Market-Oriented Public Management in Uganda: Benchmarking International Best Practise? (original) (raw)

The politics of core public sector reform in Uganda: Behind the facade

2017

The Ugandan state presents an interesting puzzle for the advocates of public sector reforms (PSR). Whereas it has been subjected to several waves of reforms over the last three decades, these changed form but have generally not translated into significant changes in the functionality of central government. This research argues that answers to this conundrum are rooted in the country’s political settlement. Drawing on ESID’s expanded political settlement framework, the study finds that the last 15 years have seen Uganda’s ruling elite exposed to unprecedented internal and external competition leading to a shift in the balance of power from dominant to vulnerable dominant political settlement. Although the president still wields significant power, this has been used to influence government agencies to meet the short-term needs for regime maintenance, as opposed to supporting the goals of PSR implementation. Almost all PSRs are donor driven and the government accepts them not so much a...

80 - Making Public Sector Management Work for Africa: Back to the Drawing - Board

2005

This paper critically examines key concepts that have been dominant in the international development community in the past twenty years. Starting with an analysis of the state in Africa, it shows how the international donors have ignored many of the underlying conditions that make it weak and soft. It continues to argue that while the New Institutional Economics (NIE) is a step forward in the economics discipline by transcending the limiting conditions inherent in the neoclassical model of the “perfect†market, it encourages a definition of “market failures†that can only be perceived by economists who have the necessary overview and comprehensive information at their disposal. The paper continues with an examination of the operational experience associated with NIE and New Public Management (NPM), looking specifically at the issues of revenue collection and administration, decentralization, and civil service reform. The final part of the paper traces the evolution of donor as...

ANALYSIS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM REFORM PROCESS IN UGANDA: TO WHAT EXTENT DID IT ATTAIN ITS OBJECTIVES

The growing discourse on public administration system reform process is a result of the very inadequacies generated by the process itself. This paper based on literature review delves into the various phases of the public administration system reform process to assess the levels of achievement of intended objectives, the constraints thereof and proposed solutions. Whereas sequential interventions – both legal and administrative – have littered the reform process since NRM government captured power in 1986, the political will to actualize them has remained wanting. This has not been helped by the conceptually transfixed civil service which has continued to see reform after reform elements came into being with minimal effects on their mind sets or attitudes to see them work. Unless government allows institutions to work with autonomy and detach them from individuals; strategize to deliberately psych up the civil service through better remunerations; it is predictable that the multitude of legislation and reform programmes will remain on paper and the blame game shall continue between the political leadership and civil servants.

A Critical Analysis of New Public Management, Human Resource Practices and Operational Performance in Uganda's Public Sector

Many sub-Saharan countries have sought "new public management" (NPM) reforms to improve their effectiveness and efficiency. While these reforms have been implemented, public sector organisations have largely remained inefficient and ineffective. Some of the reforms have included adoption of private sector practices in the public sector, yet the two are uniquely different in their purpose, design, and operation. Moreover, human resource practices are continually evolving to become more strategic so as to achieve the desired goals through a combination of strategic and operational effectiveness. Whereas operational performance is crucial for improvement in service delivery through achievement of effectiveness, timeliness and efficiency, it has been given limited attention especially in public sector human resource practices. Therefore, we bring strategic human resource management (SHRM) into this forum by demonstrating how human resource (HR) practices can be used to improve operational performance in the Public Sector. In doing so, we pay special attention to three issues: (a) SHRM and operational performance, (b) NPM and operational performance, and (c) HR practices implementation in Uganda's Public Sector. Accordingly, we call for the implementation of the ability-, motivation-and opportunity-enhancing HR practices in public sector organizations. Our conceptualization offers a novel perspective to both NPM and SHRM with the goal of guiding future research that will result in more applicable and relevant knowledge for both scholars and practitioners.

Overcoming the Limits of Institutional Reform in Uganda

This paper begins by noting that Uganda has been a public sector reform leader in Africa. It has pursued reforms actively and consistently for three decades now, and has produced many laws, processes and structures that are 'best in class' in Africa (and beyond). The problem is that many of the reforms have been limited to these kinds of gainsproducing new institutional forms that function poorly and yield limited impacts. Various kinds of data showedin various areas (civil service and public administration, public financial management, revenue management, procurement and anti-corruption)that laws are often not being implemented, processes are being poorly executed, and there is insufficient follow-up to make sure that new mechanisms work as intended. The paper suggests that the government should re-frame its reform agenda to address these limitations and close the gaps between what Uganda's system looks like and how it functions.

Driving up Standards: Civil Service Management and Decentralization: Case Study of Uganda

Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance, 2012

There is a consensus that decentralization by devolution leads to improved service delivery, but debate on the appropriate type of personnel arrangements for delivering decentralized services is far from over. Put differently, the discourse on whether civil service management should be decentralized or devolved still rages on. Little wonder that countries which started off with decentralized civil service management models in the 1990s are currently centralizing some aspects of personnel management while others are having centralized and decentralized personnel arrangements operating side by side in sub-national governments. The paper argues that civil service management should be decentralized whenever a country chooses the path of decentralization by devolution. Using Uganda's example, the paper highlights two major challenges of managing the civil service under separate personnel arrangements: civil service appointments devoid of merit, and the perennial failure to attract and retain qualified human resource. The paper presents proposals on how to ensure meritocracy in appointments and how to bolster attraction and retention of human capital in local governments.

Three Decades of Orthodox Approaches to Administrative Reform in Africa: The Ugandan Experience.

SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2097123 , 2012

Administrative reform has become an ever present slogan of modern life. Developing countries, Uganda inclusive, have often looked abroad for ideas about how to reform sometimes under duress but often quite willingly. However these processes have often been disastrous. Yet, no one seems to possess a coherent explanation as to why they should fail with such predictable regularity. In this paper, I use case examples in Uganda’s administrative reform to establish why orthodox approaches to administrative reforms in Africa fail. Specifically, I assess theoretical propositions for why orthodox administrative reforms fail; evaluate the trends of administrative reform in Uganda; and suggest major considerations for administrative reform in Africa. Naturally, the study is intended to contribute to the current debate on the applicability of orthodox approaches to administration in African countries. It is hoped that the study will encourage the process of reflection and the search for optimal administration strategies and approaches based on local conditions and tools.

The application of new public management doctrines in the developing world: An exploratory study of the autonomy and control of executive agencies in Tanzania

Public Administration and Development, 2010

This article examines the agencification of public service in Tanzania. This is discussed with reference to the New Public Management (NPM)-inspired reforms of which the creation of executive agencies is one of its core features. The article attempts to understand the extent to which executive agencies in Tanzania display characteristic features of an ideal-agency model as propagated by the NPM reform doctrines. Key features of the ideal-agency model have been described as structural disaggregation, autonomy and contractualisation. It questions views held by many NPM-minded reformers, such as the EU and World Bank that this model is universally applicable and can be emulated in different parts of the world. The article's assumption is that the NPMagency model is based on a weak empirical foundation and its universal applicability is questionable. To illustrate our arguments we confront the NPM-agency model with the empirical data drawn from the agencification of public services in Tanzania. Findings indicate that agencies in Tanzania display hybrid characteristics in terms of their autonomy and control. Our conclusion is that the universality of NPM-agency model is illusive.