Public private partnership and physical infrastructural development in local government in Uganda: a case of Bungokho sub-county, Mbale city.

Abstract

The study was about the public-private partnership and how it affects physical infrastructural development in Bungokho Local Government, Mbale City. the study was executed based on the subthemes derived from the study objectives, that is the social services where public-private partnership has been developed especially physical infrastructural planning, the socio-political and economic factors that influence public-private partnership in physical infrastructural development and the ways in which public-private partnership has stimulated physical infrastructural development inBungokho Local Government, Mbale City. The research study used a qualitative study approach, and it was revealed that public-private partnership has been developed to facilitate physical infrastructural planning, the local government contracting and tender committee usually contracts private road constructors Khabusi Constructors on the grading and maintenance of roads by paving and grading them for public usage, employing private supervisors for public roads and building works in public schools on consultancy basis. The study revealed that concession agreement is specifically targeted towards financing, designing, implementing and operating infrastructure facilities and the collaborative ventures are built around mutually agreed allocation of resources, risks and returns, and these are collaborative efforts, between private and public sectors, with clearly identified partnership structures, shared objectives, and specified performance indicators for delivery of services has seen real progress over the last years in attracting private investment into the infrastructure sectors. Public-Private Partnerships are now one of the innovative options introduced by Bungokho Local Government of Uganda to enable public sector procure infrastructure and offer opportunities to improve service delivery and assure better value for money. There are several legal systems in place that favour PPPs in places like Bungokho Local Government including; the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act, 2003, the Public-Private Partnerships Policy Framework of 2010, The PPP Policy Framework (2010) which derives its legal force from the Constitution of Uganda (1995) which provides the overall legal policy framework for the Central Government to plan and implement development program to benefit all the people in the country, and Article 176 of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda provides for local government system and decentralization is a principle, applying to all levels of local government and in particular from higher to lower local government units to ensure people‘s participation and democratic control in decision-making. The Local Governments Act in 1997, as Act 1 of 1997, now Cap. 243 as at 31st December 2010, gives effect to decentralization and devolution of political, administrative, and financial decision-making powers to local governments and administrative units. Therefore, PPPs are and should be an integral part of the functioning of Bungokho Local Government if they are to achieve their goal of infrastructural effective service delivery. The study recommended that there should be promotion of PPPs for effective delivery of education, health care, and agriculture activities, more sophisticated training in the management of PPPs among the local government leaders and staff to run work with private players effectively and extend them to the community which they serve and ensure improvement in the service delivery status so that they can get xiii better knowledge to improve and enhance knowledge on PPPs for extended benefits for the people these leaders serve.