Challenges of Enforcing Accountability in Local Government Authorities in Tanzania; A Case Study of Temeke Municipality

Abstract

In the absence of accountability, public bureaucracy is likely to lose its identity of being a public institution, and may even relegate itself to the pursuit of private interests. Accountability becomes a means to ascertain and controlling the actions of public bureaucracy so as ensure that power and resources vested in them are not misused. This paper examines how accountability is enforced in local government authorities in Tanzania by focusing on Temeke Municipal council. The paper further examines the challenges Temeke municipality face in enforcing accountability to its employees. By design, this is a case study and it used both primary and secondary data. While documentary review was the main source of secondary data, primary data were collected using questionnaires and interviews. The main findings of the paper are as follows; first, there is a weak or low level of employees’ accountability in Temeke municipality and this is manifested mainly in poor public service delivery. The top leadership does not seem to push and ensure that public servants are held accountable for not providing quality public services. Secondly, this paper notes that Temeke municipality is facing a number of challenges in enforcing accountability. Weak employees’ annual performance targets, unclear legal framework to enforce accountability and corruption are the leading factors that impede the process of enforcing accountability in Temeke municipality. It is strongly recommended that Temeke municipality to establish the processing of improving its employees’ accountability. This process can start by introducing annual performance targets, and annual performance evaluation for all employees. This simple process can help the council to link public service delivery to employees’ accountability.