Decentralization in Uganda: Challenges for the 21 Century

Since the late 1980s governments in sub-Saharan Africa have been undertaking various structural reforms, both politically and socio-economically. Uganda is no exception in a sense the country endeavors for democratization as well as for sustainable development. One of the pillars for this policy reform has been decentralization, which has been considered to be essential to create a collaborative mechanism between the state and the people. Uganda, after its recovery from a prolonged internal civil strife, is now to move ahead for democratization and development. Uganda today is therefore at a critical juncture. The local governance and its Local Council (LC) structure will bear important functions and responsibilities in order to make the current decentralization successful both politically and developmentally.1 While the institutional mechanism is in place, both opportunities and constraints it presents are enormous. Whether the intended collaboration between the state and the people will be realized or not will influence very much the outcome of the “indigenous” experimentation.2 This has implications for the polity as well as for improving the living standard for the people in Uganda. The purpose of this article is, therefore, to identify where the LC system stands now by attempting to highlight both achievements and remaining challenges of the local governance structure.3 Decentralization in the past tended to be a zero-sum game: what one stakeholder gains is a loss for others. If, however, the current decentralization is not a positive sum solution for stakeholders, the LC system will not sustain the support by the people who really wish to grow out of poverty. The stakeholders for making positive sum include, inter alia, local politicians (Councillors), civil servants, and the people