Local govts should involve citizens in projects meant to benefit them

On the international front, Uganda has been applauded for the achievements made in the implementation of the decentralisation policy since its inception.

Yet in spite of this, the paradox is in the many challenges the decentralisation policy faces ranging from fiscal, administrative to political aspects.

Article 176(2) of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda (as amended) provides that decentralisation shall be a principle applying to all levels of local government and in particular, from higher to lower local government units and to ensure people’s participation and democratic control in decision making.

Citizen participation has been a challenge to local governments because of social exclusion of some groups such as the non-literate, people with disabilities (PWDs), the elderly and women. There is also lack of awareness of community members and their leaders of the citizens’ right to participate in decision making as well as inadequate resources of local governments, to mention but a few.

Citizen participation is promoted given its various advantages, among which are better accountability of the service providers, better policy and implementation processes, bi-directional education, encourages community ownership, and building strategic alliance among others.

However, for any local government to harness these advantages, the core principles of participation vis-a-vis being deliberate (begin with the process early); responsive (commitment to consider decisions and recommendations); and legitimate (be able to speak on behalf of wider stakeholder group) should apply.

We neeWed to be cognisant of the fact that citizen power is the ultimate aim of citizen participation. When citizen participation is at the level of no power or at citizen tokenism, it ceases to be authentic because the ultimate aim of participation is to influence outcome.

Findings from a study carried out by Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment(ACODE) in 2019 on a comprehensive study on the implementation of decentralisation policy in Uganda, indicate that elected leaders rarely go back to their communities to explain what the local governments are doing and what they are supposed to do.

It further divulges that the decentralisation policy was taking the upward trend during the first 15 years although it is currently taking a lower gradient because little attention is paid to participatory planning process.

In addition to this, local governments fail to adequately share information about projects, launching projects to the community and involving them in monitoring and implementation and commissioning of these projects.

All this is coupled by the fact that key service delivery management structures like water user committees, health unit management committees and school management committees have largely been dysfunctional since they are not knowledgeable about their roles and responsibilities and inadequate funding.

Responsive to this void, ACODE through its Local Governments’ Council Scorecard Initiative, came up with the Citizen Engagement Meetings in which citizens are sensitised about their roles and responsibilities as well as those of their leaders.

Through these meetings, they develop citizen action plans after which the now empowered citizens write letters or petitions to the local government leaders in which they request pertinent needs of their communities to be addressed.

This process has registered a number of successes. For instance, in 2018, Gulu Unyama sub-county, Angaya Parish, a citizen petition for the construction of a maternity ward was submitted. Shs70 million has been allocated in the Gulu District budget for the Financial Year 2019/20 under the Health
Sector Budget for the construction of a maternity ward in Lapeta HC II.
All these underscore the importance of citizen participation in achieving the objectives of decentralisation and the prerequisites being sensitising the citizens and getting them involved in the processes.

Ms Nalwoga-Mukwaya is a researcher at ACODE
[email protected]