Assessing the role and capacity of civil society organisations in holding local government accountable in Uganda

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dc.contributor.author Fourie, D.J. (David Johannes)
dc.contributor.author Kakumba, Umar
dc.date.accessioned 2012-01-03T09:12:04Z
dc.date.available 2012-01-03T09:12:04Z
dc.date.issued 2011-09
dc.description.abstract Decentralised local government is arguably the most direct mechanism of ensuring that the local leaders are accountable to the citizens, in form of downward accountability. Civil society participation is thus seen as a rationale to foster civic competence and empowerment that enables civil society to hold local governments to account. However, for the civil society to succeed in this critical role, they must have strong and viable institutional capacity and organisational arrangements, as well as the enabling legislative and operational environment. This article presents results of a fieldwork and literature study conducted to evaluate the role and capacity of civil society in holding local governments (LGs) accountable in Uganda. The study revealed that the colonial/historical ills still cast a shadow over the current state and character of local civil society organisations (CSOs) in Uganda, as it heralds mixed fortunes. The capacity of CSOs to hold government to account is affected by, their inter-organisational deficiencies, the regulatory regime, the CSO elite-urban capture, the CSO-donor relations, and the desire by most CSOs to engage in business/profit contracts with government that makes it easier to inter alia complement the work of government than questioning it. The article reviews interventions and mechanisms to enhance the capacity of CSOs to promote accountability on the local government level in Uganda. en
dc.description.librarian nf2012 en
dc.identifier.citation Fourie, DJ & Kakumba, U 2011, 'Assessing the role and capacity of civil society organisations in holding local government accountable in Uganda', African Journal of Public Affairs, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 54-66. en
dc.identifier.issn 1997-7441
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/2263/17717
dc.language.iso en en_US
dc.publisher African Consortium of Public Administration en_US
dc.rights African Consortium of Public Administration en
dc.subject Local governments (LGs) en
dc.subject Civil society organisations (CSOs) en
dc.subject.lcsh Local government -- Uganda en
dc.subject.lcsh Government accountability -- Uganda en
dc.subject.lcsh Civil society -- Uganda en
dc.title Assessing the role and capacity of civil society organisations in holding local government accountable in Uganda en
dc.type Article en


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