- It is generally believed that there is “Scarcity” of Public Administration in developing countries. What is the reasoning behind this statement? How can the governments of developing countries tackle the problem of lack of Public Administration? (20 marks)
Some of the various definitions of public administration offered by other scholars include, the management of public programs, and translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day, and the study of government decision making, the analysis of the policies themselves, the various inputs that have produced them, and the inputs necessary to produce alternative policies (Kuhlmann, & Wollmann, 2019).
In 1947 Paul H. Appleby defined public administration as public leadership of public affairs directly responsible for executive action. In a democracy, it has to do with such leadership and executive action in terms that respect and contribute to the dignity, the worth, and the potentials of the citizen.
Comparing countries in terms of their levels of per capita income is the most common method used for assessing relative levels of development. This has the advantage of being straightforward and unlike some of other measures the necessary numbers are usually available. According to IMF, (2009) Developing countries consists of countries in the high group (HDI percentiles 51-75), medium group (HDI percentiles 26-50), and the low group with bottom quartile HDI and some of the examples of developing countries include; Guinea, Guinea-Bisau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, and India.
The following are some of the reasoning behind the fact that there is scarcity of public administration in developing countries
As developing countries emerged from their colonial status after the Second World War onwards, the transition from dependent territories to independent nations was greatly facilitated by the existence of colonial civil service institutions. The post-colonial administrative machineries had to grapple with a new ethos, reflecting new aspirations demanded by their citizens. The inherited public administration system emerged as the natural choice through which the struggle toward development and national building could be achieved (Vyas-Doorgapersad, 2011).
A cursory examination of literature on developing countries’ managerial capacity or incapacity leads one to speculate that most developing countries seem to lack a well-coordinated central policy making machinery of government which has the capacity to set major objectives of government and ensure their consistency. In other words, most developing countries lack an administrative body capable of responding to the needs of accelerated development and this therefore questions the capacity of the public administration system in developing countries (Vyas-Doorgapersad, 2012).
As one of the most important requirement of public administration is to serve the interest of the people however Most developing countries have experienced the crisis of political turmoil, intolerance and harsh dictatorship; others have a military regime with highly centralized government processes, To name a few, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Libya, Ethiopia and Uganda , in these developing countries the security is always fighting against the citizens , in Uganda this was observed during the January 14th elections were more than 54 people were killed (Tuesday November 24, 2020), while Libya the country is still facing chaos.
Tragically, the feeling of failure of developing countries management institutions is pervasive in the “poverty belt” of sub- Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America which today account for a large percentage of the world’s population. According to (Bolarinwa,, et al., 2021), Africa has a population of a billion people but its contribution to global trade is low less than 10%.and almost all African economies are an outpost of underdevelopment with most of them experiencing structural repression and structural regression. Africa in particular, has been hard hit by a series of devastating shocks, 35%, or 241 million, of males in Africa, live below the poverty line which is down 1% from 2020. 36%, or 249 million, of females in Africa live below the poverty line. Rwanda has one of the most skewed distributions with 50% of females and 40% of males living in poverty.
The weaknesses of public institutions have, in turn, led to subdued legislatures and judiciaries which are essential to enable the check and ensure Justice in the copuntry ,this is to a large extend caused political Injustice in most of the developing countries for example Uganda, Sudan, Zimbabwe as dissent is extremely criminalized. According to (Curtice & Behlendorf, 2021) have called this phenomenon the paradox of development administration. Their thesis is that an effective administration is essential to accomplish development, and yet it is also that very effectiveness that can stifle and retard the political and social development of alternative centers of power.
Most observers of developing countries generally agree that the failure of public administration can be observed in many forms in the developing countries, majority of the staff in developing countries are technically incompetent to do their jobs as a result this has also affected these countries ability to achieve their goals and interest.
Corruption in developing countries is one of the many ways the the failure of public administration is absent and this is a result of failure by the institutions which are supposed to monitor the corruption of the country and as a result most developing countries loose aalot of resources due to corruption for example According to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, Kenya is losing an estimated Kshs 608.0 bn (7.8% of Kenya’s GDP) to corruption annually. Reduced corruption is therefore crucial for the country’s development (Onyango, 2020).
Failure of the justice systems in most of the developing countries is a sign of absence of the public administration. Most of the criminals in many African countries because of their connections with the state they are not tried in courts of law. There is also many incidences were the political opponents are taken as criminals and arrested , there supporters sometimes tried in military courts despite being innocent, for example in the just concluded elections of January 2021, more than 40 supporters of the national unity platform were tried in military courts , something which is unconstitutional and in addition to this other developing countries like Zimbabwe during the reign of Robert Mugabe people were arrested innocently especially political opponents.
Total collapse of the Health system most of the developing countries the administration of the countries have demonstrated a total failure and as a result the health system has total collapsed and this is observed by the fact that most of the few elite in developing countries spend a lot of resources on seeking medical treatment for example, The Ministry of Health (MoH) estimates that Kenyans spend $15 million on medical expenses abroad. In any given year, hundreds of Kenyans troop to hospitals abroad in search of treatment (Kabia, et al., 2019).
How can the governments of developing countries tackle the problem of lack of Public Administration?
Developing an effective way of remunerating the public servants so as to eliminate incompetence and enhance productivity; Remuneration in most public positions in developing countries is relatively low and the distribution of allowances and non-monetary benefits is inequitable in the sense that, while most people are poorly paid, a few people are in well-paying public jobs with various amenities including motor vehicles, housing, and medical facilities, among others. Another challenge relates to staff retention, as people leave Public Service jobs for better pay in the private sector or in international engagements, for example according to the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index places Uganda amongst the most corrupt countries in the world, and the Public Service is perceived as the third most corrupt institution in the country.
Adopting of democratic practices. When the governments of developing countries adopt the democratic practices they will ensure that they achieve the national consensus and the will of the people will be respected this will enable these countries to sustainable peace and prosperity and also enhance the rule of law.
The way to have public administration efficiency in developing countries like Uganda, Kenya, Sudan and Egypt among others is by promotion of good governance, through good governance the institutions will have the will to perform their mandatory functions and this will enable the country to have systems that are able to perform their functions.
Developing proper mechanism for accountability in public institutions, Accountability is a key requirement for public administration effectiveness governmental institutions but also the private sector and civil society organizations must be accountable to the public and to their institutional stakeholders. Who is accountable to whom varies depending on whether decisions or actions taken are internal or external to an organization or institution. When there is accountability in the country the people in the responsible offices will not behave with impunity and this ensure better economic prosperity (Mokaya, 2020).
Adoption of democratic practices in to governance, Democracy is associated with higher human capital accumulation, lower inflation, lower political instability, and higher economic freedom. Democracy is closely tied with economic sources of growth, like education levels and lifespan through improvement of educative institutions as well as healthcare. According to the 2016 Democracy Index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Mauritius is regarded as the most democratic country in Africa. Mauritius is ranked number 18 in the world, with Norway leading the rankings. On the other hand, the weakest democratic state in Africa is Chad, and the country is ranked number 165 in the world just two places ahead of the lowest-placed country, North Korea are extremely poor. The word “democracy” can be loosely translated to mean “a government of the people, by the people and for the people”. This literally means that democracy involves the equal participation of citizens in decision-making processes. For example, if a country wants to introduce a new law, the citizens should first be consulted before such a law is introduced. Furthermore, citizens should also actively participate in the implementation of the law.
Enhancing transparency across the government departments, this will help in stamping out corruption across the government departments. When corruption is high there is always poor service delivery and this therefore affects the quality of life of the citizens of the country. In developed countries like South Korea there is almost no corruption in this country and this has enhance quality of life of the citizens. Today South Korea citizens enjoy one the best quality of life in the world unlike high corrupt countries like Uganda were the citizens have one of the poorest quality of life in the world.
Building a strong education systems that respondents to the needs of the society, this will enable developing countries to a workforce that is capable and can produce the desired results. Education is a tool that avails people with knowledge, skill, technique and information which empowers them to know their rights and duties toward the family, society, and the nation. Education has helped in no small measure to improve the quality of life in any society. This could be seen in features exhibited through education which include removing poverty, safety and security against crime, prevention of wars and terrorism as well as commerce and trade. Others are maintenance of law and order, women empowerment, communications, and upliftment of economically weaker sections of the societies. One of the most important benefits of education in a society is that it improves the standard of living and assist individuals to contribute to the development of the nation/society (Fangwi, 2021).
- Draw up a list of public problems in your district and prioritize them. Give reasons for listing the problems as public problems and develop options for addressing the most pressing problem. (20 Marks)
LIST OF PROBLEMS IN MUKONO DISTRICT
The proximate causes of poverty include one or more of the following: low income; low assets (whether physical or human capital); lack of opportunities (whether from adverse location or other reasons); and social exclusion (often but not always associated with ethnic minorities). The worst forms of poverty are those that combine all four of these aspects: income poverty, asset poverty, opportunities poverty, and access poverty.
Poverty among women is a huge expense to the government, since the government has to allocate funds to cater for the jobless people to meet the basic needs of life like accommodation, feeding, education and health care. This burden therefore stifles the government’s ability to spend on critical sectors of the economy.
Unemployment is an issue in all regions of the world. In this regard the ratio of women tomen is much higher, which suggests that women are more affected than men (Bjorklund et al.,2015). According to the International Labour Office (2014) women constitute a larger proportion of the working poor in the world. These are people who work but do not earn enough to improve their living standards or to meet their families’ needs. In most African countries, the supply of workers far exceeds demand, the result being extremely high rates of unemployment (Todaro & Smith, 2012).
Unemployment also limits the country’s tax base since the unemployed people rarely pay tax this therefore affects the national treasury and also increases the burden to the few tax payers in the country. In a developed country like South Korea The tax is enough to finance the government project due to the productivity of the population while poor countries like Uganda have very little tax and most of the government expenditure is finance through borrowing and donations.
Poverty affects the country in many ways as it completely affects the country’s ability to deliver services to the people therefore it is imperative for the government to fight poverty and all the factors that cause poverty. Poverty entails more than the lack of income and productive resources to ensure sustainable livelihoods. Its manifestations include hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social discrimination and exclusion as well as the lack of participation in decision-making.
Furthermore, Diraditsile (2017) posits that unemployment among the women has become the main issue of concern to policy makers in African governments. According to Diraditsile & Rankopo (Forthcoming) many young women in Mukono are unemployed and thus there is need for the creation of job opportunities for this group in particular and enable them fight against poverty.
The youth stratum constitute a larger proportion of the labour force, if positively mobilised, the youth can be an important instrument of economic growth and development in any economy because of their total number, drive, passion, and innovative ability (Msigwa & Kipesha, 2011).
Globally, youth unemployment has increased by 3.4 million from 2007 to 2012 (International Labour Office, 2012). Unemployment is also high in the Africa region with Swaziland having 26.3% and 26.8% respectively in the years 2007 and 2010 (Brixiova & Kangoye, 2012). The problem of unemployment in the country is highest among the youth; women and the less educated who are most vulnerable to this phenomenon. As postulated by (Nthomang & Diraditsile, 2016) youth unemployment in Botswana is of great concern because many people reside in villages and rural areas and some migrate to urban centres in search of greener pastures. This puts a strain on employment opportunities in urban areas. It is estimated that women unemployment is high at 45.9% among females and 36.0 among males (BIDPA, 2010).
The greater depth of and vulnerability to poverty has resulted in human development indicators more unfavorable than even in regions with a higher poverty incidence (World Bank, 2009a.), and in greater deprivation. This is shown among other things by the systematic Afrobarometer surveys of “lived poverty”, quantifying how frequently people go without the basic necessities of food, clean water, medicines or medical treatment, cooking fuel, and minimum cash income. (Like the Latinobarometro for Latin America, the Afrobarometer is an independent, nonpartisan survey of African public opinion on social, political, and economic issues, conducted in a dozen countries and repeated on a regular cycle. (Mattes, 2008 and 2009.) rural women in Sub-Saharan African countries are more likely to be affected by structural poverty, and are disproportionately affected by all aspects of poverty making them literally the poorest of the poorest.
SOLUTIONS FOR THE PROBLEMS
REFERENCES
Brixiova, Z., Kangoye, T. and Fakudze, R., 2012. Youth employment challenge and entrepreneurship in Swaziland. Retrieved September, 14, p.2014.
Msigwa, R. and Kipesha, E.F., 2013. Determinants of youth unemployment in developing countries: Evidences from Tanzania. Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development, 4(14), pp.67-76.
Nthomang, K. and Diraditsile, K., 2016. Youth Unemployment in Botswana: Understanding the journey travelled so far. Journal of the Botswana Educational Research Association, 19(1), pp.45-55.
Todaro, M.P. and Smith, S.C., 2012. Economic Development, Eleven Edition.
Kuhlmann, S. and Wollmann, H., 2019. Introduction to comparative public administration: Administrative systems and reforms in Europe. Edward Elgar Publishing.
