de-politicization

Alfredo Gamito

Ref Batch
M
Focus Area(s)
Balancing the Central and Local
Ref Batch Number
10
Country of Reform
Mozambique
Interviewers
Itumeleng Makgetla
Name
Alfredo Gamito
Interviewee's Position
Chairman, Commission on Public Administration, Local Power and the Mass Media
Interviewee's Organization
National Assembly of Mozambique
Language
Portuguese
Nationality of Interviewee
Mozambican
Town/City
Maputo
Country
Mozambique
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Keywords
reconstruction
de-politicization
managing factions
decentralization
Abstract

Alfredo Gamito describes his experience as Mozambique's minister of state administration, which involved implementing a reform program to modernize, professionalize and decentralize the administration. He describes the steps that the ministry took to integrate individuals nominated by the opposition RENAMO party into the state administration, describing in particular the training that these new civil servants underwent. Gamito additionally discusses the process of determining which cities the government would designate as municipalities ahead of the country’s first municipal elections in 1998.

Case Study:  Embracing the Power of Tradition: Decentralization in Mozambique, 1992-2000

Transcript
Alfredo_Gamito.pdf
Alfredo_Gamito.txt
Headshot
alfredo_gamito.jpg
Profile

Alfredo Gamito served as the minister of state administration in Mozambique from 1995 to 2000. In this position, he managed a broad reform agenda that included decentralizing the state administration as well as professionalizing the civil service. Gamito began his career in the private sector before being appointed as the secretary of the state cashew company. He also served as the vice minister of agriculture and the governor of Nampula province. At the time of this interview, Gamito was a member of the National Assembly,where he was chairman of the Commission on Public Administration, Local Power and the Mass Media.

Full Audio File Location
Full Audio File Size
98.3MB
Full Audio Title
Alfredo Gamito- Full Interview

Ngo Hongly

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K
Focus Area(s)
Balancing the Central and Local
Ref Batch Number
5
Country of Reform
Cambodia
Interviewers
Rohan Mukherjee
Name
Ngo Hongly
Interviewee's Position
Secretary-General
Interviewee's Organization
Council for Administrative Reform, Cambodia
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Cambodian
Town/City
Phnom Penh
Country
Cambodia
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Keywords
training
Reform sequencing
ranks and grades
performance management
pay reform
merit pay
Job descriptions
de-politicization
decentralization
computerization
civil service commission
capacity building
Abstract
Ngo Hongly describes steps taken in Cambodia to integrate formerly warring factions into a common civil service and to develop the capacity to deliver public services. In 1994, the government adopted a Common Statute of Civil Service and conducted a census to determine how many people actually worked for the civil service. It then began to rationalize the system and computerize pay rolls. In 2006, it adopted a four-point reform strategy to improve public service delivery, rationalize pay and employment, build capacity and improve public information. These were central reforms in a broader strategy aimed at greater transparency in government, improved accountability and performance, enhanced capacity, and better management of human resources. With full support from top leadership, the reform set high values on motivated public employees, professionalism and service to the public. He describes the challenges of decentralization and Cambodia’s experience with one-stop offices for services, as well as his attempts to improve the work environment, map clear career paths and systematize compensation.
Transcript
Ngo_Hongly.pdf
Ngo_Hongly.txt
Profile

At the time of this interview, Ngo Hongly was secretary general of the Council for Administrative Reform in Cambodia. After 20 years in the French private sector, he returned to Cambodia and worked from 1994-2003 as a consultant for the Cambodian government on administrative reform. In January 2004, he was appointed secretary-general of the Council for Administrative Reform (CAR), working directly under His Excellency Sok An, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the CAR under the direction of the Prime Minister Hun Sen. The council, active since 1999, engaged in various policy-making activities in the area of administrative reform.

Full Audio File Location
Full Audio File Size
50MB
Full Audio Title
Ngo Hongly Interview

Yim Sovann

Ref Batch
K
Focus Area(s)
Reconciling Economic Policy and Institution-Building Goals
Ref Batch Number
12
Country of Reform
Cambodia
Interviewers
Rohan Mukherjee
Name
Yim Sovann
Interviewee's Position
Member of Parliament
Interviewee's Organization
Cambodia
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Cambodian
Town/City
Phnom Penh
Country
Cambodia
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Keywords
training
recruitment
promotion
performance management
patronage
merit pay
Job descriptions
financial reform
Donor Relations
de-politicization
decentralization
capacity building
Abstract
Yim Sovann describes an initiative to reform Cambodia’s Finance Ministry and curb corruption in 1993-94. He says that when he joined the ministry as an assistant to the new minister, the treasury was bankrupt and inflation was running as high as 300%. Civil servants had not been paid for as long as four months, and there was no public finance law, no law regarding revenue collection or expenditures, no inventory of state assets and no anti-corruption law. The first task was to draft an entire complement of financial reform laws based upon past practices and outside experience. The greatest resistance came from high government officials engaged in non-transparent privatization of state assets and military groups engaged in illegal businesses and smuggling. He says that the ministry was successful in improving revenue collection and paying civil servants and soldiers. The minister’s resulting credibility enabled him to deal with soldiers to combat smuggling and corruption and to encourage ministry employees to enter positions and win promotions based upon merit. Corruption in the ministry virtually disappeared, he says. However, without top political support, such reforms could not endure. Many gains were lost after administrations changed.
 
Transcript
Yim_Sovann.pdf
Yim_Sovann.txt
Headshot
yim_sovann.jpg
Profile

At the time of this interview, Yim Sovann was serving his third term as a member of Parliament for Phnom Penh. He was an assistant to the minister of finance during 1993-94, after which he studied in Japan for a degree in economics. He was elected to Parliament in 1998 after he had returned to Cambodia. 

Full Audio File Location
Full Audio File Size
57MB
Full Audio Title
Yim Sovann Interview

Fatbardh Kadilli

Ref Batch
D
Focus Area(s)
Civil Service
Ref Batch Number
13
Critical Tasks
Computerization of records
Performance management system
Country of Reform
Albania
Interviewers
Jona Repishti
Name
Fatbardh Kadilli
Interviewee's Position
Adviser to the Prime Minister
Interviewee's Organization
Albania
Language
Albanian
Nationality of Interviewee
Albanian
Town/City
Tirana
Country
Albania
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Keywords
training
recruitment
Reform sequencing
privatization
performance management
patronage
one-stop-shops
merit pay
merit selection
Job descriptions
downsizing
Donor Relations
de-politicization
decentralization
computerization
civil service commission
capacity building
Abstract

Fatbardh Kadilli, adviser to Albania's prime minister on anti-corruption policies, presents his views on the efforts to reform public administration. He says that the country adopted Western models for reform legislation and implementation, but that breaking old habits acquired under the former communist system was difficult. He believes that protecting civil servants from arbitrary firing impeded efforts to modernize the government because so many administrators were still in positions where they could not perform. He describes the difficulties of trying to institute a successful performance management system because Albania had few leaders who understand management. He reports on initiatives to downsize and consolidate ministries and to install Internet-based systems to reduce corruption in procurement, licensing and a number of other public services.

Transcript
Fatbardh_Kadilli.pdf
Fatbardh_Kadilli.txt
Headshot
fatbardh_kadilli.jpg
Profile

At the time of this interview, Fatbardh Kadilli was adviser to the prime minister on anti-corruption matters, a position he had held since 2005.  Prior to that he served for four years as a consultant on anti-corruption with an American firm financed by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Prior to that he led a program on integrated services for children at UNICEF. From 1998 to 2005, he was also a consultant with the Institute for Contemporary Studies, where, among other tasks, he advised the government on decentralization reforms. Earlier, he served in the State Secretariat for Local Governance, where he was in charge of the Refugee Office and drafted the law on asylum seekers.

Full Audio File Location
Full Audio File Size
78 MB
Full Audio Title
Fatbardh Kadilli - Full Interview

Rose N. Kafeero

Ref Batch
F
Focus Area(s)
Civil Service
Ref Batch Number
2
Critical Tasks
Performance management system
Country of Reform
Uganda
Interviewers
Andrew Schalkwyk
Name
Rose N. Kafeero
Interviewee's Position
Deputy Secretary of the Public Service Commission
Interviewee's Organization
Uganda
Language
English
Nationality of Interviewee
Ugandan
Town/City
Kampala
Country
Uganda
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Keywords
training
Reform sequencing
recruitment
performance management
pay reform
merit selection
downsizing
de-politicization
decentralization
computerization
civil service commission
capacity building
budgeting
Abstract

Rose Kafeero describes the challenges she faced to implement “results-oriented management” reforms in the Ugandan government. While she believes that the mindset changed over the years and that budgets were prepared on the basis of outcomes, she says the impetus for outcome-based performance weakened when some of the managers leading these reforms left agencies. She also did not have full backing from top officials. She believes that other civil service reforms such as downsizing and divestiture of functions have been more successful. She outlines the merit-based selection process at both the national and district levels. She says that universities do not produce skill levels that match government requirements in some categories. She describes the difficulties of recruiting or retaining civil servants in some categories because of low pay and a failure to provide core benefits such as housing.

Transcript
Rose_Kafeero.pdf
Rose_Kafeero.txt
Profile

At the time of this interview, Rose N. Kafeero was deputy secretary of the Public Service Commission in Uganda. Upon graduation from university, she was appointed as a personnel officer and subsequently was promoted to higher positions. In 1992, she was elevated to head of department in the Ministry of Public Service and subsequently to her position at the time of the interview.  In that position, she also headed the Department of Monitoring and Guidance, which served as the secretariat to the Public Service Commission.

Full Audio File Location
Full Audio File Size
78 MB
Full Audio Title
Rose N. Kafeero - Full Interview