10 October 2008: Prioritising Public Administration Reconstruction in Africa

An effective public service is at the heart of a reliable and capable public administration. Regrettably, the agenda on public service reconstruction in Africa has been on the back-burner of post-conflict reconstruction endeavours, despite the fact that most of Africa’s public administration apparatus have for a long time been criticised for being inefficient, corrupt, mismanaged, inept or ineffective - even during periods of political stability. That is not to mention being accused of being part of fuelling conflict. For a country emerging from conflict, it is obvious that the challenges it faces in meeting the needs of its citizens and achieving sustainable peace and development become exponentially greater.

Conflicts in Africa have clearly contributed to a lesser degree of efficiency in the public service and to the deprivation of state organs, thereby abating the ability of public servants to deliver services to the population and facilitate development. In a post-conflict situation, as a central actor in the reconstruction process and as the instrument for delivering change, the public service is expected to first transform or ‘reconstruct’ itself, before it can be expected to effectively manage the reconstructed governance, political, socio- and economic systems and processes of government.

Article 3 of the Charter for the Public Service in Africa defines ‘administration’ as any public entity that implements government policies and takes decisions that affects the rights of other persons or entities, be they individuals or not and / or has a public service responsibility. Meanwhile the AU Post-conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD) framework outlines the agenda for reconstruction and development for countries emerging from conflict, and identifies six indicative elements that are to guide post-conflict reconstruction and development efforts with the objective of addressing and resolving the root causes of conflict. These elements are: political governance and transition; security; humanitarian/emergency assistance; socio-economic reconstruction and development; human rights, justice and reconciliation; and women and gender. Each of these elements emphasise the political objectives that must be pursued and the measurements needed in order to support constructive and comprehensive processes in all phases of post conflict reconstruction. The political governance and transition element encompasses the creation of a public service (understood simply as the service provided by a public authority); promotion of good democratic governance and its core values of transparency, accountability, separation of powers, the rule of law and independent civil oversight.

Granted that while the immediate concerns for a country emerging from conflict are to stabilise the country and meet emergency humanitarian needs, transforming the public service, still ought to remain at the top of the post-conflict reconstruction agenda, as it is the engine that drives all government action. If not, post-conflict reconstruction efforts become unsustainable. A well-governed security sector is a vital public service and a precondition for stability, recovery and development. Reform and / or good governance of the security sector therefore is a critical component of post-conflict peace-building since the provision of public security is mainly the preserve of the government. As such, given the fact that the provision of public security rests within the public service domain, transforming or reforming the security sector into one that is well governed, efficient and accountable calls for unique sets of skills and training or expertise from the public service institutions responsible for the security sector, but for which in Africa’s experience are found largely wanting.

Reconstructing or transforming a state essentially means transforming the public service by building state capacity, facilitating the establishment and restoration of inclusive democratic public institutions, as well as creating mechanisms to safeguard and ensure accountable, efficient and effective public and civil service and as a result enhance institutional development for public administration. In a post-conflict situation, the United Nations Development Programme states that the public administration must be capable of the management and implementation of the whole set of government activities dealing with the implementation of law, regulations and decisions of the government and the management related to the provision of public service. Even though in many African countries, public administration reconstruction has not been prioritised, some African countries have however recognised the centrality of a coherent and representative public administration, by demonstrating that it is impossible to transform a government and therefore a state, without first transforming the public service.

The Rwandan experience for instance has demonstrated that institution building is essential in ensuring good governance in order to achieve economic and social goals. Burundi as well has prioritised the reform of the public service by putting in place capacity building strategies for its public servants as a way of ensuring effective public service delivery. Even though they are still ‘works in progress’ and these countries still have a long way to go, they demonstrate the importance of having a capable public service in the attainment of post conflict reconstruction agendas.

On the whole however, and in order to ensure a public administration capable of the management of post-conflict activities, there is need for post-conflict countries in Africa to adequately equip those charged with implementing policy - be they bureaucrats, parliamentarians or other civil oversight groups, such as ministries of public service - with the de rigueur training which their unique post-conflict roles demand, in order for them to adequately deliver in the post-conflict reconstruction processes. They must understand, be thorough and informed of reconstruction policy agendas and what is expected of them, and be able and ready to perform. If not, policies that look great on paper and post-conflict reconstruction and development agendas will remain mere intentions. This is especially true if the leaders, public servants and the bureaucrats charged with translating policy into action are not themselves adequately capacitated with skills necessary for driving and delivering change and implementing post-conflict reconstruction policies and programmes such as the AU Post Conflict Reconstruction and Development policy framework.

Irene Ndung'u, Security Sector Governance Programme, ISS Tshwane (Pretoria)