Effectiveness road maintainance under local government authorities: a case study of Njombe region

The main objective of this study was to access the effectiveness of the road’s maintenance under the local government authorities. Specifically, this study aimed at identifying indicators for road’s maintenance effectiveness under the Local Government Authorities, evaluating the existing road maintenance effectiveness in LGAs and identifying factors influencing road maintenance effectiveness. The study was carried out in Njombe Region. Data was collected from 30 respondents was used. Data was collected using questionnaire and structured interview guides. However, the primary data collected was complimented with secondary data from other researchers and publications related to this topic. The data analysis method was descriptive analysis where by frequencies and percentages were obtained through the use of SPSS software. Findings have indicated that despite the importance of rural road maintenance, the local government authorities are not performing well in rural road maintenance. It is evident that, many of the rural roads are in poor to fair condition and often not accessible during the rainy season and others are not accessible completely. The study has revealed that budget constraint, insufficient LGAs staff, lack of involvement of community in road maintenance programmes, lack of construction plants and equipment for road maintenance, ignorance of the use of DROMAS and inappropriate use of ADRICS as the main causes of poor performance of the road maintenance under the LGA. The study recommends that the community should be fully involved in road maintenance programme, road maintenance fund to LGAs should be increased politicians should be made aware of the implementation of road maintenance, village road maintenance are done and managed at a village level and finally, DROMAS and ADRICS should be applied accordingly.