Problems of Public Accountability in Village Government Business Management (Study on Village Business Enterprises in Banyumas, Indonesia)

The modern government is required to be able to run the business for the social welfare improvement. By utilizing public funds for business, public accountability mechanisms must be well-executed. The Indonesian Government is currently actively encouraging the village government to develop the business based on local potency. However, with various limitations, the process of managing the Village Owned Enterprise has not been accompanied by adequate public accountability. Therefore this paper discusses the problematic of carrying out public accountability mechanisms at the village level. The phenomenon of public accountability deficit can be seen from the vertical and horizontal dimensions. Through quantitative and qualitative research, the results show that business management in village government has not been accompanied by adequate public accountability. Responsibility mechanisms conducted either vertically, or horizontally have not run optimally. headman still dominates the village government, as a result the spirit of corporation in the management of the village business can not be realized. Therefore, in the future, accountability mechanisms in managing the Village Government Business should be directed towards optimizing the role of stakeholders through a governance approach. Through this approach, it is expected that public accountability will lead to the involvement of all stakeholders in the management of public wealth.