to explore the transparency, accountability and participatory
governance practices in Ugandan NGOs in an effort to establish the
challenges faced by NGO leadership in achieving organisational efficiency.
The objective of the study is to draw attention to the importance of NGO
leadership in ensuring good governance practice. The research took a
qualitative approach, with interviews carried out as the primary source of data
collection and a document review conducted for triangulation purposes. The
study established that even though the leadership of these NGOs make an
effort to practice good governance, they are still faced with several
challenges. These include; diversity of interests, inadequate human resource
capacity, imbalanced board member participation, limited financial resources,
improper organisational management and resistance to the concept of good
governance. Practical recommendations have been made to ensure good
governance practices within the organisation of study, similar organisations in
Uganda and probably those in other countries.
Description
MM - P&DM
Keywords
Governance, Non-government organisations