In this interview, Saah Charles N’Tow describes his roles as program director for the President’s Young Professional Program (PYPP) and John Snow Inc.’s (JSI) Scott Family Liberia Fellows Program. He talks about the process of designing a two-year fellowship program to bring young Liberians into key government ministries and agencies. He explains the creation of a selection criteria for fellows and the procedures that ensured the applicant-screening process remained transparent and fair. He discusses how the program held support sessions for applicants focused on resume writing and interview preparation. He addresses the program’s coordination practices with donors on budget support. He notes instances of resistance against the program from ministries and agencies and describes how the program responded to problems arising from the placement of fellows. He highlights the program’s administrative components that included mentoring, training, performance management, and program immersion. Finally, he describes the importance of sustainable funding procedures and talks about the likelihood of continued support for the program through future administrations

In this interview, Stanley Murage discusses results based management in the Kenyan government, particularly the implementation of Rapid Results Initiatives (RRI). He begins by recounting the early stages of reforming, from when he first started looking at results based management five years before its execution. The process began in 2003 with different economic sectors creating service charters with measurable goals and timelines. Departments set these goals in conjunction with citizens through stakeholder forums that discussed what aims to establish and how to achieve the desired results. This citizen participation is one demonstration of how citizen-centered the reforms were. In addition to soliciting public input, the Rapid Results reforms also improved communication to the public regarding what services to expect and how the reforms benefited citizens. As part of the new emphasis on results and evaluation, the reform teams also implemented results-based budgeting. Murage identified the political steering from the top as a key factor enabling the success of the RRIs. Having skilled people in government was another critical element. Overall, Murage explains that RRIs require accompanying reform structures such as a policy setting body, political will and a good communication strategy. He outlines the set up and process for each of these elements in Kenya’s implementation of Rapid Results. 

In this interview, based on his experiences at the Liberia Institute of Public Administration (LIPA), Harold Jonathan Monger explains the challenges involved in institutionalizing capacity building. LIPA is an internal consulting and civil service trainer entity. Monger discusses the budgeting problems in equipping the institute to be able to provide better training and to improve the marketing of its services to government agencies. He also details LIPA’s changing relationships with other internal and external capacity-building consultants such as the Governance and Economic Management Assistance Program and IBI International, both of which have also played significant roles in the designs of certification trainings and civil service workshops. Finally, Monger draws from his extensive experience to comment on what he says are the main obstacles to improving governance in Liberia. He recommends establishing formal, uniform systems and procedures and improving communication and collaboration between agencies to avoid duplication.

George Yambesi draws upon his experience in the President’s Office for Public Service Management to trace the history of civil service reform in Tanzania.  He describes some of the challenges and goals involved in implementing reforms. The major theme of these reforms has been improving performance results and accountability.  Within this, there has been a focus on policy development, systems for appraising performance, improving human resource management, and leadership development.  Yambesi notes that one of the main motivations for reform was a public outcry for better services.  He goes into great detail about retrenchment and staff size, delineating specific goals set and the methods used in achieving those goals.  He also describes changes to pay policies, performance management systems, and in the promotion and recruitment systems at some length.  He speaks about the effect of the shift from secretive to open performance evaluations and stresses the importance of strategic thinking as the basis for annual plans and budgets.  He also discusses training programs and capacity building.  Finally, while he acknowledges the role played by international donors in establishing the reform agenda, he maintains that the reform agenda was driven largely by Tanzania itself.

Case Study:  Creating an Affordable Public Service: Tanzania, 1995-1998

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.