The governance of non-governmental organizations in Uganda

Journal of African American Studies, 2019

Africa's population has grown from 477 million in 1980 to 1.25 billion people by 2017. Whereas this is expected to double to 2.4 billion people by 2050, there is uncertainty over the continent's preparedness to provide opportunities for its youthful population (Hilson and McQuilken, The Extractive Industries and Society 1:104-118, 2014). Efforts by different stakeholders to create employment opportunities have been largely unsuccessful. Rae (Journal of General Management, 40:79-95, 2014) attributes this failure to the autonomous and individualistic actions of different agencies in executing their mandates. In doing this, they compete and conflict against each other which discourages efforts towards job creation. Taking cognizance of this anomaly, this paper urges research into the structure, social capital, and agency of organizations with the view to suggest ways of promoting the kind and level of collaboration that is desired among the organizations. The paper starts with an introduction, the context of graduate unemployment in Uganda, discusses the efforts of different agencies, a bit of literature review, the theoretical underpinnings, knowledge gap, a case study and what Uganda's organizations learn from the Urban Partnership Program, and finally the conclusion.

Journal of Organization Design

The complexity of global challenges requires that organizations collaborate with one another. To do this, stakeholders need flexible structures that are designed in a way that allows organizations to collaborate. However, it is not known whether Uganda's organizations are structured in a way that allows them to collaborate with one another, casting doubt as to whether they can manage the complexity of global challenges such as graduate unemployment. Informed by Hage and Aiken , we studied the structures of selected organizations in Uganda and found out that their major components, i.e., centralization and formalization, are designed in a way that may not allow collaboration to occur. We found out that the organizational structures were exclusive in decision-making, had high power distance (HPD), jobs were strictly codified, and organizations enforced stringent rule observation. These gaps make it difficult for people interaction and involvement and deny them of their freedom to relate with one another, making it difficult for a collaboration between different agencies to occur. To enhance organizational collaboration, it is recommended that organizations should be restructured to become more inclusive, interactive, and democratic since organizations structured in this way have shown collaboration success and greater achievement of society needs.

The Centre for the Study of African …, 2004

Using original survey data, we document the activities, resources, and governance structure of NGOs operating in Uganda. The NGO sector is funded primarily by international non-governmental organizations and bilateral donors. We Þnd large differences in size and funding across NGOs, with only a few NGOs attracting most of the funding. Most NGOs are small and underfunded and focus on raising awareness and advocacy. Few NGOs are faith-based. Most screening and monitoring is done by grant agencies. Some monitoring is also done internally by members and trustees. Few respondents were able to provide coherent Þnancial accounts. Reporting requirements appear onerous given the limited organizational capacity of Ugandan NGOs. * We thank to the World Bank and the Japanese government for funding this research. We also would like to thank Professor Sam Tulya-Muhika, Kintu Nyago, and their team of enumerators for assisting with data collection. We are grateful to Peter Ssentongo from the Office of the Prime Minister and Mary Bitekerezo from the Kampala World Bank office for their assistance and comments. Many thanks go to Nikos Evangelou for his very valuable assistance and support when piloting the survey.

A key aspect of public policy development is that government takes the lead and in the process it endeavours to consult other stakeholders such as the citizenry and the third sector in order to develop effective and acceptable policies. This process has its own challenges because public policy operates in an extremely wide and complex environment and there is need to strike a balance among a wide range of competing interests or priorities without losing sight of the desired policy outcome. This paper examines the public policy process in the Ugandan context in juxtaposition with a number of policy models proposed by different scholars and it reveals that the Uganda Government molded its public policy process on the Linear/Rational Policy model. The paper concludes that the public policy process in Uganda can further be strengthened by the Government's vigorous pursuance of a combination of the socioeconomic , institutional, network and group approaches in its public policy development and management framework.

Business Journal, 2012

Policy Research Working Papers, 2013

The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.

The term "unemployment" is not new to many Ugandans because it is a prevalent problem throughout the country. Reports reveal that in 2002, youth unemployment was estimated to be at approximately 23% and has today skyrocketed to 32.2%.

African Studies Quarterly, 2010

He holds and MPA degree from the Maxwell School of Public Affairs at Syracuse University and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles. He spent the 2008-2009 academic year as a visiting professor at Uganda Christian University under a Rotary Foundation Teaching Grant. He previously served as visiting lecturer at the University of Khartoum, Sudan Republic. His research focus is on issues of governance and economic development in developing countries as well as comparative cultural value systems. Isaac Wasswa Katono is the Coordinator of Research and Chair of Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Management, Faculty of Business, at Uganda Christian University. He holds an MBA degree from Makerere University in Uganda and was formerly the Secretary of Finance and Planning for Mukono District Council. His research focus is on organizational behavior and marketing issues as they impact management in the private and public sectors. His publications include studies of conflict management and the impact of the microfinance industry on the Ugandan economy.