STATEMENT BY H.E. JAKAYA MRISHO KIKWETE, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF
TANZANIA, AT CHATHAM HOUSE ON DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA: TRANSFORMING THE PUBLIC
SERVICE
Mr. Chairman;
The Right Honourable Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for International
Development;
Distinguished Guests;
Ladies and Gentleman;
I stand on this platform with a deep sense of humility and pride. Humility in
the knowledge that generations of giants of history have stood here before me.
Pride in the reflection that the Chatham House represents the best in man’s
quest for collective contemplation of a shared fate and destiny. That I stand
beneath the roofs that once sheltered Pitt the Elder, Edward Stanley and William
Gladstone is a thrilling imagination.
It is for this reason that I thank you for inviting me here this evening. And, I
appreciate the kind words you said about me and the apt description of my
country.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have been asked to speak about the transformation of public service as part of
our development endeavour.
I am sure we are all aware that improvement in public service delivery,
responsiveness and professionalism is an age-old aspiration and a constant
pursuit, both for developed and developing societies. There are no easy
prescriptions.
Nevertheless, cognizant of the critical fact that development plans and
aspirations are empty without the capacity of the public service to deliver
them, we in Tanzania are pursuing and will continue to pursue a number of
initiatives to transform the public service to play its rightful role in the
development of our nation. I am grateful for this opportunity to share with you
some of our experiences.
Perhaps it would be useful if I locate these efforts in historical perspective.
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Members, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The way governments organize themselves to undertake their functions has always
been changing in response to changing needs and demands. This has been the case
in Tanzania as well – from being a colony, to a one-party state with a
non-existent private sector, and to currently a vibrant democracy pursuing
market economy.
So, it is evident that the transformation of public service has been, since
independence, a constant phenomenon in Tanzania, as it became necessary to
reorient the machinery of government to deliver on the needs, demands and
expectations of each era.
Tanzania, like many other countries which emerged from colonial rule,
experienced an earlier administrative reform phase. Between early 1960s and late
70s, we took major steps to reform our public services. These included building
the capacity of government to enable it to, firstly, handle new responsibilities
occasioned by the country’s independent statehood such as setting up ministries
and departments and structuring and staffing them effectively, and secondly,
creating administrative infrastructures to spearhead the nation’s development.
This entailed not only setting new organisational units at the centre, but also
involved setting up structures at provincial (renamed regional), district,
division, and ward levels, besides of course setting up numerous service
delivery points.
Most importantly, the effort involved building from scratch a cadre of public
service personnel to man a service that became the envy of many African public
services in the 1960s and 70s.
I understand that the focus of our discussion today is Tanzania’s current
efforts to transform public services for development, so we will lay to rest an
excursion into nostalgia and history and focus on the immediate past and the
present.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
As I alluded to earlier, reforms in public sector in Tanzania reside in the
context of economic, social and political transformation that has taken place in
the last two decades in the country.
As you may be aware that only two decades ago, Tanzania was in the eyes of many
internal and external observers just another African basket case. The country’s
economic situation was difficult both in absolute and comparative terms. People
incomes were dismally low where GDP per capita was about US$180. Economic growth
was very low and virtually stagnant, large budget deficits were the norm,
inflation hovered around 60% and above. The macro-economic frame was out of
track. The supply of goods and services was tight and inaccessible for the
majority of the people. Fiscal instability reigned and financial discipline left
much to be desired.
Ladies and Gentlemen;
Today all that has radically changed for the better. Since the mid-1990s, the
economy is growing at more than 5%, GDP per capita has nearly doubled, budget
deficits are minimal, inflation has fallen to about 5% per annum, on the whole
the macro-economic frame is now back on track and the fiscal situation is sound.
A Pluralistic political and democratic culture is thriving. Observing the rule
of law, respect for human, transparency, accountability and good governance have
been accepted as the cardinal tenets of running the state in Tanzania. Moreover,
the country has never been more confident and inspired towards joining the club
of middle income countries than it is today.
This remarkable progress in political social and economic spheres has been
underpinned by a number of reforms including that of the public service. A
decade ago, we had a bloated public sector, in terms of the number of
institutions and employees. There were no reliable systems and guidelines, not
even proper manuals for public service management. Indiscipline in its many
facets was a common feature; “Ghost” workers were in tens of thousands in the
Government payroll; Wage bill and other public expenditures were distorted and
almost out of control. Government ministries could not produce reliable accounts
on a timely basis.
Over-expansion of the scale of government and its intervention in all spheres of
society, including in areas where it had no competence and track record, leading
to overload
problems and further complicating the situation. We reached a point where the
government could not respond adequately to public demands. So, something had to
be done.
Generically, the measures taken entailed:
Partnership between the government and the private sector in the provision of
services to the public.
Therefore, as part of the broader economic and social reforms, a lot was done
and achieved in transforming the public service.
Today, the Tanzania Public Service has turned the leaf. There are fully
functioning systems, including ICT-based systems for payroll and human resources
management and an integrated public finance management. Furthermore, the Public
service has a clear vision and mission to propel Tanzania to prosperity and
glory in the 21st century.
The Civil Service Reform Phase
Ladies and Gentlemen:
The current efforts to reform the public service in the country have their
origins in a somewhat narrower reform programme called The Civil Service Reform
Program, which was officially launched in July 1991. In this programme major
structural and institutional changes were initiated and effectively implemented.
These changes may be grouped under the following headings:
The Public Service Reform Phase
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
In spite of the achievements of the Civil Service Reform Programme noted above,
which helped the Government to redefine its roles and functions matching them to
its capacity and withdraw from direct production of goods and services, and
enhance the participation of the private sector and NGOs in the delivery of
services, by 1998, there was recognition of the need to change the strategy and
scope of the reforms.
There were no recognisable improvements in delivery of public services as a
result of the changes in the short term. Also, the process of the reform was not
locally owned, that problem being exacerbated by insufficient information on the
reforms.
Expenditure on public service activities was still unaffordable and not
matched to revenues, and public service capacity to delivery services was still
weak.
Other drawbacks of the Civil Service Reform Programme were its failure to link
adequately to the entire Government machinery and inadequate links to other
public sector reforms.
Mr. Chairman,
The reformulated reform programme christened the Public Service Reform Programme
is designed in essence to address the above inadequacies. The Programme is wider
and comprehensive and is aimed at the total transformation of the public service
into an efficient, effective and outcome based institution. The reform has the
following features:
Mr. Chairman,
The reform programme takes a long term perspectives. It recognizes the fact that
the transformation of the public service would require a decade or so of
sustained reform to fully realise the programmes development objectives. It
entails progress beyond structural and process changes in the operations of the
public service organisations, to a cultural re-orientation of the public
servants as well as the general public of Tanzania. Public servants will need to
adopt a mind-set to serve customers with efficiency, effectiveness and high
standard of courtesy and integrity. The public will need to demand due rights
and services from the public servants.
In the light of the above, the PSRP was planned to have three overlapping phases
and will end in the year 2016.
The first Phase of the PSRP programme was launched in 2000 and was divided into the following components:
Invited Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The PSRP Strategy and Action Plan for the years 2003/4 to 2005/6 places greater
emphasis on public service reform being linked to the country’s efforts to
eradicate poverty. It also emphasizes ensuring that the reforms are integrated
and coordinated with the other public sector reforms.
At the same time and putting greater efforts to monitoring and evaluating
implementation as well as encouraging development partners to coordinate their
actions in supporting the PSRP have been underscored.
Having given some highlights on the context, content and antecedents of the
current reforms I would now address the question of how Tanzania has attempted
to implement the reforms, focusing particularly on process. While Tanzania’s
approach to reform remains informed by the broad thrusts of the public
management reform movement which I mentioned earlier, it has emodeled many of
those thrusts and adapted them to the Tanzania’s situation, using approaches and
methods that are novel. It is the adaptations and novelties that I would want to
share with you.
Innovations
Ladies and Gentlemen
Being innovative means making change by introducing something new or novel. It
conjures up thoughts of creativity:- bringing in new ideas, and perhaps
experimentation. It also suggests taking risks, which I am afraid is something
public servants in many parts of the world would generally shy away from. But if
public administration systems are to change for the better, leaders need to be
courageous and innovative in order to meet the imperatives facing our countries.
In this regard, Tanzania has taken bold steps to implement public service
reforms. We have done so in a courageous and innovative manner in six key areas:
Indigenising and Mainstreaming Programme Leadership and Management
Ladies and Gentlemen:
The starting point of Tanzania’s innovation in reforming public services is with
regard to arrangements for programme management. It involved the mainstreaming
and indigenisation of the public service reform activities into regular
operations of the Agency responsible for the management of public services on
the one hand, and in the activities of all ministries and departments, on the
other hand. Today, the Public Service Reform Programme (PSRP) is a “home grown”
and locally driven effort. The current programme was designed and is managed by
a Tanzanian public service team, with some technical assistance from
consultants, both local and international. This strategy has contributed greatly
to capacity building on one hand, and attainability of reforms on the other.
Introduction of meritocratic principles in the public service
Another achievement worth mentioning is the adoption of meritocratic principles
in the management of human resources in the public service, where people are
recruited, promoted, and rewarded on the basis of their qualifications. This has
made it possible for the public service to be manned by competent personnel, and
therefore potential to improve efficiency of the service.
Building an Incentive Framework under Severe Budgetary Constraints
The second innovation entails the manner in which pay reform is being tackled.
Confronted permanently with serious budgetary constraints, a country such as
Tanzania has difficulties in introducing an incentive system that mobilizes
institutions and their managers to be active and to deliver. Pay reform, in some
form or another is a critical element of such a system. Pay reform is crucial to
building human resources capacity by enabling the public service to recruit,
motivate and retain skilled and experienced personnel. In the initial phase of
our reform programme we addressed the structural weaknesses of our grading and
salary schemes. We drastically reduced the numbers of grades and the steps in
the salary scales.
We also rationalised or abolished some of the allowances that were causing
anomalies and inconsistencies in overall remuneration. This gave us some room to
increase the real pay which has enabled the Government to become an attractive
employer, as more people want to get employment in the public service.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
In the current programme, two further steps have been taken. First, a
Medium-Term Pay Policy (MTPP) that contains pay targets aimed at achieving a
competitive pay for technical and professional civil servants in comparison with
the private sector has been adopted.
The longer-term pay policy objective is to achieve a “living-wage” for all civil
servants. This demonstrates the government’s commitment to its employees, and
creates the context for future debates on remuneration issues. It is from this
background that soon after taking office, I formed a commission to look into
public service pay.
The Commission has just completed its work and the Government will study it, and
I hope, the recommendations which I am sure will influence the Government’s
future actions, including the revision of the Medium-Term Pay Policy.
Integrating Public Sector Reform Processes
Mr. Chairman,
The other issue concerns measures taken to integrate the various reform
initiatives and ensure greater coherence in the interventions. For many years,
reform interventions were running as disparate programmes and projects, with
minimal links and virtually no coordination. Thus there were parallel programmes
and projects for public service reform, public financial management, public
procurement reform, local government reform, anti-corruption, and so on.
Today, an integrated approach to public service reform initiatives has been
adopted. To this end, a uniquely Tanzanian Performance Improvement Model (PIM)
has been adopted. It is a simple model but it serves the objective very
effectively. It kicks-off with strategic planning in a process which links to
performance budgeting, staff appraisal, client service charters and monitoring
and evaluation.
The integration of planning and budgeting in a locally developed single
planning, monitoring and accountability instrument has made it possible for
ministerial plans to be focussed. It has also reduced transaction cost on the
part of managers of the public service.
Service Delivery improvement
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Service delivery re-engineering was approached through what is called
“quick-wins”. The “quick-wins” involves the identification and implementation of
process improvements that have the potential to deliver benefits to clients, in
a short time and at relatively low cost. It concentrates on dealing with "red
tape" and bureaucratic attitudes that add no value. In a very recent revision to
the PSRP strategy this function was brought much closer to Performance
Management Systems, recognising that opportunities to improve business
processes, whether "quick" or otherwise can be identified during the strategic
planning, service delivery survey and self-assessment activities.
Challenges
Mr. Chairman,
In spite of the above achievements, many more challenges remain, and these have
formed the basis for formulating the next phase of the Public Sector Reform
Programme (PSRPII). The recent reviews have identified a number of issues that
will have to be addressed if the Public service is to contribute to the efforts
to reduce poverty, as envisaged in the National Strategy for Growth and
Reduction of Poverty, otherwise known as MKUKUTA. The PSRP II will focus on,
among others, the following areas:
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Leading innovations in public services has many challenges. The more prominent
ones are institutional. I will cite just four of these. First, the public
service has a broad range of "clients". It includes the general public of
course, which is becoming more and more aware of its rights, and more able to
demand them. Expectations are being raised as reform programmes increase
awareness on these issues, and leaders have to decide how to manage those
expectations.
Second, the Private Sector, which is increasingly recognised as the "engine of
economic growth”, has its needs and wants. Skilful leadership is required when
deciding the
balance between freedom to "do business" and the state's responsibility to
regulate activities. Public Sector leaders need to develop skills to match their
business sector counterparts, and to be able to distinguish between real
"red-tape" issues and bids for excessive licence.
Third, there is a group that often requires careful handling because of their
general scepticism of government and its efforts to reform. This is the
Non-Government Organisations. They often believe in their causes with particular
passion, which seems to make it more difficult to convince them that Government
is serious about reform. This is yet another area that requires competent
leadership.
Finally, there is need to mention development partners or donors. Countries such
as Tanzania are so constrained in terms of finances that they can only make
significant progress with the assistance of donors in the immediate and medium
term. But real progress can only be attained if the leadership of the recipient
countries set the agenda, ensure that trust is built, and encourage flexible
approaches.
The Imperatives: Leading Innovations
Mr. Chairman
The starting point in leading innovations is taking charge of programme design
and mainstreaming its management. In this regard:
Conclusion and way forward:
Ladies and Gentlemen:
A lot of resources have gone into financing reform in Tanzania over the past
twenty years and of those recourses a significant proportion has gone to funding
the reform of the public service. UK government’s contribution in this regard is
worth mentioning here. However, a question which is now being asked is: How are
those reforms contributing to improvements in poverty reduction and direct
improvements in service delivery? Why should “reform” be treated as a priority
in the allocation of service budgetary resources both by the government and our
development partners?
Because many of the reform measures do not have a direct impact on reducing
poverty or even improving service delivery, it is difficult to give a straight
answer. Invariably the answer given is that an efficient and effective public
service is a necessary condition for achieving improvements in service delivery
and reducing poverty. While the reply may satisfy the academic community and
bureaucrats it will not remain accepted for long if service delivery
improvements and real reduction in poverty is not forthcoming. The main
challenge is how to manage that situation.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen:
Achievements in public service sector reforms have helped the Government to
redefine its roles and functions and matching them to its capacity, withdraw
from direct production of goods and services, and enhance the participation of
the private sector and NGOs in the delivery of services.
In spite of these achievements, I see the need to change the strategy and scope
of efforts to transform the public service.
This is in recognition of the fact that, without a competent, committed, and
professional public service, and indeed without public administrative systems
and structures that match the pace and expectations of our times, our promise of
delivery on the ambitious agenda of a better life for all Tanzanians will be in
a serious threat.
So, my first major initiative upon assuming the reigns of government early last
year, was to go around each government ministry and major department to get
acquainted with what the public servants are doing and discuss with the top
management and staff. I also used the opportunity to deliver my government’s
agenda and express my expectations of them. In other words, I went to give sort
of a pep-talk. The visit also afforded me the opportunity to stress on ethical
and professional conduct among public servants. I greatly benefited from the
visits. I learnt about the constraints facing public servants in the execution
of their responsibilities.
I also held two retreats with almost all senior managers in the government,
which included Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, Deputy
Permanent Secretaries, Regional and District Commissioners, and directors of key
government departments and parastatals. These retreats were specifically
arranged to reorganize ourselves as a government to serve our people best.
We came out of these retreats with a convergence of vision, not only on the
substance of our agenda, but also on how public service will reorient itself in
keeping with the magnitude of our agenda and the heightened expectations for the
new government.
Distinguished Members, Ladies and Gentleman
Let me end where I started. Our capacity to deliver on our development agenda is
predicated on the existence of an effective and efficient public service and
competent, professional, and committed public servants.
Therefore, our quest to transform the way government operates, the speed and
manner in which it responds to the need of our people, is part and parcel of our
development process. We are very delighted that, among the donors, the UK has
taken a lead in this realization and is generously lending us a hand.
Mr. Chairman,
My persistent message to my colleagues in government has been that services
delivery, and nothing else, is the raison d'etre of being in public service. As
a government, we owe our existence and our legitimacy to the fact that there are
services nobody else and no other institution can deliver to the people. That is
an awesome privilege. We lose the right to govern – and indeed tax – the people
if we fail to deliver on those services.
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Members of the Royal Institute of International
Affairs, Invited Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I thank you for your kind attention!