Public Administration Training in Africa: Competencies in Development Management PDF
Preview Public Administration Training in Africa: Competencies in Development Management
Public Administration V Public Administration y a s There is a growing global interest in Africa and how to improve the quality of -D H o a life of its people—and for good reason. The world can no longer afford to ignore or ru Training in Africa the democratic changes that have occurred across the continent over the past two gap na e decades, changes with tremendous implications for professional education and r s a training for the tasks of nation building. Public Administration Training in d Africa: Competencies in Development Management presents research findings Competencies in Development Management related to talent and competency development within the framework of public P service institutional capacity building. u b The book focuses on public administration questions as they relate to training, l development, and competency building that will strengthen public managers’ i c capacity to implement governance policies and work toward improving development management. It draws on unique national experiences to provide research and A scholarship that advance the dialogue on training and development relevant d to African culture and history while at the same time contributing to enhance m the field of practice. In addition to offering detailed descriptions and analyses i of unique national experiences, the book also integrates transnational issues of n training and development and ties the discussions back to the body of knowledge i s and scholarship defining the field and discipline of public administration. t r a As scholars and experts in their own right, the authors make a reasoned case for t rethinking and re-examining training and development in Africa in light of the i o emerging governance approach to public administration. The comprehensive n empirical descriptions and analyses of education and training contexts and T cultures written by some of the best minds in the subfield give you the latest r research findings and distill relevant experiential and theoretical knowledge, tools, a and skills based on case analyses, including carrying out development activity in i n different cross-cultural contexts. i n g i n A f r i c K22346 6000 Broken Sound Parkway, NW a Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL 33487 ISBN: 978-1-4822-2380-4 Edited by 711 Third Avenue 90000 New York, NY 10017 an informa business Peter Fuseini Haruna 2 Park Square, Milton Park www.crcpress.com Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN, UK 9 781482 223804 Shikha Vyas-Doorgapersad w w w. c r c p r e s s . c o m K22346 cvr mech.indd 1 11/14/14 12:22 PM Public Administration Training in Africa Competencies in Development Management Public Administration Training in Africa Competencies in Development Management Edited by Peter Fuseini Haruna Shikha Vyas-Doorgapersad CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300 Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742 © 2015 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: 20140819 International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4822-2381-1 (eBook - PDF) This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. 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Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com and the CRC Press Web site at http://www.crcpress.com Contents Preface ...........................................................................................................vii Acknowledgments ..........................................................................................xi About the Editors ........................................................................................xiii Contributors ..................................................................................................xv 1 Training Public Managers to Implement Governance Reform: Opportunities and Challenges in African Nations .................................1 PETER FUSEINI HARUNA 2 Training Civil Servants in the Democratic Republic of the Congo......27 LUKAMBA MUHIYA TSHOMBE 3 Public Administration Education and Training in Botswana ..............41 THEOPHILUS T. TSHUKUDU AND TAOLO B. LUCAS 4 Performance-Focused Organizations: An Evolutionary Approach to Training and Development of Skills in South Africa .......................63 SHIKHA VYAS-DOORGAPERSAD 5 Training for Public Service in Ghana in an Evolving World: Some Suggestions for the Future ..........................................................83 LLOYD G. ADU AMOAH 6 Public Administration Education and Training in Nigeria: A Reflection ........................................................................................107 EDWIN O. C. IJEOMA AND CHUKWUEMEKA OKAFOR 7 Training and Development for Service Delivery Enhancement in Public Administration: Issues and Perspectives for Zimbabwe......139 RICKY MUNYARADZI MUKONZA 8 Public Administration Training and Development in Malawi ..........163 HAPPY MICKSON KAYUNI v vi ◾ Contents 9 Public Administration Training and Development in Africa: The Case of Uganda ............................................................................189 BENON C. BASHEKA AND MAURICE OSCAR DASSAH 10 An Assessment of Public Administration Training and Development in Africa: Lessons Learned and the Way Forward ........209 PETER FUSEINI HARUNA AND SHIKHA VYAS-DOORGAPERSAD Preface There is growing global interest in Africa and the matter of how to improve the quality of life of its people. This is for a good reason: The world cannot afford to ignore the democratic changes that have occurred across the continent over the past two decades, changes with tremendous implications for professional education and training for the tasks of nation building. Although the book covers a limited number of Africa’s 54 nations, the research findings presented in it will serve the needs of those who wish to learn about the future direction of research and scholar ship in training and development in African nations. The focus of the book is to present research findings related to talent and competency development within the framework of public service institutional capacity building. The comprehensive empirical descriptions and analyses of education and training contexts and cultures written by some of the best minds in the subfield will inform interested scholars about the latest research findings in the field. Admittedly, the book was born from our interest in public administration as both a discipline and a professional field of practice. Focused research and scholar ship on public administration education and training in Africa seemed to be lacking. Much of the discourse centers almost exclusively on the substance of policy and politics, which gives good insight into the operations of African governments and other stakeholders in development management. Of course, African Studies Review and the International Journal of Public Administration periodically publish articles on topics related to higher education in Africa, which obviously enrich understanding and show patterns of opportunities and challenges there. What is lacking, however, is a single, onestop volume that provides an indepth empirical analysis on matters devoted to public administration education and training in the emerging context of public governance. This book addresses a dire need and provides essential reading for that purpose. Specifically, readers will find answers to several questions, such as: ◾ How do African nations approach public administration education and training? ◾ How has public administration training evolved and changed in African nations? ◾ What are the perspectives of public administration training in African nations? vii viii ◾ Preface ◾ What role does higher education play in administrative training in African nations? ◾ What competencies do public managers need to be successful in African nations? ◾ What challenges does public administration training face in African nations? ◾ What lessons have African nations learned in providing administrative training? In this researchled book the focus is to provide new knowledge about the processes of developing professionally relevant competencies and skills in African nations. It is about knowledge and scholarship only. Political issues are not the tar get of discussion, and chapter contributors do not make statements about matters of national sovereignty. The term African nation is used here to refer specifically to existing geographical areas and national boundaries in which formal education, training, and professional socialization are conducted. Given the above caveat, chapter authors were selected from within the continent and instructed to address national experiences with public administration education and training while tying the discussions back to the common body of knowledge and scholarship defining the field at a continental and a global level where appropriate. One of the enduring concerns of public administration in Africa is how to develop education and training appropriate to the culture, history, and lived expe rience and still ground it in the public service ethos. Peter Haruna sets the tone with an analysis of governance reform requiring nuanced, integrative training and development that fosters experiential and theoretical competence. Lukamba Muhiya Tsombe analyzes training and development problems in the Democratic Republic of Congo and argues for resources to be invested in revitalizing the civil service system. Theophilus Tshukudu and Taolo Lucas focus on the evolution of education and train ing in Botswana, emphasizing the need to strengthen the curriculum by integrating information and communication technology and the changing political and socio economic climate. VyasDoorgapersad takes a critical look at training and develop ment in postapartheid South Africa, observes the scarcity of relevant skills, and argues for research to determine challenges hampering skill development. Likewise, Lloyd Amoah provides a critical review of education and training, pinpoints gaps that need to be addressed, and offers suggestions for rebuilding the sagging image of Ghana’s civil service. Edwin Ijeoma and Chukwuemeka Okafor examine fed eral training institutions created to s upport capacity building and enhance Nigerian public service performance. Ricky Mukonza’s study reinforces the issue of capacity building for public performance and how Zimbabwe has approached it through training and development over the course of its history. Happy Kayuni argues that the interdisciplinary approach to training and development is an enduring feature in Malawi and emphasizes the need to strengthen the curriculum toward improv ing public service and efficiency. On Uganda, Benon Basheka and Maurice Dassah examine challenges facing public administration programs and argue for increased research and scholarship to reverse the fall in the prestige of the public administra tion degree and credentials. Haruna and VyasDoorgapersad conclude the book with
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