Community participation and water payment compliance: a case study of Kitgum town- Uganda

Abstract

This study examined the influence of community participation in planning, pricing and monitoring of water services on compliance to payment for water services taking Kitgum Town as a case study area. 54 members of the Business Community Association in Kitgum were interviewed on their level of participation in water service provision and their compliance to payment for water. The views of key informants were also consulted in an in-depth interview with the Commercial Officer ofNWSCKitgum area and the chairperson of LCIII. A Focused Group Discussion with other political representatives in the town was also conducted. Frequency analysis was used to explore the extent to which the community participates in planning, pricing and monitoring of water services and linear regression was used to establish the influence of community participation in planning, pricing and monitoring of water services on compliance to payment for these services. The findings in a multiple regression summary implied a positive relationship with the overall correlation (linear relationship) between compliance to payment (dependent variable) and community participation being r=0.56, which is consistent with recent research on community participation in water services (Mugumya, 2013). This means that community participation in water services planning, pricing and monitoring can significantly increase their compliance to water services payment. The findings further revealed that the current community participation in water services planning, pricing and monitoring in Kitgum is not very inclusive but rather taken to be only perfunctory. Representatives do not have the information and the needed tools to make contributions that represent the interested of the community. The study recommended that community participation should be expanded to include most of the sections of the community with programs to empower the community on effective participation and engagement techniques and written, effectively distributed guidelines. There is need for regular community meetings on the water services and use of a far-reaching forum to communicate on meter prices, changes in water tariffs, and monitoring tools.