Assessment of records disaster preparedness at Kasese District local government central registry

Abstract

Administrative records disaster preparedness is very important in influencing administrative activities of KLG as any other organization. The organization has over the years created and managed administrative records which have contributed so much towards the enhancement of different service delivery to the public. The study sought to assess the disaster preparedness of records at the KLG. Kasese Local government as any other organization is likely to be faced with challenges such as natural disasters to records, loss of fills all of which cause delayed service delivery because of delayed decision making and subsequent decline in efficiency and productivity. The objectives of the study were to find out the status of disaster preparedness of records generated, assess the current storage systems, to find out the challenges encountered during the storage of records and to come up possible solutions to the challenges encountered during the disaster preparedness of records at KLG. The study sought to improve the disaster preparedness of records at the Kasese Local Government. The study used interviews and observations methods. The study involved a purposive sampling technique and the sample size was made of 40 respondents. The main conclusion of the study clearly demonstrated that KLG had some gaps to fill when it came to the disaster preparedness of records. Storage equipment were available but they were few as compared to the ever growing number of records created by the various department and projects, the findings also revealed that KLG records department faced some challenges such as, no clear records management policy. This was because records storage functions were not clearly catered for in the policy, dust, rusting of metallic shelves and fasteners and limited staffing of the records department all of which hampered the effective and efficient service delivery in the records department. The main recommendation of the study was that the KLG records department should regularly clean the records storage areas, recruit professional records workers, regularly skill their records staff and to expand the storage facilities and equipment.