Problems of Credibility of NGOs in Uganda: Implications for Theory and Practice

Abstract

Indigenous NGOs in Uganda are a key stakeholder in the development process. Unfortunately, their impact on the ground has over the years been affected by their poor credibility. Until this research, no empirical research had been done to explore this terrain in Uganda. It is in the wake of this that this research was undertaken. This work was undertaken under the Swedish International Development Agency/Swedish Department for Research Cooperation grant for capacity-building for Makerere University. It was carried out on 100 NGOs selected randomly from some purposively selected districts. A total of 783 respondents responded to a questionnaire whereas some 100 key informants were also involved. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Factor analysis with loadings above 0.4 established that several variables affect each of the factors, with the highest randomly selected loading in each factor being as follows: in accountability (0.61291), transparency (−0.66958), legitimacy (0.43661) partnership/networking (0.48110), ICT (−0.42610) and effectiveness (−0.77667). The beta (β) column under the standardised coefficients shows that the beta for legitimacy = 0.236; efficiency = 0.171; transparency = 0.153; accountability = 0.141; partnership = 0.120 and ICT = 0.080 and that all are significant at 0.001 level. The coefficients show that legitimacy is the most predictive factor for credibility and that the least predictive factor is ICT. All in all, it was established that the credibility of the NGOs is just average. The level of credibility was found to be insufficient for the badly needed effective service delivery and poverty eradication in a country where 24.5% of the population still live in absolute poverty. It is recommended that in practice, for NGOs to effectively participate in poverty eradication and enhance their credibility, they should invest in the above factors in proportion to their predictive power. Theoretically, more research needs to be done in order to develop a robust theory on the NGOs’ credibility. However, it was noted that these key factors could still provide guidelines for the theoretical explanation of the NGOs’ credibility in Uganda.