Factors Influencing Implementation of Strategic Plans in Local Government Authorities of Tanzania: Evidence from Kishapu and Shinyanga District Councils

This paper assessed the effectiveness of implementation of strategic plans in Tanzania’s local government authorities. Specifically, the study was guided by the following specific objectives; to identify factors influencing implementation of strategic plans in LGAs, to find out the perception of employees on the factors influencing implementation of strategic plans in LGAs and to establish the ranking of factors influencing implementation of strategic plans in LGAs. Audit reports for four consecutive years from the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) for financial years 2014/15; 2015/16; 2016/17 and 2017/18 revealed that, implementation of strategic plans in LGAs of Tanzania was ineffective with indications of poor linkage of budgets and strategic plans, lack of clarity, poor communication of strategies, unbudgeted expenditures, misuse of resources and inadequate monitoring and evaluations and hence established the gap of this study. The study employed a descriptive multiple embedded case study design. The sample size of this study was 138 respondents. Descriptive statistics were used to describe both dependent and independent variables while binary logistic regression regression analysis tested whether individually and collectively independent variables have any influence on implementation of strategic plans in Tanzania’s local government authorities also t-test and Kendal coefficient of concordance employed to reveal the attitude of respondents in the study area. Study results reveal that leadership, culture, community engagement and motivation influence the implementation and respondent have positive attitude on implementation of strategics plans in local government. This concluded that the joint effect of independent variables can influence implementation of strategic plan in local government authorities. The findings of the study are expected to be useful to the management and decision makers to form a basis for improving implementation of strategies. Also, it is recommended that studies to be conducted to other variables which influence implementation of strategic plans especially in different population in Tanzania’s local government authorities and the public sector at large