Assessing the Challenges of Good Governance in Public Service Provision: The Case of Water Supply in Yanfa Town, Buno Bedele Zone, Oromia Regional State

Abstract

This study attempts to explore the challenges of good governance in public service provision; the case of water supply in Yanfa town of Buno Bedele zone, Oromia regional state. Shortage of potable water supply is a serious problem in Yanfa town due to the absence of pipeline water supply. Hence, lack of pipelines water supply in the town aggravates the dissatisfaction of the dwellers in the town. It was this problem that inspired the researcher to conduct a study in the town. The study employed mixed approach to address the intended research objectives. In doing so, descriptive design was employed to identify the cause of the problem and find scientific solutions or suggestions to improve and overcome the problems in the town. The data was collected from both primary and secondary sources through questionnaire, interview, key informant interview, focus group discussion and observation as primary data and different published and unpublished documents were reviewed for secondary data. A total of 334 respondents were selected for the study from households, public officials and water committees using simple random and purposive sampling techniques. The finding of the study revealed that the status of good governance in Yanfa town water service supply, lack of accountability, transparency, responsiveness, participation and efficiency and effectiveness are obvious. Some of the factors that affect the prevalence of good governance in water supply of the study area were absence of appropriate investigation of water source, absence of pipelines water supply, shortage of water, unfair distribution of water, poor coordination and participation of stakeholders, increase in population, corruption and lack of capacity. Therefore, the researcher suggested that in order to improve the challenges of good governance in water supply of the study area, establishing institutional framework, building human resource capacity, building pipelines water supply, encouraging the participation and coordination of stakeholders and preparing community forums in the town are the possible measures.