CHALLENGES OF RURAL WATER SUB-SECTOR REFORM WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF DECENTRALISATION

1. CHALLENGES OF RURAL WATER SUB-SECTOR REFORM WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF DECENTRALISATION Gilbert Kimanzi Directorate of Water Development (DWD), Ministry of Water, Lands and Environment, Kampala, Uganda

2. Decentralisation in the Ugandan Context • A hybrid of Devolution, Deconcentration and Delegation • Regulatory Framework provided for in Local Government Act (1997) • District, Municipal and subcounty Councils are corporate bodies • District Admins. are responsible for planning, development, Rehab. & O&M

3. Provisions of LGA(1997) cont’d • Districts entitled to funding from central Gov’t [Conditional & Equalisation Grants] • Districts can Contract out public services incl. Water and Sanitation to Private sector • Central Gov’t responsible for Policy, coordination, technical guidance, support supervision, M&E.

4. Why the Reform • Substantial Investments (1991 – 2000) but coverage still low. • Poor Coordination among donor supported projects thus fragmenting interventions • Low managerial and technical functional capacities at district and lower levels • Slow involvement and implementation by Private sector and slow district bureaucracy • Insufficient funding for the investments

5. Highlights of the Reform • Sector Development and Investment Plans, with district specific plans for increasing coverage to 95% by 2015 • Direct disbursement of development budget to districts as conditional grants • Strengthening of District sector capacity with logistics and personnel • One management structure for RWS programme for harmonised approaches

6. Focal Point /Institution Functional Committee PS/MWLE IMSC Director/DWD Technical Committees) Senior Engineer (DWD) / Technical Support Units TSU Programme Secretariat (8No.) Chief Administrative Officer/ District Coordination District (45Nos.) Committee(s) Programme Structure for Rural Water Deconcentration Devolution

7. Transitional Arrangements Why the Transition • Rural Water sector reform Study (2000) • Districts lacked capacity for Effective Implementation • Need for strong support for institutional and organisational capacity building • Technical support units (TSUs) established for technical backup and quality assurance

8. Key Challenges Private Sector Participation • Changing roles of Public and Private sector • Severe lag in private sector’s capacity to provide quality of services • Weak private sector in remote districts with poor infrastructure Procurement • LGA mandates even weak districts to tender and procure services and supervise contracts • Bulk procurement of services undertaken by centre but severely contested by Districts

9. Key challenges cont’d Decentralisation Process • Adequate authority and budgets not yet devolved to local governments • Conditionalising most Grants undermines districts’ financial autonomy • Districts closer to large towns are advantaged over remote districts – inequity in support ??

10. Decentralisation Cont’d • Prospects for career development and further training limited at district level • Districts autonomy to procure services in some cases results in political interference and poor quality of services.

11. Key Challenges Cont’d Sustainability of Facilities • Unit costs of implementation tagged to physical outputs • Imbalance between service delivery and capacity building for longterm sustainability of services • Conditionality of return of all unused funds back to the centre undermines sustainability

12. Conclusions and Recommendations • Judge effectiveness in Rural Water Supply in terms long-term sustainability and not purely in terms of increase in No. of facilities • Build flexibility into decentralisation by allowing works for Private sector and NGOs • Decentralisation an opportunity for major sector reforms but requires patience and political support • Base support to decentralisation on longterm support and strategic reforms and investment

13. Conclusions and Recommendations • Private sector Participations results in increase of unit cost of facilities in the short-term • Overall management of contracts is key to realisation of longterm objectives of empowering local governments for sustainable service delivery • Allow annual interactive reviews of the process between Centre and Local Gov’ts.

14. Conclusionsand Recommendations • For holistic and common approaches, budget support for districts investments is the preferred option. • Allow project approach for certain specific interventions where the district capacity and budget are constrained.