CHALLENGES FACED IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF EDUCATION AND

SPORTS ORDINANCE PASSED BY THE GULU DISTRICT LOCAL

GOVERNMENT

By
Chanwat Brian Geoffrey
LLB (Hons) UPU.
Legal Intern
CHAPTER FOUR UGANDA
P.OBox33159,
Kampala, Uganda
Tel; +256 776 118350 / +256 756 864069
Email; briangeoffrey15@yahoo.co.uk

Abstract
Uganda is a democratic Republic with a governance system comprising
central and Local Governments. The Constitution of the Republic of
Uganda provides for a system of decentralisation and Local Governments,
which is further consolidated in the Local Governments Act. 1 In an urban
setting, there are City, Municipal, Division/Town, Ward and Cell Councils. In
the rural setting, there is a District Council, County (which is an
administrative unit without a Council), Sub County Council, Parish Council
and Village Council. The primary sources of revenue are transfers from
Central Government; however Local Governments are mandated to raise
revenue locally, including property taxes, licences and user fees.
Responsibility for transport and environment protection is shared between
Central and Local Governments. Districts and Municipal Councils are also
responsible for the provision of primary and secondary education, safe
water supplies and public health and are encouraged to devolve some
services to the lower tiers. Local Economic Development (LED) is the
responsibility of the district s and lower tiers of government. The Legal
framework took place including The National Constitution for the Republic
of Uganda that underscored education as a right of every Ugandan, and
the Republic of Uganda Local Government Act (1997) that transferred
Primary and Secondary Education services to Local Governments at the
district levelan example of decentralization of education delivery. Many
programs have been put in place to facilitate decentralization of education
service delivery, including: the Education Strategic Investment Plan (ESIP),
Universal Primary Education (UPE), School Facilities Grant (SFG); Teacher
Development and Management System (TDMS). In 1997 elementary
education was universalized beginning with grades 1 to 4.2

1 The Local Governments Act 1997, Cap 243.

2 Immaculate Namukasa The University of Western Ontario and Ronald Buye Makerene
University, Uganda, Decentralization and Education in Uganda at page 5

CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Gulu District is a district in the Northern Region of Uganda. The town
of Gulu, which means "pot" in the Acholi language (a reference to Gulu's
location in the depression of a prehistoric floodplain), is the site of the
district headquarters and is its chief commercial centre. Gulu District is
bordered by Lamwo District to the north, Pader District to the east, Oyam
District to the south, Nwoya District to the southwest, and Amuru
District to the west. The district headquarters in the town of Gulu are
approximately 340 kilometres (210 mi), by road, north of Uganda's capital
city, Kampala. The coordinates of the district are 02 45N, 32 00E. In 1991,
the national population census was estimated the population of the
district at 211,800.3 Geographically, the study concentrated in Gulu
district.
The study was about the Gulu District Local Government Education and
Sports Bill which was passed in 2009 and it was made an Ordinance in
2010. It was designed to address issues such as absenteeism among
teachers, lack of parents commitment towards the education needs of
their children as well cases of forced child labour with the hope of
improving the Education performance levels of Gulu District as reflected in
the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE), Uganda Certificate of Education
(UCE) and the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE). This
chapter deals with the background, assessment of the problem,
justification of the study, objectives of the study, research questions,
methodology, literature review, limitations of the study, the hypothesis,
chapter break down and the duration of the study.

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

1.1.1 WHAT IS THE EDUCATION AND SPORTS ORDINANCE OF GULU
DISTRICT?
The Education and Sports Ordinance was passed by the district on the
20th November, 2009 and approved in July 2010. The Gulu District
Education and Sports Ordinance, 2010 is a by-law now that provides
additional guidance to the education sector in the entire district. The
policy stipulates that provision of education is a joint responsibility of the
state, the parent or guardian and other stakeholders and emphasizes the
requirement that the various stakeholders must fulfil their stipulated roles
3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulu_District

and failure to would call for punitive measures also highlighted in the law.
Although, the law exists it has faced challenges of enforcement.4
1.1.2 THE NATURE OF THE EDUCATION AND SPORTS ORDINANCE
Although the Education and Sports Ordinance was passed in 2010, it has
largely been silent and left to lie idle in the book shelves. However, the
district authority has been jerked into the urgency of implementing the
Ordinance after observing the 2011 Primary Leaving Examination results,
which placed the district among the worst performers.
The Education and Sports Ordinance passed by the sub-counties and
approved by the district council in 2010 agreed that parents or teachers
who failed to meet the education needs of children would be subjected to
a fine and a six-month jail term.
At most primary schools, teachers admitted they were aware of the
Ordinance although some said they were yet to read through the
provisions.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM.
The law seems to be unrealistic and is facing a huge disadvantage in the
implementation of it. The ambits of the la have since failed especially in
regard to the implementation.
There is a challenge of the implementation of the ordinance as a law since
the technocrats are few in the district.
There were several problems in the district. There major problem was that
of absenteeism among teachers from schools and students miss out at the
expense of the teachers.
This lack of parents commitment towards the education needs of their
children. This has been greatly influenced by the mindset of the parents. It
has mainly affected the girl child since girls in the native African setting
were considered to be wives and not nation builders.
Poverty has also been a great pressure to illiteracy in the district. Many
children have been forced into child labour. This is among the various
distractions of children of school going age to quit school. Among the
activities they do is sports betting, stone quarrying, cultivation/ agriculture
amongst others. This has led to the decline in the Education performance
levels of Gulu District as reflected in the Primary Leaving Examinations
(PLE), Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) and the Uganda Advanced
Certificate of Education (UACE).
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THIS STUDY
This comprises of the following:
4 Feedback methods and practices in Northern and North Eastern Uganda [Based on
findings of a survey carried out in the districts of Gulu, Kitgum, Pader, Kotido and
Katakwi]

1. To establish the status of the laws passed by the Gulu District Local
Government between 31st July 2009 up to 31s July 2015;
2. To establish the level of awareness by the public of the Laws passed;
3. To examine some of the provisions in the laws passed
4. To identify and examine the challenges facing the Laws passed;

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

To achieve the above objectives the research shall be guided by the above
research/ study questions;
1. What are the challenges facing the education sector in Gulu district?
2. What are the challenges facing the implementation of the education
and sports ordinance of 2010 in Gulu district?
3. What strategies have been put in place to ensure the
implementation of Education and Sports Ordinance of 2010 in Gulu
district?

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

Successful completion of the study would be useful to a number of
stakeholders. For instance;
1. The study could provide vital information to the Ministry of Education
and Sports (MoES), educational partners, and management of
institutions of higher learning in Uganda to establish how local
governments can improve the education sector hence reducing the
illiteracy levels to adjust appropriately.
2. Management of institutions of higher learning in Uganda would be able
to identify both administrative and technical bottlenecks and measures
of dealing with them in prompting education at primary, secondary in
order to lay firm foundations of knowledge as students prepare for
tertiary levels of education. This improves the quality of education
since the students will have been well natured right from the start.
3. Knowledge gained from this research study would be useful to
educators and policy makers like National Council for Higher Education
(NCHE) in making wise decision in relation to their syllabus changes in
order to teach relevant subjects in school. Theoretically, the study
would also prompt more researchers in the area having contributed to
literature for future studies.

1.6 JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY

The result of this study seeks to find out the challenges facing the
education sector in Gulu district.
The result of this study also seeks to find out the challenges facing the
implementation of the Education and Sports Ordinance of 2010 in Gulu
district.
The Ministry of education and sports might also use the results of this
study to address the major causes of poor education sector in Gulu
district.
The results of this study might be used by The Human Rights Body to
enforce the Rights of children with especially in their right to education
enshrined under the 1995 constitution case they are violated.
The results of this study might also be used as reference by other
students of the Uganda Pentecostal University and other institutions of
Learning.
The study is being carried out to fulfil the requirement in order for me to
attain a Bachelors Degree of Laws of Uganda Pentecostal University.

1.7 SCOPE OF STUDY

1.7.1 GEOGRAPHICAL SCOPE.
The study was carried out in Gulu district in Gulu Municipality. Some of the
local councillors of the Gulu district local government were interviewed
and also members of the general public constituted the sampling frame.
The ordinance applies to the whole of Gulu district.5

1.7.2 CONCEPTUAL SCOPE.

The study examined the challenges faced in the implementation of
Education And Sports Ordinance passed by the Gulu district local
government
The time frame for the study was from January to April 2016.

1.8 LITERATURE REVIEW

1.8.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents literature review on what other researchers or
scholars had written on the challenges faced in the implementation of
Education and Sports Ordinance passed by the Gulu district local
government.

5 Section 2 of the Education and Sports Ordinance of 2010.

Uganda being one of the African countries that has decentralized its
education system, there was a rise in the School enrolment increased due
to the policy on The Universal Primary Education in 1997
The process of implementation of the decentralized education system has
been challenging in one or two ways by the Ministry of Education and
Sports.
In a publication by the ministry of education and sports in 2008, Universal
Primary Education (UPE) is defined as the provision of basic education to
all Ugandans children of primary school going age (6+ years). 6 It further
stated that in providing this education, there must be access, equity,
quality and relevance of the same. This should be affordable by the
government and the majority of the people of Uganda.
Our mother law, the 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda grants
everybody in Uganda the right to education.7
In the Education and Sports Ordinance of 2010, the policy on the provision
of education and training is a joint responsibility of the state, the parent or
guardian and other stake holders. 8 It further provides the responsibility of
parents/ guardians and stake holders in the provision of education.
The intention of the government of Uganda for drawing up such a policy is
to meet up the basic education stipulated by the Constitution. With the
Universal Primary Education (UPE) being put in place, it is expected that
Ugandan children of school going age enrol in school and complete the
process as the government provides and facilitates the necessities
through channelling the available resources towards that cause.
This arises at the peak of illiteracy, a vice that has steadily eaten up the
population in Uganda. This has stimulated the high rate of ignorance
amongst the population here in Uganda. The government, in its mission
considers eradicating the vice through availing a ready chance to every
school going age child and Ugandan at large the right to education.
In this foreplay, there is a vital role to be played by the various stake
holders. In context of this study, we focus our main interest at the district
level where various people are expected to play vital roles in the
implementation of the education sector.
Under the Education and Sports ordinance of 2010, it is clearly stated that
the government through its agencies are responsible for the provision of
learning and instructional materials, structural development and teachers

6 Ministry of Education and Sports, Guidelines on: Policy, Planning, Roles and
Responsibilities of Stakeholders in the implementation of Universal Primary Education
(UPE) for districts and Urban Councils, October 2008 at page 1 Para 1.1.

7 Article 30 of the 1999 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, All persons has a right to
education.

8 Section 4 of Education and Sports Ordinance of 2010

welfare, setting up policies and maintaining the national goals in regard to

education, amongst others.9
Amongst these key stake holders at district levels include, the Resident
District Commissioners (RDC) who directly monitor government
programmes at district levels. Particularly in our area of study, Gulu
district, the RDC amongst other roles is to sensitize the other stake
holders on government programmes in regard to education such as the
UPE programmes and directly ensure that there is proper running of
schools in the district.10
The Chief Administrative Officers (CAO) also has to play a vital role in the
sector. The funding of UPE is all channelled through their office and they
must ensure prompt availability of these grants/ funds to the schools
under the UPE programme. This should be accompanied by the
accountability of these grants/funds.11
The Local Government comprises of Local Councillors 3, 5 and others. The
system of local government must be based on democratically elected
councils on the basis of universal adult suffrage. 12 They are the main key
players in representation of individuals at district and sub county levels
and direct implementers of the programmes set up in their mandate. They
are mandated to make laws for any sector in regard to improving it. We
see them making the Education and Sports ordinance in 2010 powers
granted to them by the Local Government Act, 13 after realising the poor
performance in the education sector of the district. The local Government
act gives the local Government Act gives the local councillors the power to
enact laws at district levels. These laws may be attach penalties thereto
inform of an ordinance.
A keen look at the Education and Sports ordinance of 2010, 14 there are
penalties attached under some sections especially where there is violation
of the law in a particular section. A clear currency point is stipulated in the
schedule of the ordinance for purposes of fines payment.
The roles of the local government in upholding the right to education to
the local population is very clear.15
9 Section 9 of the Education and Sports ordinance of 2010
10 Ministry of Education and Sports, Guidelines on: Policy, Planning, Roles and
Responsibilities of Stakeholders in the implementation of Universal Primary
Education(UPE) for districts and Urban Councils, October 2008 at page 11 Para 8.3.1

11 Ibid Para 8.3.2

12 Article 176(3) of the 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda.
13 Section 38 and 40 of the Local Government Act Cap 243 on the legislative powers of
the local government.

14 Look at sections 21(4), 22(2), 26(2), 27(2) of the Education and Sports ordinance of
2010.

15 Ministry of Education and Sports, Guidelines on: Policy, Planning, Roles and
Responsibilities of Stakeholders in the implementation of Universal Primary

Through the Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs), local authorities are

responsible for releasing UPE funds sent to them by the Ministry of
Education and Sports to schools and must ensure that the said funds are
not retained for any other purposes. UPE funds are therefore conditional
grants, over which district authorities have little power of reallocation to
other uses. The funds must be disbursed to schools promptly and proper
accountability of UPE grants must be observed, the formulation of the
education budget and its successful fulfilment, and adequate briefing of
District Councils on the implementation of UPE. Sub-county chiefs
represent the CAOs at the sub-county level. They make regular visits to
schools, implement local government byelaws on UPE, keep a record of
both pupils and teachers in the sub-county, submit regular reports on
education to the CAOs, ensure safe water and sanitation in schools, and in
schools under their jurisdiction, enforce proper use and accountability for
UPE grants and public funds.16
In this study, it is clear that the policies thereto are clearly laid down by
the mother ministry, Ministry of Education and Sports which has set out
the guidelines in the management of the education sector. The ministry
throws out its roles to the other stake holders when it comes to the
implementation. This study is unique in way that it identifies the weak
areas of all performing stake holders when it comes to the implementation
process. The ministry of Education and sports are represented by the
District Education Department and District Inspectorate who are both at
district levels. They both have important roles to play but are challenged
by issues of finance since they are at the ground level of implementation
of the Ministries directives. The insufficient funding by the mother ministry
has caused their adequate execution of their duties and roles.
Accordingly, the main roles of the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES)
in the implementation of UPE, as specified in the guidelines of 1998, its
mandate is to train and retrain teachers; provide instructional materials in
the form of textbooks and teachers guides; contribute to the construction
of basic school facilities such as Classrooms and libraries, supervise,
monitor and evaluate the implementation of UPE, provide curriculum,
monitor and assess standards and in terms of expenditure, the Ministry of
Education and Sports provides two types of grants for UPE, namely
capitation (fees) grants and school facilities grants. Capitation grants are
paid on the basis of the number of students enrolled in a school and the
level of education. The monthly grant per child was fixed at about US$5
per pupil for classes P1P3, and US$8 per pupil for classes P4P7, payable
for a fixed period of 9 months per year. The MoES also provides guidelines
for the spending of capitation grants in primary schools, which are as
follows: 50% on instructional materials; 30% on co-curricular activities
(sports, clubs etc.); 15% on school management (school maintenance,
Education(UPE) for districts and Urban Councils, October 2008 at page 11 Para 8.3.3 and
8.3.4

16 Policy Brief 10, Universal Primary Education Uganda, February 2006 at page 2

payment for utilities such as water and electricity); and 5% on school

administration.
The weakness of the Ministry of Education and Sports is a reason for the
poor performance of the sector and therefore prompted districts to use
their powers granted to them under article 79(2) of the 1995 Constitution
of the republic of Uganda and sections 38 and 40 of the local Government
act Cap 243 to make laws so as to save the lacking education sector in the
district.
The 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda provides for the system
of local government in Uganda to be based on the district as a unit, which
there shall be such lower local governments and administrative units and
the principles applied to the local government system are mainly to
ensure that functions, powers and responsibilities are devolved and
transferred from the government to local government units in a
coordinated manner, decentralisation shall be a principles applying to all
levels of local government and, in particular, from higher to lower local
government units to ensure peoples participation and democratic control
in decision making, the system shall be such as to ensure the full
realisation of democratic governance at all local government levels, there
shall be established for each local government unit a sound financial base
with reliable sources of revenue, appropriate measures shall be taken to
enable local government units to plan, initiate and execute policies in
respect of all matters affecting the people within their jurisdictions,
persons in the service of local government shall be employed by the local
governments and the local governments shall oversee the performance of
persons employed by the Government to provide services in their areas
and to monitor the provision of Government services or the
implementation of projects in their areas.17
The Local government Act Cap 243, provides that political structures
within Uganda have the highest political authority within their areas of
jurisdiction of a local government with legislative and executive powers
thus having responsibility towards matters surrounding service provision
within their com-munities.18
The Local Government Act Cap 243 expressly grants a Government line
Ministry to monitor and coordinate Government initiatives and policies as
they apply to local governments, coordinate and advise persons and
organisations in relation to projects involving direct relations with local
governments and assist in the provision of technical assistance to local
governments.19

17 Article 176(2) of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda.

18 Section 9[1] of the Local government Act Cap 243:
19 Section 9 of the Local Government Act Cap 243

Local Governments have undertaken various measures to increase access

to education. These include: Public Private Partnerships; working with
religious bodies and development partners to construct schools and
provide facilities; and taking over of community-founded schools. For
example in 1997 when Kibaale District was created, it had only 180
government-aided primary schools, but there are now 267. Similarly the
enrolment increased from 41,493 in 1996 to 130,464 by 2013.20
The Education sector is one of the most important and has always been of
interest to the government. This made it easier for the management of
the sector at the district levels. The levels of education that are
decentralized were listed as nursery, elementary, secondary, trade
education, special education and technical education.
In a research titled Decentralization and Education in Uganda,21 there was
realisation that the local government role is no longer merely supervisory
but now involves availing the grants to the schools, accountability of the
grants, planning and budgeting, monitoring and evaluation. The grants
are received from the central Ministry of Finance and Economic
Development (MoFED). The district accounting officer, the Chief
Administrative Officer (CAO) receives funds for education in the form of
school staff salaries, funds for school supplies and grants, which are
dispatched to principals through the DEO.
The District Inspector of Schools (DIS), whose work is more pronounced at
the elementary level. Periodic inspection of schools in the district is one of
the vital roles in ensuring the quality teaching and learning by the
students as well as evaluate the teachers and head teachers performance
in the district. In performance of all these roles is ensuring that the
standards stipulated by the Ministry of Education and Sports are well
maintained.
The District Education officer (DEO) remains the head of the education
department and Education Committee at the district to whom the head
teachers are answerable. The main role of this office is policy
implementation and proper management of schools. The district
education officer (DEO) is the key person responsible for the
implementation of UPE at the district level, directly works with the head
teachers for any feedback to the ministry of Education and sports, and
delegates head teachers within their different schools with authority to
control school affairs. School level actors are at the last level of
institutional structure involving different actors like head teachers,
teachers, school management committees, Parents Teachers Associations,
parents, pupils and the community at large.
20 Ministry of Education and Sports; Decentralisation and Local Development in Uganda,
July 2014 at page 26.CENTRALIZATION ANDGANDA, July 2014

21 Immaculate Namukasa, Decentralization and Education in Uganda, Volume 36 | Issue

1 Article 7 June 2007

In practice, secondary and tertiary schools report to the Director of

Education at the central government who then is answerable to the
Permanent Secretary.
Policy, budgeting and planning for secondary
schools are not yet decentralized.
The calculation of Education grants are done by the central government
and then let sent to the local government. Grants are in form of
conditional, non-conditional or equalization grants. The local governments
pay off the equalisation grants under section 84 of the Local Government
act in regard to borrowing money. Capitation grants are spent on
instructional and scholastic materials, on co-curricular activities, on school
management and on administration.
The school formula funding, should be based on enrolment, location. This
in the long run prevents acts of corruption.22
This research is different in that it still looks at the loopholes in the
implementation of the policies under decentralisation. Much as the local
government tries its level best in the implementation of its policies in
regard to the education sector having received funding from the Central
Government and other funders, the funding still remains a big issue in
regard to the implementation as grants are at times given late and may
not meet its particular purpose at that time. This affects both service
delivery and performance by the particular stake holders such as the
District Inspector of Schools and the District Education Officer.
In another research titled Universal Primary Education Under
Decentralization,23 the Decentralization process in Uganda is traced back
to the enactment of the 1987 Resistance Councils or Committees (RCs)
who were given powers to manage resources in their respective areas.
This programme came to light in 1993 and eventually being enshrined
under the 1995 Constitution of the republic of Uganda and other laws
relevant thereto such as the local Government Act Cap 243. Powers were
given to the local Councils in planning, legislation amongst other roles
through devolution
The Universal Primary Education (UPE) was introduced by the National
Resistance Movement (NRM) government so as to provide the necessary
facilities for children of school going age in Uganda to enrol under the
programme. Initially, there was sponsorship of free education for four of
children per family in the programme and this later changed to provide
education to all children in Uganda. This policy increased the level of
access to education and between 19971998, the primary school
enrolment shot up from 2.9 million to 5.4 million. This rise continued and
reached 6.5 million in 1999 and 6.8 million in 2000.24
22 UNESCO (2004). Formula funding of schools, decentralization and corruption: a
comparative analysis. Paris: IIEP

23 Kawala Agnes; Universal Primary Education under Decentralization: An Asset or

Liability to Quality Education in Rural Uganda? December, 2004

There was an increment in the enrolment from 2 million pupils in 1986,

over 6.8 million pupils by 2000,25 and 8.3 million in 2012 according to
Ministry of Education and Sports factsheet. 26 The majority of children
being enrolled in rural Uganda and at the same time, the government
decentralized UPE by devolving powers from central government to
district councils and to lower local councils with the main aim of involving
local communities in implementing UPE, democratization, accountability,
efficiency and effectiveness in accordance with quality education. Sector
Budgetary constraints between what is planned and provided is a
common occurrence in primary education in Uganda today, hence leading
to a cutback in the way education services are provided coupled with
Insufficient teaching and learning materials that affect quality and
equitable education.27
As earlier noted, most of the UPE funds and resources are dispatched from
the central government to the local government for their distribution to
respective schools, and each stake holder in the system has a role to play.
The local government has therefore been mandated with the responsibility
for the monitoring and implementation of UPE, receives teachers salaries
for dispatch, passes bye-laws and distributes the school facilities grant
while the central government handles UPE funds, procures textbooks and
instructional materials, among others. The central government therefore
is the major key player in policy making as the local government only
implements policies that come from the centre and are less involved in
the policy process. The decentralization of primary education in Uganda
started as a political move by the President of the Republic of Uganda in
1997.

24 Ministry of Education and Sports; The Development Of Education In Uganda In The

Last Ten Years;Report on the Development of Education for the 46th Session of (ice) 5 th
7th September 2001, Geneva, MAY at page 11

25 Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) (2001) 'the development of education in

Uganda in the last ten years: Report on the development of education for the 46th
session of (Ice). Kampala, Uganda.

26 Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) (2012), Sector fact sheet 2000 2012,
Kampala. Uganda.

27 Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) (2012), The education and sports sector
annual performance report 2012, Kampala. .

According to Donald R. Winkler and Alec Ian Gershberg in their Research, 28

they noted that the Ugandan decentralization experience has won
significant international praise, though naturally it has had its pitfalls. 29
Transparency of budgetary allocation, largely in response to the very
negative outcomes of the Public Expenditure Tracking Survey, has played
a large role in its early successful aspects. For instance, information on the
conditional grants to districts are published in the national press and
provided to schools. Schools and sub-counties, in turn, must publicize
their budgets and sources of funds. In addition, a rare, detailed analysis of
the Ugandan reforms30 shows that in fact some of the touted theoretical
benefits of decentralization can occur in practice. Specifically, sub-county
government officials are well-aware of the preferences of parents even if
institutional rigidities prevent them from matching those preferences well.
Unfortunately, devolution may be reproducing centralization at the
regional level, in part because the assignment of, and expectations for,
sub-regional responsibilities is not well articulated in the decentralization
legislation. This result is particularly negative since regional officials were
found to be less in touch with citizen preferences than either sub-county
or national officials.
1.9 METHODOLOGY:
The data collected using the questionnaires and interviews was edited,
coded and tabulated for completeness and accuracy. First the raw data
gathered was analyzed manually and statistically and the qualitative data
collected required a descriptive and content analysis. Tables and Pie
charts were used to present the number of the respondents in
percentages.

CHAPTER 2
2.0 Non legal aspects
The war in Northern Ugandan Uganda started in the late 1980s with the
Lords Resistance Army rebels declaring war upon the National Resistance
Movement government. Due to the war, several communities in Northern

28 Education Decentralization In Africa: A Review of Recent Policy and Practice by

Donald R. Winkler Research Triangle Institute & Alec Ian Gershberg The New School in
August 2003 at page25

29 In Uganda, decentralization had various positive developments: increased

participation, increased transparency and accountability, improvements in capacity
building, etc. Nevertheless, the central government transfers still are insufficient, and the
local governments are neither involved, nor even consulted on the national budget De
Muro (date)

30 Azfar et al (2000) interviewed and/or surveyed 137 sub-county education officials, 18

district education officials, 145 school principals, over a thousand households as well as
key national officials.

Uganda were displaced and most communities had to relocate to other

places which were relatively peaceful within or outside the Country.
With the war in Northern Uganda, the functions of the Gulu District Council
with regard to enacting Ordinances stalled. However, upon the end of the
war in 2006 after the success of the Juba Peace Talks, the communities
that once occupied Gulu started to return. Several projects such as the
Peace Recovery and Development Plan (PRDP) were initiated so as to
empower the communities in Gulu.
With such projects being implemented, this enabled the people in
Northern Uganda to have access to some of the services that were being
provided by the several projects in place such as Education, shelter and
health services. However, not all these projects were able to address the
problems of the society such sanitation and hygiene related problems, the
low levels of education and gender based violence against the women in
Gulu District.
The Government of Uganda (GOU) in its effort to improve the education
standards raised its spending from 2.6 percent of GNP in 1996 (with only
43 percent allocated to primary schooling) to 4 percent in 2000, or nearly
a third of its discretionary recurrent budget. This increase was
necessitated by the much celebrated big bang approach the
government took to universal primary education (UPE) in 1997, abolishing
all fees for primary schooling and fully assuming the responsibility for
financing the sector. Up to that point, household contributions represented
about 60 percent of funds for primary schools. As a consequence,
enrolments skyrocketed, and pupil-teacher ratios increased.31
Following a political commitment by President Museveni in 1997, the
Government would meet the cost of primary education of four children per
family. This commitment was soon extended to allow all people that
wanted to access primary education to do so.
Under the UPE programme, the Government of Uganda abolished all
tuition fees and Parents and
Teachers Association charges for primary education. Following its
introduction, gross enrolment
in primary school increased from 3.1 million in 1996 to 7.6 million in 2003.
This amounts to an increase of 145% (4.5 million children), compared to
an increase of 39% (0.9 million children) between 1986 and 1996. This is
despite the fact that primary education was not made compulsory, nor
entirely free, since parents were still expected to contribute pens, exercise
books, clothing, and even bricks and labour for classroom construction.
The UPE programme has required a significant increase in public
expenditure devoted to primary education. Total education expenditure
increased from 2.1% GDP in 1995 to 4.8% of GDP in 2000, while the share
of the education sector in the national budget increased from 13.7% in
1990 to 24.7% in 1998. More importantly, under the countrys Education
31 The government provides only 30 percent of funds for secondary schooling and
enrolment rates are low.

Sector Investment Plan, at least 65% of the education budget must fund
primary education. The additional expenditure has been financed largely
from debt relief provided under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)
initiative, channelled via the countrys Poverty Action Fund.32
2.1 The Challenges facing the education sector in Gulu district.
The education sector in Gulu district faced and still faces various
challenges in the provision of education to the population. These
challenges have made is difficult to realise improved grades in
the education sector of the district and Uganda at large.
There is a huge problem of management in the education sector. In
practice, there are management pillars that must work hand in hand to
make the sector strong. These pillars of management are at both the
central government and the local government. Their roles start right from
the mother ministry, Ministry of Education and Sports to the Local
government at District levels and then to the Schools.
The ministry is generally charged with the responsibilities of making the
education policies and focus is always on regional equality to promote
access, participation and performance along with equity among different
socioeconomic groups. This in line with the planning process involves
certain groups of the population with the mandate towards resource
allocation left to central government through the ministries.33
The implementation of policies that are set out by the ministry of
Education and Sports has also been a great challenge in Gulu district. This
has been caused by the short time given to the local governments in order
to achieve particular purpose in the sector.
There is insufficient funding towards the UPE programmes in various
districts has also been a huge challenge in the sector. This has made the
management at the district level very challenging. The budgetary
constraints in the sector is also realised especially during the planning
process. This has affected the Education sector in that there is insufficient
teaching and limited learning materials which in the long run affect the
quality of education provided.34 This has affected the performance in the
co-curricular activities such as sports. This has led to the questioning of
the education sector because the urban schools end up performing better
than the rural schools that are under the local government.

32 Policy Brief 10 Inter-Regional Inequality Facility sharing ideas and policies across
Africa, Asia and Latin America

33 Kawala Agnes; Universal Primary Education under Decentralization: An Asset or

Liability to Quality Education in Rural Uganda? December, 2004 at page 22

34 Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) (2001) 'the development of education in

Uganda in the last ten years: Report on the development of education for the 46th
session of (Ice). Kampala, Uganda.

The government pays annual tuition fees for all pupils in all government
aided schools. These funds are sent by the government and received to
the CAOs district collections Accounts. For instance, for instructional
materials, funds are transferred to a dedicated DEO/IM textbook local
purchase order (LPO) Account held at a local commercial bank. The district
inspector of schools/ district education officer (DIS/DEO) on behalf of the
Decentralization instructional materials procurement steering committee
(DIMPSC) then prepares the schedule for LPOs for each school in the
district according to enrolment and the per capita funding allocation
provided to the district. There must be agreement by the DEO/DIS and the
schools about their annual expenditure for the grant for the whole
financial year. This is a lengthy process as funds are handled by many
people before getting to the final beneficiary, let alone the beneficiary not
receiving all that they are supposed to receive except peanuts. The
central government has therefore re-centralized the system where
instructional materials are directly sent to the respective UPE schools by
the top tier of the system at Ministry of Education and Sports with
responsibility of carrying out purchases and supply which presents
decentralized UPE system as a liability to rural Ugandan schools based on
the lengthy process involved.
Capitation grants toward UPE are channelled to the local government as a
conditional grant and should be utilized in accordance with the Poverty
Action Fund (PAF) under the directive of the ministry of Finance, Planning
and Economic Development.35
Just like any other sector, the challenge of ghost payments for both
teachers has persisted for a long time. Payrolls with ghost teachers and
accountability data with ghost students and resources are common. Local
finance management has created monitoring loopholes.
There is
misinterpretation of the formula for funding schools in a way that the
number of pupils is exaggerated so as more funds are received by
schools. This challenge has been addressed through regular head counts
in the regular visits and inspections by the authorities. Data is collected
annually through the Educational Management Information System (EMIS)
by the Ministry of Education and Sports. In September 2003 the District
Service Commission Secretary of a new district, Kiboga, was remanded for
putting ghost teachers on the payroll There has been Corruption
witnessed in the process of transferring finances from the central
government to local governments. It is not rare for funds budgeted for one
use to be diverted to another. Some resources have been diverted. In the
Gulu district, for example, part of the Ush 2.6 billion (approximately 1.4
million USD) meant for elementary teachers salaries was diverted in the
financial year 1998- 1999, and another part was embezzled. Also funds for
classroom construction were robbed during transportation. Districts such

35 Ministry of Education and Sports, Guidelines on: Policy, Planning, Roles and
Responsibilities of Stakeholders in the implementation of Universal Primary Education
(UPE) for districts and Urban Councils, October 2008 at page 2

as Gulu have problems of accounting for their School Facilities Grant (SFG)
fund.36
The misappropriation of resources especially the salaries is also rampant.
At times, there is a delay in the process of payment. This in the long run
has been realised that some funds are diverted in to private accounts
other than the local; government account of even the account of the
direct beneficiaries.
As for procurement, the schools are responsible for selecting and
overseeing local contractors, with the assistance of the district assistant
engineer and other district personnel. Schools are responsible for applying
the funds, hiring a suitable contractor, supervising the work, paying the
contractor, and ensuring the maintenance of services delivered. In 2001
an SFG evaluation was done. Different construction elements, such as
doors and roofs, were monitored for their quality. The outcome of the
quality evaluation showed that out of 35 classroom projects only 14
showed no shortcomings. On September 3, 2003, it was stated in a
Special Audit Report from the Auditor Generals office that out of two
hundred and thirty eight million Shilling (238m) remitted to the Gulu
district for the Schools Facilitation Grant, only seventeen million and two
hundred thousand shillings (17.2m) was put to use. Forty million shillings
(40m) was unaccounted for, another one hundred and seventy eight
million and five hundred thousand shillings (178.5m) was reimbursed to
the Ministry of Finance, and three million and one hundred thousand
(3.1m) was spent on bank charges.37
There is a wrong perception of the of the education programme especially
for the UPE programme by the general rural population. Many parents still
have the view that the programme is a free service provided for by the
government. This is wrong because both parents and other stake holders
have a role to play in the education sector in the district. Accordingly, this
results into poor parents commitment towards the education needs of
their children. It is the Parents right and duty to care for and bring up
their children.38
It is the responsibilities of parents and guardians to register their children
to school and provide parental guidance and psychological welfare to their
children.39
On the part of the teachers, there is increased absenteeism from schools
during times of teaching. This greatly affects the performance of the

36 The New Vision, 23 August 2003.

37 ibid October 01, 2003
38 Article 32 (4) of the 1995 Republic of Uganda.
39 Section 10 and Section 5 of the Education and Sports Ordinance of 2010 and the
Children Act Cap 52 respectively.

schools since the students are not taught promptly. The Education and
Sports Ordinance of 2010 focuses on this vice by teachers.
The teacher quality reveals that a large proportion of primary school
teachers, particularly in rural areas, lack appropriate training. In 2003,
there were 145,703 primary schoolteachers, of whom 54,069 (37%) had
no formal teacher training. An additional 7,960 had just a teaching
certificate, obtained after training on completion of primary education.
Most of these had retired, but had been recalled into the teaching service
due to shortage of teachers after the introduction of UPE. The majority of
these unqualified teachers are deployed in UPE schools in rural areas.
Under the school facilities grants, the government has devoted a lot of
resources to procure textbooks, construct classrooms and teachers
houses, and purchase furniture for pupils. The increase in education inputs
explains the gradual improvement of some education quality indicators
from the time UPE was introduced. Nevertheless, these improvements
may not always translate into better education performance by pupils.
Results of a National Assessment of Primary Education Performance taken
between 1996 and 2000, for example, suggest that education
performance in terms of pupils numeric, reading, science, and social
studies knowledge and skills deteriorated following the introduction of
UPE.40
2.2 The challenges faced in the implementation of the Education
and Sports ordinance of 2010
In a bid to address some of these challenges that were affecting the
District, the Gulu District Local Government decided to draft laws that
were engineered at addressing the concerns of community. As such,
between 2009 up to 2015; the Gulu District Local Government passed the
Education Bill in 2009 and it was made an Ordinance in 2010. The passing
of this bill has not yielded the expected fruits in the education sector in
Gulu district and there are challenges that are being faced in the
implementation of the ordinance.
The unpopularity of the Education and Sports Ordinance of 2010 is a
major challenge in the implementation of the ordinance. The people in the
region are not aware of the existence of this legislation. This failure is
attributed to the local Councillor Representatives whose role is to engage
the people they represent on matters. This is admissible in as far as the
implementation of the ordinance is because one cannot implement what is
not known to the population.
The parents, who are among the key parties in implementing the
ordinance, are not informed about the demands. Mr. David Ngole, the LC3
chairperson of Palaro Sub County said most people in his area were not
aware of the provisions of the Ordinance. He said he was planning to
conduct an education week for his sub county to help boost awareness
among the parents. He criticized the district leaders for failing to involve
parents during the formation of the ordinance. He also criticized the
40 Policy Brief 10, Universal Primary Education, February, 2006 at page 3

quality of some of the teachers and wondered whether sending the

children to school would translate into improved performance.41
Much as the ordinance was anticipated to play a vital role towards the
improvement of the education sector in the district, it turned out to be one
of the silent ordinances passed by the district. The ordinance clearly
spells out its main purpose for the promotion of education in Gulu district.
The ordinance fights the various challenges that main hinder the
performance in the education sector by spelling out the roles of both
parents and stake holders.42 There has been a failure on the part of the
parents in enrolling their children to school. The ordinance is very clear on
the responsibility of the parent or guardian.43
Generally, the ordinance has not been applied with full force in the
community. This has in due course maintained the status quo of the poor
performance amongst schools in the district. This in the long run has
greatly affected them in a way that they are not informed about laws that
are passed by the authorities both local and at national levels. This has
gravely affected the implementation process because people are unaware
of the laws that are into existence. The Gulu district vice chairperson, Mr
Isaac Ojok, said they failed to get the required funding to roll out the
ordinance. Mr Ojok said the ordinance, before its inception, had to be
translated into the local language for easier understanding among all
partners, with about 5,000 copies needing to be printed for distribution to
the public.44
The district was forced to relax the implementation of the by-law after
observing that the 2011 PLE results had put the district among the worst
performers in the country, with less than 100 pupils in first grade. The
council had set a target of having at least 100 candidates passing in the
first grade in last years Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE).The factors
that led to this relaxation of the ordinance are as follows.
Among other provisions is that a bar owner who allows a child into the
premises will be fined 40,000 shillings and on second offence be fined a
similar amount in addition to forfeiting the business license of operation.
The Ordinance also provides for a fine of 40,000 shillings to anyone who
obstructs or stops an inspector of schools from carrying out inspection in a
school. It adds that parents should register and ensure all their children of
school going age are in school. It further says that parents should provide
41http://ugandaradionetwork.com/story/gulu-parents-face-arrest-as-education-ordinancerolls-out#ixzz45eMK3QoV retrieved on 28th of March, 2016 at 11:16am

42 Section 9 and 10 of the Education and Sports Ordinance of 2010

43 Section 10 of the Education and Sports Ordinance of 2010
44http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Gulu-education-by-law-fails-as-dropoutspersist/-/688334/1661686/-/mj3yav/-/index.html

clothing, food, transport, shelter, guidance, psychosocial welfare for their

children in addition to participating in community support to schools.
Meanwhile, the head teachers are not supposed to demand for payment
of tuition fees at any government and grant aided primary schools.
The poverty in the study area also greatly affects the education of
children. This in turn has demoralised the entire generation who have
resorted to the survival for the fittest mechanism in order to live. People
have dedicated their lives to agriculture other than understanding the
basics of education. The parents cannot afford to meet the school
requirements and other basic needs. This has in time made them rule out
the need for education.
The mindset of many people in Gulu district has also affected the
implementation of the ordinance. The negative attitude towards school in
some areas has increased the illiteracy levels especially among the girl
child. Most people do not see the value of educating the girl child and in
children. Last year alone, statistics indicate that at least 40 primary school
girls dropped out before completion of Primary Seven due to pregnancy or
marriage, while thousands of boys also dropped out.2
Similarly, in a bid to address cases of Gender Based violence that had
escalated in the Gulu, the Gulu District Local Government passed the
Gender Based Violence bill of 2014. Though this bill awaits certification
from the Attorney; once made an Ordinance, it will be able to address
issues relating to Gender related offences or violence against the women.
It is also worth noting that the Sanitation and Hygiene Bill was passed in
2015. This bill seeks to put in place minimum sanitation and hygiene
standards in several places such as households and dwelling places,
public institutions, and it also seeks to ban road side food vending in ungazetted areas of operation.
2.3 The strategies taken in the implementation of the Education
and Sports Ordinance of 2010.
The Gulu district local government has carried on with the dissemination
of this legislation in order to popularise the ordinance. In a partnership
with the autonomous province of B Bolzand/Bozen-Italy, the Gulu district
local government received funding towards this cause through AVSI. There
were print outs of the ordinance that were distributed.
The Acholi language board also carried out an important role to play
toward the implementation of the ordinance. The translation of the
ordinance has also been carried out to interprete it for the local population
in Acholi region. However, the process has not been complete. As Mr Ojok
noted, the ordinance, before its inception, had to be translated into the

local language for easier understanding among all partners, with about
5,000 copies needing to be printed for distribution to the public.45

Chapter 3
3.0 Legal Regime governing.
The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda provides for a decentralised
system of local government.46 This stipulates the fact that education is a
right of every Ugandan also stipulates the role of Government and other
stakeholders in providing education. The main legislation on the subject of
local government in Uganda is the Local Governments Act 1997. In 1997,
the Local Government Act decentralized social services including
education. The Act transferred Primary and Secondary Education services
to Local Governments. The Act provided for five levels of local
government: village, parish, sub-county, county and district. The district
and sub-county levels have political authority and significant control over
resources. District councils have autonomy over primary and secondary
education, primary health services, and basic services in water provision,
roads, planning and licensing. Each district has the authority to formulate,
approve, and execute its own development plan. Primary education,
community-based health services, hygiene, and low-level health units
were devolved by districts to lower level councils. The central government
continues to play a key role in policy setting, governance, management,
and finance and curriculum development. Essentially, national guidelines
regulate translation of state policy into local reality and define how
schools are run. The second schedule of the Local Governments Act 1997
lists the functions that must remain with central government, but also
provides a list of functions to be carried out by the districts and other local
councils functions which may or may not be devolved to lower levels of
local government. Districts are responsible for the provision of education
services, although some education services may be devolved to the lower
councils. Education policy remains with central government. The same is
true for social welfare, environmental services and public sanitation.
Public health is the responsibility of the districts, but they are also strongly
urged to devolve primary care and health protection to the lower councils.
Responsibility for transport and environmental protection is shared
45http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Gulu-education-by-law-fails-as-dropoutspersist/-/688334/1661686/-/mj3yav/-/index.html retrieved on 28th March, 2016 at
3:00pm

46 Chapter 11, Article 176(1) of the 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda

between central and local government, and water supply, electricity, trade
and industry remain under central government. Local economic
development is the responsibility of the districts and lower tiers of
government; for example the provision of marketplaces. 47
The decentralisation of Educational services plan constitutes a major
component of the National Policy framework of decentralisation. The
implementation of decentralisation policy in Uganda has in general
involved the devolution of functions which hitherto has been responsibility
of the Central Government to Local Government. The GoU decentralisation
policy was announced in 1992 and led to the Local Government Statute of
1993. This provided for transfer of power .. and services to Local
Government. The Constitution 1995 and the Local Government Act, 1997
both further entrenched the principles of decentralisation by empowering
Local Government with responsibilities for lower level local councils, subcounties and divisions. Under these legal frameworks, control of
substantial amounts of divisions and Municipal Local Governments, which
are corporate bodies with the Local Government system. The merits of
Decentralisation are that it has enlisted the participation of community /
grass root in providing educational services.
The local government of Uganda offers many services to communities
such as education, health, agricultural advisory services and rural
infrastructure (rural roads, water, and electricity), most of which have
been decentralized by the central government to the local governments
so as to promote effective provision of social services. This kind of
Decentralization has been implemented under 3 major components;
Administrative decentralization in which powers over administration and
delivery of services is mandated to the local government, Fiscal
decentralization through which the local government is given the fiscal 2
autonomy especially regarding policies towards increase of revenue, and
Political decentralization meant to devolve opinionated rights to Local
Governments. Ugandas case of a decentralized UPE system presents the
central government at the top tier of decision making powers and
authority over how the system is to be managed with less concern of local
choices and decisions. Decentralising UPE in Uganda was therefore a
government initiative through the Ministry of Education and Sports along
with interrelated ministries.
The Ministry of Local Government, empowered through the Local
Governments Act 1997, Cap 243 is responsible for formulating and
supervising national policy and legislation on local government. The
minister responsible for Local Governments, the Resident District
Commissioner (RDC), and the inspector general of government (IGG) who
is broadly responsible for the elimination of corruption and abuse of office
in the public sector, have powers to intervene in the activities of local
47 Bernard Bashaasha (Makerere University) Margaret Najjingo Mangheni (Makerere
University) Ephraim Nkonya (IFPRI), Decentralisation and Rural Service Delivery in
Uganda. December 2008 at page 10

government if an allegation of misconduct is raised. While the IGG may

have direct powers to intervene, the minister and RDC can only conduct
investigations through the instigation of an inquiry, convening a meeting
of the council or calling on other appropriate bodies to investigate for
example the auditor general or the IGG secretariat. In exceptionally
extreme cases the process may escalate all the way up to the president,
who may assume executive powers over the council as provided for in the
Local Governments Act 1997, Cap 243.
Decentralization transferred real power to districts and thus reduced the
load of work on remote and under resourced central officials. In addition,
Decentralization brought political and administrative control over services
to the point where they are actually delivered, thereby improving
accountability and effectiveness, promoting peoples feeling of ownership
of programmes and projects executed in their districts.
Ugandas decentralization process started with the enactment of the 1987
resistance council/ committees (RCs), with powers over resource
management in their areas of influence based on region. In the mid1990s, constitutional re-forms to decentralize power from Kampala to the
districts were initiated, a response to the global order for well-organized,
equitable and responsible service delivery. The government thereafter
embarked on the implementation programme of decentralization in 1993,
which was later enshrined in the 1995 Constitution of the republic of
Uganda and legalized in the 1997 Local Government Act where local
governments were authorized with responsibilities for lower level local
councils, sub-counties and divisions. Local governments were therefore
given powers through devolution with responsibilities of finance,
legislation, political, planning and personnel matters. As a country-wide
political pledge of the 1996 presidential campaigns of the ruling national
resistance movement (NRM) party, UPE and decentralization coincided at
a time when reforms in Ugandas education system were being carried out
starting as a major political issue ending up in decentralization of UPE. The
local government in this case was given the mandate to control education
services within their different district levels. The central government in the
current UPE system has retained the central role in management of UPE
for efficiency and equity especially setting standards, textbook production,
teacher training and provision of funds as the local governments and
school level actors are mandated by central government with authority
over resource management at the school level for example paying
teachers salaries, teacher hiring and firing, but with less involvement of
the local communities. Some powers have therefore remained at the
centre within the central government, administrative responsibility has
been handed over to line ministries through deconcentration, authority
and responsibility have been transferred to local governments by
devolution hence lower governments per-form functions that used to be
done by the higher authorities like teacher hiring and firing. Some of these
line ministries and local government officials have presented rampant
fraud and favouring people within their own circles through the old boy

and old girl system which tends to affect the quality of services provided
education in this case.
Under the UPE programme, the Government of Uganda abolished all
tuition fees and Parents and Teachers Association charges for primary
education. Following its introduction, gross enrolment in primary school
increased from 3.1 million in 1996 to 7.6 million in 2003. This amounts to
an increase of 145% (4.5 million children), compared to an increase of
39% (0.9 million children) between 1986 and 1996. This is despite the fact
that primary education was not made compulsory, or entirely free, since
parents were still expected to contribute pens, exercise books, clothing,
and even bricks and labour for classroom construction. The UPE
programme has required a significant increase in public expenditure
devoted to primary education. Total education expenditure increased from
2.1% GDP in 1995 to 4.8% of GDP in 2000, while the share of the
education sector in the national budget increased from 13.7% in 1990 to
24.7% in 1998. More importantly, under the countrys Education Sector
Investment Plan, at least 65% of the education budget must fund primary
education. The additional expenditure has been financed largely from debt
relief provided under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative,
channelled via the countrys Poverty Action Fund.
According to Article 183[3] of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda, the
politicians under the headship of the district chairperson represent the
political wing. They monitor the general administration of the district;
coordinate activities of councils at the lower local administrative units at
the district coordinate and monitor government functions between the
district and government, and are concerned with the approval of the final
budget at the local government level. Bureaucrats are part of the local
government working directly with the central government and headed by
the chief administrative officer (CAO) to coordinate the administration of
government services in the district. Primary education (UPE) in this case is
managed by district councils, having the authority to formulate, approve
and execute development plans and monitor their implementation based
on district priorities. The district education officer (DEO) is the key person
responsible for the implementation of UPE at the district level, directly
works with the head teachers for any feedback to the ministry of
Education and sports, and delegates head teachers within their different
schools with authority to control school affairs. School level actors are at
the last level of institutional structure involving different actors like head
teachers, teachers, school management committees, Parents teachers
associations, parents, pupils and the community at large. With the aim of
creating ownership and involving local communities in monitoring and
implementation of UPE under decentralization, stakeholders at this level
are responsible for the schools administration, overseeing teacher
performance, persuading parents to send children to school, provision of
scholastic materials and meals for children at school, put-ting together
teaching guides, work and lesson plans for easy implementation. In
tackling issues related to local participation and the zeal of all citizens to

demand for a desired kind of education system, the relationship between

power sharing and decision making (who decides what to be done at a
given level) has been presented in this paper.
The approach freed local managers from central constraints and, as a
long-term goal, allowed them develop organisational structures tailored to
local circumstances. This improved financial accountability and
responsibility by establishing a clear link between the payment of taxes
and the provision of services they financed, improved the capacities of the
councils to plan, finance and manage the delivery of services to their
constituencies as well as promoting Local Economic Development in the
communities.
Political powers
The Decentralization policy provided for democratically elected local
councils at all levels in the country. Local councils were established right
from the village to the district through elections by universal adult
suffrage. Since the promulgation of the 1995 Constitution, local council
elections were held every four years and on time; in 1998, 2002 and 2006
and 2011 and shall continue to be conducted. A Constitutional
amendment changed the term of office for councils from 4 to 5 years
since 2006. The councils are inclusive and have promoted popular
participation. The marginalised and vulnerable categories of the society
including women, youth, people with disabilities and the elderly who
constitute a big proportion of the population are also represented and
allowed to participate in the decision-making process in areas where they
live.
A Local Council is the highest political authority within its area of
jurisdiction and has legislative and executive powers. The Councils
regularly meet as required to make key decisions on matters that affect
their lives.
Financial powers
The Constitution and the Local Governments Act allowed Local
Governments to collect revenue from a number of specified sources
formulate plans and budgets, allocate expenditure, and make investments
in a wide range of services. Local Governments finance their recurrent
budgets from local revenue and transfers in form of unconditional grants.
Due to the small revenue base, Local Governments are unable to balance
their budgets and realise a surplus to fund development activities. The
development budgets of Local Governments are invariably funded with
conditional and equalisation grants, a large proportion of which comes
from external donors.
Administrative powers
As mentioned earlier, the 1967 Constitution re-centralised all decisionmaking powers. During that time, most senior managers in Local

Governments were appointed centrally by the Public Service Commission

and seconded to district Local Governments.
Similarly, confirmation, promotion and discipline of Local Governments
staff were largely centrally handled. However, Legal Notice No. 1 of 1994
introduced a separate personnel system and the Constitution further
decentralised the human resource management function to Local
Governments. The Local Governments Act empowered the Local
Governments to establish their own staffing structures and the powers to
appoint, discipline and promote staff under them are exclusively vested in
the District Service Commissions which are appointed by the Local
Governments themselves.
Planning powers
The Local Governments Act empowered Local Governments to plan for the
development of their localities. For the first time, the Local Governments
moved away from one-year frameworks to medium term rolling plans; at
first three and currently five years.
Legislative powers
The Act also empowered Local Councils to make ordinances at Districts
and bye-laws at Lower Local Councils, for areas of their jurisdiction.
Judicial powers
Executive Committees at the village and parish/ward level also double as
Local Council Courts. At Sub-County/Town/Division Councils there is also a
Local Council Court.

Chapter 4

4.0 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY/ANTICIPATED PROBLEMS.

In the course of the study, the researcher encountered the following
problems as listed below:
1. Low response rate, the would-be respondents felt uneasy and
suspicious of the information being gathered and thought that the
data might be used for other motives against them.
2. Some respondents thought the exercise was not worthwhile,
therefore, took less interest in the study which of course had
bearing on the outcome of the research.
3. Some respondents felt it was a waste of time, as they could not
foresee any immediate tangible benefits, as a result some gave
hasty answers to the questions and others ignored the exercise
altogether.
4. The researcher experienced some financial problems which might
affect the outcome of the research.
5. The irregular and unreliable power cuts affected the time schedule
of the researcher since this work also highly depended on electricity
for typing and printing.

4.1 KEY FINDINGS:

a) The Laws passed within 31st July 2010 and 31st July 2015 include
the Education And Sports Ordinance of 2010, the Gender Based
Violence Bill of 2014 and the Sanitation and Hygiene Bill of 2015
b) The Gender based Violence Bill of 2015 and the Sanitation and
Hygiene Bill of 2015 were submitted to the Attorney General for
Certification.
c) Most community members interviewed do not know the status of
the Gender Based Violence bill of 2014 and the Sanitation and
Hygiene Bill of 2015 or, have never heard of them.
d) There are delays in Certification of the bills by the Attorney General.
Once submitted for certification, the certification process is usually
delayed because, certification requires extensive legal research
before the bill can be authenticated.
e) Inadequate Media Engagement before the passing of bills and
during debates of the bills. Media personnel are informed after the
bills have been passed by the district Council.
f) Inadequate consultations made with the community members
during the discussions of the bills before Council.

g) Legislative drafting challenges were noted for instance the

Education and Sports Ordinance that has no provision for offences
and penalties.
h) The Bills/Ordinances have not yet been disseminated into the Local
Language of community that is the Acholi language.

4.3 RECOMMENDATIONS

Adequate follow up should be done by the District so that

Certification of the Bills is not unduly prolonged with the Attorney
General.

Gulu District should access the financial implication of proposed

ordinances before passing them so as it can ascertain that it has the
resources to implement them once made Law.

The Bill and the Ordinances should be printed in simpler and easy to
understand English that is reader friendly as opposed to the
technical legal term.