Challenges of water and sanitation service delivery at decentralised local governments in Uganda: a case of Katakwi District

Abstract

Though Uganda is well endowed with water resources, access to safe water remains an issue especially for the rural poor like the people in Katakwi District. In this study, the challenges of service delivery at decentralized local governments in Katakwi District were investigated. The specific objectives of the study included; finding out how factors like the capacity of local governments, the financing of local governments, sustainability and emerging ethical challenges of water and sanitation in relation to service delivery in Katakwi District. A sample of 60 local leaders, 4 district officials and 60 ordinary respondents were consulted. The findings indicated that capacity of local governments especially in the relatively newly created / decentralized governments provides a challenge to community services delivery and the challenge is manifested in form of low revenue base, insufficient number of technicians in the district and unreliable capacity of the private sector in the district. It was also established that there were three main ways by which financing poses a challenge to delivery of water and sanitation services in Katakwi district. Despite this, the provision of water and sanitation services in Katakwi district was to a big extent sustainable. The study recommended that the central government respects the objectives of decentralization and the public service ethical code by imposing a strict ethics branch to deal with those who violate ethics code of conduct in order to promote good governance, accountability, transparency, efficiency effectiveness, integrity and professionalism.