Public Administration in Africa: Performance and Challenges

237 Pages·2013·4.94 MB·English

by  Ernest Peprah Ababio

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With contributions from leading regional scholars, Public Administration
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the art of governance from the unique African perspective. The editors bring p
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from South Africa, Congo, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Mauritius, and Botswana.
Themes include colonialism, reform, poverty, economy, decentralization, Performance and Challenges
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financing, media, political structures, and more.
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Beginning with an analysis of the relationship of policy design and its
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destination, service delivery, the book discusses the historical development of
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a state that has gone through upheavals in government and explores a decayed
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political economy that ultimately results in a need for sweeping measures.
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The text examines the issues emerging policy-makers in Africa must tackle,
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namely, poverty and the denial or lack of resources to maintain a dignified
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and provides analytical aspects of implementing good governance reforms.
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The book concludes with an examination of the concepts of decentralization t
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and devolution in measuring service delivery performance and an exploration
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of Africa’s economic success story. It also details the African Peer Review
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Mechanisms in selected African countries and provides a holistic analysis i
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of local government functioning in Africa. These features and more make
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it an interdisciplinary reference for diverse social, economic, political, and

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Shikha Vyas-Doorgapersad
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K14077
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ISBN: 978-1-4398-8880-3 Ernest Peprah Ababio
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9 781439 888803
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Public Administration
in Africa
Performance and Challenges
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND PUBLIC POLICY
A Comprehensive Publication Program
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
DAVID H. ROSENBLOOM
Distinguished Professor of Public Administration
American University, Washington, DC
Founding Editor
JACK RABIN
RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOKS
Public Administration in Africa: Performance and Challenges, edited by
Shikha Vyas-Doorgapersad, Lukamba-Muhiya. Tshombe, and Ernest Peprah Ababio
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and Eastern Europe, and Mongolia, Saltanat Liebert, Stephen E. Condrey,
and Dmitry Goncharov
Hazardous Materials Compliance for Public Research Organizations: A Case Study,
Second Edition, Nicolas A. Valcik
Logics of Legitimacy: Three Traditions of Public Administration Praxis, Margaret Stout
The Politics–Administration Dichotomy: Toward a Constitutional Perspective,
Second Edition, Patrick Overeem
Managing Development in a Globalized World: Concepts, Processes, Institutions,
Habib Zafarullah and Ahmed Shafiqul Huque
Cybersecurity: Public Sector Threats and Responses, Kim J. Andreasson
Government Budgeting and Financial Management in Practice: Logics to Make
Sense of Ambiguity, Gerald J. Miller
Globalism and Comparative Public Administration, Jamil Jreisat
Energy Policy in the U.S.: Politics, Challenges, and Prospects for Change,
Laurance R. Geri and David E. McNabb
Public Administration in Southeast Asia: Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Hong Kong and
Macao, edited by Evan M. Berman
Governance Networks in Public Administration and Public Policy, Christopher Koliba,
Jack W. Meek, and Asim Zia
Public Administration and Law: Third Edition, David H. Rosenbloom, Rosemary O’Leary,
and Joshua Chanin
Public Administration in East Asia: Mainland China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan,
edited by Evan M. Berman, M. Jae Moon, and Heungsuk Choi
Handbook of Public Information Systems, Third Edition, edited by Christopher M. Shea
and G. David Garson
Available Electronically
PublicADMINISTRATIONnetBASE
http://www.crcnetbase.com/page/public_administration_ebooks
Public Administration
in Africa
Performance and Challenges
Edited by
Shikha Vyas-Doorgapersad
Lukamba-Muhiya. Tshombe
Ernest Peprah Ababio
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
© 2013 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
No claim to original U.S. Government works
Version Date: 20130220
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4398-8881-0 (eBook - PDF)
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Contents
Preface ...........................................................................................................vii
About the Editors ...........................................................................................ix
Contributors ...................................................................................................xi
1 Governance Apparatus in South Africa: From Policy Design to
Service Delivery ......................................................................................1
GERRIT VAN DER WALDT
2 Public Administration in the Democratic Republic of Congo .............27
LUKAMBA-MUHIYA. TSHOMBE
3 Public Administration and Corruption in Uganda ..............................45
BENON C. BASHEKA
4 Public Sector Reforms in Nigeria: 1999–2009 .....................................83
ADEWALE BANJO
5 Combating Poverty in South Africa: Understanding the Informal
Sector in the Context of Scarce Opportunities .....................................97
LORAINE BOITUMELO “TUMI” MZINI
6 Media as a Catalyst for Good Governance in South Africa: An
Expanded Vision of Public Administration........................................117
SHIKHA VYAS-DOORGAPERSAD
7 Implementing Good Governance Reform in Ghana: Issues and
Experiences with Local Governance ...................................................135
PETER FUSEINI HARUNA AND LAWRENCE AKANWEKE KANNAE
8 Overview of the African Peer Review Mechanism in Selected
African Countries ...............................................................................153
ERNEST PEPRAH ABABIO
v
vi  ◾  Contents
9 Lessons for Africa in Economic Policy Reform: The Mauritius
Best Practice Case ...............................................................................167
DANIEL FRANCOIS MEYER AND ANNELISE VENTER
10 A Comparative Analysis of Local Government in Ghana and
South Africa........................................................................................187
ERNEST PEPRAH ABABIO AND KWAME ASMAH-ANDOH
11 Integrating Traditional Leadership Structures with
Contemporary Public Administration Machinery for Innovative
Governance and Improved Service Delivery ......................................209
SHIKHA VYAS-DOORGAPERSAD AND LUKAMBA-MUHIYA. TSHOMBE
Preface
The traditional field of public administration has always been wide. The phenomenon
has been widened further with the surfacing of the additional concepts of manage-
ment and governance. The shift in paradigm is currently on governance, the extent to
which politicians and appointed officials join hands in utilizing resources to improve
living conditions. Such is the complexity of the policy arena in the global world. With
the advent of sophistication in education technology, creation of public awareness of
what government does, participatory political culture in even the developing nations,
and yet a tendency by politicians and officials to divert resources away from what they
were intended for, alias corruption, the process of evaluating the art of governance on
how governments perform has never been so complex. And such is the focus of this
book on public administration in Africa. We regret that we could not provide features
on all 54 states in Africa, precisely due to space limitation. It is our hope that remain-
ing issues such as emerging political and administrative reforms in Angola, Libya,
Egypt, and the Sudans will be explored in a later publication.
In its 11 chapters, Public Administration in Africa encompasses a wide range
of issues on governance. Gerrit van der Waldt sets the tone with an analysis of the
relationship between policy design and its destination, service delivery. The back-
ground locus is South Africa, which has embarked on a massive post-apartheid revo-
lution on governance. On the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lukamba-Muhiya.
Tshombe espouses an interesting historical development of a state that has gone
through upheavals in governance. There is a trace of transition from a Belgian Congo,
through governance in the leadership cult of Mobutu Sese Seko, to the current state
of governance in a period of civil war upheavals. Corruption in Africa has become
a common phenomenon in governance in Africa. The scientific analysis of this by
Benon C. Basheka in the case of Uganda makes for interesting reading. A decayed
political economy ultimately results in a need for sweeping measures to lift a smile
on the human face. This is where the analysis by Adewale Banjo on public sector
reforms in Nigeria becomes paramount. A chronic policy issue that emerging African
policy makers have to tackle is poverty, its denial, and the lack of resources to main-
tain a dignified life. In the informal settlement case study in South Africa, Loraine
Boitumelo “Tumi” Mzini paints a startling picture of the poverty scenario common
vii
viii  ◾  Preface
in many African states, and draws recommendations for tackling it. Policy prob-
lems invariably become issues of governance through media sensitivity. On the South
African policy scene, Shikha Vyas-Doorgapersad highlights the media as a catalyst
for good governance in South Africa. Local government, normally as a ministry or
a department, oversees the governance issues of municipalities as institutions closest
to the people. Service delivery and the promotion of a good life as propounded by
Aristotle become largely the function of municipalities in Africa. Interesting that the
analytical aspects of local government are the form of structural streams that augur
well for efficient and effective service delivery. Peter Fuseini Haruna and Lawrence
Akanweke Kannae consequently provide analytical aspects of implementing good
governance reforms on issues, experiences, and challenges in Ghana. This is further
augmented by the comparative analysis of local government in Ghana and South
Africa, in which Ernest Peprah Ababio and Kwame Asmah-Andoh succinctly engage
the concepts of decentralization and devolution in measuring service delivery per-
formance. The role of traditional leadership cannot escape the discourse of public
administration debate in Africa, more especially where local government is under
surveillance. Thus the overview of the integrative role of traditional structures with
contemporary public administration by Shikha Vyas-Doorgapersad and Lukamba-
Muhiya. Tshombe complements the holistic analysis of local government function-
ing in Africa. The relatively high economic growth of the island state of Mauritius is
exemplary for emulation, as shown by Daniel Francois Meyer and Annelise Venter on
Mauritius: Africa’s economic success story—an analysis of best practice and lessons
learned. A book on public administration in Africa may not be complete without a
discourse on the regional integration of the continent. This oversight function is pre-
sented by Ernest Peprah Ababio in an overview of the African peer review mechanism
in selected African countries.
With the above stimulating discussions and analyses, it is our hope that the
reader stands to gain
◾ An understanding of governance as a concept in the context of policy devel-
opment and implementation in Africa
◾ An appreciation of the extent to which policy issues on challenges such as
poverty and corruption are being tackled
◾ Knowledge of local government functioning in Africa and the role of tradi-
tional leadership
◾ An assessment of public service reforms as provided by governments and the
African Union
◾ An insight into the role of the media in galvanizing public awareness in the
unique policy environment of Africa
We express our profound appreciation to our publisher, Taylor & Francis, for
making this project a reality, and to all our readers, for the interest shown in our
output.