Guest commentary: Bureaucracy and public policy

This information which I share is derived from thirty six years experience in the private and public sectors.

I have seen governments collapse and leaders humiliated owing to 'game playing' with the bureaucracy by public service managers; and this is a big problem that must be addressed.

The key to implementation of public policy lies essentially in having a robust bureaucracy and the fulcrum here is the managers in the public service who must put a priority on getting things done.

They are the ones who have spent years in the service and know very well the bottle-necks and how to circumvent them and still be transparent. They are the ones who can eliminate 'red tape'.

They must be told that they will be held accountable. The engine of the public service is the Directors within ministries.

Permanent Secretaries, though holding the position of CEO in a ministry have changed rather frequently during the past decade; and though accountable,they are never really familiar with the day to day on-site operations. The directors are!

A major problem is that many Directors are in fierce competition with one another to ascend the ladder to the plum position of Permanent Secretary from which they can retire; and a lot of energy is spent in this pursuit. The net result is that efficiency of the ministry is retarded.

There are also misfits in some of these positions.

I suggest that after the Cabinet retreat is completed, that government should convene a forum of all public service managers to outline its various policies and expectations, and at the same time elicit recommendations on improving the health of the public service bureaucracy.

This must be an exercise of letting these public officials know that whatever limitations may exist within the bureaucracy, they must be innovative and exercise initiative in getting things done.

They must use the telephone instead of waiting on the delivery of mail.

Another problem plaguing the public service is the whopping amount of vacation and other leave afforded senior officers throughout the entire public service.

Many of these officers are entitled to travelling allowances but never embark on travelling assignments, yet for decades now have made claims for this entitlement.

The issue here is accountability and appropriately can be dealt with by the implementation of simple administrative measures.

The leitmotif of governance is public administration.

Ronald Bhola