English

Abstract

  The volatility of creating new district local governments (DLGs) in Uganda has attracted heavy domestic and feasibly significant international criticism. The phenomenon now forms part of the political and governance discourse in the country. Despite this condemnation government insists on establishing more DLGs in the guise of increasing political participation and improving social service delivery. This paper explores this phenomenon in respect to its functional and institutional relevance to local government in terms of the acclaimed benefits. The paper examines the different modes of participation at local government to the conclusion that although more DLGs aimed at enhancing political participation at lower level, it has not translated into real community involvement in policy decisions neither has it contributed to improved social service delivery. The study explored how and why this phenomenon, thus it is mainly explanatory while the research method is qualitative. Data was primarily collected during a field study but also substantiated by secondary data such as newspaper articles. Data was appropriately analyzed and the findings are such that new districts have led to a power capture by the elites, exclusion of local people from policy making and decline in social services.    Key words: new districts, district local government, participation.