Employees’ adherence to the National Code of Ethics and Conduct for Public Service: A Case of Four Selected Local Government Authorities

Abstract

This paper aims to determine adherence to the national code of ethics and conduct (hereafter the  code) by public employees in four  selected Tanzania Local Government Authorities (LGAs). The study  was a cross-sectional one that employed a sample size of 400  randomly selected respondents.  Descriptive statistical analysis determined the level of adherence to the code. While Ordinal Logistic  Regression analysed factors influencing adherence to the code, the correlation between the code and  factors supporting its level of  adherence was also determined. The findings showed that the code was  highly adhered to in both rural and urban LGAs, although in  some aspects the level of adherence was  a bit higher in rural LGAs. Ordinal logistic regression showed that loyalty to the government  and  diligence were significant at the 5% level (0.05) of significance. Findings also indicated significant  positive associations between the  code and both individual values as well as the working  environment (p < 0.01) in rural LGAs. It is concluded that disparities in some  aspects of adherence to  the code between rural and urban LGAs are due to existing diversified adherence enforcement  mechanisms. It  is recommended that the Ministry of Regional Administration and Local Government  should monitor, oversee, and emphasize training,  specifically training related to adherence to the  code. LGA disciplinary committees should strengthen rewarding and punishing  mechanisms against  unethical behaviour, and public servants should take into consideration ethical variables while  executing their daily  operations.