Conflicts Among Councillors in the Local Government Authorities: A Tale of Msalala District Council

Authors

  • Idda Swai Mzumbe University
  • Faraja Uhahula Mzumbe University
  • Vicent Ndesekio Kahama Municipal Council
  • Chacha Nyakega Parliamentary Clerk Assistant in the Office of the National Assembly of Tanzania
  • George Igulu Mzumbe University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36369/2616-9045/2023/v12i2a2

Keywords:

Councillors conflicts, Causes of conflicts, Conflicts in the council, Councillors’ role

Abstract

This paper focused on conflicts among councillors in Tanzania's Local Government Authorities, where qualitative approaches were employed in data collection and analysis. The study focused on understanding the causes and effects of conflicts in the Local Government Authorities where Msalala District Council in Shinyanga Region was used as a case study. A sample of 22 participants was interviewed through mobile calls. Various local government documents, including the minutes of meetings and reports, were reviewed. The study found three types of conflicts at Msalala District Council. The conflict between the elected councillors themselves, conflicts between the District Council Chairperson and other councillors and conflicts between elected (Ward) councillors and special seat councillors. It was further found that the conflicts were contributed by the low level of education among councillors, personal interest and selfishness, poor communication, conflicting roles and unequal distribution of resources. The study found that the conflicts among the councillors affected the implementation of projects in the council, reduced the morale of the special seat councillors and increased unnecessary costs to the council. Different mechanisms have been adopted to resolve conflicts, like collective bargaining and cooperativeness, which are emphasized for the growth of local government authorities, and this reduces the rate of biased decisions. This study recommends training for councillors immediately after being elected to provide awareness of their roles and duties in the local government authority.

Author Biographies

Idda Swai, Mzumbe University

Idda is a Senior Lecturer of Local Governance and Gender in the Department of Local Government Management and Acting Dean of School of Public Administration and Management at Mzumbe University. Idda has more than 15 years of teaching experience and has been conducting long and short courses in the areas of Local Government Management, Leadership in Local Government particularly at the grass root level, Urban Governance, Social Science Research Methods, and Gender and Public Administration in general She has been involved in capacity building activities to train officials from the government, private and NGOs in the areas of leadership and governance, gender, local governance and Monitoring and Evaluation. Idda has been working with the President’s Office, Regional Administration and Local Government and the Ministry of Health in the development of policies and guidelines as a consultant and a key stakeholder representing Mzumbe University.

Idda has published and conducted researches in the area of gender, governance and reproductive health and has been involved in the implementation of various projects as a Gender Mainstreaming Expert, mobility project coordinator and Continuous Professional Development (CPD) coordinator. Idda was involved in organizing the Annual Health Monitoring and Evaluation Best Practices Conferences in three consecutive years from 2017 to 2019.

George Igulu, Mzumbe University

Igulu, George is a Lecturer in the Department of Local Government Management at Mzumbe University. Now he act as a head of department of Local governance and management studies. He is a PhD holder, Furthermore, he holds a Master in Business Administration degree and an Advanced Diploma in Local Government Administration from IDM-Mzumbe. He has more than 25 years of working experience as a trainer, researcher and consultant in the areas of public administration, management, local government administration, strategic management and organizational leadership

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Published

2023-12-07

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 2 (2023): Volume 12 Issue 2

Section

Articles