Bureaucracy in Ghana: The Effect of Politics on Ghana's Bureaucracy

CDD GHANA 18 BUREAUCRACY IN GHANA THE EFFECT OF POLITICS ON GHANA’S BUREAUCRACY EBO DANIEL  Introduction The development agenda of a nation cannot be separated from the efficient role of its bureaucracy. The bureaucracy performs such important roles as implementing government policies for social equity and economic development. Essentially, the bureaucracy is the administrative machinery of government which will ensure that the development programs of any government are successfully implemented. Again, the formulation or initiation of such development plans are partly influenced by the bureaucrats who use their experience and technical know-how to advise government on which policies are best suitable for which conditions. Business, labor, religious, and educational systems depend on a large workforce arranged in a hierarchy to carry out specialized tasks based on internal rules and procedures as prescribed by Max Weber. All over the world, aside corporate organizations, bureaucracy is manifested in the work of government by way of the institutionalization of the civil or public service. Bureaucrats are usually technocrats, in that, they have experience in a specialized field and use their technical know-how to support the implementation of government policies to achieve development. Hence clearly, a nation’s development to a large extent depends on how vibrant and effective its bureaucracy is. Lessons from Other Societies Effective bureaucracy has greatly contributed to the success story of some developed countries in continents like Asia, South America and Europe. Scholars have observed that the miracle that led to the development of Asia is its effective bureaucracy that was insulated from the push and pulls of short-run politics (Quibria, 2002). That is to say that, the politics of Asia had little or no direct influence on how its bureaucracy was run. Given the fact that governance was rotational and could be short, should an administration lose its attempt to run for a second term, the Asian bureaucracy was essentially immune from the transience of such politics. The Economic Planning Bureau in Korea; the Industrial Development Bureau in Taipei (China); and the Economic Planning Bureau in Malaysia are semi-autonomous, technocratic organizations that worked efficiently to promote development in these Asian countries. Similarly, continents such as Europe and South America have relied on their bureaucracy to effect sustainable development. From setting up development agencies, the civil service of these countries has ensured that, development is evenly distributed to the various parts of the country without necessarily being affected by biased politics. The Ghanaian Experience The civil service in Ghana in the fourth republic was establish by a renewed act of parliament in 1993 known as the Civil Service Law 1993 PNDCL 327, with the general mandate of assisting “the Government in the formulation and implementation of government policies for the development of the country.” (laws.ghanalegal.com, 2018). Accordingly, the civil service is responsible for roles such as; the initiation and formulation of policy options for consideration by government, initiation and advising on government plan, undertaking research that may be necessary for the effective implementation of government policies, Implement government policies, review government policies and plans, and monitor, co-ordinate and evaluate government policies and plans, just to mention a few. Ghana’s civil service was said to be one of the best in the world, modeled after its British colonial masters in times past, but recently that has not been defended. While effective bureaucracy has contributed to the success story of some developed countries like a part of Asia and America (as discussed above), the weakness of the bureaucracies in Africa and for that matter Ghana has been a bane to the country’s development. For an institution established along the lines of Max Weber’s bureaucratic concept, one will assume (and indeed it should be the case) that, it should be run devoid of partisan influence, but the bureaucracy of Ghana does not present a positive picture. Partisanship has marred the Ghanaian bureaucracy to the extent that, most of the officers appointed to the civil service are appointed on party lines, while people who have risen through the ranks are sidelined immediately there is a change of government. This practice has been widely seen among the two major political parties in Ghana namely the NPP and the NDC who have ruled the nation in turns since the beginning of the fourth republic. According to Kwadwo Mpiani, a former Chief of Staff, Ghana’s civil service has been destroyed by politicians through constant dismissal of public servants on the assumption that they belong to the opposite parties. Speaking on Media General’s Accra Dialogue, he cited instances where some Ghana Water Company and Volta River Authority officers were dismissed on the allegation that they were politically aligned (Wedam, 2018). These claims, provable or not, is a reflection or effect of regular appointment of party faithfuls to man public institutions and thereby causing subsequent administrations to distrust such individuals. For instance, a former Minister of Energy and Petroleum of the ruling party, speaking on radio, suggested that the president removes all civil servants from the Flagstaff House who had affinity with the NDC and replace them with party faithfuls of the NPP (Daily Heritage, 2017). Since the president was sworn into office, he is reported to have sacked about 13,000 public servants Ghanaweb 23rd May, 2017- Akuffo Addo sacks 13000 public sector workers most of whom were appointees of the previous government. Although this may not have direct linkage to the statement of the minister, it bears evidence to the distrust that incumbent governments in Ghana over the past years have shown towards civil servants appointed by their rival parties. This example is not only found among the NPP but also the NDC who also sacked some officers during the John Evans Atta Mills led administration including the Sports Council director (The Statesman, 2009). What this trend poses for the bureaucrats in Ghana is that, it undermines the principle of a secured tenure for them as is supposed to be the case for all civil servants. This problem consequently leads to abuse of office to engage in corrupt practices. Since these civil servants are not assured of their positions, they tend to use dubious means to amass wealth before the next government takes over. Officers who are retained but belong to the other political party also try to sabotage the efforts of the government of the day in order to make them unpopular and thus create room for the opposition to win power in the next elections. Moreover, when it comes to policy formulation and implementation, the political executives hardly consult the technocrats (bureaucrats) who would provide them with adequate information on the particular policy. The politicians are usually bent on achieving their party manifestos that they barely consult the bureaucrats for their input before they implement them. The result of this is that, the programs usually hit a deadlock because, whether or not the policy is expedient, the bureaucrats are forced to support the government in its implementation. For instance, the NPP in the lead up to the 2016 general election rode on the policy of free Senior High School education, and upon winning power, implemented the policy against all oppositions Free SHS manifesto policy of the NPP. This policy has been widely criticized especially by the opposition party, NDC. After the implementation, the government has identified that schools are congested, hence their resolve to embrace a double-track system, meanwhile if adequate consultation had been done, this problem would have been anticipated and avoided. On the flipside however, government has taken certain steps that has impacted and had positive influence on the nature of the work of the bureaucrats over the years. An example can be cited of the adoption of a code of conduct for the public service by the Mahama (NDC)-led administration in 2013. This code of ethics is very instrumental to ensuring efficiency within the public service because, it defines actions that amount to wrongdoing within the service and its possible consequences, hence keeping state officials in check. Likewise, the NPP in their 2016 manifesto hinted at enforcing a similar code of conduct for public officials to assure accountability and efficiency. A careful consideration of political party manifestos and policy implementation will point to the fact that, certain attempts have been made to strengthen the civil service in terms of efficiency, while several other attempts have gone the opposite direction. For instance, economic stagnation around 1993 led the NDC government at the time to adopt the Civil Service Performance Improvement Program (CSPIP) as an institutional strategy to raise the country’s GDP from 5% to 8-10%. The program CSPIP formed a component of the National Institutional Renewal Programme (NIRP) implemented by the same government. This contributed to fulfilling their campaign promise to strengthen the public service (Adei & Boachie-Danquah, 2002). Moreover, both political parties (NPP and NDC) have delivered on most of their campaign promises to revitalize the civil service, the NDC in their 1996 and 2012 as well as the NPP in their 2000 and 2004 manifestos NPP Manifesto for 2000 and 2006 General Elections. Evidentially, training sessions and workshops have been regularly organized to better equip the civil service for service delivery. After the NPP’s first tenure of office in 2004 they had reportedly trained 410 out of 599 top civil servants at GIMPA and through other sessions, whereas the NDC also managed to train members of the civil service in the year 2009 and 2016 respectively NDC Manifesto for 1996 General Elections. Clearly, successive governments have seemingly shown interest in the efficiency of the bureaucrats. However, although government has done all these to equip the bureaucrats, when it comes to service delivery, the same government officials stand in the way of the bureaucrats doing their job successfully. Recently, the Civil and Local Government Staff of Ghana (CLOSSAG) threatened to go on a strike in protest of the fact that government officials especially Ministers, instead of utilizing the services of the civil servants, go ahead to appoint special assistants and sideline the civil servants. These assistants tend to enjoy the privileges due the bureaucrats such as scholarships and training programmes abroad (3newsgh, 2018). Again, in 2017, CLOSAG threatened to sue government for its neglect of the Public Services Commission (PSC) in the appointment of public officers thereby breaching Article 195 (1) of the 1992 Constitution which enjoins the president to consult the PSC in such appointments Ghanaian Times 31st August 2017: CLOSSAG to go to court over appointment of public officers. This situation causes abrupt termination of the contracts of civil servants who are approaching the peak of their careers due to political interference, since much consultation was not done with the Public Services Commission. The reasons for the ineffective use of Ghana’s bureaucracy may stem from the fact that, overly partisan nature of the recent bureaucratic institution has caused the government and essentially the politicians to lose trust in the civil service so long as they suspect sabotage from members of their rival parties in the service. Also, although government has offered numerous training to the bureaucrats, there still remains the problem of incompetence among the civil service personnel. According to (Owusu, 2014) ,the Civil Service technically is being governed with old and outmoded regulations according to the draft regulations, therefore contemporary policies are unable to survive since 20th Century solutions are used to solve 21st century problems. Moreover, bureaucratic bottlenecks has become a bane to smooth and effective policy implementation hence any government which wants something done quickly may resort to going ahead without adequate input from the bureaucrats. The Private Enterprise Foundation (PEF) has said that, in spite of the ongoing public sector reforms, including the issuing of service charters by public sector agencies; the quality of public service delivery remains unsatisfactory, being very bureaucratic, cumbersome and open to petty corruption Felix Kwame Alornyeku: The Impact Of Bureaucracy On Public Service Delivery: A Study Of Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, 2011 (Alornyeku, 2011). When people have to queue to get access to a particular service because of long procedures and regulations, they may resort to bribing their way past the obstacles. Conclusion It goes without saying that the civil service, if given careful management, will serve as a fulcrum to Ghana’s development agenda. As stated earlier, it is this bureaucratic institution that implement government policies and as such, any development policy ideally would go through them hence the need to ensure that it is in a good capacity to work. Bureaucrats are people who have the training and skills particular to their designation. This ensures that these non-elective members know what they are doing and will be able to maximize their knowledge and apply their skills Greengarage.org: 10 Main advantages of bureaucracy. As a result, tasks are effectively carried out and economic development can be assured. Furthermore, government relies on the bureaucrats for data and information before implementing any policy that has implications on the economy; therefore, although the bureaucrats do not necessarily formulate the policy themselves, they influence the formulation process. It is not surprising then that recently, after setting up the Civil Service Council, the president of the republic mandated the civil service to help government achieve its vision Myjoyonline.com: Help us achieve our vision for Ghana – Akufo-Addo to civil service. This is what the bureaucrats are called to do; supporting government to achieve development, if the system did not pave way for over-politicization. In order for the civil service of Ghana to live up to its mandate, certain steps need to be taken to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. Firstly, it is imperative for the institution to rid itself of over-partisan affiliations. Indeed every individual within the bureaucracy is entitled to support a particular political party, but the sensitive nature of the work of civil servants should impel them not to allow their party affiliation get in the way of their work. Neutrality as a guiding principle is the best way to ensure that the bureaucrats are doing what they are tasked to do, hence the need for a strong institutionalization of that principle. In the same vein, politicians should not interfere with the bureaucracy through unmerited appointments of party faithfuls. This practice breeds inefficiency and corruption. Secondly, appointment and promotion of civil servants should be based solely on expertise and merit. In the civil service today, nepotism and fraudulent academic credentials is widespread and greatly affecting the quality of service delivery. A case can be cited of the IT head of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), who allegedly forged academic credentials to gain his position (Ghananewsonline, 2017). Furthermore, even those with verifiable academic credentials usually lack experience and may not have what it takes because their education or training does or did not cover what they are assigned to do. Reforms in this regard will positively enhance the capacity of the civil service. Moreover, government should endeavor to purge the existing civil service and take out ghost names and people who have been employed but are not doing their work. Over the years, much effort have been committed to this area with respect to clearing ghost names in key public institutions, but much still needs to be done. The civil service needs to embrace computerization in order to easily identify discrepancies in payment modes and have a proper employee database to better check the employees for efficiency. Finally, there should be a clearly defined mandate of the bureaucrats such that each position has a specified working framework within the context of the larger institutional mission and vision. Vague and ambiguous roles or job description has a bad effect on the performance of the civil servants since they may end up not doing what they are supposed to do or do the wrong things. Government should clearly communicate its development plan to the civil servants so that they may understand how best they can contribute to each particular project, to avoid using the same solutions for every single problem. From what has been said so far, bureaucracy is undoubtedly an essential tool for development in the world and for that matter Ghana, but only when it is effective and efficient. Thus, it is very important that the petty obstacles such as partisanship and corruption that hinder the realization of an effective bureaucracy are gotten rid of, so that the Ghanaian bureaucracy will serve its purpose of administering development. REFERENCES New Patriotic Party. (2016). Change: An Agenda For Jobs- NPP Manifesto for 2016 General Elections. Accra, Ghana: NPP. 3newsgh. (2018, May 18). CLOGSAG mulls strike over political appointees. Retrieved July 26, 2018, from 3newsgh.com: http://3news.com/clogsag-mulls-strike-over-political-appointees/ Alornyeku, F. K. (2011, February). The Impact of Bureaucracy on Public Service Delivery: A Study of Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly. Kumasi, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science And Technology , Ghana. Daily Heritage. (2017, February). Civil servants at Flagstaff House to be sacked? . Retrieved Juy 13, 2018, from dailyheritage.com.gh: http://dailyheritage.com.gh/?p=4808 Ghana Web. (2017, May 23). Akufo-Addo sacks 13,000 public sector workers. Retrieved July 16, 2018, from Ghanaweb.com: https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Akufo-Addo-sacks-13-000-public-sector-workers-540383 Ghanaian Times. (2017, September 5). CLOSSAG to go to court over appointment of public officers . Retrieved July 27, 2018, from Ghanaian Times Website: http://www.ghanaiantimes.com.gh/clossag-to-go-to-court-over-appointment-of-public-officers/ Ghananewsonline. (2017, August 31). Fake Certs saga: Dr. Caleb Afaglo dismissed from SSNIT. Retrieved July 27, 2018, from Ghananewsonline.com: http://ghananewsonline.com.gh/fake-certs-saga-dr-caleb-afaglo-dismissed-ssnit/ Greengarageblog Admin. (2015, August 21). 10 Main Advantages And Disadvantages Of Bureaucracy. Retrieved July 27, 2018 , from greengarageblog.org: https://greengarageblog.org/10-main-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-bureaucracy laws.ghanalegal.com. (2018, Juy 12). Civil Service Act - GhanaLegal - Legal Portal for Ghana. Retrieved July 12, 2018, from laws.ghanalegal.com: http://laws.ghanalegal.com/acts/id/504/section/2/Object_Of_The_Service myjoyonline. (2017, October 31). Help us achieve our vision for Ghana – Akufo-Addo to civil service. Retrieved August 2, 2018, from www.myjoyonline.com: https://www.myjoyonline.com/politics/2017/october-31st/help-us-achieve-our-vision-for-ghana-akufo-addo-to-civil-service.php National Democratic Congress (Ghana). (1996). 1996 manifesto. Accra, Ghana: The Congress. New Patriotic Party (Ghana). (2000). Agenda for positive change: Manifesto 2000 of the New Patriotic Party. Accra, Ghana: N.P.P. Owusu, S. (2014). STRUCTURAL CHALLENGES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PUBLIC SECTOR REFORMS IN THE GHANA CIVIL SERVICE – THE EXPERIENCE OF THE OFFICE OF THE HEAD OF CIVIL SERVICE (OHCS). Universty of Ghana. Quibria, M. G. (2002). Growth and Poverty:Lessons from the East Asian Miracle Revisited. Tokyo: Asian Development Bank Institute. Stephen Adei & Yaw Boachie-Danquah. (2002, November 24). THE CIVIL SERVICE PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMME (CSPIP) IN GHANA: LESSONS OF EXPERIENCE. 24th AAPAM Annual Roundtable Conference on the African Public Service in the 21st Century– New Initiatives in Performance Management . Maseru, Lesotho. The Statesman. (2009, May 22). Mills sacks yet another NPP man. Retrieved July 17, 2018, from Modern Ghana: https://www.modernghana.com/news/217807/mills-sacks-yet-another-npp-man.html Wedam, P. (2018, May 30). Our civil service is in a sorry state; blame politicians – Kwadwo Mpiani - 3newsgh. Retrieved July 12, 2018, from 3news.com: http://3news.com/our-civil-service-is-in-a-sorry-state-blame-politicians-kwadwo-mpiani/