Assessment of records management practices, a case study at Kasese District Local Government Central Registry

Abstract

This research study was done to assess the records management practices, a significant aspect of records management. The study was carried out at the Central Registry of Kasese District Local Government. An effective records management program is a major element of the governance of any organization. However, despite this crucial role played by records management, there is a consensus amongst researchers that many organizations including local governments pay little attention to the management of records and their management practices. Records in KDLG are the most basic and crucial asset and they require effective and efficient records management practices that ensure ease of access and retrieval. Kasese District Local Government is solely responsible for implementation and supervision of local government administrative, judicial, social, political, economic and traditional activities and also recruits people to perform every activity for betterment of the district education, security, trade and relation with other districts, regions and central government. This generates a lot of records which were revealed by the researcher in the study findings. The records generated and maintained by KDLGCR are largely paper-based records mostly and they are generally generated from administrative, education, human resource and financial departments of the district. The study focused on uncovering out the types of records generated and maintained by KDLGCR, the various records management practices carried out, challenges encountered and the solutions to remedy the challenges. To achieve the above objectives, qualitative and quantitative approaches were used to gather and analyze the data. Purposive sampling method was used to help collect the data from qualified respondents and the data collection tools used included interview guide, observation guide and questionnaire guide. The findings from the study helped the researcher to make recommendations and suggestions to help in improving the records management practices at KDLGCR.