Good governance and service delivery in selected municipalities: the case study of east and west gojjam zones of amhara regional state

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Debre Markos University A3, Debre Markos, Ethiopia

Good governance and service delivery in selected municipalities: the case study of east and west gojjam zones of amhara regional state

M. Nega, G. Jemberu, D. Asress

Abstract

This study underpinned assessing good governance and service delivery in East and West Gojjam Zones. The researchers used a mixed research approach and employed convergent parallel research design. The researchers depend on both probability and nonprobability sampling technique to select the research participants while simple random sampling was applied to select the municipalities from each zone and those who have filled the questionnaires were accidentally selected. Purposive and proportional sampling techniques were used to select the key informants of the study and to determine the sample size respectively. Questionnaires, key informant interviews and FGDs were held to gather the primary data which were further supported by secondary data. Data was presented by using tables and the researchers used thematic and simple descriptive analysis techniques. The study found that the major principles of good governance were not fully exercised and implemented in the study area. The study also revealed that rules and regulations of the municipality were not clearly known or understood by the customers. Despite the existence of rules and regulations in the municipality, customers were not served accordingly. The study additionally found that good governance plays a role in enhancing service delivery in the municipalities. Finally, the study found out that there are various challenges or obstacles that can undermine the practice of good governance while delivering service to the municipality customers. Therefore, the study concluded that the practice of good governance in the provision of service delivery was poor in the municipality. To this end the study recommended that the municipalities should strictly adhere to the principles of good governance and thereby they can enhance service delivery.

Keywords: governance, good governance, service, service delivery, Ethiopia

Аннотация

Надлежащее управление и предоставление услуг на муниципальном уровне в Эфиопии: тематическое исследование восточных и западных зон Годжама в штате Амхара М. Нега, Г. Джемберу, Д. Асресс Университет Дебре Маркос

В статье представлена оценка надлежащего управления и предоставления услуг в восточных и западных зонах Годжам (Эфиопия). Исследование сочетает вероятностные и невероятностные методы выборки участников и простую случайную выборку для отбора муниципалитетов из каждой зоны и респондентов, заполнявших опросники. Также авторами использовались целевые и пропорциональные методы выборки. Для сбора первичных данных было проведено анкетирование и серия интервью, результаты которых были дополнительно подтверждены вторичными данными. Проведенное исследование показало, что основные принципы надлежащего управления не были полностью реализованы в рассматриваемом регионе, а правила и положения местных органов власти преимущественно не были известны и понятны гражданам. Исследование также показало, что надлежащее управление играет важную роль в улучшении уровня предоставления услуг в муниципалитетах.

Авторы обращают внимание на существующие проблемы и препятствия, которые могут подорвать практику надлежащего управления при оказании общественных услуг муниципалитетами.

В статье делается вывод о том, что практика надлежащего управления в предоставлении услуг в рассмотренных муниципалитетах была в целом неудовлетворительной.

Авторы утверждают, что для того, чтобы органы местного самоуправления смогли улучшить качество оказания услуг, важно чтобы они строго придерживались принципов надлежащего управления.

Ключевые слова: местное самоуправление, надлежащее управление, предоставление услуг, Эфиопия

Introduction

Background of the Study

The concept of governance has emerged as a popular agenda of development literature and appeared in the discussion of social organization since early 1980's . According to Graham [2] Starting from 1980s, however, the term governance has not reached consensus among different stakeholders. Governance implies how power and authority is exercised and distributed, how decisions are made and implemented, and to what extent citizens can participate in decision-making processes and hold decision makers accountable [3].

Governance covers all aspects of exercise of authority through formal and informal institutions in the management of the resource endowments of a state. The mechanisms, processes and institutions, through which citizens and groups communicate their interests, carry out their legal rights, meet their duties and mediate their difference [3]. In the 1989 World Bank (WB) Study “Sub-Saharan Africa from Crisis to Sustainable Growth”, good governance is indicated as a public service that is efficient, a judicial system that is reliable, and an administration that is accountable to the public [4]. In the 1992 report entitled “Governance and Development”, the World Bank defined good governance as “the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country's economic and social resources for development” as cited in [5].

Service delivery refers to receiving services in effective and well organized as possible to the planned recipient. In various occurrences, service delivery indicates a level of excellence on the part of the institution as well as it is a trademark of economies that have encouraged past the fabrication stage.

The rise of government's responsibility to the people in the form of providing what is viewed as necessary services has been a central focus in the field of public administration. The role of government has been in direct correlation with a shift in public values, occurring internationally and nationally, many times driven by nations' progress towards development. Public services include health, education, employment assistance, infrastructure, and agriculture to name a few. Populations across the globe often demand that their governments deliver public goods to them; however, in some instances, particularly when it concerns extreme poverty, these demands go unmet by governments as a result of bad governance [6]. Poor service delivery remains an important challenge in South Africa, and there have been many violent service delivery protests in municipal areas, and these protests resulted from both the lack of service and from poor quality services rendered [7].

Noting the significance of strengthening capacity for effective service delivery, Ethiopia has designed and implemented large public sector capacity building programmes, which among other things, is aimed at improving public service delivery. The Public Sector Capacity Building Program Support Project introduced in 2004, is one of the largest public sector capacity building programmes that was designed and implemented. The aim of the programme was to improve the scale, efficiency, and responsiveness of public service delivery at the federal, regional, and local level; to empower citizens to participate more effectively in shaping their own development; and to promote good governance and accountability and there by enhance service delivery [4].

According to the Office for the Coordination of Capacity Building the Ethiopian government recognized the importance of improving the performance of service delivery and the creation of accountable and responsible civil service institutions that would improve municipal services by the practice of good governance. Service delivery needs responsiveness by service providers, managers, and policy makers to be answerable, to provide enforcement, and to make relevant organizational changes to make services “people-centered” [3].

The International Federation of Accountants [8], argued that in order to deliver good governance in the public sector, both governing bodies and individuals working for entities must act in the public interest at all times, consistent with the requirements of legislation and government policies, avoiding self-interest and, if necessary, act against a perceived organizational interest. Acting in the public interest implies a wider benefit to society, which should result in positive outcomes for service users and other stakeholders.

According to African Institute of Management Development and Governance [9], the lack of good service delivery by Ethiopian public institutions including the municipalities have received much attention in recent years. And Service quality within local government is perceived as being generally poor. Therefore, an assessment of good governance practices is vital for municipal service delivery.

1. Statement of the Problem

According to National Urban Planning Institute [10], an urban area is said to be efficient and effective when it provides those urban services that directly affect the quality of urban life, which include social services, physical infrastructure and other municipal related services. Municipal services are those public services, which are rendered and controlled by the urban administration. These include sewerage, sanitation, garbage collection and disposal, public markets, abattoir, recreation and cultural places, etc. The delivery, efficiency and sufficiency of these public services are crucial in determining the quality of urban environment and life.

Since the establishment of municipalities in Ethiopia low service delivery is a matter of concern which stagnate country development and the growth of municipalities [10]. There is worldwide dissatisfaction with the quality of service offered in public institutions. In Africa particularly in Ethiopia, many people complain about the quality of customer service representatives, facilities, procedure or policies and the general atmosphere of municipal services. Municipal service delivery is in a very precarious state, as a result, many people in Amhara region have little confidence in the efficiency, effectiveness and responsiveness of local government as demonstrated by the protests in various municipalities of the region. In addition, the delivery of service by municipal sector is also not properly tailored to customer needs. Therefore, public service delivery faces numerous challenges including public money wastage, low revenue collections, low paid and unmotivated public servants, poor accountability and generally poor performance on service delivery [11; 12]. In most of the Amhara regional state municipal services are attributed to poor institutional governance. Moreover, there are public cries on inadequate electricity services, poor infrastructure, complex bureaucratic procedures, poor customer services, and corruption.

There were various studies conducted in Ethiopia and abroad related to this study. Outside Ethiopia for instance, Abdullahi [13] has studied on good governance, institutions and service delivery in Gombe State; Tuhafeni [14] conducted a research entitled an evaluation of good governance and service delivery at sub national levels in Namibia; Woleola has investigated about good governance theory and the quest for good governance in Nigeria; Saada [15] has also conducted a study on the role of good governance practices in enhancing service delivery in public institutions of Tanzania: The case study of Tanzanian Electric supply company; Annie has studied on community expectations and perceptions of municipal service delivery: a case study in the Emfuleni local area in South Arica.

Also, in Ethiopia the researchers have reviewed some studies related to the issue. These were for example, Tadele Fekadu [16] has conducted a study on public roads service delivery and governance: The case of Benishangul Gumuz regional state; Kassahun Yirga [17] has studied on the assessment of prevalence of good governance in the public sector: The case of public institutions in Debre Birhan Town; Gizachew Asrat [18] has examined the challenges and opportunities of local good governance in Lumame Town/Awabel Wereda, East Gojjam Zone), Amhara Region and Tewodros has also assessed the prevalence of good governance in the public sectors of Gedeo Zone: The case of Yirga Cheffe Town Administration, Ethiopia.

All the above-mentioned studies failed to emphasize the practice of good governance in service delivery especially in the municipalities of East and West Gojjam Zones. Therefore, to fill this gap the researchers were motivated to conduct this study.

2. Objectives of the Study

The general objective of this study was to assess good governance and service delivery in the municipalities of East and West Gojjam Zones of Amhara Regional State. This study has the also the following specific objectives.

1. To determine the extent by which stakeholders in the municipalities are adhered to good governance practices in service delivery.

2. To identify the challenges that hinder good governance practices in the provision of service delivery in the study areas.

3. To investigate the level customers satisfaction on the services provided by the municipal authorities on the study area.

3. Significances of the Study

This study would serve as a foundation stone for providing information to researchers, development practitioners, and policymakers working in the surrounding zones and Woreda with regard to good governance and service delivery. It will also enable the government bodies and its partners to design policies for enhancing service delivery through good governance practices for the present and future generations. Moreover, stakeholders interested in intervening with the aim of promoting service delivery into the study area would benefit from the findings of the study.

4. Scope of the Study

The study was delimited to assess good governance practices in service delivery in the municipalities of East and West Gojjam Zones. Specifically, this study was limited to the municipalities of the two zones of Amhara Regional State. These were Bure, Mankusa, Finoteselam, Dembecha, Amber, Dejen, Bichena and Mertolemariam. The study was also limited towards the practice of good governance and service delivery in the selected study areas. Difficulty of colleting some of those data due to the negligence of the participants, unwillingness to fill the questionnaire were also part of the limitations of the study. Even some of the participants were fear of giving genuine responses.

5. Research Methodology

The study was conducted using mixed approach to get the desired evidence from the response providers. The objective for this study clearly shows that the intention of this research was to assess the practice of good governance for the improvement of service delivery in the municipalities. Using a combined approach would therefore enable the researchers to “collect numerous forms of data and examine them from various angles to construct a rich and meaningful picture of a complex, multifaceted situation” [19].

6. Research Design

According to Saunders [20] the choice of the research design depends on the objectives of the study, the available data sources, the cost of obtaining the data and the availability of time. Research design is used to structure the research; to show how all of the major part of the research project the samples or group, work together in addressing research question [21]. Accordingly, the researchers employed convergent parallel research design. This method was appropriate to merge qualitative and quantitative data so as to provide a broad analysis of the research problem. The researchers collected both qualitative and quantitative data at roughly the same time and integrate the information in the interpretation of the overall results.

7. Participants of the Study

The participants of this study were municipal officials and authorities who have been addressed using key informant interviews. Municipal office professionals or service providers and accidentally contacted service users of the municipality were mainly the participants of the study.

8. Sampling Techniques and Sample Size

The researchers relied on both probability and non-probability sampling techniques to select the research participants. From probability sampling techniques the researchers used random sampling techniques to select municipalities from East and West Gojjam Zone, accordingly four municipalities from each zone were selected randomly. The study used purposive sampling technique to select respondents of each municipal official in the study. In Addition, respondents of service users of the municipality were selected based on convenience sampling (accidental) method. This is due to the nature of the service users unavailability in a fixed time and place.

A sample is a collection of some parts of the population on the basis of which judgment is made. It should be small enough to make data collection convenient and should be large enough to be a true representative of the population which is selected [22]. The sample size was determined by using proportional sampling technique. Since the number of service users in the municipality were not exactly known the researchers used proportional sampling technique. Cochran [23] adopted a formula for calculating sample size when the population is infinite. That is, when the degree of variability of the population is not known Cochran advised to use the following sample formula to calculate the sample size.

Where, no is the sample size, z is the selected critical value of desired confidence level, p is the estimated proportion of an attribute that is present in the population, q p = - 1 and e is the desired level of precision. By considering the maximum variability, which is equal to 50% ( p = 0.5) and taking 95% confidence level with ±5% precision, the calculation for required sample size was determined as follows;

Based on the above formula the sample size of the study was 384 as a whole and specifically 48 respondents have filled the questionnaires from each municipality.

9. Tools of Data Collection

The instruments or tools of data collection employed in this study were questionnaires, three FGDs and semi-structured interviews. The self-administered questionnaires were prepared in line with the research objectives and they include both closed and open-ended questions. Additionally, semi-structured interview with the municipal administration officials used as a primary data gathering tool. Two key informant interviews from each municipality were part of the study. Hence the Semi-structured interview provides an opportunity of getting reliable data, and it provided a chance for the interviewer and interviewees to have better interaction and clarification of the issues as well as support the response to be obtained through the questionnaires.

10. Data Analysis Methods

Data collected through questionnaire was arranged, condensed and corrected according to their similarities. These quantitative raw data were analyzed using descriptive statics. Data was also presented through tables, percentage and frequencies while qualitative data (i.e. nonnumeric data) collected through semi- structured interview was first summed up together and then was thematically analyzed.

11. Data Analysis and Interpretation Background and Characteristics of Respondents

The reason of the researchers in recording sex of respondents was to show that respondents came from both sexes. Unfortunately, the sex of respondents in table 1 item number 1 shows that 59.1% them were males and the rest of 40.9% were females. From this the study reveals that males frequently visit the municipality than females which indicates that females in the municipalities are not equally visiting or following up municipalities to get public service.

Table 1 item numbers 2 indicates that majority of the respondents that is 41.4% of them were in the age group of 36-45, 33.9% of them were in between 18 and 35 and lastly 24.7 % of them were above 45 years of age. Hence the result of this study indicates that most of the respondent's mature people who can really understood the issues related with the study.

Table 1 General Information of Respondents in Terms of Age, Gender and Educational Background