MAKERERE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AN INTERNSHIP REPORT ON FIELD ATTACHMENT AT MASINDI DISTRICT LOCAL GOVERNMENT FROM 12th JUNE 2014 TO AUGUST 12th AUGUST 2014
BY
TUGUME TRAVER
12/U/14775/EVE
FIELD ATTACHMENT REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE BACHELORS DEGREE OF ARTS IN SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MAKERERE UNIVERSITY KAMPALA

STUDENT’S NAME: TUGUME TRAVER
SIGNATURE: ………………………….…

UNIVERSITY SUPERVISORS NAME…………………………….
SIGNATURE…………………………

FIELD SUPERVISOR’S NAME; ……………………………..
SIGNATURE; ………………………..
DECLERATION
I Tugume Traver declare that i have carried out this field attachment and the content of this field report is my original work and an authentic report that has never been submitted to any institution. It’s now being presented as partial fulfillment of a bachelors of arts in social sciences at Makerere University.

Signature…………………………. Name………………………… Date………………………….

ACKNOWLEGMENT
First and foremost, I thank the almighty Lord who has brought me this far with Life, wisdom, knowledge and guidance in my academics and made my internship experience a success.
I also pass my heartfelt gratitude to Masindi district local government for giving me the opportunity to do my internship and work as an intern in the office of the assistant chief administrative officer (ACAO) in charge of Buruli county and at the same time the clerk to council for all the guidance, hospitality and knowledge they have rendered to me this attributed to the goals attained and achieved especially the skills I have acquired.
Special thanks go Mr. Kisembo Fred the assistant chief administrative officer for having guided me during my internship and the hospitality he rendered to me thank you very much.
To commence I also thank the administration and department of political science and public administration Makerere university for the guidance and the programme of internship which help to enrich students academics and act as an eye opener to the outside world.

DEDICATION
I would like to dedicate this report to my beloved parents Mr. Kankya Vicent and Mrs. Kunihira Joyce, my brother Tumusiime Oscar and all my brothers and sisters in appreciation for their tireless efforts in ensuring my education as a first priority and a success. May the almighty God reward and bless them all.

ABSTRACT
This report gives an account of my stay at Masindi District Local Government headquarters for a period of 10 weeks in the office of the assistant chief administrative officer/clerk to council under the supervision of the ACAO.
The internship exercise lasted for nine weeks that is 12th June 2014 to 15th August 2014.
The exercise was carried out in Masindi District Local Government, under the Assistant chief administrative officer. Among the purposes of the internship included enabling the student transform theory into practical in real life situations, equipping the student with the relevant skills, competence and efficiency in execution of specific tasks, enabling the student get hands on experience real life situation they are expected to work in when they graduate, providing an opportunity for the student potential employers in order to appreciate field situations that will also generate information for curricular review with the academic staff, enrolling the student inworking environment so as to develop student understanding of work ethics, demands, responsibilities and opportunities.
During this exercise, the approaches, methods and techniques used included but were not limited to; a one on one work basis between the immediate supervisor and the student, have face to face interviews with the members of the community during the baraza meetings and FOWEDE meetings, supervision by the student’s immediate supervisor, review of the council minutes, first hand information, team work so as to develop interpersonal skill.
It also covers responsibilities that were assigned to the intern which included; editing minutes, organizing reports, organizing office documents, ensuring the safety of office equipment, attending office workshops and meetings, reviewing office documents among others. It also includes the challenges the student faced in executing his duties and what he suggests to be done to enable a fruitful field attachment exercise in the organization.

TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLERATION ii ACKNOWLEGMENT iii DEDICATION iv ABSTRACT v LIST OF FIGURES viii LIST OF TABLE ix LIST OF ACRONYMS/ABBREVIATIONS x CHAPTER ONE 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE FIELD ATTACHMENT 1 1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE THE FIELD ATTACHMENT 1 1.4 BACKGROUND OF THE ORGANIZATION 2 1.4 ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE 3 ORGANISATIONAL VALUES/ BELIEFS 3 1.6 GENDER IN THE ORGANISATION 4 1.7 STRUCTURE OF THE ORGANISATION 5 ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE 5 1.7 MAIN ACTIVITIES OF THE ORGANISATION 5 TABLE 1.2: COUNTIES AND SUB-COUNTIES 6 2.21 CHAPTER TWO 7 2.1 TITLE OF THE ORGANISATION 7 2.2 DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 7 2.3 SUPERVISION LEVELS AND RELATIONSHIP WITH SUPERVISOR 8 2.4 WORK TEAM AND ITS COMPOSITION 8 2.5 WORKING RELATIONSHIP AMONG TEAM MEMBERS/ OTHER STAFF 8 2-6 AUTHORITY LEVELS TO THE STUDENT 8 2.7 INTRESTS CHALLENGES AND WHAT CAN BE CHANGED 8 3.1 LEVEL OF ACOMPLISHMENT OF DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 9 3.2 NEW KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS GAINED IN EACH OF THE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 9 3.3 MOST INTERESTING EXPERIENCES 10 3.5 CHALLENGES FACED AND HOW MANAGED 11 3.6 BENEFITS DERIVED FROM THE FIELD ATTACHMENT 11 3.7 ADEQUENCY IN UNIVERSITY’S PREAPARING FOR STUDENT FIELD ATTACHEMENT. 12 3.8 PREPAREDNESS OF THE AGENCY TO RECEIVE AND MANAGE STUDENTS FOR FIELD ATTACHMENTS 12 4.0 CHAPTER FOUR 13 1. CONCLUSION 13
2. RECOMMENDATION……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….13 REFERENCES 14
APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….15

LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE 1…………………………………………………………………..5

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1.1……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..4
Table 1.2………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………6

LIST OF ACRONYMS/ABBREVIATIONS

CAO Chief Administrative Officer
ACAO Assistant chief administrative officer
CFO Chief Finance Officer
MDLG Masindi district local government
FOWEDE Forum for women in democracy
LGPAC Local government public accounts comitte
CDO Community development officer
C.C Clerk to council
LC5 Local council five
MM Masindi municipality

CHAPTER ONE
1.1 INTRODUCTION
The field report refers to clear evidence and information obtained from the attachment which was Masindi district local government from 12th/06/2014 to 15th/08/2014. It shows the basics of the organization together with the activities I engaged in during the field attachment. 1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE FIELD ATTACHMENT
Field attachment refers or is defined as afield based practical work carried out by students in conjunction with the staff to enhance the students to improve on his or her skills by relating lecture work in places outside the university.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE FIELD ATTACHMENT * To provide co-current opportunities for the integration of classroom learning in the field.

* To provide an opportunity for the student and academic staff to interact with stake holders and practical employee to appreciate field situation that will generate information.

* To develop the skills required for professional practice and conduct including work ethics, employment demand s, responsibility and opportunities.

* To enable and strengthen linkages between Makerere university in Uganda and various stake holders.

* To enable students to easily get employed in areas of specialization as they have interacted with prospective employers during the field attachment.

1.4 BACKGROUND OF THE ORGANIZATION
Masindi district local government is anon profit making organization dealing in social service delivery. Subject to article 178 of the Uganda constitution, the system of local government in Uganda shall be based on the district a unit which there shall be local government and administrative units as parliament may be the law provider’s Masindi district became decentralized in 1997 when it was mandated to recruit its own workers and directly declaring services to the people.
VISION
Transforming Masindi from a rural subsistence agricultural district to a thriving industrialized entity with exemplary leadership and a quality life for all.
MISSION
To serve the people of Masindi through coordinated service delivery with a focus on national and local priorities promote sustainable development of the district, this will be reviewed annually.
OBJECTIVES
* To widen the district resource envelope in order to improve on service delivery to the people. * To strengthen participatory planning resource management and control with a motive of promoting transparency and accountability to the population. * To maintain a highly productive and healthy population in relation to resources for a sustainable development. * To maintain, promote the sustainable the sustainable use of the existing infrastructure. * To socially transform the people of Masindi by empowering them to harness their potential and talents through gender responsiveness for sustainable development and alleviation. * To manage, conserve sustainable use of the district natural resources so that the people can enjoy a condusive environment. * To ensure that there is acess and quality education in the district future self sustainability.

1.4 ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE
Masindi district local government does not have an individual culture but rather follows the code of conduct and ethics for the republic of Uganda approved by the ministry of public service. But as custom and culture, workers at Masindi district local government arrive in time, greet in either local language or English with warm and welcoming faces, engage in petty conservations, check on one another and live work in parks of co-workers.
ORGANISATIONAL VALUES/ BELIEFS Excellence in service delivery Diligence to duty in that if the organization works on time on carrying out official duties. There is great impartiality in service delivery that is unbiased and indiscriminate treatment is given to clients irrespective of gender, age, race, political affiliation, religion, ethnic background and different abilities. As one of the core values MDLG is expected to exhibit a high level of integrity. Not seeking, accepting or offering gifts, favor or inducements. Respect of law is another value as part of the culture in Masindi district local government whereby they are a subject to popularize and respect lawful actions, inactions and stake holders during execution of duties. Transparency and accountability is one of the cultures in Masindi district local government that is to say transparency and accountability in all decisions and actions. Proper use of official information as another value as part of the MLDG in that information is not unnecessarily withheld just incase the public to access it. Masindi district local government as an entire organization believes in transforming the district of rural subsistence to a modern district. Workers that is to say the district administrators believe and have great trust in the chief administrative officer (CAO) as the supreme head and all offices report to him. Members in MDLG cherish transparency for better service delivery. This being through the public accounts committee. There is great free interaction between the district administrators and the district council and this creates a favourable environment to live in. As per the parties which give the identity of the organization members or the workers have T-shirts which they put on normally on Fridays and they also engage in the district co-operate league to boost their identity and interaction with the public. 1.6 GENDER IN THE ORGANISATION Interpreting the gender issue in Masindi district local government, it is not only clear balance in the heads of departments since in the administrative sector were all of the eight departments are headed by men and out of the twenty three heads of section only seven women are heads this clearly portraying gender imbalance in the organization. However the gender in the district as per the education standards in summerised below; TABLE 1.1: EDUCATION ENROLMENT BY GENDER | MALE | FEMALE | TOTAL | Primary School Enrolment | 25480 | 23,331 | 48,811 | Secondary School Enrolment | 1527 | 1,300 | 2,827 | Total | 27,007 | 24,631 | 51,638 |
Source: Ministry of Education
From the above table the Ministry of Education has the Millennium Development Goal with Gross enrolment rate of 95.5 with 74 net enrolment rates, having a ratio of 54 pupil teacher with 80 pupil classroom

1.7 STRUCTURE OF THE ORGANISATION
ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE
The CAO is the head of Administration in other words, the head of all civil servants within the district who works hand in hand with the district council headed by the LC5. Under CAO, is the DACAO with the ACAOs (2). Also, directly under the CAO follows the heads of departments (8) with their respective section heads

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE FOR MDLG District council District council

Statutory bodies
Statutory bodies CAO CAO

Natural resources
Natural resources

Admin
Admin
Finance

Finance

Production & Mktg
Production & Mktg
Health

Health

Works & Eng
Works & Eng

Comm. &Based
Comm. &Based
Internal audit
Internal audit
Statistics
Population
Projects
Development

Statistics
Population
Projects
Development

Planning

Planning

Education

Education

HRM/D
County
Information
OSS
Reg. Of births, MRGS, deaths& assets facil mgt
Police
HRM/D
County
Information
OSS
Reg. Of births, MRGS, deaths& assets facil mgt
Police
Civil
Roads
Bridges
Buildings
Monuments
Water
Mechanicsal eng
Civil
Roads
Bridges
Buildings
Monuments
Water
Mechanicsal eng
PHC
Education
Health
Visitation
Inspection
Disease control
Curative Systems
PHC
Education
Health
Visitation
Inspection
Disease control
Curative Systems

Crop
Veterinary
Fisheries
Vermin control
Entomology
Crop
Veterinary
Fisheries
Vermin control
Entomology
Revenue
Budgeting
Revenue
Budgeting

Prob. & Soc. Welfare
Rehab.
Comm.
Children &youth
Prob. & Soc. Welfare
Rehab.
Comm.
Children &youth
Forests
Wetlands
Environment
Land
Forests
Wetlands
Environment
Land
Administration
Inspection
Sports
Administration
Inspection
Sports

1.7 MAIN ACTIVITIES OF THE ORGANISATION Provision of quarterly timely social services to the people of Masindi district this case decentralization has been recognized as one of the effective means in improving service delivery. Assists in the maintenance and promotion of good governance, rule of law all the time. Takes part in the promotion of sustainable land use to improve on agriculture.
MDLG implements a number of programmes basically all geared towards poverty alleviation.
Developing capacity for developing and management of the planning function in the districts subcounties of lower councils through the technical planning committee
Interpreting government policies and council decisions and communicating to relevant officers to formulate and initiate district policy system structures and procedures for service delivery.
Conflicts among the residents are handled by the administrative officers employed by the district to enhance harmony among the people in the community.
Through the public health officers, residents are encouraged to visit hospitals and health care centres for consultation and medical attention.
Ensures provision of weather through roads.
As per the activities futher the district has two assistant chief administrative office where by each one of them is responsible for a particular county that is buruli and bujenje these who ensure adequate service delivery in there counties’ on the hand the areas in the municipality are handled by the respective town clerks.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT/ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS
The District consists of 2 counties, namely Bujenje and Buruli. It has 5 sub-counties that is Kimengo, Pakanyi, Miirya, Bwijanga and Budongo. It also has one municipality which forms Buruli County. The Municipality consists of 4 divisions that is karujubu, Nyangahya, kigulya and the central division. Bujenje County is made up of Bwijanga and Budongo sub-counties.
The table below shows the number of sub-counties by name in each county and the four divisions in Masindi municipality TABLE 1.2: COUNTIES AND SUB-COUNTIES COUNTY | SUB-COUNTIES | Bujenje | BwijangaBudongo | Buruli | KimengoMiiryaPakanyi | MM | NyangahyaKigulyaKarujubuCentral division |
Source: List Counties, sub-counties, parishes and villages (DPO)

2.21 CHAPTER TWO
2.1 TITLE OF THE ORGANISATION
During the internship/ field attachment, I was assigned the position of secretary of the ACAO/ clerk to council where I could coordinate with my field supervisor that is the ACAO in the on going activities of MDLG.
2.2 DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
General management of ACAO’s office on day to day operation in partnership with staff in office.
Editing and analysing of council minutes since the ACAO/ clerk to the council is responsible for taking minutes of the council meeting.
Attending public accounts meetings and take note of how government funds are managed.
Arranging for council and committee sessions.
Communicating the council and committee resolutions to the responsible offices.
Preparing council budgets and plans.
Attending to clients when the ACAO is not in office.
Attending technical planning committee meetings which are meant to plan for district activities in general.
Attending community dialogues aimed at improving social services delivery.
Attending capacity building workshop where the intern participated in registering members who are present.
The intern was given a duty of messenger that is to say transfering papers from one office to another.
Acting as a secretary.

2.3 SUPERVISION LEVELS AND RELATIONSHIP WITH SUPERVISOR

As per the supervision levels, there was high monitoring and tasks allocation to the intern by the supervisor.
There was aday to day assesement to find out what the intern had the supervisor where he would crack jokes and advice the intern on how to run government business and improve on interactive skills.
The supervision was done on daily basis by my supervisor through assigning me with different work and making follow ups which I had to finish in time and creat a hamoneous relationship.
2.4 WORK TEAM AND ITS COMPOSITION
I was in the office of the assistant chief administrative officer/clerk to council and my work team comprised of six members that is the ACAO, the secretary and four interns.
2.5 WORKING RELATIONSHIP AMONG TEAM MEMBERS/ OTHER STAFF
The members of the working team were so co-operative that is to say my field supervisor would allocate us tasks these which were done collectively as ateam hence helping us to complete them in time.
2-6 AUTHORITY LEVELS TO THE STUDENT
The authority levels of the student were so minimal in that most the times the student engaged in activities of interaction like in meetings. He was compromised hence having no impact in the meeting which limited the students participation.
2.7 INTRESTS CHALLENGES AND WHAT CAN BE CHANGED
My major intrests were learning how government activities are conducted, how meeetings operate that is council meetings, what are the requirements and experiances required for one to join district and government administration.
The other interest was to understand the level of relationship between local government and NGO’s in providing or enhancing social service delivery.
With the various interests my challenges were;
Limited recognition and not all information is given to the intern by the workers of the organization hence limited authourity.
In the course of the internship, I faced a problem of long distances this which necessitated me to incur transport costs.
Some members of the team were not fully cooperative.
There is a lot of experience needed by one to join local government this which may limit graduates. However, much can be changed by creating programmes in the organization were the intern has full authority like senstising and organizing meetings to address the challenges of the local people this which can help to erase the issue of limited authority and participation.
CHAPTER THREE
3.1 LEVEL OF ACOMPLISHMENT OF DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
With the various duties and responsibilities assigned to me they accomplished as follows
I sucessfuly accomplished the duty of editing meetings these which were reviewed by my field supervisor.
Public accounts committee meetings were attended in addition with the technical planning committee meetings and council meetings from these I gained skills of public address.
However, some other activities duties like the collection of taxes in subcounties were o[not sucesssfully acomplised due to the limited funds allocated to the programme and high risks of mob justice in the villages in the villages these who were not willing to pay the taxes.

3.2 NEW KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS GAINED IN EACH OF THE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The intern gained skills on how to communicate to different officials, manage information and channel administrative mails through attending to clients.
The intern gained skills on writing minutes and reports of the council through editing reports and minutes of the council meetings.
The intern gained communication sills used by politicians and civil servants while in the council. The skills help him to execute his duties effectively.
The intern gained interpersonal skills; easily communicate with fellow intern, workers.

3.3 MOST INTERESTING EXPERIENCES
There were various interesting experiences during the internship exercise these which were as follows;
The first day was an interesting due to the orientation on this day I got to know masindi district local government heads that is the chief administrative officer these whom I had never met.
I enjoyed those moments where we used to go the field and we were given allowances this which left us praying to have numerous field activities.
Attending council meetings were one of the other most interesting experiences these which were like parliamentary sessions. It was in these meetings that I got to see how councilors express there demands which was more lively and interesting.
One of the other interesting experiences is interacting with various people in masindi district local government this which helped to improve on network.
It has also been interesting to transform lecture theoretical work into practical work. With all this experience, it has improved my future career positively especially during the administrative and code of conduct. Working in an office was so exciting.
Another interesting experience was when my field supervisor and the politicians cracked jokes with us during their free time.

3.5 CHALLENGES FACED AND HOW MANAGED
The intern
The intern faced a problem of language barrier since in some instances, the committee meeting would be deliberated in local languages more so attending to clients was another problem due to language barrier, some people could use Kiswahili but they were later solved by use of interpreters who were interns.
Access to some information was so difficult due to the nature of confidentiality they contain.
Reporting to office at 8:00 am was also a challenge and expensive since the intern had to board a bodaboda in order to reach in time to the very long distances. A challenge of correcting the errors in spelling and grammar while editing minutes and reports of difficult meetings due to the complicated handwriting and the intern solved this by asking the supervisor some of the spelling errors.
Workers
Lack of motivation, the employers appears not to be well motivated this was evident from the employers talk and bad working condition.
Some workers work for a long time for example secretaries and junior staff compared to their supervisors.
Work load. This is evident since the field supervisor has limited time to attend to the intern.
Inadequate staffing i.e. one officer doing various activities.
Inadequate equipment like computers.
Absenteeism is on high levels as workers tend to say a way of looking for alternative income to support their well being.
3.6 BENEFITS DERIVED FROM THE FIELD ATTACHMENT
There was a benefit of getting exposed to the outside world that is to say the job market where am heading.
Due to the field attachment, I have been able too interact with various district heads for example the CAO, the LC 5, the ACAO and many others this can help me some other time for example if am in need of something.
The field attachment has helped me to expand my social network since in the course of the attachment I made many friends and it is from them we get together of all interns were we managed carrier guidance in schools.
It has helped me on how to organize physically.
3.7 ADEQUENCY IN UNIVERSITY’S PREAPARING FOR STUDENT FIELD ATTACHEMENT.
The university was adequate in preparing the students for internship for example with internship funds provided to the students to cater for them during the period of internship.
Orientation of the students before going for intern was a great advantage where the interns had to get to know what was to be best done in the field.
Having been given the log books and assement forms was of great importance interms of monitoring and evaluation of the internship exercise.
3.8 PREPAREDNESS OF THE AGENCY TO RECEIVE AND MANAGE STUDENTS FOR FIELD ATTACHMENTS * The organization or agency was well prepared to receive students for field attachment for example it allocated enough space or furniture in offices where there were many interns. * The agency for example in the council chambers the interns wrer allocated space they would sit during council meetings. * Also the field supervisor gave out a copy of activity schedule to each of the student. This had the numerous activities that were to be accomplished by students. This showed how much the organization had prepared to receive and manage students for field attachment. The field supervisor was always around ready to manage students in the office.
4.0 CHAPTER FOUR
1. CONCLUSION
In conclusion, despite the various challenges, the internship was entirely of great success. The internship was good since I managed to master the art of practical problem solving and relate theory to practice for example communication skills, social administration, principles of management, ethics and provide a link between the university and community which is paramount in expanding the relations of the university and the various organisations

2. RECOMMENDATIONS * There is need for observing and establishing of minimum standards of behavior by political leaders and civil servants through respect of code of conduct.\ * There is need of enough office space in all masindi distict local government offices to accommodate intern students because they have a positive contribution to the the organisation like fulfilling the assigned tasks such as editing reports which are part of the organizational requirements. * Masindi district local government should purchase enough computers in the organization since many departments lack computers to use in handling work which necessitates such machines. * I also recommend the organization to atleast be also considering interns in the bjudget process to enable them acess allowances on transport, lunch and break fast.

REFERENCES
Local government act (1997) chapter 243 amendment 2010.
Masindi district local government clients charter 2013/14-2016/17.
Inuction of local government councils participants hand book.
The local government (finance and accounting) regulation (2007).
Masindi district local government draft (district five year development plan) 2011/2012-2015/016.

APPENDICES
A community dialogue at kimengo health center