Table 2.

Decision space indicators observed in Kongwa District Council

	Range of choice
Selected function	Narrow	Moderate	Wide
Finance
Source of revenue	CHMT and health facility management teams are entirely dependent on central government allocations.
Allocation of expenditure		CHMT and health facility management allocate resources to different plans in different cost centres, but the allocation formula between the councils and within the council health expenditure is defined by the central authorities.
Allocation of expenditure from locally generated income (CHF and cost sharing)			Health facility governing boards and committees have the power to allocate resources to different expenditure items.
Planning
Identification of local health needs and priorities		CHMT develop and manage plans, but the process is guided by national directives on national health plan priority areas and interference from local politicians.
Community participation in planning		There is low knowledge among both community members and technical staff on the importance of community participation.
Service organization
Health facility autonomy		Participate in planning and deciding on health service delivery, but limited by guidelines stipulated by higher authority
Human resources
Recruitment	Permanent staff are recruited and distributed by the central level.		LGAs recruit lower cadre staff only.
Salaries	Defined by national civil service
Governance rules
Facility boards	Size and composition of the boards are defined by the Act enacted by the national authority.
Community participation	The number of service users and representatives of community organizations in the boards is defined by the Act enacted by the national authority.

Source: Modified from the Bossert conceptualization of decision space mapping (26) to fit in Tanzania's context on decentralization.