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| Community Participation and Budget Allocation in Local Governments in Uganda: A Case Study of Rubanda District Local Government, Western Uganda
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Moses Ntirandekura, Friday Christopher
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Abstract:
The study aimed at establishing the relationship between community participation and budget allocation in local governments in Uganda. The study focused on the relationship between community consultation and budget allocation in Rubanda District, the relationship between community involvement in planning and budgeting process and budget allocation in Rubanda District and the constraints of community participation in budget allocation in Rubanda District. The study espoused a cross sectional survey research design with both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The researcher used a sample size of 148 respondents from a population of 251. Simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques were used in selecting respondents. Questionnaires, interviews and documentary review were used in data collection. Data analysis was done using statistical package for social sciences software version 20.0 to generate frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviations for descriptive statistics and and Pearson linear correlation coefficient for inferential statistics. From the findings, it was revealed that community consultation empowered communities to participate in the budget spending which reduced resource wastage, improved financial resource allocation to priority sectors, ensured revenue expenditure control and budget implementation reviews which improved on performance the of Rubanda District Local Government. The study found a significant poritive correlation between community consultation and budget allocation in Rubanda District Local Government (r = 0.684**) which implied that community consultations increased proper budget allocation in the District. The study found out that a significant positive relationship existed between community involvement in planning and budgeting process and budget allocation in Rubanda District (.512**). The findings also revealed that Rubanda District faced constraints such as absence of logistics, delayed implementation of identified projects and lack of funds to enhance community participation and effective budget utilization in Rubanda District Local Government. The study recommended that the Central Government should provide funds to the Local Government purposely for community sensitization and organization to increase on community participation in budget allocation. Efforts should be made by the local governments to involve Local Councils at the village level, Non-Governmental Organisations and Civil Society Organisations in the mobilization of local people to attend the needs identification meetings. It is also recommended that planning and budgeting meetings should be organized more regularly with the involvement of all stakeholders in order to identify priority sectors where funds can be allocated in order to ensure effective service delivery. It is recommended that village planning meetings are organized but all effort should be made by the lower local government officials to ensure that local community members are well informed and are continuously reminded about the day, date and time of the meeting.
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