The Role of Leadership Collaboration in City Management: Evidence from Kampala and Kigali Cities

Abstract

The heavy responsibilities placed on cities in Africa and the need to conform to international performance standards, have motivated them to adopt city management structures that ensure efficient service delivery. This paper explores how leadership collaboration has influenced the management of Kampala and Kigali, East African cities that use similar city management structures. The results provide important lessons on the contribution of leadership collaboration to effective city management. The findings from a combined sample of 144 key political and administrative stakeholders from Kampala and Kigali cities revealed that collaboration between the city council and city management in Kigali had led to shared values, goals and team work. This enhanced the quality of city management which resulted into efficient and effective utilisation of resources. Effective collaboration among city leaders enabled City management in Kigali to be more solid and put service delivery and the needs of stakeholders ahead of every other consideration. In Kampala, there was lack of effective communication, coordination, coalition and willingness to share power between city administrators and the city council, due to unclear lines of responsibility, partisan politics and unnecessary central government interference. This resulted into tension amongst workers and confusion between the leaders relating to powers and roles. This scenario has negatively affected the achievement of the city’s core service goals. Lack of collaboration among city management agencies can hinder sustainable development of cities by preventing them from implementing solutions that can bring about improved quality of life and sustainable development among city stakeholders. Leadership collaboration is an indispensable ingredient in the process of building effective city management. It creates shared leadership and teamwork which result into organisational effectiveness. Hence, cities need leadership collaboration structures that create city managements united by the motivation to develop the city and improve service delivery.