Tanzanian Local Government Authorities Research Articles

Technological, Organizational and Supporting Factors Influencing Geospatial Information Technology Systems in Tanzania

The study sought to examine the technological, organizational and supporting factors influencing Geospatial Information Technology Systems in Ilala and Kinondoni Councils. This study used quantitative approach and case study design was used as research design. Simple random sampling method was used in this research to guarantee fair representation and widespread results for the general population. Primary data for this research was collected using a questionnaire involving taxpayers. Data analysis was done using inferential statistics for the statistical data with the aid of SPSS version 26. Data was analyzed and presented in tables and figures. The study revealed that, technological factors, organizational factors, and support factors, have a positive relationship with GITS Performance. The model constructed in this study showed that Technological Factors, Organizational Factors, and Support Factors, (TOS) account for 94.6% of the GITS Performance. Therefore, TOS (Technological Factors, Organizational Factors, and Support Factors) might be employed to make better use of the GITSs that have been put in place to increase revenue collection in Tanzanian local government authorities. Future studies should take into account all other kinds of own sources of revenue that are gathered utilizing the GITS as this research only looked at the business license as the primary OSR to analyze factors affecting the GITS performance. In order to facilitate effective data collection, storage, and sharing, regular data updates, and system integration among LGA systems and other stakeholders, the study advises LGAs to develop, introduce, operationalize, and update policies, rules, and procedures that govern GITS's applications in revenue collection.

Effectiveness of the Force Account Approach in Tanzanian Local Government Authorities: Do Management Support and Staff Competence Matter?

In Tanzania, the force account approach has been used for years as a technique for procuring works in the form of construction projects. In this regard, it is necessary to investigate the effectiveness of the force account approach in construction projects. The objective of this research is to look into the influence of management support and staff competence on the effectiveness of the force account approach in Tanzanian local government construction projects. Cross-sectional data were collected from procurement practitioners involved in force account construction projects at Kongwa District Council using structured questionnaires. The findings revealed that management support and staff competence are important determinants of the effectiveness of the force account approach in Tanzanian local government authorities' construction projects. The findings also revealed that staff competence is the most important factor influencing the effectiveness of force account in local government authorities, with β = 0.558 and p is less than 0.001. Furthermore, management support and the force account approach's effectiveness are positively and significantly related (β = 0.233 and p = 0.006). As a result, procurement practitioners in respective local government authorities should ensure that they can implement the force account approach. The study also suggests future research on other factors that may explain the variation in the effectiveness of implementing the force account approach. Furthermore, because the study focused on local government authorities, future studies can be conducted by soliciting input from central governments and other public procuring entities.

Mobile Application for Enhancing Revenue Collections in Local Government Authorities. A Case of Tanzania

Point of Sale terminals play a significant role in revenue collection and have become rampant to Tanzanian Local Government Authorities. Point of Sale systems monitors cash flow, transactions, and price control while reducing human error and managing staff, customers, and inventory. However, Point of Sale systems are vulnerable to fake receipts, thus reducing revenue collections among Local Government Authorities. The cross-sectional Design was used to facilitate knowledge for the subsequent data collection. Data were collected from 300 respondents in Mbeya and Songwe regions using purposive and simple random sampling. 70% of respondents reported that fake receipt is the major factor affecting revenue collection, followed by lack of training (20%) and security (8%). In this study, we propose a mobile-based solution to enhance revenue collection in Local Government Authorities by addressing major factors affecting revenue collection. The developed mobile application was evaluated and validated; Whereby the results confirm that the designed tool is effective against money fraud, transaction errors, human errors, and defaulters with minimal resource usage. Hence, the designed mobile application can be applied as an auditing tool to reduce money fraud and increase revenue collection for the Local Government Authorities

Effects of Internal Control Weaknesses, Financial Independence and Size on Quality of Financial Statements in the Tanzanian Local Government Authorities

This study examines the relationship between internal control weaknesses (ICWs), independence, and size on the quality of financial statements of local government authorities (LGAs) in Tanzania. The analysis is based on data from a large sample of LGAs’ financial statements for four years from FY 2010/11 to FY 2013/14. The study employed logistic regression to examine whether ICWs (fraud prevention plan, risk management, accounting system, and IT controls), financial independence, and size of LGAs determine financial statement errors/restatements in the LGAs. The study shows that large and financially dependent LGAs with accounting system ICWs are more likely to have lower financial statement quality. However, other ICWs (IT controls, fraud prevention, and risk management) results were insignificant. These results may be attributed to the level of compliance and implementation of the parent ministry’s directives among LGAs. Therefore, practitioners and policymakers should ensure that LGAs not only adopt directives/policies but also fully comply and implement with their requirements as well as build financial management capacity to increase LGAs’ financial independence.

Challenges Affecting Effective Implementation of Financial Management Information Systems in Local Government Authorities in Tanzania as Part of the Digital Ecosystem

This study examined the obstacles to the efficient implementation of the Financial Management Information System (FMIS) by Tanzanian local government authorities. To formulate and test the dependency of variables, the researchers used both descriptive and inferential statistics, including a chi-square test. According to the findings, FMIS deployment faces technical, user, and organizational-related challenges. The study recommended that the Tanzanian government, through the Ministries of Finance and Planning, President’s Office Regional Administration, and Local Government Authorities, continue to offer a full commitment to ensuring the effective implementation of FMIS by guaranteeing the constant supply of electricity in all district councils; the supply of modern computing machines; good organizational management; as well as staff facilitation and motivation. In addition to the internal workforce, the engagement of qualified firms and consultants from the private sector to assist with the implementation of successful change management is strongly advised.

Factors Influencing Implementation of Accrual Based International Public Sector Accounting Standards in Tanzanian Local Government Authorities

This research examined the factors influencing implementation of accrual-based International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) in the Tanzanian Local Government Authorities (LGAs). The study adopted a survey design. Based on extant literature, a structured questionnaire was developed. Then a drop-and-pick method was employed to administer the survey instrument to accountants and auditors from the LGAs in Tanzania. We successfully obtained 150 useful responses and applied factor analysis to determine the factors followed by multiple regression analysis. According to factor analysis performed, 15 factors were identified as the factors influencing implementation of accrual-based IPSAS. Such factors include staff experience, understanding, and skills, in-house training necessity, involvement of professional accountants with high ethical conduct and hope for future business opportunities including attraction of development partners. The study also examined how the identified factors affect implementation of accrual-based IPSAS in the LGAs. Our findings show that staff experience, in-house training necessity, understanding and skills, involvement of professional accountants and publication of financial statements with standardized format; significantly influence implementation of accrual based IPSAS in the LGAs. Other factors like sanctions by regulatory authorities, pressure from development partners and adequate implementation policies were also reported to have significant impact. Since this research involved 7 LGAs out of 185 found in Tanzania Mainland, we recommend further studies to take into account the rest of the LGAs in Tanzania and abroad.

Technological Features and Effectiveness of Human Resource Information System in Tanzanian Local Government Authorities

Information and Communication Technology has drastically become indispensable for companies aiming to favourably compete in the business world. The traditional way of storing information is losing its ground; organisations are abandoning paper documents and quickly adopting digital storage. Today, most organizations have upgraded their file storage systems from paper filing to digital filing whereby documents are stored on servers and storage devices. By so doing, documents can be easily accessed by anyone who is granted access. Organizations are able to store and maintain tremendous amount of information, which enhance immediate access of information from the system. Tanzania like many other countries has decided to use Human Resources Information System (HRIS) to replace manual record systems in Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and the Local Government Authorities (LGAs). The aim of introducing HRIS in the MDAs and LGAs was to reduce manual performance of administrative activities and to enable HR officers maintain complete, accurate and up-to-date employees’ information by using computerized application software. The purpose of this article is to assess the influence of technological features on (HRIS) effectiveness. The study involved 37 LGAs in six regions-Mwanza, Arusha, Dodoma, Morogoro, Iringa, and Kagera. Primary data were collected through administration of 201 questionnaires to Human Resource Officers (HROs) and interviews with 8 key informants. Secondary data were mainly collected through documentary review. Data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The study employed the ordered logistic regression model to assess the influence of technology features on the effectiveness of HRIS in LGAs in terms of information timeliness, completeness and accuracy. Based on the results, technological features have significant influence on HRIS effectiveness in terms of timeliness, completeness, and accuracy of information. These include compatibility, complexity, usefulness and reliability. The implication of the results is that a new and reliable system is needed to facilitate decision making, increase access from other devices, address the needs of the institution, and be procedurally clear. It was suggested that the current system should be changed to accommodate technological advancement and cover loopholes which are being manipulated by employees in LGAs.

Evaluating Information System Integration approaches for fixed asset management framework in Tanzania.

Abstract Information systems are developed based on different requirements and different technologies. Integration of these systems is of vital importance as they cannot work in isolation, they need to share and exchange data with other information systems. The Information Systems handle data of different types and formats’, finding a way to make them communicate is important as they need to exchange data during transactions, communication and different aspects which may require their interactions. In Tanzanian Local Government Authorities (LGAs), fixed asset data are not centralized, individual Local Government Authority stores their own data in isolation yet accountability is required through the provision of centralized storage for easy data access and easier data integration with other Information Systems in order to enhance fixed asset accountability. The study was carried out through reviewing of literature on the existing Information System integration approaches in order to identify and propose the best approach to be used in fixed asset management systems in LGA’s in Tanzania. The different approaches which are used for systems integration such as Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Common Object Request Broker (CORBA), Common Object Model (COM) and eXtensible Markup Language (XML) were evaluated under the factors considered at the LGA. The XML was preferred over SOA, CORBA and COM because of some challenges in governance, data security, availability of expertise for support, maintenance, implementation cost, performance, compliance with government changing policies and service reliability. The proposed approach integrates data for all the Local Government Authorities at a centralized location and middleware transforms the centralized data into XML so it can easily be used by other Information Systems.

Managing performance or legitimacy? A case study of the Tanzanian Local Government Authorities

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate performance measurement practices in the Tanzanian Local Government Authorities (LGAs). It seeks to understand the performance measurement practices in the context of new public management (NPM) (Hood, 1991, 1995). Specifically, the paper focuses on the annual performance assessment (the local government development grant system), which operated in the Tanzanian LGAs as a base for accessing grants from the central government. Design/methodology/approach – The study executed a grounded theory strategy for data collection and analysis. Fieldwork was undertaken in three Tanzanian LGAs. Findings – The findings revealed how performance measurement practices were involved in the process of managing legitimacy, and consequently, in the acquisition of grants from the central government. Dialogue and learning about the performance measurement exercise and the production and manipulation of evidence were the two strategies employed by LGAs in the management of legitimacy. Practical implications – In practice, efficiency in organizations may be achieved through the appropriate design of systems, and by understanding, and addressing problems which emerge during their implementation. Learning is a significant strategy used by actors, and this needs to be taken into consideration by reformers when designing and implementing reforms. Originality/value – The paper contributes to existing research by providing a framework for managing legitimacy. The framework supports and extends Oliver’s (1991) typology of strategic responses to institutional processes and Suchman (1995) legitimation strategies. It identifies dialogue and learning as other forms of significant strategy in actors responses to institutional pressures. The study also provides additional evidence of the responses to the accounting changes and the NPM reforms.

External auditing and accountability in the Tanzanian local government authorities

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the contribution of external auditing to accountability in the Tanzanian local government authorities (LGAs). Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses content analysis of the external audit reports of the LGAs for the past ten years. Corroborative evidence was gathered through interviews with external auditors, councillors, Parliamentary Committee members and selected internal auditors of the LGAs. Findings – The study finds that external auditing had marginally contributed to the enhancement of accountability within the LGAs. This is mainly attributed to the limited scope and failure of the responsible officials to address audit recommendations. In the light of agency theory, the findings suggest that external auditing has not sufficiently enabled the stakeholders to hold LGAs’ officials accountable. Practical implications – The findings indicate that external auditing can enhance accountability when the scope is widened to provide relevant information and also when audit recommendations are implemented by responsible officials. Originality/value – Most studies of external auditing and accountability have focussed on the developed countries; this is one of the few papers which explores the phenomenon in the context of emerging economies.

Politico-Administrative Relations in Tanzanian Local Government Authorities

Over decades, many countries have committed to create local governments in order to bring the government closer to the citizens. As entities, local government authorities are created to consolidate and give powers to the local people to participate in planning and implementing development programmes (Burns, 1994; Litvack et al., 1998). The local governments operate under the leadership of councillors who are politically elected and bureaucrats, the professionals, who are appointed to implement the policies. The theories on politico administrative relations suggest that the councillors and bureaucrats do interact and their interaction influence the formal structure. This influence can either strengthen or weaken the relationship (Jacobsen, 2006).Although the councillors and administrators need to cooperate in serving the communities, they do not always do as expected. There are incidences which seem to indicate that the bureaucrats undermine the councillors. In principle the councillors have a role to approve the plans or agenda and the bureaucrats, on the other hand, prepare the plan or agenda and if the councillors disapprove or change the agenda, the bureaucrats will not support the implementation. Also the bureaucrats depend on councillors in case the implementation of plan solely depends on community contribution. The main thesis of this research was therefore to describe the nature of relationships that exists between bureaucrats and councillors in local government authorities in the context of decentralisation by devolution in Tanzania. In doing this, the case study design was viewed as appropriate. The findings from the two cases suggest that the relations between politicians and administrators vary from one context to another. The two cases portray a mixture of relations between the two politicians and administrators. Such relations seem to incline within the three models (classical, village and adversarial) and Mvomero case, in this research, seems to have more adversarial relations compared to Kinondoni one. The explanation which may be used to support such a situation is the diverse background in terms of education qualifications between the politicians and administrators in Mvomero District Council rather than their political orientation.

Complexities in Performance Measurement and the Reaction of Actors: The Case of Tanzania

The purpose of this paper was to explore the challenges and complexities of performance measures which caused less than desired behavior in the Tanzanian Local Government Authorities (LGAs). Specifically, the paper focuses on performance measures under the Local Government Development Grant (LGDG) system. The LGDG was the performance based grant system established to link LGAs’ performances and their financing. The methodology of the research incorporates review of LGDG documents, field-based interviews and observation. The results are interpreted using the law of decreasing effectiveness (de Bruijn and Van Helden, 2007) and Oliver (1991)’s strategic responses to institutional pressure. The study provides a more detailed analysis of the law of decreasing effectiveness and contributes by adding a component of complexity, to contribute to the causes of pervasive effect. The paper also explains how acquiescence and manipulation strategies (Oliver, 1991) can occur concurrently.

The Use of Performance Information by Local Government Stakeholders in Tanzania

This paper investigates the use of performance information by local government stakeholders in Tanzania. The use of performance information has been explored at various levels, such as Citizens/communities, Local government managers/officials, Councillors, Legislators, and other decision makers. The use of performance information was explored by using interviews, document analysis and observation in four Tanzanian Local Government Authorities (LGAs). The principal research findings reveal that some of the performance information may not be collected at all as advocated in the rules and regulations issued by oversight bodies; some may be collected for their intrinsic value, and some may be collected and used for legitimacy and efficiency purposes. It is also revealed that stakeholders' power and interest influence the collection and/or use of performance information for either efficiency and/or legitimacy purposes. Unlike other previous studies, this paper explores the use of performance information by local government stakeholders by integrating a number of stakeholders, such as Councilors, local government officials, central government, and Parliament. From a policy perspective, the findings of this study can provide additional insights to reformers and governments in their quest for NPM reforms and their implications for efficiency and legitimacy.

Interaction between Accounting and Trust in the Tanzanian Local Governments

This paper presents the empirical findings of the interaction between accounting and trust in the Tanzanian Local Government Authorities (LGAs). The empirical data was gathered through in-depth interviews with Councillors, Parliamentary Committee members, Councils’ internal auditors, external auditors from the National Audit Office of Tanzania (NAOT) and executives from the LGAs and Central Government. In order to obtain a thorough understanding of the interplay between accounting and trust, analysis of the relevant documents and attendance at important meetings were also sought. The collected data was analysed using the grounded theory procedures advocated by Strauss and Corbin (1998) and Corbin and Strauss (2008). The findings of this study show that actors within the LGAs used various strategies deliberately to manage trust perceptions emerging in the course of exchange of accounting information. Also, the study observed that accounting is influencing, and being influenced by, trust. For instance, as a result of distrust amongst actors in the studied LGAs, new accounting practices, such as physical inspection emerged, which also affected trust relations. In the light of Relational Signalling Theory (RST), the findings indicate that the relational signals are important in the interactions between accounting and trust. However, further studies examining the interplay between accounting and trust are needed in order to develop further theory of the relationship between the two.