A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Public Administration (MPA) of
Mzumbe University
The study conducted an assessment of the extent of citizens’ involvement in decision making in local government arrangements in Tanzania. Nanyumbu District Council was picked as a case to be inquired for the generation of relevant data to fill the study gap. The inquiry was basically guided through by four specific objectives which generated questions to be answered as a way to fill the knowledge gap. The study was performed using exploratory study design whereas new knowledge was obtained on the subject which has been researched. Despite that, data was obtained from four categories of respondents namely citizens, staffs, Departmental Heads and the Councilor as people’s representatives. Data was collected from all categories of respondents using questionnaires and interviews such that the information obtained through the questionnaires was filled into the SPSS data sheet for analysis. Data collected using interviews was grouped altogether for analysis to take place. The information from the questionnaire was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Data obtained from interviews was analyzed using content analysis which was presented using narrative approach with themes to support the results. The findings showed that the authorities in reality exercise and practice citizen involvement through various ways and methods despite several challenges which makes it ineffective. Some of the challenges are attributed by central government initiatives such as delay on sending money for mass mobilizations and others. In that note, the study recommends that,since the central government at the moment owns almost all resources, it must make sure that it provides the resources on time to the local government authorities (LGAs) to enable them to perform their activities diligently and as per the set time and space.