Raja Noriza Raja Ariffin

Recentralization of Kampala City Administration in Uganda

The government disseminated a new constitution in 1995 with the provision on decentralization of Article 176 2 (b) that acted shortly before the rebirth of the local government act in 1997. Devolution as a form of decentralization transferred both political and administrative powers from the center to lower local councils specially to handle the responsibility of service delivery. Following the approval of the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Act 2010, the city’s administration reverted to the central government. Detractors of decentralization allege that the conveyance in the policy and legislation for change of Kampala city administration was timely because decentralization failed to deliver desired services to residents. This article contends that recentralization of Kampala city administration was a necessary evil, it decreased the autonomy of sub-national governments in civil service administration, eroded accountability to the electorates, and transferred the allegiance of the accounting officer from local governments with and for which they work to the central government that designates and positions. To inflame accountability in local governments, the article champions for the reexamining of the KCCA Act 2010 to allow power sharing between the mayor and executive director to enhance bottom-up accountability, checks and balances, and for participation of central government in appointing of executive director to allow financial and security support. It additionally requests for a reconsideration of the 9th Parliament to lobby for the amendments owing to challenges in its implementation and impact on accountability.

Division Solid Waste Generation and Composition in Kampala Capital City Authority, Uganda: Trends and Management

Recognition of waste generation trends and composition is a significant phase towards planning, policy making, budget allocation, management and improving the state of solid waste for any particular country. The objective of this paper therefore was to discover the generation of waste by the five divisions of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and private sector as a quick fix to guide policy makers to make informed decisions in proper management of waste in Kampala. In this paper, a qualitative method was used mainly observation and a few available documents. The researcher and research assistants recorded every refuse truck that off loaded at Kitezi Sanitary Landfill 24 hours a day for a period of one financial year (from July 2012-June 2013). The aim was to determine the number of tonnes per vehicle since the weigh bridge was nonfunctional. The waste tonnage was determined on the basis of the weigh bridge’s archived information and with this information, the total waste produced by each division (daily, weekly and monthly) was quantified. Results indicate that KCCA, a government representative body entrusted to manage Kampala, collects the biggest percentage of waste (64.36%) generated compared to private sector (35.64%), Furthermore, Central Division generates the highest tonnage of waste (64.171 tonnes) per year compared to other Divisions. In conclusion we propose that government allocates funds according to percentage generation of waste and on this basis, KCCA needs to place emphasis on reducing waste generation by encouraging sustainable reuse and recycling as well as addressing key success factors that include expertise, awareness of the public, strengthening partnerships to pool resources and promoting advanced technology.

Human Trafficking in Malaysia Bureaucratic Challenges in Policy Implementation

Recent studies have suggested that migrants are highly vulnerable to being trafficked. Malaysia, with its large number of migrants is vulnerable and is struggling to implement its Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007. There is also little information on implementation experience so far. Through in-depth interviews with government bureaucrats and other stakeholders, this study seeks to gain some insight into Malaysia’s policy implementation experience. It finds inadequate coordination, limited resources, poor information flow, enforcement approach, hierarchical control structure, and need for change as the major factors constraining effective policy implementation.

The needs and criteria of kiosks in supporting e- government

This paper aims to understand/identify the needs and criteria to provide self-service kiosks in supporting of e-government environment in the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (RMCD). The methodology of the study is a survey of 196 respondents at the Royal Malaysian Customs Department in Selangor with a concentration on the West Port area. The findings show that the customers required a self-service kiosk as a channel to access information and services in this department. However, it is found that the level of the kiosk access depends on the benefits and features of the kiosk and the types of the kiosk services. There is a significant relationship between the need for a self-service kiosk provision and the need to access information through the kiosk.

Post-2004 Tsunami: Preparedness of Malaysian coastal communities

The Indian Ocean tsunami of 26th December 2004 unleashed catastrophe in many nations including coastal communities located along the west-coast of Malaysian Peninsular. The goal of this study is to explore the impact of the tsunami to the preparedness of the affected coastal communities. Data was collected through questionnaire, interviews, documents analysis and field observations. It was found that the 2004 tsunami disaster has left a significant mark on Malaysias and the worlds disaster management landscape but the tragedy has also heightened disaster awareness and steps must be taken to ensure vulnerable communities are well-equipped to face any eventualities.

Muslim Women’s Marriage, Pregnancy, Abortion and Spacing of Children: Evidence from the United States, Iran and Malaysia

Background: This study investigates the decisions on marriage, pregnancy, abortion and spacing of children among Muslim women (MW) residing in the United States, Iran and Malaysia to explore the occurrences as well as socio-demographic characteristics associated with the likelihood of making an independent decision regarding sexual and reproductive health rights. Methods: A total of 1140 MW in Washington, D.C. (the United States), Tehran (Iran) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) participated in this study, and the number of respondents were equally distributed across the three cities. To examine the occurrences of sexual and reproductive rights violation, we report the descriptive statistics from the responses given by MW in these cities. Results: On the decision to solemnize marriage, 84.5 per cent of MW in Malaysia reported that the marriage decision is made jointly with their husbands, but this figure stands at only 30 per cent in Iran and 47.9 per cent in the United States. More than 80 per cent and 72 per cent of MW in Malaysia and Iran, respectively, make decisions on pregnancy, abortion and spacing of children jointly with their husbands. Conclusions: Policymakers should promote jointly made (made by wife and husband together) decisions among Muslims, which accords with Islamic teachings and is considered as good practice among Muslims.

Transport Policy in the Klang Valley, Malaysia: The Sustainability Agenda

There are many definitions of sustainable transport system, but generally it takes into account the three elements of sustainable development: the economy, the environment and the social well-being when deciding on policy that is affecting transportation activity. This paper examines the urban transport policy and its implications on sustainable transport agenda in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. The research utilizes a combination of primary and secondary data. Interview was employed to gather the primary data, while scholarly works, government documents and archival records are the instruments used for gathering the secondary data. The findings shed light on the implications of transport policy on sustainable transport agenda in the Klang Valley. The main challenge seems to be the lack of holistic measures in tackling transport issues that are in conflict with the objectives of sustainable transport. This main factor stems from a combination of several other issues such as decision-making based on short-term result that are mostly driven by economically viable alternatives, transport policies that are focused on technology and structural improvement and the lack of political will to influence development processes that could bring forward sustainable transport agenda. To achieve sustainability, transport policy in Malaysia, particularly in the Klang Valley, must include the wider systems in which transportation activity is rooted.

An assessment of the relationship between shared solid waste management services and effectiveness in service delivery in Kampala Capital City Authority, Uganda

This manuscript assesses the effectiveness of KCCA in management of solid waste in Uganda through a theoretical framework of ‘social welfare’, ‘standardization’, ‘effectiveness’, ‘efficiency’, ‘equity’, ‘economies of scale and scope’, ‘cost’, ‘quality’ and ‘quantity’ (SSEEEECQQ). This study attempted to assess the relationship between sharing and the effectiveness of solid waste management services without considering other variables listed in the framework domain. The main instrument used to collect data was a questionnaire though informal discussions were included to supplement quantified results. Two categories were investigated i.e., (a) staff of KCCA at operational and senior level, and (b) town dwellers. The overall results indicate that sharing solid waste services significantly affects the implementation process, the supervision, trust between the community members and partnerships since the p –values are all less than 0.05. Moreover, the approach of sharing waste management resources among divisions i.e., (a) refuse trucks, (b) casual workers, and (c) heavy equipments has helped to improve service delivery in waste management. Hopefully the findings will help dwellers appreciate a shared responsibility of maintaining a clean city and policy makers will appreciate the need to draft a policy that will guide shared service operations which model can be replicated in many municipalities in Uganda to nurse the desire of achieving a competent and enterprising public service at the same time maintaining a clean city.