The Ugandan Journal of Management and Public Policy Studies

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://localhost:4000/handle/20.500.12305/316

The Ugandan Journal of Management and Public Policy Studies is a multidisciplinary Journal publishing a wide range of articles relating to public administration, management, leadership and public policy, from empirical studies and theoretical orientations to practical application. The Journal reviews books, essays, and research notes that are relevant to both scholars, practitioners involved at all levels of administration and management from various organisational forms including business firms, non-governmental organisations and public institutions and individual networks

Browse

Browsing The Ugandan Journal of Management and Public Policy Studies by Subject "Accountability"

Filter results by typing the first few letters
Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Accounting for UPE implementation: the contribution of school management committees
    (Uganda Management Institute, 2017-11) Wahitu, Fred
    The political promise of free primary education but also for the wider reasons of closing the education gap of Access, Quality and Equity. The introduction of UPE coincided with the abolition of Parents Teachers’ Associations (PTAs) which were associated with the collection of fees from especially parents to supplement government grants to schools. The Education Act 2008 introduced School Management Committees (SMCs) to be in charge of public primary schools on behalf of government. Using a multiple case study approach involving four SMCs representing the four regions of Uganda, this article investigated the role of SMCs in Universal Primary Education. The selection of the four that SMCs were involved in the planning, budgeting, mobilization of the community and monitoring of the school activities. What was apparent, though, was that such activities were implemented differently across the SMCs due to differences in technical and the three out of four SMCs. As a way of conclusion, SMCs are very supportive of UPE, but government needs to train and regulate them.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Accounting for UPE implementation: The contribution of school management committees
    (Uganda Management Institute, 2017-11) Wahitu, Fred
    The political promise of free primary education but also for the wider reasons of closing the education gap of Access, Quality and Equity. The introduction of UPE coincided with the abolition of Parents Teachers’ Associations (PTAs) which were associated with the collection of fees from especially parents to supplement government grants to schools. The Education Act 2008 introduced School Management Committees (SMCs) to be in charge of public primary schools on behalf of government. Using a multiple case study approach involving four SMCs representing the four regions of Uganda, this article investigated the role of SMCs in Universal Primary Education. The selection of the four that SMCs were involved in the planning, budgeting, mobilization of the community and monitoring of the school activities. What was apparent, though, was that such activities were implemented differently across the SMCs due to differences in technical and the three out of four SMCs. As a way of conclusion, SMCs are very supportive of UPE, but government needs to train and regulate them.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Democratic deficits and public confidence in public institutions in Uganda: Implications of accountability on public confidence in the Uganda Local Government Institution
    (Uganda Management Institute, 2014-09) Kiwanuka, Michael
    There is a general belief by scholars and practitioners alike that the notable declining public confidence in public institutions in developing countries like Uganda is a consequence of democratic deficits in institutional governance. This belief is more so, because democratic deficits like deficiencies in accountability systems, stifles capacities of democratic systems to evolve and reform into effective and legitimate agents of citizens. Accountability is a fundamental virtue of good governance and an important cornerstone in democratic systems. The paper analyzes the impact of accountability on public confidence within the context of Uganda’s local government Institution. The analysis of accountability practices and experiences suggests that public confidence in the institution of local governments in Uganda is on the down ward trend. This is partly due to the inherent democratic deficits with respect to accountability deficiencies in local government institutions. The paper concludes that: the widening gap between citizen preferences and services delivered; the big social service backlogs; the mockery of citizen participation; and high levels of corruption are already having a big toll on citizens’ trust and eroding public confidence in the local government institution. The paper recommends that developing countries like Uganda should demonstrate commitment to social accountability by strengthening the citizen voice and support meaningful engagement of non-state actors alongside formal government systems.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Institutional capacity critical for effective record management towards enhanced transparency and accountability in public procurements
    (Uganda Management Institute, 2016-11) Alinda, Fred; Mugisa, Geofrey
    Enhancing transparency and accountability is widely recognized as an indicator for improved governance and pre-requisite for enhancing service delivery and development. In a bid to promote transparency and accountability in public procurements, Uganda’s Public Procurement system, through the Public procurement and Disposal of Assets Act and the PPDA authority is committed to ensure that all Public Procurement Entities keep records of public procurements to desired regulatory standards. However, poor record keeping has remained persistent in public procurements compromising accountability, transparency and public service delivery. Records are scattered, kept on separate files or different departments. In other cases, they miss completely for some procurements or specific procurement activities. This paper provides empirical evidence in account of this phenomenon. The paper is based on findings from analysis of primary qualitative and quantitative data which was collected from a sample of 76 record management stakeholders in Local Government Procurement and Disposing Entities. The study established prevalence of critical capacity gaps, institutional and technological challenges which constrain record keeping and management in the districts. These are typically institutional capacity challenges which should be addressed looking forwards to improve record keeping for enhanced transparency and accountability in public procurements. The paper finally provides possible measures to address the challenges.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Political decentralization and service delivery: Evidence from Agago District, Uganda
    (Uganda Management Institute, 2014-09) Obicci, Peter Adoko
    Does political decentralization improve the provision of service delivery? Many developing countries have taken to political decentralization as an instrument of development that plays a central role in increasing citizens’ involvement in policy development and decision making as well as holding their leaders to account. However, the basis upon which it can be relied upon to improve service delivery remains a big puzzle to many practitioners. This study uses the factors of decision making, participation and accountability to uncover how political decentralization can promote service delivery. Based on intensive interviews with local stakeholders in ten sampled local governments in Agago District in Northern Uganda as well as survey, the study uncovered a complex interplay of conditions that impact service delivery in a political decentralization dispensation. The results reveal that political decentralization can be used as an instrument to promote the provision of service delivery. Furthermore, decentralization is shown to have had significant effect on service delivery in the ten local governments examined in the study. However, the study needs generalization on a larger scale.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Search for improved public service delivery in Tanzania: Is the policy-implementation dichotomy an elixir?
    (Uganda Management Institute, 2014-03) Mateng’e, Frank J.
    New Public Management (NPM) presupposes that if public service delivery were to be improved, policy-making should be separated from policy implementation. Although attempts to distinguish policy-making from implementation can be traced back to the classical writings of Woodrow Wilson and Frank J. Goodnow, among others, advocacy for the distinction appears to have rejuvenated as one of the defining elements of contemporary public management reforms under the aegis of the NPM discourse. Using the agencification and public-private partnership (PPP) models, embedded in the NPM, as well as the policy-making process based on the Tanzanian experience, we explore the feasibility of the policy-implementation dichotomy and its implications on service delivery in Tanzania. We argue that such a dichotomy is more pronounced in theory than in practice. While the policy-implementation dichotomy is desirable for the sake of enhancing efficiency, effectiveness and accountability at the practical level, it nevertheless remains more of a wishful thinking. Drawing on the Tanzanian policymaking experience, we find policy-making to be a highly interactive process such that the demarcation between the precise role of bureaucrats and politicians is blurred.