Influence of Local Elected Leaders’ Roles in Promoting Community Participatory Development: A Case Study of Kidegembye Ward in Njombe District Council, Tanzania

Abstract

The study examined the influence of elected leaders' roles in promoting community participatory development. The study was undertaken at Kidegembye ward in Njombe district council. The study area was purposively selected because, in 2018, it ranked second nationally in terms of environmental sanitation and cleanliness. This resulted from collective community efforts to enhance cleanliness in the area. A total of 11 respondents were purposely selected for the study, including village leaders, women's groups dealing with handicrafts, and members of the school and health committee. A case study was applied to get insights regarding the influence of the elected leaders' roles in promoting community participatory development. Interview guide and observations were used to collect data. The findings revealed that elected leaders play some roles in influencing participatory development. The roles include community mobilization for construction infrastructures for education and health services at Kidegembye ward. However, no evidence was registered regarding the influence of leaders’ roles in supporting community initiatives related to economic activities. This raised a question on the prevalence of effective community participation. If effective community participation could be in place, projects beyond the push of the ministries would be enhanced. The study recommended that leaders play a part in social and economic activities. Likewise, the political party should establish mechanisms that can be used to assess the elected leaders' performance to improve their creativity in enhancing community participation for development.