A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Master’s Degree in Leadership and Management (MLM) of Mzumbe University
The aim of the study was examining the participation of challenged citizen in decision making for the development project in Goba ward. A total of 70 respondents were used. The study employed both primary and secondary data, primary data were collected through questionnaires and interview with leaders in the Ward and secondary data were collected through documentary reviews such as government reports. Data were analyzed through descriptive analysis by using SPSS and Excel. The results indicate that the participation of challenged citizens in decision making in Goba ward was very low and the main reasons of low participation in decision making were ignorance, lack of information, perception of the community and their leaders and lack of scheduled timetable for these projects. The main modes of participation used in decision making were meetings that were normally held at the planning stage of the projects, provided with information regarding the project and through contribution of money/materials for the projects. Gender, age, education level nature of disability, importance of the project, need for development and income generating activity of the respondents were the factors that influenced their participation. In order to enhance the participation in Goba the respondents suggested that the attitudes of people should be changed, awareness should be created, representation of challenged should be considered and infrastructure should be improved to suit the need of challenged people. Conclusively the participation in decision making for the development projects was still low in Goba ward, the study recommended on education to be provided to these people about their right to participate in different community activities and the government should ensure equal participation and representation of challenged citizen from the grassroots levels.