The determinants of capacity building initiatives in Uganda. Case study of Kampala Capital City Authority

Abstract

Capacity building is seen as the planned development or increase in knowledge, output rate, management, skills, and other capabilities of an organization through acquisition, incentives, technology and training of the organization’s or a country’s most valuable assets, the human resources. It not only deals with the human resources but also improves their own understanding of the processes used within the fast growing world. The main objective of this study was to examine the determinants of capacity building initiatives in Uganda, a case study of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA). The study revealed that KCCA had limited financial resource to facilitate training of personnel to enhance their capacity of performance. The researcher found that one of the major factors responsible for limited availability of resources for capacity building was failure at planning level to budget for sufficient financial resources for capacity building. The study also discovered that although the individual employees expressed the need for refresher in-service training to rekindle their skills, the authority did not adequately plan for the same. The study concluded that for capacity building to be sustainable, it should evolve as part of the organization culture. Capacity building should be an integral part of the organization at all stages especially planning, budgeting and having mechanisms to identify training needs of personnel. Therefore, there is need to increase the budget for capacity building activities and to involve the key stakeholders at planning and budgeting levels, so as to cater for activities aimed at capacity building and then be able to address realistic gaps in service delivery.