The proficiency of fund control strategy in Tanzania: a case of Arusha City Council

Abstract

The study evaluates the proficiency of fund control approach in Tanzanian city council authority. A sample of 53 respondents who were randomly selected from Arusha City Council was used. The methods used in data collection are interviews, questionnaire, documentary review and focus group discussion. The statistical package for social science (SPSS) was used for data management and analysis. The findings showed that there are a good number of funds controlling strategies applied in the City Council. Preparing some handouts that inform and educate the people on how to pay their taxes, on time budget, action plan; proper monitoring and supervision, capacity building for staff, the use of EPCOR system and internal audit unit, thorough audit (both internal and external) and use of control ledgers and vote books were among the few fund collecting strategies. However, there are number of challenges that hindered the effectiveness of the fund controlling strategies. These challenges include insufficient budget, few staff, politics, poor education to many tax payers, insufficient data, lack of facilities, lack of enough sources of revenues, uncommitted revenue collectors, late release of funds, own sources, and poor monitoring of collection centers/routes.. The measures taken to overcome the challenges include establishing audit committee, constructing optic fiber network, disciplining staff who violate by-laws, and strengthening the pre-audit unit by enacting proper regulations in all transactions., Besides, the management conducts several meetings on issues related to revenues and how to overcome the challenges through capacity building to the appropriate staff to ensure internal control.. The research recommends that the government ought to cogitate establishing the strong audit committee which would be able to monitor the trends of financial practices in institutions. Despite, the number of the strategies used by City Council and despite the measures that have been put in place he suggests that more collaborative efforts should be done, one including prioritization on the development and sustainability of the financial sector.