Perception of stakeholders on the impact of budgeting strategies on the service delivery in Mazowe Rural District Council. · Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Author

Muchirewesi, Alson

Title

Perception of stakeholders on the impact of budgeting strategies on the service delivery in Mazowe Rural District Council.

Abstract

Budgets play a crucial role in enabling local authorities to strategically plan and deliver quality services to their communities. The study’s was on determining stakeholders perceptions with regard to budgeting strategies impact on service delivery in the Mazowe Rural District Council (MRDC) located in Mashonaland Central Province, Zimbabwe. Specifically, the focus was on stakeholders' perspectives with regard to budget consultation, economic environment integration, regulatory framework integration, and performance evaluation of budget processes influenced service delivery in the MRDC. The study employed descriptive approach by targeting 131 MRDC officials and councilors. The study sampled 98 units using quota coupled with purposive sampling method. A questionnaire with closed-ended questions was used for data collection. Microsoft Excel and SPSS version 20 were used to analyses the data. The findings revealed a generally positive perception among stakeholders regarding the budgeting strategies in the MRDC. The study established a significant positive correlation between the budgeting strategies and service delivery. Specifically, the study found that the budget consultation process, economic environment integration, regulatory framework integration, and performance evaluation process had positive and significant effects on service delivery. However, despite the positive perception of the budgeting strategies, the stakeholders had a negative perception of the actual service being delivered. The study identified several challenges contributing to poor service delivery, including operational inefficiencies, inadequate training, corruption, mismanagement, and higher expectations from stakeholders. The study recommends that local authorities in Zimbabwe, including the MRDC, should engage in frequent public awareness campaigns, provide staff training, improve the level of sensitization, and enhance budget consultation processes.
The study also suggests that future research in this area could focus on a larger sample size covering a broader range of constituencies within the MRDC and other local authorities in Zimbabwe to enhance the generalization of the results.

Date

June 2024

Publisher

BUSE

Keywords

Stakeholder, Budgeting, Strategy, Budgeting strategy, Service Delivery

Supervisor

N. Hove