APPLICATION OF PARTICIPATORY MONITORING AND EVALUATION ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DACF PROJECTS IN THE LAMBUSSIE DISTRICT

Abstract

A case study design and a qualitative approach were adopted by the study to examine how the Lambussie District Assembly applied Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation (PM&E) on the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) projects it implemented in its area of authority between 2013 and 2017. It emerged from the study that Lambussie District Assembly applied a tokenism form of participation and involved its stakeholders as observers to monitor and evaluate the DACF projects it implemented because it did not involve them to prepare its monitoring and evaluation (M&E) checklists, provide them opportunities to employ them during its M&E exercises and involve them to evaluate their findings. Additionally, it emerged from the study that the failure of the NDPC‟s 2013-2017 M&E guidelines to provide a detailed framework to guide the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) incapacitated the staff of the Lambussie District Assembly to discharge their duty to apply this M&E typology satisfactorily on the DACF projects they implemented. Although the local people were keen in exercising monitoring roles over the service providers, the Lambussie District Assembly did not make provisions in its DACF contracts to give them space to monitor and evaluate the work of contractors who implemented them. Finally, the study observed that the DACF projects the Lambussie District Assembly provided had many defects which meant that they were poorly implemented. Therefore, it argues that their level of ownership and sustainability are questionable. Consequently, the study recommends that the MMDAs should actively involve their stakeholders in their development management processes, make detailed information of the contracts of DACF projects they will implement in subsequent planning cycles available to them, break them to their understanding and empower them to monitor and evaluate their implementation to through diligent application of PM&E leverage the enormous benefits of this M&E typology to effectively alleviate poverty in their areas of authority.