Moving forward in Zimbabwe - Brooks World Poverty Institute - The ...

Moving forward in Zimbabwe
Reducing poverty and promoting growth
Table 10.2 continued
Goal Status Outcome Comments
• Public finance management
information system.
• Results-based value added
and accountability promoted.
• Treasury instruction
systematically applied.
• Timely production of annual
accounts.
• Incumbents trained in
software.
• Finance departments
computerised.
• More accountability though projects
and programmes not completed, due
to erosion of dollar value caused by
hyperinflation.
• System refined to cope with the many
zeros of currency.
• No evidence except to suggest
that permanent secretaries use
system on regular basis to monitor
expenditure as the accounting
officers.
• Need to integrate programme to
HRMIS.
• Gender and HIV/AIDS
mainstreaming.
• Increase awareness and
provide counselling to those
affected by HIV/AIDS, and
prevention measures in public
servants in order to retain
their services.
• Remove barriers impeding
gender equality at work
places and women’s
promotion to senior decisionmaking
positions.
• Gender and HIV/AIDS focal
point in place all ministries.
• Incumbents trained.
• No assessment of impact of
programme on prevention and care
of public servants, though awareness
increased.
• Attrition data from ministries
do not necessarily reveal HIV and
AIDS situation, because of privacy
policy.
• Few cases of discrimination
based on gender reported
• Slow implementation of gender
equality to senior management
levels.
• Monitoring and evaluation
unit provides leadership and
coordinates reform activities,
in order to ensure consistency
and complementarity.
• Unit established; needs to
fully be capacitated.
• Needs to be e-enabled.
• Need to be put in place the
integrated results-based management.
Includes results-based budgeting,
results-based personnel performance
system, and results-based monitoring
and evaluation.
• Need to conduct regular impact
assessments to capture impact
and best practice, and provide
coherence and synergy of the
various reform initiatives.
10.4 Conclusion and recommendations
This chapter has shown how the public service is a key player in
the production and delivery of public goods. The public service
also acts as a catalyst for promoting citizens’ involvement in the
public domain, thus enhancing accountability and openness in
the management of government business. This chapter has also
shown, however, that in the absence of a strong command centre to
allocate resources and to coordinate and provide political direction
to reforms, the intended outcomes and benefits of the reforms
may not be met. This section puts forward some recommendations
for reinvigorating the public service in the post-crisis period.
The fundamental role of the Public Service Commission is to
match skilled personnel with appropriate posts and compensation
packages, to ensure effective and efficient implementation of
government policies. This would ensure that there is a stable service
delivery to the satisfaction of citizens. Unpredictable wage and
salary levels for public servants in a hyperinflationary environment
impact negatively on skills retention and job performance, and on
the overall performance of government. Sustained efforts also
need to be made to attract external assistance to support public
reforms. Policy initiatives and public service reform measures
are in place, but need to be strengthened and also refocused to
provide policy coherence to other reforms. Policy coherence is
necessary for national development priorities – especially poverty
reduction and empowerment – to be realised, in conjunction with
additional financial, material and technical resources, including
the government’s own resources and those from development
partners, as appropriate. Below are suggestions for strengthening
the capacity of the public service effectively to implement the
reform programme sustainably, achieve the desired results and
contribute to reducing the crisis:
1. The Office of the President Reform Unit should be
strengthened in strategic thinking, in order to enhance its
capacity to provide high value policy analysis and coherence
across government. By virtue of its strategic location,
prevailing over all ministries, it can take a long-term view, is
able to commission studies of a cross-cutting nature and can
conduct strategic audits on where the government stands in
respect to reform.
2. An implementation committee should be established. This
should comprise all permanent secretaries, have a clear
mandate, be linked to the Office of the President and Cabinet
and the Public Service Commission, and be staffed by a high
calibre person as secretary. This is critical if the challenges to
implementation are to be addressed swiftly and to reinforce
the champion role of the permanent secretary in the reform
process.
3. Strengthen and capacitate all the permanent secretaries to
take a leading role in the reforms through targeted staff
development programmes, especially in corporate planning,
strategic management and the promotion of a culture of
excellence.
4. Strengthen the HIV/AIDS mainstreaming mechanism,
in order to provide sufficient counselling support to those
affected, and to raise awareness.
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