Home Institution

Rollins College

Publication Date

Fall 2021

Program Name

Uganda: Global Development Studies

Abstract

To examine the implementation of Local Government development planning in periphery and hard to reach communities in Uganda, the fishing villages of the Buikwe District were used as a case study. The objective of the study was to explore how Local Government development planning is implemented in the fishing villages to identify gaps. Implementation was broken down into three areas: consultations, needs and services, and service delivery.

The study mimicked the bottom-up approach to decentralized development planning in Uganda, beginning with seven focus group discussions in five fishing villages of Buikwe. Eleven key informant interviews were then conducted with Local Government officials in the political and technical wing at the LC1, LC3, and LC5 level. General observations were also made throughout the qualitative data collection.

From the results, gaps between the responses of government officials and that of community members were apparent in each area of implementation. While clear consultation procedures were described by key informants, community members felt that consultations were insufficient. In addition, despite the implementation of several government projects in the fishing villages, many of the services did not meet community expectations and several unmet needs remained. Finally, key informants most commonly attributed issues to service delivery as a lack of funds, community mindsets, and issues with follow ups. Conversely, community members viewed corruption and poor community engagement as the major issues. From observations, a lack of information sharing and communication between upper-level Local Government and the community was a major hindrance to adequate consultations, services that meet the needs of the people, and effective service delivery. Increased community engagements (i.e. follow ups, sensitizations, and consultations) were recommended to improve implementation, and suggestions were also made to community members on how to support implementation at the community level.

Disciplines

African Languages and Societies | African Studies | Aquaculture and Fisheries | Civic and Community Engagement | Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration | Social and Cultural Anthropology

Share

Article Location

 
COinS