ABSTRACT
The increasing challenge to development policies and practices is evident from the widening socioeconomic and political gaps between rich and poor nations and continually generate new prescriptions suggested by donor countries concerned with the current development impasse. Decentralization policy is one such new prescription. This chapter focuses on the practical problems associated with the implementation of decentralization policy and explores the discourse on the issue . The chapter draws empirical evidence from Nebbi district, which is considered one of the best-performing districts in Uganda, and shows the irony of the ideal construct of development policy processes, which still seems to be a taken for granted and is endorsed by both the national elites and the elected representatives of local governments. It is posited that while decentralization is being popularized as a new approach to development, it is characterized by the usual top-down structure and the negative policy externalities that hamper the effectiveness of decentralization.
