THE EFFECT OF PUBLIC BUDGET PARTICIPATION ON OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY OF PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN SOUTH SUDAN
Philip Abiel
Dr. Fredrick Warui
Dr. Salome Musau
ABSTRACT
Public universities in South Sudan are essential to national progress, driving innovation, human capital development, and societal transformation. However, since independence in 2011, they have faced persistent inefficiencies that hinder their core mandates. This scholarly inquiry examined the influence of public budget participation on the operational efficiency of public universities in South Sudan. It specifically assessed the effect of budget participatory mechanisms. Grounded in accounting theory, the study embraced a pragmatist philosophy and employed a triangulated methodology, drawing upon both qualitative and quantitative data. Information was gathered from five financial controllers representing all public universities through a census approach, utilizing structured questionnaires, interviews, and institutional records from the 2022–2023 fiscal year. Analytical techniques included descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression. The findings revealed that public budget participation exerted a statistically significant and positive effect on operational efficiency (p < 0.05), the final model demonstrated strong explanatory power (Adjusted R² = 0.923). The study concludes that effective budget management practices significantly enhance public university performance, advocating a governance model where ethical stewardship and technical precision converge. Recommendations include institutionalizing budget transparency through open-book practices, strengthening participatory budgeting, reinforcing accountability via performance-linked audits, optimizing control systems with real-time monitoring. Theoretically, the research advances the literature on public financial management by incorporating legislative oversight into models of institutional performance. Empirically, it offers nuanced insights from a fragile and hitherto under-examined context. Methodologically, it contributes through the deployment of triangulated data collection, moderation modelling, and stringent diagnostic validation. The study’s implications for public sector governance are profound, advocating for strengthened budgetary management practices to bolster operational outcomes within higher education institutions in post conflict settings such as South Sudan.