Challenges in Public Policy Implementation in Local Government Authorities: Who to Blame for Policy Failure?

Public policy implementation at Local Government Authorities (LGAs) plays a crucial role in delivering essential services and fostering community development. However, various challenges continue to hinder effective implementation, affecting the achievement of intended policy objectives. The study aimed at identifying challenges encountered in the implementation of public policy in the local government authorities, while giving attention to accountability when there are policy failures. A qualitative study design was used. The interview was conducted with 14 experts from district and municipal councils in Tanzania. The findings revealed challenges, including resource constraints, political interferences, difference in priorities, corruption, environmental differences, minimal citizens’ participation, delayed monitoring and evaluation, and stakeholders’ conflict. Further, the findings pointed out that the heads of departments/sections in LGAs who are the experts are the ones to be accountable when policy fails to realize its primary goal. The study concluded by showing how crucial it is to address these challenges as a mechanism to ensure proper policy execution in the local government authorities. This study fosters its originality as it provided the firsthand experiences and insights from multiple departments in Tanzania local government. The contextual analysis on understanding dilemmas in local government authorities that associate with policy execution makes this study unique reflecting policy implementation problems.