A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for Award of the Degree of Master of Public Administration (MPA) of Mzumbe University 2013The Open Performance Review and Appraisal System (OPRAS) is an open, formal, and systematic procedure designed to assist both employers and employees in planning, managing, evaluating and realizing performance improvement in the organization, with the aim of achieving organizational goals. It is expected to drive the transition from a focus on Human Resource Management to Strategic Human Resource Management. OPRAS not only adds a valuable dimension to the human resource function, it also changes the competencies that define the success of human resource professionals and practitioners in an institution or organization. The study aimed at investigating the challenges of administering OPRAS in District Councils. Its implementation aim at achieving organizational goals and is expected to maximize the production. Effective running of this appraisal was seemed to be partially implemented by public employees something that calls for an inquiry. The study was conducted at Lushoto District Council November 2012 to March 2013. In attempt to meet the objective of the study, questionnaires and interviews were carried out to the selected sample to get responses from the respondents. The findings revealed that the employees see OPRAS as good but its implementation needs some improvement to meet the expected goals. The challenges identified were setting of unrealistic budget to meet the required resources for the whole process. Budgetary leads to other challenges such as lack of integration between the supervisor and supervisee objectives on one hand and that of the organization on the other. Lack of support from the supervisor and lack of training also minimizes the efficiency of the OPRAS process. Other challenges noted from the employees were openness, selection of indicators, clear setting of goals and standards. In order to improve the situation all stake holders should act appropriately on these challenges so as to bring smooth sailing of the OPRAS implementation in Lushoto and in Tanzania at large. vii For further research this study recommends an inquiry into the mechanism to improve the distribution of fiscal resources towards the implementation of OPRAS. This is the area identified as the core challenges in public sector.