Factors Influencing Citizen Participation in Local Government Budgeting Process in Tanzania - Case Study of Arusha Municipal Council

The national budget is the most important economic policy instrument for government. It reflects the governments social and economic policy priorities. The study adopted a cross-sectional research design. Data was collected from a random sample of 120 respondents, drawn from four wards of Arusha municipality. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistical tools. Chi-square tests were used to establish association and relationships between and among variables. The study revealed that government policy influences the level of citizen-participation but also observed that the current allocation system is inefficient, cumbersome, and nontransparent. The study revealed high level of citizen participation which shows that most of the respondents seem to be aware of their roles with a mean score of 1.6583. The study revealed low understanding among the community on their rights to participate in government budgeting process. The results of cross-tabulation between respondents education levels and their participation in budgeting process indicates that as someone gets more education the more the chances of engaging into budgeting process. These results are statistically significant with chi-square test and p-value of 0.037. From the findings it is clear that the local leaders do not play their role effectively in enhancing citizen participation with a mean score of 1.8417. The government should take initiatives to educate citizens right to participate in the budgeting process as it always does on voting. Mechanism such as campaigns should be put in place for leaders to know whether citizens indeed participate in the budgeting process or not so that village leaders who do not allow citizens participation are made accountable.