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Devolution in Uganda : an Experiment in Local Service Delivery
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Mitchinson, Robin |
| Copyright Year | 2003 |
| Abstract | The ongoing programme for reform and reduction of the public service in Uganda relies heavily on the devolution of provision and delivery of most major public services to the lowest appropriate levels (primarily the District Councils), and therefore local government is becoming a key element in the search for new ways of governance. The rationale is that the overriding problem, as in much of Africa, is poverty and that the most effective way of tackling it is by the empowerment of the people to provide the services that they judge necessary and to decide their own local priorities in the allocation of resources. Whether the experiment succeeds will be determined in large measure by the ability and desire of the Government to ensure that local authorities have access to at least the same levels of resources as the previous service providers. Of equal importance is the capacity and ability of local government to meet the challenge, and this begs the question as to whether professional staff have the experience and competence and whether the elected members have the political skills, probity and integrity for the task. The policies have been well thought-out and the solutions appear to be capable of implementation, but the ‘people factor’ will also be critical to success. The present scenario is guardedly encouraging; the devolution programme will probably meet sufficient of its objectives to justify the changes, given continuing donor support, and performance will improve as local authorities gain experience and self-confidence. For its part, Government will need to resist the temptation to over-supervise, and intervene only sparingly. Copyright # 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://www.gsdrc.org/docs/open/sd9.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Copyright Design rationale John D. Wiley Local Government Policy Self Confidence temptation |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
