Browsing by Author "Katomero, Jesper"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The elephant in the room: Informality in Tanzania’s rural waterscape
    (MDPI, 2018) Katomero, Jesper; Georgiadou, Yola
    Informality is pervasive in Tanzania’s rural waterscape, but not acknowledged by development partners (donors and beneficiaries), despite persistent warnings by development scholars. Informality is thus the proverbial elephant in the room. In this paper, we examine a case of superior rural water access in two geographical locales—Hai and Siha districts—in Tanzania, where actors not only acknowledge, but actively harness informality to provide access to water to rural populations. We employ concepts from organization and institutional theory to show that when informal programs and related informal sanctions/rewards complement their formal counterparts, chances for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) target 6.1 ‘By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all’ are significantly increased.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Tales of accountability: a Q-method study of discourses amongst Tanzanian members of parliament
    (Cambridge University Press, 2017) Katomero, Jesper; Hoppe, Robert; Wesselink, Anna
    The hallmark of accountability in a democracy centres on the way the elected parliament holds the executive to account. If the parliament does not perform its oversight role effectively, lower authorities would have fewer incentives to do the same vis-à-vis local executives. In this article we therefore ask whether or not different meanings of accountability can be discerned amongst Tanzanian Members of Parliament (MPs). In our Q-method research we found four clearly identifiable discourses on accountability amongst Tanzanian MPs: Partycrats; My Electorate's Advocates; Frustrated Account Holders; and Pragmatic Account Holders. We understand MPs discourses within the broader context of political clientelism and we argue that this combination of discourses, or accountability culture, enables the executive to rule in semi-autocratic ways. Even if opposition parties would obtain a parliamentary majority, this accountability culture stands in the way of achieving greater democratic responsiveness.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Tensions in rural water governance: The elusive functioning of rural water points in Tanzania
    (MDPI, 2017) Katomero, Jesper; Georgiadou, Yola; Lungo, Juma; Hoppe, Robert
    Public water services are still failing rural Tanzanians. Emboldened by advances in information communication technologies, the Ministry of Water has been developing computing, financial and administrative technologies to update and visualize the status of rural water points. This amalgam of technologies marks the emergence of an information infrastructure for rural water governance. The information infrastructure will enable the ministry to “see” the functionality status of all rural water points and to plan and budget for their repair and maintenance. In this paper, we examine three administrative technologies, which aim to standardize the functionality status of water points, and to prescribe how the information flows within the government hierarchy, and who is a legitimate recipient of this information. We analyze qualitative data, collected over a period of four years, in the framework of an interdisciplinary research program, funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research—Science for Global Development (NWO-Wotro). In contrast to other researchers who study how information infrastructure evolves over time, we study what infrastructure evolution reveals about water governance. Our analysis of the practices of participants in rural water governance reveals tensions between formal and informal processes, which affect rural water services negatively.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Using mobile phones in improving mental health services delivery in Tanzania: A feasibility study at Mirembe National Mental health hospital in Dodoma
    (International Society of Global Health, 2019) Mwambingu, Perpetua Hardy; Andrea, Damas; Katomero, Jesper
    Approaches to delivering health services, including mental health services are increasingly being re-imagined. Attempts to improve mental health services at various levels in Tanzania are hindered by various factors, including the lack of information and communications technology (ICT)/mobile phone-driven communication platforms, resulting in both health workers and psychiatric patients spending substantial amount of time and meagre financial resources interacting physically to address mental related illness. This impediment could be significantly reduced if an ICT/mobile phone-driven platform is created to facilitate communication between patients and health workers.The prospects of psychiatric patients having access to an ICT/mobile phone platform can provide an opportunity for them to address their problems without necessarily visiting the hospitals. For instance, patients residing in a particular area can use mobile phones to get medical advice, information of side effects; also the service provider can review symptoms and provide therapeutic interventions including adherence counseling and motivation interviewing. The potential of the envisaged ICT/mobile phone driven platform between health workers and psychiatric patients for improving mental health services in Tanzania is the cornerstone of this research project.