Evaluating the performance of Public Service Delivery Organizations (PSDOs) in Uganda and Tanzania

Abstract

There is a plethora of academic literature on the nature of public sector organizations. Generally, all public sector institutions exist to deliver certain services to the population. An assessment of their performance thus serves a primary purpose of checking how these institutions stand on their legal mandates. Undeniably, the public service institutions have since 1980s been candidates for a myriad of reforms and these reforms have been intended to make the public service organizations work better. This paper is about such efforts in Uganda and Tanzania. In both countries, governments have implemented a myriad of public service reform programmes to increase effi ciency and eff ectiveness of the public sector. The extent to which these eff orts have yield substantive results is hardly examined. This paper through a comparative approach examines the performance of public service organizations in delivery of public services in both Uganda and Tanzania. Data for this assessment was obtained through an evaluation undertaking which relied on both secondary and primary sources. The fi ndings overall suggest that there are some areas where public service organisations have performed well due to the reforms. The evaluation points out of an unfinished business as there remains a number of public service areas where performance has been doubted.