Assessing the Impediments of Good Governance Practices in Local Government Administration; Case Study in Jimma Town, Ethiopia

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the impediments of good governance practice in Jimma town in particular emphasis on Ginjo and Mendera kochi kebelle administrations. To realize the intended objectives of the paper case study research design was employed. The necessary data for this study was collected from primary and secondary sources. In this case, primary data were collected from respondents through focus group discussion (FGD), in-depth interview and key informant interviewees. On the other hand, secondary sources of data have taken from document analysis technique. In addition, even if the challenge of good governance is the concern of the town as a whole, for the purpose of this study, Ginjo and Mendera kochi kebelles were selected based on the good judgment of researchers considering the level of severity of maladministration. Besides, the data collected from primary and secondary sources was analyzed in the form of qualitative approach and described in words. Moreover, the findings of this study reveal that local government administration lacked the courage to enforce the law and policies to enhance good governance. As a result, good governance practice in the study area is characterized by poor structural performance, lack of transparency and accountability, inactive administrative responses, low participatory system, inability to provide shelter for the poor, corruption, unemployment and Insufficient budget allocation.