Accountability and Service Delivery in the Public Sector: A Case of Kcca, Uganda

ABSTRACT The study explored the topic: Accountability and Service Delivery in public sector: A case of Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA), Kampala District. The specific objectives were: To examine the effect of political accountability on service delivery in Kampala City Council Authority; To establish the effect of legal accountability on service delivery in Kampala City Council Authority; and to examine the effect of administrative accountability on service delivery in Kampala City Council Authority. The study adopted a cross sectional study design-case study design with a population of 40 and a sample size of 36 (Krejicie and Morgan, 1970). Data sources included; primary, secondary and documentary reviewed method (DRM); Data collection was questionnaires and interviews which also were used to design the questionnaire tool and interview guides. The study tested three hypotheses using the Pearson correlation, regression analysis and analysis of variance technique. The study revealed that political accountability had a significant effect Service Delivery since the p-value 0.04 was less than the significance level (0.05) and p-value (0.036) is less than the level of significance. The study concludes that political and legal accountability are the only ones that had a significant strong effect on service delivery. The study recommends that; On accountability methods, the government must establish strong public-private partnerships both formal and informal stakeholders and ensure selecting the private contractors is through a competitive legal method; the council should ensure that they hold continuous trainings and educating the locals on what exactly is the meaning of accountability for a uniform conceptualization of what exactly is accountability. The areas for further research should be on how best the private contractors can help the poor to find out whether poor accountability in KCCA is a failure on the part of the workers or the council.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION

APPROVAL ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS v

LIST OF TABLES viu

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS x

ABSTRACT xi

CHAPTER ONE a

INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Introduction 1

1 .2 Background to the study 1

1.2.1, Historical background 1

1.2.2 Theoretical background 3

1.2.3 Conceptual background 5

1.2.4 Contextual background 8

1.3 Statement of the problem 10

1.4 Purpose of the study

1,5 SpecificObjectives 11

1 .6 Research questions 11

1.7 Null Hypothesis 11

1.8 Significance of the study 11

1.9 Scope of the study 12

I . 10 Operational Definition 12

CHAPTER TWO 14

LITERATURE REVIEW 14

2.0 Introduction 14

2. I Conceptual Framework 14

V

2.2 Theoretical Review .15

2.3. Review of Related Literature 16

2.4 Accountability Structures and service delivery 18

2.5. Legal accountability and service delivery 21

2.6 Administrative Accountability and Service Delivery 23

2.7 Service Delivery 26

2.8 Related Studies 27

CHAPTER THREE 32

METHODOLOGY 32

3.1 Introduction 32

3.2 Research Design 32

3.3 Study Population 32

3.4 Sample Size 32

3,5 Sampling Techniques and Procedures 33

3.6 Data collection methods 34

3.7 Data collection instruments 34

3.8 Validity and Reliability 35

3.9 Data Collection Procedures 36

3.10 Data Analysis 36

3.1 I Interpretation of data 37

3.12 Ethical Considerations 37

3.13 Limitation of the Study 38

CHAPTER FOUR 39

DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 39

4.1 Introduction 39

4.2 Respondents’ Background Information 39

4.3 Political Accountability on service delivery in Kampala Capital city Authority 42

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4.4 Legal Accountability on service delivery in Kampala Capital city Authority 45

4.5 Administrative Accountability on service delivery in Kampala Capital city Authority 51

CHAPTER FIVE 58

SUMMARY, DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 58

5.1 Introduction 58

5.2 Summery 58

5.3 Discussion 60

5,4 Conclusions 64

5,5 Recommendations 65

5.7 Areas recommended for further research 67

References 69

APPENDICES 74

Appendix A; Questionnaire 74

Appendix B: Interview Guide 80

Appendix D: Table for Determining Sample Size from a Given Population 81