Fred Mufulukye describes the territorial administrative reforms implemented in Rwanda in 2005-06 that reduced the number of districts to 30 from 106. Local leaders are now elected. Pay for district staff was raised and recruitment became based on qualifications and merit. At the instigation of the president, the government initiated the imihigo process to inspire district performance and achievement of outcomes in governance, economic development, and social development. Based on a cultural tradition from the days of chiefdoms, the process requires that each district develop specific goals and priorities from the bottom up each year. Achievement of these goals and priorities is evaluated and scored each year by the government, motivating each district to out-compete other districts in performance. The program and results in each district are widely publicized in order to engage the citizenry in setting priorities and judging results.    

Case Study:  The Promise of Imihigo: Decentralized Service Delivery in Rwanda, 2006-2010 and Government Through Mobilization: Restoring Order After Rwanda's 1994 Genocide

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.

Zef Preci, head of the independent, non-governmental Albanian Center for Economic Research, critically assesses progress and setbacks in Albania’s civil service reforms. He says that despite a civil service law aimed at creating a merit-based civil service insulated from politics, the hiring and firing of civil servants had become highly politicized and retained many of the characteristics of the former communist system. The focus is upon patronage rather than services to the public. He is critical of international donors for looking the other way. He believes that the army and police have been de-politicized and were forces for good.

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.