By Richard Okuku, Secretary General, Uganda Local Governments Association (ULGA)
District and City Service Commissions are among the strongest institutional expressions of Uganda’s decentralization policy. They are far more than recruitment bodies; they are a constitutional affirmation that decisions affecting local communities should be made as close to those communities as possible.
As public debate intensifies over allegations of corruption, bribery, nepotism and political interference within some District Service Commissions, there have been growing calls to transfer recruitment powers back to the central government through the Public Service Commission. While the concerns raised are legitimate and deserve urgent attention, dismantling local recruitment would be a costly mistake that undermines the very foundation of decentralization.
The answer to institutional weaknesses is reform not recentralization.
Uganda adopted decentralization to bring services and decision-making closer to the people.
The Constitution and the Local Governments Act deliberately entrusted District and City Service Commissions with the responsibility of recruiting, confirming, promoting and exercising disciplinary control over local government staff. This was not an administrative convenience; it was a deliberate governance choice intended to ensure that local governments have the authority to recruit personnel who understand local realities and are accountable to the communities they serve.
Every health centre, school, production department, engineering office, community development unit and local administration depends on timely recruitment of competent staff. Recruitment is therefore not simply a human resource function, it is central to service delivery.
The allegations that have emerged against some District Service Commissions are deeply troubling. Reports of bribery, manipulation of recruitment processes, forged academic documents, political influence and lack of transparency undermine public confidence and deny deserving Ugandans equal opportunities for public employment. Such misconduct weakens service delivery and erodes trust in government institutions.
Those responsible for corrupt practices should be investigated thoroughly and prosecuted in accordance with the law. There should be no tolerance for officials who abuse public office for personal gain.
However, it is important to distinguish between institutional failure and individual misconduct. The actions of a few should not be used to condemn an entire decentralization framework that has served Uganda for decades. It would be both unfair and inaccurate to portray all District and City Service Commissions as corrupt. Across the country, many commissions continue to discharge their responsibilities professionally and have earned recognition from government and development partners for promoting merit-based recruitment.
The shortcomings identified in some commissions point to broader governance challenges rather than flaws inherent in decentralization itself. Underfunding, inadequate training, manual recruitment systems, weak oversight, delayed wage clearances, political pressure and limited protection for whistleblowers have all contributed to the challenges facing local recruitment. Recentralizing recruitment would not eliminate these problems. It would merely shift them from one institution to another.
Experience shows that corruption is not exclusive to decentralized systems. A centralized recruitment process can equally be susceptible to undue influence, only that it becomes more distant from the citizens affected and often more difficult to scrutinize. Rather than reducing corruption, centralization risks relocating it while making accountability even more elusive.
Equally important, a centralized recruitment system would struggle to respond to the staffing needs of Uganda’s more than 130 local governments. Districts facing shortages of teachers, health workers, engineers, parish chiefs or agricultural extension officers require recruitment mechanisms that understand local circumstances and can respond promptly.
Expecting one national body to manage recruitment for every district and city would inevitably create delays, bureaucracy and administrative bottlenecks. Local governments cannot effectively deliver services if they lack the authority to recruit the personnel needed to implement their mandates.
District and City Service Commissions remain one of the clearest demonstrations that decentralization is working. They enable local governments to recruit individuals familiar with local languages, cultures, development priorities and service delivery challenges. More importantly, they strengthen local accountability because recruitment decisions can be scrutinized by district councils, communities, oversight agencies, the courts and other accountability institutions. Rather than weakening these commissions, Uganda should focus on making them stronger.
The reform agenda is both practical and achievable. Recruitment processes should be digitized to reduce human interference and improve transparency. Vacancy announcements, shortlists, interview schedules and recruitment outcomes should be publicly accessible.
Commission members should undergo rigorous vetting before appointment, followed by mandatory induction and continuous professional development.
Conflict-of-interest declarations should become standard practice, while independent complaints mechanisms should allow applicants to challenge irregularities without fear of victimization.
Government must also provide adequate operational funding to enable commissions to perform their responsibilities effectively. Oversight institutions should conduct regular performance audits and investigate complaints promptly, while those found guilty of corruption should face swift disciplinary and criminal sanctions.
District councils should strengthen oversight without interfering in recruitment decisions, while Chief Administrative Officers and Town Clerks should provide technical support without compromising the independence of the commissions. At the national level, the Ministries of Local Government and Public Service should continue providing policy guidance, standards, training and supervision without assuming the recruitment mandate that rightly belongs to local governments.
This balanced approach would preserve decentralization while improving integrity and accountability.
Uganda’s decentralization journey has not been perfect, but it has fundamentally transformed governance by bringing government closer to the people. Weakening one of its most important institutions because of implementation challenges would represent a significant policy reversal with far-reaching consequences for local service delivery.
The future of District and City Service Commissions should therefore not be one of abolition, but renewal.
Uganda must confront corruption decisively, modernize recruitment systems, adequately resource local institutions and hold wrongdoers accountable wherever they are found.
Strengthening District and City Service Commissions will protect merit, improve public service delivery and preserve the constitutional promise that power should remain as close as possible to the people.
That is the true spirit of decentralization, and it remains the best path for Uganda.
