Exploring The Influence Of Leadership Styles On Revenue Collection Efficiency: A Qualitative Study Of Makonde Rural District Council, Zimbabwe

Abstract

For Zimbabwe's rural district councils, efficient revenue collection is still a major problem. One potentially important but little-studied factor influencing fiscal success is leadership styles. This qualitative study investigates how organizational outcomes in local government revenue administration are shaped by transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership approaches at Makonde Rural District Council in Zimbabwe. Semi-structured interviews with 24 participants including council leadership, revenue officers, and administrative staff as well as document analysis of revenue reports and policy papers were used to gather data using a case study design. Through increased employee motivation, creative collection tactics, and reinforced accountability systems, transformational leadership traits such as intellectual stimulation, idealized influence, individualized consideration, and inspirational motivation significantly improve revenue collection performance, according to thematic analysis. Conversely, transactional and laissez-faire leadership styles were associated with routine compliance but limited innovation and suboptimal revenue outcomes. The study identifies key contextual factors specific to rural Zimbabwean councils, including resource constraints, political interference, and capacity limitations that mediate the leadership-performance relationship. Findings contribute to public administration scholarship by extending transformational leadership theory to the African local government context and provide practical insights for enhancing fiscal sustainability in resource-constrained rural district councils. The research recommends targeted leadership development programs, strengthened institutional frameworks, and context-sensitive approaches to revenue collection that acknowledge the unique socio-political dynamics of rural Zimbabwe.