Public Administration Training in Africa: Competencies in Development Management

252 Pages·2015·12.469 MB·English

by  Peter Fuseini Haruna, Shikha Vyas-Doorgapersad

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K22346
6000 Broken Sound Parkway, NW a
Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL 33487 ISBN: 978-1-4822-2380-4 Edited by
711 Third Avenue 90000
New York, NY 10017
an informa business Peter Fuseini Haruna
2 Park Square, Milton Park
www.crcpress.com Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN, UK
9 781482 223804 Shikha Vyas-Doorgapersad
w w w. c r c p r e s s . c o m
K22346 cvr mech.indd 1 11/14/14 12:22 PM

Public Administration
Training in Africa
Competencies in Development Management

Public Administration
Training in Africa
Competencies in Development Management
Edited by
Peter Fuseini Haruna
Shikha Vyas-Doorgapersad
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
© 2015 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
No claim to original U.S. Government works
Version Date: 20140819
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Contents
Preface ...........................................................................................................vii
Acknowledgments ..........................................................................................xi
About the Editors ........................................................................................xiii
Contributors ..................................................................................................xv
1 Training Public Managers to Implement Governance Reform:
Opportunities and Challenges in African Nations .................................1
PETER FUSEINI HARUNA
2 Training Civil Servants in the Democratic Republic of the Congo......27
LUKAMBA MUHIYA TSHOMBE
3 Public Administration Education and Training in Botswana ..............41
THEOPHILUS T. TSHUKUDU AND TAOLO B. LUCAS
4 Performance-Focused Organizations: An Evolutionary Approach
to Training and Development of Skills in South Africa .......................63
SHIKHA VYAS-DOORGAPERSAD
5 Training for Public Service in Ghana in an Evolving World:
Some Suggestions for the Future ..........................................................83
LLOYD G. ADU AMOAH
6 Public Administration Education and Training in Nigeria:
A Reflection ........................................................................................107
EDWIN O. C. IJEOMA AND CHUKWUEMEKA OKAFOR
7 Training and Development for Service Delivery Enhancement
in Public Administration: Issues and Perspectives for Zimbabwe......139
RICKY MUNYARADZI MUKONZA
8 Public Administration Training and Development in Malawi ..........163
HAPPY MICKSON KAYUNI
v
vi ◾ Contents
9 Public Administration Training and Development in Africa:
The Case of Uganda ............................................................................189
BENON C. BASHEKA AND MAURICE OSCAR DASSAH
10 An Assessment of Public Administration Training and
Development in Africa: Lessons Learned and the Way Forward ........209
PETER FUSEINI HARUNA AND SHIKHA VYAS-DOORGAPERSAD
Preface
There is growing global interest in Africa and the matter of how to improve the
quality of life of its people. This is for a good reason: The world cannot afford to
ignore the democratic changes that have occurred across the continent over the
past two decades, changes with tremendous implications for professional education
and training for the tasks of nation building. Although the book covers a limited
number of Africa’s 54 nations, the research findings presented in it will serve the
needs of those who wish to learn about the future direction of research and scholar­
ship in training and development in African nations. The focus of the book is
to present research findings related to talent and competency development within
the framework of public service institutional capacity building. The comprehensive
empirical descriptions and analyses of education and training contexts and cultures
written by some of the best minds in the subfield will inform interested scholars
about the latest research findings in the field.
Admittedly, the book was born from our interest in public administration as
both a discipline and a professional field of practice. Focused research and scholar­
ship on public administration education and training in Africa seemed to be
lacking. Much of the discourse centers almost exclusively on the substance of policy
and politics, which gives good insight into the operations of African governments
and other stakeholders in development management. Of course, African Studies
Review and the International Journal of Public Administration periodically publish
articles on topics related to higher education in Africa, which obviously enrich
understanding and show patterns of opportunities and challenges there. What is
lacking, however, is a single, one­stop volume that provides an in­depth empirical
analysis on matters devoted to public administration education and training in
the emerging context of public governance. This book addresses a dire need and
provides essential reading for that purpose.
Specifically, readers will find answers to several questions, such as:
◾ How do African nations approach public administration education and training?
◾ How has public administration training evolved and changed in African nations?
◾ What are the perspectives of public administration training in African nations?
vii
viii ◾ Preface
◾ What role does higher education play in administrative training in African
nations?
◾ What competencies do public managers need to be successful in African nations?
◾ What challenges does public administration training face in African nations?
◾ What lessons have African nations learned in providing administrative training?
In this research­led book the focus is to provide new knowledge about the
processes of developing professionally relevant competencies and skills in African
nations. It is about knowledge and scholarship only. Political issues are not the tar­
get of discussion, and chapter contributors do not make statements about matters
of national sovereignty. The term African nation is used here to refer specifically to
existing geographical areas and national boundaries in which formal education,
training, and professional socialization are conducted. Given the above caveat,
chapter authors were selected from within the continent and instructed to address
national experiences with public administration education and training while tying
the discussions back to the common body of knowledge and scholarship defining
the field at a continental and a global level where appropriate.
One of the enduring concerns of public administration in Africa is how to
develop education and training appropriate to the culture, history, and lived expe­
rience and still ground it in the public service ethos. Peter Haruna sets the tone
with an analysis of governance reform requiring nuanced, integrative training and
development that fosters experiential and theoretical competence. Lukamba Muhiya
Tsombe analyzes training and development problems in the Democratic Republic of
Congo and argues for resources to be invested in revitalizing the civil service system.
Theophilus Tshukudu and Taolo Lucas focus on the evolution of education and train­
ing in Botswana, emphasizing the need to strengthen the curriculum by integrating
information and communication technology and the changing political and socio­
economic climate. Vyas­Doorgapersad takes a critical look at training and develop­
ment in post­apartheid South Africa, observes the scarcity of relevant skills, and
argues for research to determine challenges hampering skill development. Likewise,
Lloyd Amoah provides a critical review of education and training, pinpoints gaps
that need to be addressed, and offers suggestions for rebuilding the sagging image
of Ghana’s civil service. Edwin Ijeoma and Chukwuemeka Okafor examine fed­
eral training institutions created to s upport capacity building and enhance Nigerian
public service performance. Ricky Mukonza’s study reinforces the issue of capacity
building for public performance and how Zimbabwe has approached it through
training and development over the course of its history. Happy Kayuni argues that
the interdisciplinary approach to training and development is an enduring feature
in Malawi and emphasizes the need to strengthen the curriculum toward improv­
ing public service and efficiency. On Uganda, Benon Basheka and Maurice Dassah
examine challenges facing public administration programs and argue for increased
research and scholarship to reverse the fall in the prestige of the public administra­
tion degree and credentials. Haruna and Vyas­Doorgapersad conclude the book with