New approaches in public management (NPM) are in vogue in the Anglophone Western world, and are increasingly being adopted in middle-income and developing countries. But can they work in Africa? This chapter of a book on the internationalisation of public management evaluates the experiences of Tanzania and Uganda.
Both countries pursued reform with multiple objectives. Reduction and control of staff numbers to improve salaries and conditions of service, improving central government efficiency, greater discretion over resources, and rooting out corruption were common motives. Civil service reforms in both countries have been successful at addressing structural problems such as overstaffing and low pay, as well as strengthening basic administrative systems including personnel and payroll checks. They have been less effective at eradicating poverty and improving service delivery. New approaches in public management have been successful where they involve results-oriented management, performance budgeting, and delegation of control and decision-making within the public service. Both countries have been cautious about creating new executive agencies, privatisation, and contracting out, but Tanzania is doing this better. These reforms are more politically sensitive because of the potential loss of government control. Constraints are:
- The culture and characteristics of the public service in both countries is hierarchical and centralised. There is limited capacity to manage new arrangements in both countries.
- There is little familiarity with the concept of management autonomy or empowerment of the workforce by allowing more agency to middle management. The political acceptability of introducing such arrangements is in doubt.
- Demand-led governance is also non-existent. In Tanzania this is the legacy of one-party rule. In Uganda it is the result of tight political control needed while emerging from conflict.
- Obstacles to enhancing citizen voice and accountability are illiteracy, lack of information about service standards, and limited range of alternative providers.
In both countries private sector capacity to undertake contracting is limited. Within government there is limited capacity to manage contracts and carry out regulation effectively. These constraints must be addressed. However, there is potential for Uganda and Tanzania to apply new approaches to public management by:
- Building on current efforts to improve performance-based management and budgeting.
- Service delivery can be improved, but there need to be strong accountability mechanisms for decentralisation and delegation.
- Ensuring that future efforts are tailored to local conditions and proceed at a realistic pace.
