Introducing the 3^rd Issue of the ACODE Local Governance Briefer

Greetings from the Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE) and welcome to the 3^rd Issue of the Local Governance Briefer. One of the major achievements of decentralisation in Uganda has been political devolution of power to local governments where local communities participate in the political processes in their respective districts. This Issue of the Briefer attempts to provide insights into the different dimensions of local democracy and provides recommendations for deepening local democracy in Uganda.

Local council elections have been one of the major features of the political decentralisation in Uganda. According to the local government act, some powers from the Central Government were transferred to local government elected leaders who were given autonomy to determine their local processes of development. These included: the election of local council councillors and mayors, and chairpersons; creation of local councils with the power to make by-laws, plan and budget and authorize the use of budgeted finance by executives; enabling of citizens to recall their councillors for underperformance or vote them out during elections; and autonomy of local councils to hire, motivate, manage and fire local bureaucrats without the interference of central government among others.

Conducting elections for local government leaders therefore is a very important undertaking that has far-reaching implications on the functionality of the local governments in Uganda. Holding regular, free and fair elections is the hallmark of building a democratic society. This is because the election process determines who should be elected into office or who should be voted out. This process is a necessary means to the greater good of ensuring that ordinary people determine how they should be governed and who should govern them. The 3rd issue of the Local Governance Briefer therefore attempts to provide insights into the different dimensions of local democracy and provides recommendations for deepening local democracy in Uganda.

Finally, we invite your feedback to help us know how useful the Briefer is to your work and how we can improve it. While ACODE is the publisher of this briefer, the views expressed herein are strictly for the authors.