Petrus Mbidi
In terms of benefits, how does public governance on the continent affect people, villages and informal settlements – be it in South Africa, Kenya, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Senegal or Rwanda?
From a comparative standpoint, you will realise that public governance on the African continent tends to greatly benefit urban areas while impoverishing millions of people in rural areas and informal settlements.
Why is that and what can be done?
Let us engage on a broader scale, as it will help us understand the need to effectively employ all the key principles of governance for its benefits to equally benefit all irrespective of where they reside. Nations are not businesses even though governments exist to generate revenue that enables any country to take care of its people. Thus, one cannot run a country in business nature. I believe it is out of the great fortune that none of our African countries uses the self-serving capitalist economic system.
Leadership is fundamental in governance be it in the private sector or the public sector because the leadership attributes being used should favour no one but the sector any leader is serving. Consequently, even if the private sector and the public sector services for different motives, if the type of leadership being used does not seem to benefit the growth or profit of the private sector change is done eminently.
The same cannot be said in relation to the public sector. Something that African countries have to do for their respective public sectors and the good of public governance on the continent is to learn to sort out bad apples quickly before the entire public sector is contaminated with bad governance. The bureaucratic steps on how to remove ineffective leaders have to be readdressed. The predicaments that most if not all African countries are enduring today are derived from poor leadership.
Ethics and integrity is other key principle of public governance. Employees of public institutions should have stately standards to effectively differentiate between what is right and wrong, what is just and unjust, or what is good or bad in terms of carrying out their public duties. Importantly, personal problems do not form part of ethics within a workplace.
In a democracy a good public institution and or entity is determined by how it treats the people it is responsible for and if the treatment is positive that is how a reputable reputation is preserved. The biggest failure within the public sector is the lack of fairness (integrity); the other problem is having politicians employed in public institutions and or entities.
It is relatively unlikely for politicians to be equally devoted to their public work and political parties. What tends to happen most is the use of public offices to serve the interests of their parties, and this is exactly why some African countries are considered failed states.
The reason why public infrastructures are in a dilapidated state and continuously depreciating is due to a lack of stewardship. There is absolutely no one to be held accountable for the failure to take care of public infrastructures other than the line ministries. Sustainability is key when it comes to stewardship. There is an urgent need to be optimal and prudent in taking care of both the work, assets and resources of the public sector.
Across the continent offices, vehicles, and houses of various governments are either mishandled or in a poor state and they can be easily differentiated from corporate
offices, vehicles, and houses this is because of the lack of stewardship within the public sector. The problem with African governments is the sad fact that they are not ruthless on accountability and transparency. The lack of accountability and transparency within any public sector creates huge room for corruption.
Evidently, public institutions struggle to present their financial statements to the general public because of fear of public scrutiny. In Namibia, we have institutions that are funded each year with taxpayers’ money but they do not provide financial statements nor are they audited yet the country has an Anti-Corruption Commission to ensure accountability and transparency within the public sector.
The quality or level of effectiveness within the public sector is measured based on how public institutions and entities are best implementing their policies, strategic plans, and how those policies or plans affect the targeted groups.
Hence, the problem with African countries has nothing to do with coming up with policies or strategic plans but the criticality of the problem is with the lack of effective implementation, especially within the public sector. Effective communication is another
crucial element of public governance, an organisation or institution or any other public entity should be able to henceforth communicate both good and bad information to the public. Advisably, there is a huge need to deal and do away with the phrase “that is or this is how the public system works”.
We cannot be comfortable with ineffective public sectors while millions of African children, brothers and sisters are dying, losing employment and swimming in poverty because decisions are taking 20 years to be implemented. Effectiveness and development go hand in hand.
A fundamental element of public governance is public participation. It is important to involve people in the day-to-day activities of any public institution and or entity. The law governing any democracy stipulate for the public to be informed about the day-to-day activities of public institutions and entities. The public also has the privilege to air their views that may be deemed positive towards the growth of the public institution and or entity.
Around the continent, we have all heard cases in which public institutions and entities are reluctant to either report back to the public or they refuse to involve people in raising their opinions in relation to the betterment of the institution or entity. If public participation is lacking then it is not a democracy nor an act of good governance anymore. People are why public governance exists in the first place.
In the world of ideology, the word “perfection” is of great value. However, in the world of reality, the value of the word is arguably none existent. Thus, there is nothing like a perfect public sector, however, we have principles of governance to guide us to improve public governance. Even though a perfect public sector is not achievable, an acceptable public sector is possible.
*Petrus Ndeumono Mbidi has a diploma in Local Government Studies, an honours degree in Public Management, and he is a final year Masters of Public Administration student at the University of Namibia. mbidipetrus06@gmail.com