PARTICIPANT: Lillian

REG. NO

ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS

QUESTION:
In public service, Administrative units function to among others formulate and implement
policies and laws and; to execute requisite lawful actions. Adduce evidence to this assertion
using two examples each from central and local government institutions.
Administrative units are the agencies of government vested with the powers to legislate on the
matters which ordinarily falls within the legislative powers of the legislatures. They exercise the
powers which originally belongs to the parliament, but which parliament has delegated to them.
They exercise delegated powers to make delegated legislations for the smooth running of their
agencies (Mugyenyi & Kagarura, 2020). These agencies of government have certain functions to
perform which in totality will lead to the smooth running of the system. They make decisions
and rules, set goals, priorities, establish procedures, run programmes and implement the statute
that established them.
Public policy implementation is drawn from the dichotomy of politics–administration between
1887-1926 by Woodrow Wilson. He proposed the separation of politics from administration and
distinguished between those involved in policy development and those charged with the
implementation of the public policies (Mushemeza & Mushemeza, 2019). Woodrow asserts that
politicians express state will, while other stakeholders and administrators have to do with the
execution of public policy (Faith et al., 2023). After Uganda thrived in making policies more
rigorous following the 2005 multi-party political dispensation, it is exalted that Uganda has good
laws and policies, but despite having these brilliant policies, there are governance
implementation failures. The administrative units function to among others formulate and
implement policies and laws and; to execute requisite lawful actions as explained below;

Legislature; the Constitution under Article 79, empowers contains articles which provide for the
establishment, composition and functions of the Parliament of Uganda and empowers Parliament
"to make laws on any matter for the peace, order, development and good governance of
Uganda", and "to protect the Constitution and promote democratic governance in Uganda" and
monitoring the implementation of Government programmes and projects; To debate matters of
topical interest usually highlighted in the President's State of the Nation address and to vet the
appointment of persons nominated by the President under the Constitution or any other
enactment (Mwesigwa, Bogere & Anastassova, 2021). For example, various bills have been
passed by parliament such as, The Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2021; On December 14, 2021.
The Mining and Minerals Bill, 2021; On February 17, 2022, Parliament, following guidance
from the natural resources committee which had processed the Bill, passed the Mining and
Minerals Bill, 2021, that seeks to empower local artisan miners to benefit in utilizing
opportunities in the mining sector. As one of the interventions for developing Uganda’s mining
sector and anchoring on the best international practice, the Bill sought to establish a transparent
and competitive process of bidding for mining licenses, which has not been the case.

The judiciary also has a role to play in policy implementation. This normally happens when the
policy intent is not clearly worded and different interpretations of the said policy are made. In
such cases, the courts give their verdicts and whatever is decided by the Court is normally
considered and accepted as final unless the legislature further legislates on the court's decision.
During the process of implementation, the actions of the implementing agency may encroach
upon the Constitutional rights of an individual by reasons of error, misunderstanding or
deliberate action. The administrative agencies have been given enormous powers for
implementing the policies. In order to check misuse of its authority to this effect, the safeguards
have been provided through the judiciary. Control of judiciary over administration is rather an
essential aspect in a democratic polity. Besides, there is a tremendous increase in the number of
controversial issues which need to be sorted out by administrative adjudication.

Cabinet is the highest policy making organ of the Executive and under Article 111 of the
Constitution, Cabinet consists of the President, the Vice President, the Prime Minister, the
Attorney General and a number of Ministers as may appear to the President to be reasonably
necessary for the efficient running of the State. There are also Ministers of State who are
alternate Cabinet Ministers and attend Cabinet in the absence of their senior Colleagues and
when there are sensitive issues that may require collective responsibility and or support of all
Members in Parliament. The Constitution empowers Cabinet to Determine, Formulate and
Implement the policy of the Government (Article 111(2)) of the Constitution.

Cabinet therefore makes most of the key policy, financial and resource decisions of Government.
With respect to statutory decisions, Cabinet approval signifies the government position to be
presented for formal consideration by Parliament (Kiwelu, Gatiti, & Okure, 2023). For example,
The National ICT Policy (2014) builds on the ingredients of the National ICT Policy Framework
(2003) in a structured manner with requisite updates necessitated by developments since 2003.
The revised policy has also incorporated new policy directions in line with the ever-changing
technological advancements in this area. The most remarkable changes that have been made in
the revised National ICT Policy are inclusion of planned action items in conformity with existing
policies and strategies for the underlying sub-sectors, as well as consideration of emerging policy
areas brought about by technological changes and convergence of technologies.

As per the Local Government Act, the primary responsibility of making policy decisions rests
with the district LG council and sub-county council respectively. Councils may also delegate
some decision making responsibility to specific committees such as the public procurement
committee, district service commission, accounts committee et cetera. Article 176:3; 181:4 of the
1995 constitution of the republic of Uganda indicates that under this system, the district LG is
comprised of democratically elected members who serve for a period of five years. All the five
levels of LG are headed by Local Council chairpersons (Otile & Atukunda, 2020). The village is
the smallest unit of local governance while the district is the highest. The parish is the second
unit of administration and is made up of a number of villages while the sub county is made of
several parishes. It is important to note that not all the five tiers are treated as LG. 5 Major LG
activities take place at local council III and V hence these are the two LG institutions.

Local government councils participate in initiating and formulating policies for the District Local
Governments; formulating Projects, Districts development Plans and Districts Work Plans; and
monitoring their implementation in consultation with Lower Local Governments; Initiating and
formulating policies for Urban Authorities; Formulating Development Plans, Work Plan and
Budgets for the Urban Authority in consultation with administration and communities;
formulating development plans and work plans for the Sub-County in consultation with the
District administration and communities. On the other hand Administrative Unit Councils are not
corporate bodies, but serve as political units to advice on planning and implementation of
services. They assist in the resolution of disputes, monitor the delivery of services and assist in
the maintenance of law, order and security. For example, the Inter-Ministerial Technical
Committee on the PDM (PDM Technical Committee) is the technical advisory committee that
will enhance coordination and bring together the various stakeholders involved in the
implementation of the PDM and promoting its agenda in the country. The overall role of the
PDM Policy Committee is to provide the strategic vision and support for the effective
implementation of the PDM. In particular, the PDM Policy Committee shall: - a) Receive and
review plans, budgets and reports from the PDM Technical Committee and make
recommendations to Cabinet. b) Periodically report to the Cabinet on implementation progress
and challenges. c) Continually offer policy guidance and support on the effective implementation
of the PDM.

Following devolution, Local government administrative units are empowered to make local
policy and regulate the delivery of local services; formulation of local development plans based
on locally determined priorities; receive, raise, manage and allocate revenue through approval
and execution of own budgets; alter or create new boundaries; appoint statutory commissions,
boards and committees for personnel, land, procurement and accountability; as well as establish
or abolish offices in Public Service of a district or urban council (LGA, 1997: 600) (Otile &
Atukunda, 2020). The planning process of LGs is undertaken by the District Planning Authority
(DPA). As per section 35 (2) of the LGA, the DPA shall in addition to procedures it establishes
for itself, work according to the guidelines established by the National Planning Authority
(NPA). This implies that the districts are required to prepare comprehensive and integrated
development plans incorporating plans of lower LG for submission to the NPA.
Lower local governments such as Urban, Sub County, division or village councils have mandate
to make bylaws, and these should not contravene national laws, the constitution, and any other
ordinances made by the district or councils at a superior level. The Local Government Act
embeds a system of checks by upper bodies (councils) on the byelaws made by lower councils to
ensure consistence. The Byelaws made by the municipality are forwarded to the Attorney general
to ensure consistence with the constitution and other Acts of Parliament bylaws by other lower
local councils are forwarded to the district council to ensure they are in line with laws of Uganda
and Ordinances and other by laws; byelaws by the village council are checked by municipal
council to ensure consistence with laws and ordinance or bylaws passed by higher councils;
those by the village council go through the above processes of checking by the sub county
council to ensure consistence.
Rulemaking in Kampala Capital City Authority; Under section 8 of the KCCA 2010, the
Authority, which is the governing body of the City and has legislative powers to introduce and
pass Ordinances as long as they are not inconsistent with the Constitution or any other law made
by Parliament. The process of rulemaking within the Authority seems to be a three-tier affair
with the Lord Mayor among the key players.; (i) s/he signs the Bill into a binding Ordinance; (ii)
it is forwarded for consultations to the Minister of Kampala and Attorney General, and if
approved (iii) it is published in the gazette. The only gleam of participation described therein is
the affirmation that every member of the Authority has a right to introduce a bill for an
Ordinance in the Authority. Even then, it is not clear how participatory this and the process
through which the Councilors may introduce the Bill as an Ordinance. Similarly, it is not clear
how the locals in KCCA participate in these processes. Besides the Authority, Division Urban
Councils are bestowed with law making powers; to make laws that are in line with the
constitution of Uganda and other laws. The byelaws made by the division councils are singed by
the Mayor and are also subjected to checks by the minister and the Attorney General.
The importance of the executive committee is demonstrated by the fact that the chairperson is
almost invariably the most important single position in the local government structure from
which the formulation, exposition and implementation of municipal policy can be influenced.
The role of the executive committee chairperson is dependent on the extent of his executive
power, both within the executive committee and in other capacities. It is inevitable that the
collective power of the executive committee is focused to some extent on the chairman. The
prerogatives of the chairperson as presiding officer of the executive committee meetings provide
him/her with a natural opportunity to present ideas, guide discussions and influence decisions
(Mugyenyi & Kagarura, 2020). The capacity of the chairperson to focus this collective power in
himself/herself is strengthened by the fact that he/she is usually accepted by most, if not all, of
the executive committee members, as well as by the council, as the leader and representative of
the executive committee. For example, the Inter-Ministerial Technical Committee on the PDM
(PDM Technical Committee) is the technical advisory committee that will enhance coordination
and bring together the various stakeholders involved in the implementation of the PDM and
promoting its agenda in the country. The overall role of the PDM Policy Committee is to provide
the strategic vision and support for the effective implementation of the PDM. In particular, the
PDM Policy Committee shall: - a) Receive and review plans, budgets and reports from the PDM
Technical Committee and make recommendations to Cabinet. b) Periodically report to the
Cabinet on implementation progress and challenges. c) Continually offer policy guidance and
support on the effective implementation of the PDM.
The Local Government Public Accounts Committee performs the accountability oversight
function on the use and utilization of public funds within the district local government. To ensure
proper accountability and value for public money, the LGPAC examines the reports of the
Auditor General’s, Chief Internal Auditor’s, and Commissions of Inquiry’s findings. The
committee delivers its reports to the council and the Minister in charge of local governments,
who then present the report to Parliament (Violet et al., 2020). The Minister of Local
Government is obligated to send the consolidated reports of the LGPACs to Parliament for
consideration by the PAC at Parliament. The LGPAC is further required to submit its report to,
the resident district commissioner, the Inspector General of Government, the Auditor General,
and the Minister responsible for finance. The LGPAC is established under Section 88(1-5) of the
Local Governments Act Cap. 243 which details its composition and functions. The key function
of the committee is provided under section 88(7) as examining the reports of the Auditor
General, chief internal auditor and any reports of commissions of inquiry. Section 88(9) of the
Local Governments Act Cap. 243 (As amended) require District Chairpersons and Chief
Administrative Officers to implement LGPAC recommendations and report to the Council on the
actions taken.
In conclusion, It is noteworthy that while the arguments for and against the creation and
existence of administrative bodies continue to linger, the institutionalization of administrative
agencies continues to thrive even more, so much so that the argument are now merely a legal
exercise. While anti-administrative agencies campaigners critique the creation thereof as
“unconstitutional, bureaucratic fourth branch of government, with powers that exceed those of
the three recognized branches (the legislative, executive and judiciary), on the other hand,
supporters of administrative agencies posit that since agencies are overseen by elected officials
therefore, agencies are the will of the people. Law making is an overwhelming task for local
governments. It requires specialized skills which are lacking in the majority of the cases, making
it difficult for local governments to execute this noble role. The situation has been worsened by
limited financial resources due to dwindling local revenue and limited financial support from the
central government. The preparation and publication for these step by step guidelines for making
local legislation will provide invaluable support to local government in formulating laws.
 REFERENCES
Bainomugisha , A., Mbabazi, J., Winstons, W. M., Bogere, G., Atukunda, P., Ssemakula,
G.,...Ayesigwa, R. (2020). The Local Government Council Scorecard FY2018/19: The
Next Big Steps, Consolidating Gains of Decentralization and Repositioning the Local
Government Sector in Uganda. Kampala: ACODE.
BMAU. (2020). Financing Local Governments: Exploiting the potential of local revenue.
Kampala: Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.
Kibira, V., Ggoobi, S. S., & Kiberu, J. (2021). Citizens’ Engagement in Local Government
Decision Making Processes: Towards public finance accountability, transparency, and
improved service delivery in Uganda. Gateaway Research Centre.
Kiwelu, J; Gatiti, P & Okure, A. (2023). Governance, public policy implementation and
development; strengthening institutional machinery in Africa. Cavendish Journal of
Social Science and Management, 1(2).
Mugyenyi, O., and Kagarura, D., (2020). Step by Step Guidelines for Making Ordinances and
Byelaws in Uganda (Revised Edition), Kampala, ACODE Policy Briefing Paper Series
No.54.
Mwesigwa, D., Bogere, M., & Anastassova, L. (2021). Integrated policy formulation processes
in local governments: A case study in mid-western Uganda. Journal of Governance and
Accountability Studies, 1(2), 83-101
Otile, O. M., & Atukunda, P. (2020). District Service Commissions in Uganda: Functionality,
Pitfalls, and Recommendations for Action. ACODE Policy Briefing Paper Series No.57,
Kampala
Violet, B., Scelles, N., and Ferrand, A. (2020). The engagement of actors during the formulation
of a national federation sport policy: an analysis within the French rugby union.
International journal of sport policy and politics, 12(1). 49-71.