Budgetary Control Processes and Efficiency of Regulatory Authorities in Rwanda:

Abstract

This research sought to determine the influence of budgetary control processes on efficiency of regulatory authorities, a case of Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA). This study was primarily done after the subsequent reports that emerged quoting poor performance in some Rwandan public institutions which was ordinarily been accredited to ineffective and inappropriate running of the budgetary control processes. The research is guided by specific objectives that include determining the effect of planning on the efficiency of Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority; to assess influence of budget preparation on efficiency of RURA; and to examine influence of internal audit on the efficiency of RURA. In order to reach the achievement of the above objectives, descriptive survey and correlative research designs were adopted. The population of this research involved one hundred sixty-eight (168) employees of Rwanda Regulatory Authority. With the help of Solvin’s formula, the researcher assumed sample of 118 respondents were selected using stratified sampling technique. To collect research data, questionnaires, interviews, written documents and other institutional reports were used in this study. The study questionnaires were disseminated to a cluster of 118 respondents who filled and return them for analysis. The data were explored with an aid of SPSS which facilitated in testing the influence of budgetary control processes on the efficiency of regulatory authorities in Rwanda and RURA in particular. Correlation analysis and specifically, Pearson Correlation analysis was used to determine the nature and magnitude of the relationship between the study variables. The findings revealed that 84.7% strongly agreed that planning aids in improving performance of RURA while 81.4% strongly agreed the fact that transaction data is stored in well-organized database due to planning and finally it was understood 73.7% strongly agreed that planning helps RURA in the focusing onto institutional capabilities. The findings have also revealed that there is a relationship between budgetary control process and efficiency regulatory because all calculated p-values are under 0.01 level of significance due to the relationship between Planning and Timelines (p=.496 and sig=.000), between Planning and Accountability (p=.613 and sig=.000) between Planning and Responsibility (p=.507 and sig=.000), between Budget preparation and Internal audits (p=.580 and sig=.000) between Budget preparation and Cost minimization (p=.988 and sig=.000) between Internal audits and Timelines (p=.401 and sig=.000), between Internal audits and Accountability (p=.605 and sig=.000), between Internal audits and Responsibility (p=.451 and sig=.000).budgetary control processes and efficiency in RURA and regulatory authorities in Rwanda in general.