8/9/2019 Only Successful Plans Will Be Notified

1/2

OnlySuccessfulApplicantsWillBeNotified!!This is a very familiar phrase amongjob and scholarship applicants. Usually, employers

includesuchastatementorsomethingalikewhentheyadvertiseforvacancies.Principally,

jobapplicantsareexpectedtoconsiderthemselvesunsuccessful incasetheydontreceive

notificationwithinaset time. The rationalebeinga largenumberofapplicantsgoing far

beyondthecapacity (intermsoftimeandotherresources)oftherecruitingorganisations

tonotifyallapplicants.Given thegrowingnumbersofapplicants, thejustification for the

propensity can never be over emphasized. For the example, Daraja received 600

applicationsforonlyeightvacanciesduringitsrecruitmentprocesslastyear.

Like intherecruitmentworld,thesamehasbeenobserved intheplanningprocesswithin

local government authorities in Tanzania especially at the village and ward levels. A

discussion with the villagers has shown that the villagers are not informed over the

decisionsof

their

plans

especially

when

their

plans

fail

to

get

into

the

district

plan.

This

implies that the plans will not get funding for its implementation. Repoa (2010) also

observesalackofinteractionsbetweencouncilbureaucratsandruralcommunitiesandthe

justificationbeinglackoftimeandhighcosts.

Following the inception of decentralization by devolution more than a decade ago, the

government also introduced a bottomup participatory planning methodology for local

development called Opportunities and Obstacles to Development (O&OD) in 2002. The

introductionofO&ODwasmeant to increase localautonomy inprioritising,planningand

budgetingof

development

activities.

A

village

in

rural

communities

or

mtaa

(street)

for

urbancommunitiesdevelopa threeyearcommunitydevelopmentplanwhich includes its

implementationplan.Theplanissubjectedtoreview,monitoring,evaluationandupdating

onannualbasis.

On the other hand, annual development plans are developed at the village level and

forwardedtothewardandlatertothedistrictforproducingaconsolidateddistrictplan.It

canbeseenthatthereisapossibilityforavillageplantobedroppedatwardlevelordistrict

leveldependingontheprioritiesandfundsavailable.Ourinterestiswhathappenswhenthe

villageor

mtaa

plans

fail

to

be

included

in

the

district

plan.

It

was

observed

that

the

villagers

arenotinformeddonotgettheresultsoftheproject.Forexample,Lusisivillagerswerenot

abletoarticulatetheoutcomeoftheirpastplans.

Aswiththejobapplications,therearetwomajor issuesconnectedtofeedback,onebeing

thesimpleanswerofyesorno,andtheotherrelatedtoknowingthereasonsfornotbeing

able to impress the employer. The later is impractical however very important to all

unsuccessfulapplicants.Inquisitively, it ispossiblethatthewinnersmayalsowishtoknow

whatmadethemsuccessful.

1

8/9/2019 Only Successful Plans Will Be Notified

2/2

2

Forthejobapplicant,theprimeneedforthefeedbackisinclinedonknowingtheaftermath

of the application. For the villagers, the aftermath may be easily understood as their

problemswillcontinuetoexistthoughitmaytaketimeforthemtonotice.However,there

isasecondaryneedforunsuccessfulapplicantsonunderstandingthereasonsfornotbeing

ableto

impress

the

employer

or

ward/district

scrutinizers

for

the

case

of

villagers.

Most

importantly, feedbacking particularly on unsuccessful plans may also enhance the

understandingthatplanningisacontinuousprocess.

Intheory,furtherconsultationsandfeedbackwithcommunitiesareexpectedtotakeplace

when reviewing and revising the plans. In practice, however, the council planning team

rarely consults citizens after receiving the proposals from communities. The situation is

worse for all unsuccessful proposals. Lack of feedback is also true for village and mtaa

representativesthatareinvolvedinthewardplanningcommitteemeetings.

Asit

can

be

experienced

in

job

applications,

lack

of

feedback

can

cause

depression

and

demoralization.Thesameapplieswithincitizenswhofailtogetfeedbackoftheirproposals.

Giventhatplanning isacontinuousprocess, it is likelythatcitizenswhohaveexperiencing

failure will be demoralized to participate in the succeeding planning activities. This has

severeeffectsontheeffortstopromoteparticipatoryplanningononehandanddeveloping

plansthatreflecttheneedsofthecitizensontheother.

A number of questions need to be answered following the above discussions. The first

questionbeingifthereisaneedforfeedbackonunsuccessfulplansatalllevelsparticularly

villageand

ward

levels.

The

focus

is

not

only

the

simple

answer

of

yes

or

no

but

on

the

descriptionof thereasons fornotbeingsuccessful.Otherquestionswillonly follow if the

answer to theearlierquestion isaffirmative.Then the listwouldgo likehow tocreatea

means toprovide the feedbackeffectivelyandon time?Howdowesolve the issuegiven

limited resources against a big number of applicants (villages/wards). We may also go

furtherbyaskinghowcanweensurethatthecommentsandlessonslearntbythevillagers

are put into practice. This would be very useful in improving succeeding plans and

guaranteesuccessfulfunding.

Lookingfor

your

responses,

Kapongola

NB:ItisworthytonotethatIwasinspiredbyavisittoLusisivillage(Njombe)fewweeksago

in which Daraja team accompanied by Jenerali Ulimwengu and Njombe district water

engineerMr.Mkalimotowenttoseethedevelopmentofthevillage.