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Uganda Management Institute: Postgraduate Diploma in Public Administration and Management (Dpam) Weekend
Uganda Management Institute: Postgraduate Diploma in Public Administration and Management (Dpam) Weekend
MANAGEMENT
Critically examine the role and challenges of Public Administration and Management in
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Public administration is a part of Government that has for long been around from the time of
the monarchies, therefore the role of public administration cannot be ignored while
Public administration is a process by which government supplies goods and services, make
and enforce regulations, manage resources and resolve conflicts in an efficient and equitable
manner while remaining accountable to the public for both means and outcomes.
Krysten Godfrey Maddocks (2021) notes that Public administrators share an important role in
ensuring that laws and regulations, civil rights, municipal budgets and health and safety codes
John Rohr (a leading scholar of the US Constitution and its relation to public administration
and civil servants) defined the role of public administration as governing the society.
Different authors have also argued that a government can function without a legislature, even
without a judiciary but never without administration. This would mean that the government
would become dysfunctional and eventually the government would fail to provide services
for the society. In the different types of government be it federal or a unitary and a
It should be noted that in Uganda, the relation between public administration and citizens has
changed notably within the last 10 – 20 years. A citizen, who was originally mostly given
orders and prohibitions, is becoming a partner, a user, a client. The administration thus gives
services, and administration authorities are seeking ways of better and more open cooperation
with citizens. Therefore public administration provides numerous services to the public and
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serves their interests in many ways. As explained by Felix A Negro, the real core of
The role of the public administration is “to uphold the Constitution of the Republic of
of public policies and programs such that government programmes run smoothly to deliver
well as the Executive arm in the discharging of overall leadership and effective government
coordination,
Public administration is fully responsible for research, plan and also recommend policies and
programs that fall within budgets and follow administrative and government law that is in
place. The policy and programme's focus should be on action-oriented, and there should be
Promote and manage regional, international relations and commercial diplomacy. Public
diplomatic ties such that there is creation of trade, investment and employment opportunities
Development Plan (PA-SDP) I FY (2015/16 – 2019/20) states that, it is in line with the
strategic direction of Vision 2040 which seeks to review and strengthen the country’s foreign
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policy to enhance collaboration in accordance with existing and future agreements, standards
and protocols within the framework of East African Community, and other regional blocs.
It is the public administration that promotes and ensures the security and protection of life
and property of the members of the society by maintaining proper law and order. For example
the UPDF that is responsible for the security of the country and the police to maintain law
and order. Public administration sector mutually work with the defence and security sector
contribute to the security and territorial integrity of Uganda’s boundaries and security of
persons and property. In particular, Resident District Commissioners chair District Security
Committee meetings whose resolutions are shared with the Security sector thus providing
masses to participate in the democratic and development processes that is to say the electoral
processes where the public cast a vote for their leaders to represent them at different
leadership levels. Therefore citizens are able to participate in public governance and as well
Coordinate with others to adopt and put into action new policies or programs. This facilitates
effective public policy formulation for improved service delivery in line with the fiscal and
Collect and analyze qualitative and quantitative data such as public records, budget reports,
surveys and historical data to make adjustments and improvements, as needed. The data is
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Communicate the effectiveness of policies and programs with other employees, constituents
and stakeholder groups to ensure transparency and accountability. This leads to gaining of
Monitoring of government programmes: The public administration sector together with the
public sector management sector, monitor national programs for effective service delivery.
This is achieved through various coordination and planning meetings between the various
sectors with support of the political leadership to ensure that national objectives are realized.
strengthening national capacities in fiscal policy analysis and economic management, and in
promoting a proper environment for capital flows for investment, private sector development,
has the responsibility of establishing environmental standards for all infrastructure policies
Public administration and management is responsible for managing and evaluating special
Like any other discipline, public administration and management has challenges and these
include;
Corruption is a big challenge of public administration and management. Since its vital role is
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2019/20) indicates that in the past three years, the sector’s monitoring units identified over
343 corruption cases especially in the health and agriculture sector and were reported to the
responsible authorities. Therefore strengthening the monitoring capacity to identify and cause
action on corruption cases across government is important for improved service delivery.
The increasing population of Uganda. According to the Uganda Bureau statistical report
(2018) Uganda’s population has continued to grow over time. The population increased from
9.5 million in 1969 to 34.6 million in 2014. Between 2002 and 2014 the population increased
from 24.2 million to 34.6 million representing an average annual growth rate of 3.0 percent.
This means there is tremendous pressure on the available resources. Therefore delivery of
services is insufficient and now the role of providing for basic amenities like food and shelter
there is enjoyment of vast amount of autonomy where the goals intended to be achieved
often get lost along the way In this present day, Uganda is experiencing changing trends
every day, therefore the delivery services ought to be swift and flexible. However there is
developmental goals. The administrative staff are also significantly inclined to bureaucratic
behavior yet public administration is no longer mere legal implementation of laws as there is
a steadily increasing need for it to act in a creative way and taking the initiative to be contact-
friendly and "human" towards the public who require their services.
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Acute shortage of skilled manpower with technical and managerial competencies in public
capacity and skills development for public policy formulation and implementation. This is as
result that staff move to the private sector which gives a better pay and has attractive
incentives hence leaves a big gap in the public sector leading to poor service delivery.
Non-transparency in the public sector. There are information barriers that prevent anyone to
get acquainted with their activities and any other information available to the administration.
Bategeka (2013) emphasizes that governments are obliged to provide information on their
activities in an adequate way but a statutory instrument which would regulate the discharge of
this duty has not been adopted yet. That the principle of "discreteness" of the administration
is still being applied instead of the democratic principle of "publicity" of the administration.
Therefore citizens are kept in the dark and are not able to support the government as required.
offences which should be detected and investigated by police and later prosecuted in the
courts of law. Knowing that the administration prosecutes every offence impartially has a
positive impact not only on the general legal knowledge of citizens but also on the evaluation
of public administration. The punishment given have preventive effects and should lead to an
increased level of legal certainty, to the compliance with generally binding rules of behavior.
cites there is underutilisation of policy research from various institutions to inform decision
and policy making due to weak coordination and collaborative arrangements with policy
research institutions such as the Economic Policy and Research Centre (EPRC), Public and
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arrangements will ensure that policy research results are effectively utilised for improved
policy effectiveness through evidence based policy formulation, review of all available policy
There is also lack of an effective feedback mechanism on public service delivery. The main
goal of the public administration and management is to ensure that all nationals of Uganda
are well governed, empowered and satisfied with the level of service delivery. The Public
an effective citizen feedback mechanism will ensure both citizens and government feedback
is received and acted upon in a timely manner. However there has been limited due to lack of
effective and well established feedback mechanisms such as the Citizens Score card system
and Baraza’s among others, therefore the government doesn’t get to have any evaluation on
Funds are allocated to the public sector to facilitate service delivery. However the funds are
misused by public administrators for their own personal interests, the user departments get
limited or unequal share where some areas are given priority while others are ignored hence
Conflict and crisis conditions in the country affect public administration and management.
The presence of unstable political environment and insecurity affect service delivery. For
example the recent political riots in Kampala, the Katuna border conflict, the COVID 19
crisis that sterilized government programmes. Therefore the need of a healthy and peaceful
Conclusion
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In the modern state of Uganda, the role and scope of public administration is ever expanding
and all encompassing. The government is no longer responsible for maintaining law and
order only, this modern state expects government to provide much more which has seen the
Further still there is an increasing awareness amongst the citizens of a country regarding their
rights and the duties of the government. Thus, the role and functions of public administration
has also become quite dynamic in nature and is constantly evolving in response to the
changing needs and demands of the society. Technological intervention, incorporation of new
management principles, taking into accounts the needs and aspirations of the end customer
REFERENCES
Uganda. ESID working paper no. 27. Effective States and Inclusive Development
3. Background to the Budget 2014/15 Fiscal Year, Ministry of Finance Planning and
Economic Development
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Uganda: behind the façade. Working paper no. 85. Effective States and Inclusive
www.journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/000271623819700157. On 01 Oct
2018Google Scholar
10. Shafritz JM, Russell EW, Borick CP (2011) Introducing public administration.
Longman, Boston.
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11. Tansu D (2016) Public administration theory. In: Farazmand A (ed) Global
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