Decentralized Policy Management And Performance Of Water And Sanitation Development Facility-North, Lango Sub-Region, In Northern Uganda

ABSTRACT

The research focused on the influence of decentralized policy management and performance of deconcetrated structures in the Ministry of Water and Environment in Uganda with a case study of Water and Sanitation Development Facility-North. It covered a selected number of districts of Lango sub-region in northern Uganda namely, Oyam, Apac, Dokolo, Lira and Amolatar. The performance was the dependent variable with decentralized policy management being the independent variable (i.e. measures of decentralized planning, implementation, monitoring). The objectives of this study was to discover and document the influence of decentralized planning, implementation and monitoring on performance and the employee capacity to manage the decentralized policy. The study sampled 138 respondents out of which 104 responded; 75% of the respondents were male and 19% female. The results of the research reflected a positive but weak relationship between decentralized planning (r=0.379, sig 0.00), decentralized implementation (r=0.429, sig 0.00) and decentralized monitoring (r=0.262, sig 0.012) on performance of the deconcetrated structures. Twenty one and a half per cent (21.5%) of Decentralized Performance is explained by decentralized Planning, decentralized Implementation and decentralized monitoring. Decentralized planning contributed 43% in performance while decentralized implementation contributed 35.5%. Employee capacity had a negative influence on the dependent and independent variables. Therefore, further research is suggested to investigate the other factors that contribute to decentralized policy management on the performance of deconcetrated structures which may include decentralized financing, procurement and management style among others.