The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has severely affected the global and Uganda economy with major victims being small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The study examined the organizational preparedness and business disaster of SMEs during COVID-19 pandemic in Kigezi sub-region in South Western Uganda. The specific objectives were to (i) determine the characteristics of decision makers of SMEs during the COVID-19 pandemics; (ii) assess organizational features of SMEs during the COVID-19 pandemics; and (iii) examine government response and preparedness of SMEs during the COVID-19 pandemics. A cross sectional survey research design was employed and interviewer-administered questionnaire as research tool was used to elicit information from the managers of SMEs across the six (6) districts of Kigezi sub-region. Two-stage cluster sampling technique was used and the sample size was computed using Yamane’s sampling formulae based on a 5% level of precision. The value of CVI obtained was 0.840 while the value of reliability obtained was 0.770, which indicates that the questionnaire items were relevant and suitable for the study. Five hundred and ninety-one (591) questionnaires were administered to the SMEs owners/managers while four hundred and seventy-six (476) questionnaires were returned giving the overall return rate as 81%. The study identifies the factors who were significant with organizational preparedness and the management of business during COVID-19 pandemics in Kigezi sub-region in South Western Uganda as firm size, firm financial condition, risk perception, government subsidy, help received from NGOs and the loan received from the bank/SACCO while other factors: firm year of existence, source of initial capital, and gender of owners/managers were found to be insignificant. The study concludes that organization features and characteristics of decision makers are important factors that affect the organizational preparedness and the management of business during COVID-19 pandemics in Kigezi sub-region in South Western Uganda. The study recommends that SMEs owners/managers should focus on improving their firms’ features; perfect the way they make decision by providing a critical dynamic resilience strategy framework to manage their SMEs during the crisis period.

The purpose of the study was to establish the relationship between project leadership competencies, project communication, community participation and project implementation efficiency in selected community-based projects in Rakai district in the central region of Uganda. The study adopted cross sectional survey design to study project leadership competencies, project communication, community participation and project implementation efficiency in selected community based projects in Rakai district. Primary data was collected using self-administered questionnaire issued to the respondents. A sample size of 260 Community based projects was used based on the derivation from the approved sampling table of Krejcie and Morgan, (1970) with 3 people from each selected project. Data was analyzed using statistical package for social scientists (SPSS V 20) package and Pearson correlation coefficient was used to measure the strength of relationships between the variables understudy. The findings obtained revealed that there was a positive and significant relationship between project leadership competencies, project communication, community participation and project implementation efficiency in selected community-based projects in Rakai district in the central region of Uganda. The findings shown that there was a positive significant relationship between project communication and community participation (r=.877**, p<.01). This meant that any positive change in project communication is associated with a positive change in community participation. In other words, project communication elements like Intra-project communication and Extra-project communication are associated with community participant. The study recommends that community based projects should put in place more measures such as encouraging project communication from low level (subordinates) so that they can easily improve on the forms of project communication since they were found to be more adequate. This will help in the flow of information from the top management of project teams to the other employees within the project.

Effective public financial management is imperative for the sustainable provision of quality public services. Kampala Central Division faces unique challenges in this domain given its substantial population concentrated within a small area. This study aimed to assess public financial practices at the division and their implications on access to essential social amenities for residents. A mixed methods approach was employed involving document reviews, key informant interviews, focus group discussions and a household survey. Quantitative data was statistically examined using SPSS and STATA while qualitative findings were synthesized thematically. Results indicated that while improvements have occurred, weaknesses persist in revenue generation and expenditure oversight systems. Limited fiscal autonomy owing to narrow tax bases deprives the local administration of adequate funding proportional to needs. Loose controls and insufficient monitoring facilitate resource leakages and misuse undermining ground service availability, equity and efficiency. These governance dysfunctions constrain optimal delivery of services like healthcare, education and water supply as evidenced through accessibility gaps and dissatisfaction levels. The research employed a Pearson correlation coefficient analysis to determine the strength and direction of the linear relationships between each pair of the four factors. A statistically significant strong positive correlation at the 0.01 level was found between fiscal decentralization and revenue generation, with a Pearson's r value of 0.603. This suggested a strong association wherein higher degrees of fiscal autonomy devolved to local administrations are linked to enhanced capacities to mobilize domestic revenues independently. The study concluded that reforming revenue policies, budgets, controls and transparency through technology and stakeholder participation can optimize resource allocation and use to boost residents' access sustainably into the future. Continuous evaluation remains vital to realize financial administration's full potential for improved welfare outcomes.

The study was conducted to establish the relationship between corporate governance and sustainability of SACCOs in Nansana Municipality, Wakiso District, Uganda. The study used Jensen and Meckling (1976) Agency theory to analyze the corporate governance practices. The study involved 72 respondents from 24 SACCOs studied and it adopted cross-sectional and correlation research designs using both quantitative and qualitative research approaches. Data analysis was done using SPSS and interpreted using mean range 5point Likert scale, Pearson correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis. The study findings suggest that, corporate governance has a positive and significant relationship with sustainability of SACCOs. The study further established that, there was a significant and positive relationship between corporate governance and sustainability with a P-value of 0.001. The study rejected the null hypothesis as the P-value obtained of 0.001 was less than the stated significance level of 0.05 and therefore adopted the alternative one which states that there is a significant relationship between corporate governance and sustainability. The study concluded that corporate governance significantly influences sustainability of SACCOs. Therefore, the study recommended that the government and other donor agencies should focus more on funding SACCOs and training SACCO leaders of fund accountability as adequate finance is vital to sustainability. Lastly, SACCO boards and other stakeholders should strengthen other factors other than corporate governance which influence sustainability so as to operate fully on a sustainable basis.

This study explored the relationship between internal control activities and FP in KMUC. A descriptive research survey design was adopted using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The study targeted 70 respondents but 58 returned the survey questions, indicating a response rate of 83%. Stratified sampling techniques were used to select administrative staff, and purposive sampling used to select political leaders and top-level administrators. Data analysis involved frequencies, percentages and inferential statistics such as correlations, and coefficient of determinations. Findings revealed a moderate positive relationship (0.271*) between internal control activities and FP. The study concluded that internal control activities positively affected FP. The study recommended that KMUC should employ professional members of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda in the Internal Audit Department since 36.2% of the respondents opposed sufficient staffing of the department which is the custodian of the ICS.

The study aimed at the relationship between internal controls and financial performance of Kisoro local government. The target population included all the heads of departments, accountants, procurement officers and internal auditors working in the various divisions and units of Kisoro local government administration. A sample of 120 respondents was selected using stratified random sampling to obtain representative views. Primary data was collected using a pretested questionnaire with closed and open-ended questions. The questionnaire was designed to gather information on the key internal control components as independent variables and various indicators of financial performance as dependent variables. A five-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree was used. The table further details the coefficients in the regression model. The constant, represented by B, refers to the value of financial performance when the value of internal control is zero. Its significance value of less than 0.05 indicated it reliably contributes to predicting financial performance. Then, the unstandardized beta coefficient for internal control was 0.209247, meaning that for every one-unit increase in internal control, financial performance increased by approximately 0.209 units while holding all other variables constant. Its t-value of 2.700 and significance of 0.007 both show that internal control has a statistically significant influence on financial performance at Kisoro local government based on the primary data collected. Automating processes can also strengthen monitoring and continuous staff training on updated statutory requirements, internal control frameworks, risk management, ethical conduct and financial reporting is necessary to imbibe a control culture and minimize errors or deviations (Rahmat et al., 2019).

The research paper was about the relationship that exists between party engagement program and women participation in political processes in Uganda: A case of Pakwach District Local Government. The objective of the research paper was to examine the relationship between Party engagement program and women participation in political processes of Uganda, a case of Pakwach District Local Government. The study employed a descriptive survey research design based on quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The research considered a sample size of 195 respondents who were selected to participate in the study. The respondents were selected using stratified and simple random sampling procedures. Data collection Instruments used involved questionnaire survey and interview methods. A quantitative data/surveys /questionnaires were administered to a sample of women involved in the political process; In-depth interviews conducted with key informants, including CSOs, party officials, women political leaders and community members. A total of 195 questionnaires were sent out and all were returned to the researcher. The study concluded that party engagement programs and women participation in political process have a statistically moderate and significant relationship. Finally, based on the conclusion; it was recommended that Overly, the relationship between Party engagement programs and Women participation in political process indicated that the two variables having a statistically positive moderate and significant relationship as such party engagement programs are paramount and determine women participation in political process as such should be strengthened to increase confidence, build capacity of women to enhance their skills and expertise to participate in the Political Process.

This research will investigate residents' attitudes towards tourism in Bigodi. The objectives of the study will be identifying the support for the local community towards development of the rural tourism in Bigodi, identify perceptions towards the impact of rural tourism development, analyze how impacts of tourism are perceived. Data was collected and analyzed with qualitative methods and results were presented, according to Author Davis et al 9, 2017 on residents' attitudes towards the development of tourism, He investigated the role of the locals' knowledge about tourism on their support for development. He continued to say that host population support for tourism development has attracted the attention of researchers in sector studies given that there is importance of locals which support tourism development, limitations in understanding the priority and lack of social-cultural models of support for tourism, so this study attempted to modify locals based on social cultural factors. Using extensive literature review, a tourism support model was proposed including several hypothesized paths, the proposed social-cultural research frame work predicted the impact of Islamic religiosity, locals knowledge about tourism, intrinsic motivation factors and community attachment on locals through mediating variables of perceived social-cultural benefits and these models were tested using structural equation modeling and partial list squares algorithm (PLSSEM) with the aid of smart PLS software.

The study was aimed at examining the relationship between performance management systems and local government service delivery in Uganda; a case of Kamuli district local government. The overall objective of this study was to examine the relationship between performance management systems and local government service delivery in Kamuli local government. The study objectives included; establishing the relationship between setting performance objectives and local government service delivery, establishing the effect of performance measurement on local government service delivery and assessing the impact of performance feedback and reward on local government service delivery all in Kamuli local government. The study was largely guided by motivational theories notably by Locke’s goal setting theory and Vroom’s expectancy theory. The study used triangulation that is; cross sectional and case study research design was adopted supported by both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Data was gathered from a sample size of 169 respondents on the basis of probability and non-probability sampling strategy. Data was collected using selfadministered questionnaires and interviews for key respondents. Qualitative data was analyzed using both thematic and content analysis while quantitative data was analyzed using statistical analysis notably correlation and regression analysis. While setting performance objectives which did not have a statistically significant relationship to LGSD was rejected. It was concluded that employers should set SMART performance objectives, monitor and regularly assess them, provide constructive feedback and also effectively reward employees.

Periodic increases in school fees levied by the Ugandan government have aimed to generate additional revenue streams to address budgetary shortfalls confronting the nation's extensive primary and secondary education sector. However, the impacts of such fee increments have differed noticeably between rural and urban government school contexts due to prominent variations in average socioeconomic conditions across Uganda's diverse regions. This research study utilized a mixed methods approach involving surveys, interviews, and data analysis software to comprehensively explore the divergent outcomes of fee rises on teacher salaries, student enrollment, and infrastructure development in rural locales versus urban centers. Key findings revealed fee adjustments have disproportionately burdened impoverished, agriculture-dependent rural communities, resulting in higher rates of declining student attendance and teaching staff vacancies coupled with infrastructure deterioration at underfunded village schools located distant from economic opportunities and amenities. Conversely, fee increases presented fewer hardships for families living near larger towns and cities with higher average incomes, leading to relatively stable situations for teacher salaries and enrollment in better-resourced urban institutions. The R value of 0.880 indicated a very strong positive correlation between the variables. The R Square value of 0.821 revealed that annual student enrollment explained about 82% of the variance in teacher salaries. The Adjusted R Square of 0.815, which accounted for the number of predictors in the model, further corroborated the high proportion of salary variance that can be attributed to enrollment levels. The study concluded flexible, locally-tailored policy measures are urgently needed to balance fiscal viability with equitable accessibility across contrasting contexts. Recommendations focused on introducing income-tiered fee structures, upgrading rural teacher incentives, and facilitating infrastructure improvements through collaborative partnerships as priorities for maximizing inclusion within Uganda's immense education system.