The multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary nature of Public Administration : a methodological challenge?

Abstract: Problems facing administrative systems are increasingly becoming rather complex and a discipline known to focus on understanding how administrative systems of government function and preparing people to work in such systems to promote efficiency and effectiveness has to face the complexity challenge. The discipline of Public Administration (PA) must be in position to produce graduates who have the right skills, attitudes, competencies and capacities to navigate the complex environment in which service delivery is currently based. This challenge touches on a significant question, that is, whether knowledge from a single discipline can produce the right people. Some authors have previously accused PA of not being fit to be a discipline because of its ‘promiscuous’ nature as it borrows from many other disciplines to build its knowledge base. Such an accusation is likely to remain because problems of government today cannot be solved by people–civil servants and politicians with one disciplinary focus. It is for this reason that this article examines whether PA ought to be multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary or trans-disciplinary (MIT)

Institutional dynamics and health service delivery in regional referral hospitals in Uganda: What lessons from a case of Jinja Regional Hospital?

This paper reports on a study that examined the institutional dynamics affecting health service delivery at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital in Eastern Uganda. The institutional dynamics examined included the supply of essential medicines and other health supplies, physical infrastructure and the availability of medical equipment. While other factors were likely to affect the capacity of a health facility in improving its service delivery system, our hypotheses relied on institutional factors as the most likely dominant. Although contemporary analysis of development emphasises the central role of institutions, little work looks at how institutions matter for healthcare workers and health care delivery and that’s the focus of this paper. One reason for the scarcity of work in this field is that it is unclear what the relevant theory is in this area. We used the institutional theory. The study population comprised of referral hospital top management, healthcare workers and a few purposively selected patients. The overall findings confirm that two institutional factors, namely physical infrastructure and medical equipment, are the dominant factors in explaining the level of health service delivery. Medical supplies were not found to be a significant predictor, suggesting that government health facilities are perhaps not seriously affected by lack of drugs but by inadequate facilities. This raises a governance issue among the health facilities. We suggest that the Ministry of Health should budget more funds for infrastructural development and emphasise more support supervision and monitoring strategies to ensure full utilisation of lower level health centre facilities so that referral hospitals are decongested and left to handle only referrals and emergency cases by specialists. The implementation and operationalisation of the policy to standardise equipment procurements at different health facility levels is likely to have positive implications in improving the situation

Gender dynamics in Public Policy Management in Uganda and South Africa : a comparative perspective of gender mainstreaming in policy making for the water sector

In recent years, governments in Africa have been under increasing pressure to demonstrate their relevance as citizens demand delivery of better public services. To respond to the numerous calls for efficiency improvements in service delivery governments design and implement a number of public policies that address service delivery problems. The question of how gender dynamics is used to shape public policy management is, though, less understood and has not been subject to enough scholarly attention among policy analysts. The challenges faced by different gender categories differ and ought to be considered in public policy formulation, implementation and review. While a significant amount of scholarly work has been directed at the broad subject of gender in Africa, there remains a dearth of research on gender dynamics specifically relating to public policy management. Also, studies that take a comparative angle on the subject are not a common feature on the continent. In this article, the authors interrogate through a comparative approach the gender dynamics in the public policy management of the water sector policies in South Africa and Uganda. It addresses certain policy and management implications, aiming at bringing to the fore issues of gender as specifically applied to the subject of public policy

The state of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) as a discipline in Africa : from infancy to adulthood?

Since the early 1990s, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) has seen a steep climb within Africa–in terms of practice, profession and academic study. As a field of practice, specialised departments housing the practitioners now exist and the demand for evaluation of policies, projects, programmes and interventions remains on the increase. Legal and institutional frameworks for the practices of M&E are still weak. As a profession, over 30 national evaluation associations under the umbrella body – the African Evaluation Association (AFREA) are in existence. As an academic field of study several universities now offer programmes in M&E; notwithstanding the focus and locus dilemma regarding the discipline. Scholarship regarding the state of the field is thus of utmost importance to coherently describe the ‘ups and downs’ of the new field which has become a ‘grown up child’ having jumped the infancy stage. This article examines four interrelated questions: How has the M&E field evolved in Africa and what local and global forces have been behind this evolution? Is M&E a discipline of study? What precisely is the state of the M&E discipline in African universities? What is the future of M&E in Africa? Answers to these questions will provide useful insights into the muddy waters of the new discipline which has persistently been claimed by several other disciplines within public discourses

Co-operative and Saving Societies (SACCOS) and Poverty Reduction in Lango and Kigezi sub-regions of Uganda: A comparative Empirical Study

The paper examines the contributions of co-operative and saving societies in poverty reduction in Lango and Kigezi sub-region. The study adopted a comparative and cross-sectional survey design where bivariate and multivariate data analyses were used to analyze the data. Specifically, correlation and regression analysis were done to determine the relationship between financial contribution by savings and credit co-operative (SACCOS), saving culture and poverty reduction. The findings established that low-income households had inadequate access to cheap and affordable credit. In the two regions, the available credits offered by SACCOS were not cheap per say and the SACCOS offered credit at 10% per month, which translated into 120% per annum. The study reveals that microcredits create long-term indebtedness among the rural poor, and yet households are not competent in managing their finances. The saving culture in Kigezi sub-region is associated with political motivations and support from politicians. In contrast, in Lango sub-region, saving culture is associated with response to government programs that were aimed at reconstructing northern Uganda after the two decades of insurgency. The provision of more financial services would contribute to poverty reduction and training of households on the utilization of financial credit

Institutional design and utilisation of evaluation results in Uganda’s public universities: Empirical findings from Kyambogo University

Background: The need for evidence-based decision-making scaled up the need for monitoring and evaluation systems in Africa. The education sector has received increasing scrutiny, owing to its centrality in promoting the national agenda of countries. The higher education sub-sector has expanded in its drive to increase accessibility, albeit with numerous challenges and doubts, especially about the quality of education. Numerous evaluations in this sub-sector in Uganda have been carried out, but their results have not been used for effective decision-making. In this regard, the non-utilisation trend of evaluation findings is attributable to the design of the institutions where these evaluations are carried out. Objectives: The study examined the relationship between institutional design (procedural rules, evaluation processes and institutional capacity) and utilisation of evaluation results at Kyambogo University. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional survey involving a sample of 118 respondents whose views were obtained through the use of questionnaires and key informant interviews triangulated with documentary analysis. Results: The study found that procedural rules, evaluation processes and evaluation capacity had a positive (0.459, 0.486 and 0.765, respectively) and a statistically significant (sig. = 0.000) effect on utilisation of evaluation results. This means that the dimensions of institutional design were important predictors of utilisation of evaluation results by a public sector agency. Conclusion: Strengthening of the evaluation competences and capacity of the university by empowering the Directorate of Planning and Development to coordinate and harmonise all evaluations and be charged with the follow-up of utilisation of the results is an emerging recommendation from this study

Blended-learning approaches and the teaching of monitoring and evaluation programmes in African universities : unmasking the UTAMU approach

The demand for monitoring and evaluation capacity in Africa sharply exceeds the supply. This has increased pressure on universities to produce the needed quality of M&E experts. While some commendable progress has been made, significant gaps remain in the way of any efforts to produce the needed human resources with expertise, competencies, skills and tools in the field. The number of teachers for M&E has remained glaringly weak and the resources within universities remain poor. Many universities have introduced curricula in the field but they have remained stuck to the traditional ways of delivering these curricula. The traditional way entails students being full-time at universities and rarely has there been adoption of ICT opportunities. Indeed, the graduates that have been produced remain stunted in the use of ICT for addressing some of the field’s solutions. To address this problem, we propose a blended-learning approach to the teaching of M&E in Africa. With the blended approach, students across a variety of disciplines, faculties, countries and levels can study in the same classroom environment. The UTAMU e-learning model is advanced to provide a justification for this approach

Enhancing governance through blockchain technology in the South African public sector

Background: Blockchain technology can potentially enhance the efficiency and governing of the public sector. The study explored how blockchain could be instrumental in effectively governing the public sector using the Technology Acceptance Model and Diffusions of Innovations Theory as explanatory lenses. Aim: To determine if blockchain could lead to effective governance by reporting the views of those charged with public sector governance. Setting: The sample consisted of those charged with governance in four Gauteng provincial departments in the positions of Head of Department, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Director of Finance. Methods: A qualitative research approach using semi-structured in-depth interviews and purposive sampling was used. Results: Blockchain could be instrumental in curbing the current governance challenges in the South African public sector. The rapid growth in the use of blockchain by other countries, and the leveraged results thereof prompt South Africa to align. Although blockchain can potentially improve governance, the study’s findings suggest that the South African public sector may not be ready to embrace it. Conclusion: Effective governance is critical for public sector performance. The ongoing governance challenges in the South African public sector urgently require a solution. The article suggests that blockchain technology could potentially improve the governance of the public sector evidenced by data from in-depth personal interviews despite the low willingness to accept it. Contribution: The study contributes to the body of knowledge by provoking an intellectual debate and research on the use of blockchain technology in the public sector, which remains an under-researched topic

The role of civil servants and political leaders in combating public procurement corruption in Uganda : an empirical analysis

Public procurement is a key tool for improved governance and poverty reduction. However, the procurement function is seriously affected by direct and indirect corruption, which is presumably perpetuated by the political leaders and the civil servants. The politicians approve the procurement plan and budgets as well as do the monitoring of the process while the civil servants technically manage the procurement process. With an increase in the levels of public procurement corruption, a strategy to minimize the trend requires a collaborative approach between these two key stakeholders

The effect of corruption on administration of justice in Uganda : lessons from two chief magistrates’ courts in Kampala and Mukono districts

A well functioning judiciary remains a key pillar for administration of justice in any government pretentious of being democratic. The legal system ought to be characterised by impartiality, consistency, openness, predictability, and stability. Citizens ought to be equal before the law. Unfortunately, the judiciary in many African countries is a poisoned institution due to the corruption malaise. In this article, two case studies of Buganda Road and Mukono Chief Magistrates Courts to show how specific forms of corruption affect the administration of justice, are discussed. Use was made of a cross-sectional descriptive survey design that included a sample size of 86 respondents. Both qualitative and quantitative techniques were used in the study. The analysis was done using correlation to establish the relationships between the study variables. The article identifies theoretical and policy implications that appeal to both local and international audiences