Examining the Mediating Role of Regulatory Governance on both Decentralization and Service Quality in Kitagata General Hospital, Sheema District Western Uganda
1Samanya Bulhan, 2Tom Mulegi, 3Malinga Ramadhan Badru,4 Muhaise Hussein and 5Eric Mabonga
2Department of Public Administration and Development Studies, Kampala International University, Uganda.
3School of Mathematics and Computing, Kampala International University.
4Department of Computing in the Faculty of Science and Technology, Kampala International University and
5Department of Business in Faculty of Business and Management, Kampala International University.
Email: samanyabulhan@gmail.com; mulegi@kiu.ac.ug,
ABSTRACT
This paper aimed to investigate the moderating effect of regulatory governance in the relationship between decentralization and service quality at Kitagata General Hospital in Sheema District, Western Uganda. The specific objectives were to establish the link between decentralization and service quality, to assess the relationship between regulatory governance and service quality, and to assess the moderating role of regulatory governance. The hypotheses were: The null hypotheses that were formulated for this study include; (HO1) There is no significant relationship between decentralization and service quality; (HO2) There is no significant relationship between regulatory governance and service quality; and (HO3) Regulatory governance does not moderate the relationship between decentralization and service quality. The research framework for the study was a principal-agent theory, the research design used was a descriptive survey and data was collected from 41 respondents using closed-ended questions. The chi-square test was used in data analysis of the results. The study recorded a p-value of 0.017 for HO1 therefore rejecting it and showing that there is a relationship between decentralization and service quality. Model HO2 was accepted with a significance of 0.148 while model HO3 was rejected with a significance of 0.037 showing that there was a relationship between the three variables. Therefore, this paper has shown that decentralization enhances service quality and that the role of regulatory governance is less critical. The recommendations include the organization of training in the area of health care management, the provision of follow-up support, and the involvement of the stakeholders in the process of decentralization for enhancement of the service delivery. Thus, it is imperative to create platforms that can be used to solicit feedback from the communities.
Keywords: Decentralization, Regulatory governance, Service quality, Kitagata, Sheema District; Uganda.
CITE AS: Samanya Bulhan, Tom Mulegi, Malinga Ramadhan Badru, Muhaise Hussein and Eric Mabonga (2025). Examining the Mediating Role of Regulatory Governance on both Decentralization and Service Quality in Kitagata General Hospital, Sheema District Western Uganda. NEWPORT INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CURRENT RESEARCH IN HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES 5(1): 63-70. https://doi.org/10.59298/NIJCRHSS/2025/5.1.637000