Outsourcing and sustainable local government revenue collection in Tanzania: the case of Kilosa district council
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Date
2021
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The University of Dodoma
Abstract
This study aimed at investigating factors for outsourcing and sustainable Local Government Revenue Collection (LGRC) in Tanzania. Specific interest was paid on sustenance and effectiveness of outsourced local government revenue. The study was carried out in Kilosa District Council (KDC), Morogoro region. The study employed a mixed-methods approach to address and analyze factors that had influenced the sustenance of outsourcing LGRC in KDC; the differences in terms of efficiency of revenue collection between outsourced and non-outsourced sources of revenue in KDC, and challenges facing outsourcing of local government revenue collection. The study also addressed the measures undertaken by KDC to deal with the challenges encountered, as well as the efficacy achieved from the measures adopted. Qualitative approaches enabled the study to solicit detailed information through the methods of data collection such as interviews, FGD’s and documentary reviews. Thematic analysis was employed to analyze qualitative data, while descriptive statistics like frequencies and percentages were computed using SPSS and MS-Excel to facilitate the presentation, description and discussion of data. A cross-sectional research design encompassing both purposive and simple random sampling techniques was applied for this study. The findings indicated that KDC had managed to sustain outsourcing of LGRC for all ten years covered by the study (2008-2018) as well as improve LGRC through outsourcing practice. The findings revealed that sustenance of outsourcing relied on a combination of factors such as performance of contracted agents, enabling conditions and effective measures devised by the council; roles played by ward committee and village council members as well as taxpayers. Two systems of outsourcing were reported to operate in KDC; the first system which ended in the 2016/2017 financial year used contracted firms to collect outsourced revenue; and the latter system which began in 2017/2018, used indigenous collecting agents who were working under the supervision of WEOs and VEOs on behalf of the council. Likewise, the findings showed that the measures that were devised by KDC in the new system of outsourcing were acknowledged and accepted not only by officials but also many taxpayers. The study recommends that such measures be adopted by other LGAs, particularly those which have already stopped outsourcing. The experiences from KDC may also be learnt and practised by local councils that have not yet employed the new system of outsourcing. In the effort to sustain and improve outsourcing, the Government and other stakeholders in local governance should establish stable policies and rules which govern outsourcing, and delegate more material and financial resources to lower levels where the WEOs and VEOs have been made the immediate supervisors of collecting agents in local councils that have adopted the new system of outsourcing such as KDC.
Description
Doctoral Thesis
Keywords
Outsourcing, Sustainable local government revenue collection, LGRC, Revenue collection, Local government, Sustenance, Tanzania
Citation
Rashidi, S. (2021). Outsourcing and sustainable local government revenue collection in Tanzania: the case of Kilosa district council(Doctoral thesis). The University of Dodoma, Dodoma.