Purpose: The purpose of this study is essentially to examine the contribution of reflection in providing a stronger association between explicit competences and role clarity when reflection is used as a means of articulating competences (knowledge, skills and attitudes). Design/methodology/approach: The study employed a correlational survey design and targeted 223 employees in managerial positions of nine districts' local governments in Uganda and primarily used a structured questionnaire. Findings: The research confirmed a significant positive relationship between reflection and explicit competences, showing the importance of articulating tacit knowledge to develop explicit competences that would increase role clarity. Research limitations/implications: There are seemingly other confounding factors that may enhance reflection and explicit competences such as community participation in goal setting which need to be considered in future studies. Practical implications: This paper adds to the understanding of the consequences of routinely utilizing competences without concern on whether they will leads to the desired results. It introduces the concept of reflection; an approach for articulating competences explicitly to increase role clarity. Originality/value: The study recommends district managers to formally engage in continuous reflection on tacit competences in order to minimise errors and increase role clarity during service delivery. (Contains 1 figure and 5 tables.)