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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Behind the façade of bringing services closer to people: the proclaimed and hidden intentions of the government of Uganda to create many new local government districts
Authors:Awortwi, NicholasISNI
Helmsing, A.H.J. (Bert)
Year:2014
Periodical:Canadian Journal of African Studies (ISSN 0008-3968)
Volume:48
Issue:2
Pages:297-314
Language:English
Geographic term:Uganda
Subjects:local government
decentralization
administrative divisions
jurisdiction
External link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00083968.2014.905260
Abstract:Creation of local government districts has become an enterprise in Uganda, with many stakeholders having diverse opinions about the government's motives. This article examines the questions: What are the proclaimed and hidden or implicit intentions of the government? What evidence is available to provide reasonable interpretation of government action according to a particular rationale? By triangulating primary and secondary data and using a deductive approach, the study concludes that the initial intention of the government to create new districts to bring services and government closer to the people was consistent with the country's constitution and decentralization policy. However, since 1997, and especially since 2006, other rationales have come to the fore, though not communicated as such in public policy statements. While we do not exclude ethnic rationale, the article finds more evidence that points to political patronage and a variant of gerrymandering (namely, that of splitting up districts while not redrawing boundaries). Bibliogr., notes, sum. [Journal abstract]
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