Decentralization and Political Participation in Wadajir District, Mogadishu, Somalia

ABSTRACT The study examined the relationship between decentralization and political participation in Wadajir district, Mogadishu-Somalia. The study was guided by three objectives; i) investigating the nature of decentralisation in Wadajir district, Mogadishu-Somalia; ii) the level of political participation in Wadajir district, Mogadishu-Somalia, and (iii) finding out whether there is a relationship between decentralization and political participation in Wadajir district, Mogadishu Somalia. The study comprised of a population of 183 and a sample size of 126 respondents. A descriptive research design was used to collect data from 126 respondents using selfadministered questionnaires and interview guide as the main data collection instruments. The nature of decentralization was generally satisfactory with a mean of 2.84, level of political participation was also generally satisfactory with the overall mean of 2.64, the two variables (decentralization and political participation) were positive and significantly correlated, this means rejecting the null hypothesis that there was significant relationship between decentralization and political participation in Wadajir district, Mogadishu-Somalia. The researcher concluded that there is transfer of authority by the government to local government units or special statutory bodies in Wadajir district, Mogadishu, Somalia and there are legal activities exercised by oidinaiy citizens in Wadajir district, Mogadishu, Somalia that are more or less directly aimed at influencing the process of selecting governmental personnel and/or :he actions and decisions adopted by the government, a well designed decentralization system increases the level of political participation in Wadajir district, Mogadishu-Somalia, and a poorly set decentralization system reduces it. The researcher recommended that; (i) the Govennnent of Somalia should shift some of the financial powers to the local levels; (ii) the central government of Somalia should transfer enough financial resources to the local government of Wadajir district; (iii) the elected representatives should regularly consult their citizens in case of any developmental projects introduced by the government of Somalia; (iv) the local government of Wadajir district should always involve community members during financial resource allocation since this can lead to efficiency during the developmental projects introduced by the central governemnt of Somalia.