International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) |Volume VI, Issue VI, June 2022|ISSN 2454-6186 www.rsisinternational.org Page 482 ISMAIL ABUKAR OMAR MBA / 2020 / 61198 ISMAIL ABUKAR OMAR MBA / 2020 / 61198 ISMAIL ABUKAR OMAR MBA / 2020 / 61198 ISMAIL ABUKAR OMAR MBA / 2020 / 61198 ISMAIL ABUKAR OMAR MBA / 2020 / 61198 ISMAIL ABUKAR OMAR MBA / 2020 / 61198 ISMAIL ABUKAR OMAR MBA / 2020 / 61198 ISMAIL ABUKAR OMAR MBA / 2020 / 61198 Corporate Governance and the Quality of Service Delivery in Local Authorities: Case of Masvingo Municipality Onismo Maibeki 1 , Krammer Chatiza 2 , Sharon Chisango 3 and Benard Chisiri 4 1 Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University 2;4 Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences 3 Bindura University of Science Education Abstract: It is arguably true that local authorities are expected to play a pivotal role in improving the economy of any nation in general and the standard of living for the citizens. However, governance challenges have been reported as one of the causes of poor performance and lack of sustainability in institutions. In recent years, local authorities have been experiencing poor governance, deplorable service delivery, misuse of public funds and failure to comply with laws. Upon realising that the quality of life of the urban residents in any country is to some extent related to the quality of service delivery by the local municipality of that city, the researchers felt primed to explore corporate governance (CG) issues. The main objective of the study was to examine the impact of CG on the quality of service delivery in Masvingo city. In probing the problem at hand, the study adopted a mixed methodology to generate data from a sample size of 70 research participants drawn from Masvingo Municipality. Questionnaires and interviews were administered to collect data from municipality employees, the Town Clerk, auditor, Councilors and residents of Masvingo city. The study revealed that CG impacts the quality of service delivery both positively and negatively. It was noted that failure to uphold the elements of CG could translate to poor service delivery while religious implementation of the elements of CG could create a conducive environment for achieving enhanced quality service delivery. Challenges such as nepotism, corruption, political interference and lack of financial resources were identified as rampant in Masvingo city. Measures to improve the quality of service delivery were suggested, namely, employees to be trained to improve their professional competence; nepotism, political interference and corruption be shunned to encourage good CG. It was also recommended that an all-stakeholder approach be put in place so that the elements of CG are taken into consideration for the sake of improving the quality of service delivery in Masvingo city. Key Terms: Corporate Governance (CG), Service Delivery I. INTRODUCTION ocal authorities play an important role in improving the economy of the nation and the standard of living of the citizens (Eke, Emenike, Stephen, Gembu, Ogbette, & Samuel, 2018). According to Sifile, Mabvure, Manuere and Morris (2018), local authorities provide diverse services to both the private and the public corporates thereby providing a platform upon which other activities can ride and grow such as infrastructure development, water and sanitation, physical and land use planning. However, governance challenges have been reported as one of the causes of poor performance and lack of sustainability in institutions such as parastatals, the private sector and local municipalities (Schoute, Budding & Gradus, 2018). In recent years, local authorities have been criticized for poor governance, poor service delivery, misuse of public funds and failure to comply with laws (Jephias & Tendai, 2020). It can be argued that the quality of life of any urban population is to some extent related to the quality of the service delivery by the local municipality of that city. It is against such a background that establishing the impact of CG on the quality of service delivery in Zimbabwe municipalities can be viewed as a worthwhile exercise. 1.1 Background to the study In the last two decades, the accountability of government institutions has become more complex and it attracted considerable interests from both academic researchers and the general public (Krah & Martens, 2020). Issues such as financial scandals and mismanagement of resources have concerned stakeholders, since government institutions are regarded as agents of the public with a duty of ensuring the proper functioning of governmental organizations (Bett & Tibbs, 2017). The activities of government institutions are therefore scrutinized by numerous actors and stakeholders (Beshi & Kaur, 2019). Consequently, many governments across the globe are giving serious attention to the issues of governance such as accountability, and transparency of its agencies in response to the pressure from the citizens to enhance service delivery (Abakose & Abagojam, 2021). However, lack of enforcement or rigorous punishment for violations make public organizations and local authorities suffer from low levels of efficiency, corruption and many other problems (Keping, 2018). Basria and Nabihab (2014) carried out a research in which they highlighted that in 39 cities in Indonesia, examining public satisfaction with local governments and service delivery, most of the respondent’s expressed disappointment with their local government’s lack of commitment to eradicate corruption and report practices of corruption, collusion and nepotism. In the report Foresight Africa Mbaku (2020) asserts L