ASSESSMENT OF SERVICE QUALITY DELIVERY IN RURAL DISTRICTS OF ZAMBIA

Abstract

This study assessed the quality of service delivery by councils in rural districts of Zambia, particularly Senanga Town Council. The study respondents were randomly selected from the residents of Senanga District in twelve wards and two hundred and fifty residents representing households from different wards were randomly selected to participate. Data were collected using an FM-SERVQUAL model questionnaire and analyzed using Social Statistics Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Mega Stat software. The results of the study show that out of four components, only one component of the working process met the minimum required level of quality service standards. The Human Capital, Technology and ICT, and Property Management components were all below the required service standards. On average, the Council's performance was below the required service quality standards. The study results also showed that there was no relationship between Senanga Town Council's service quality and customer satisfaction. There was no relationship between service quality components and customer satisfaction, although the results further showed that there was a significant relationship between technology and ICT and customer satisfaction. This means that technology and ICT have an impact on customer satisfaction in Senanga District.

Keywords

• service quality
• rural district
• fm-servqual
• local authorit