Bureaucracy in Zambia
1. INTRODUCTION
Administrative discretion can be defined as the exercise of professional expertise and judgment, as opposed to strict adherence to regulations or statutes, in making a decision or performing official acts or duties. Zambia’s state of bureaucracy battles with the affect effect of colonialism. This therefore has undermined and reduced the efficacy of the bureaucracy. This can be seen in areas such as education, managerial styles, organizational structure, and sociocultural environment. As a result, of the after effect of the colonial government which strongly ruled Zambia, administrative discretion which is an important attribute in any bureaucracy has been severely lacking. South Africa on the other hand today, post 1994, also faces similar challenges in similar areas such as Zambia. This essay will therefore discuss by comparing and contrasting the challenges faced by Zambia and South Africa’s bureaucracy after being under repressive governments.
2. CHALLENGES CONFRONTING ZAMBIA AND SOUTH AFRICA AS OF COLONIALISM AND APARTHEID
2.1. EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGE
The conspicuous lack of education amongst civil servants in Zambia has contributed largely to the lack of administrative discretion within its bureaucracy. According to Lodge (1998, p. 3) research conducted shows more than two-third of the country’s civil servants in 1973 were not graduates. As the government programmes and courses offered are taught in short duration of time and in most of the universities the curriculum are not practically applicable to the Zambian community. Another major challenge faced by the Zambian bureaucracy with respect to education is the inability of the executive arm of the government to appropriately appoint the right personnel suited for a particular public office. Most often, the government places individuals in areas not suited to their trained skills and expertise which leads to further inefficiency within the bureaucracy.
On the other hand, South
Administrative discretion can be defined as the exercise of professional expertise and judgment, as opposed to strict adherence to regulations or statutes, in making a decision or performing official acts or duties. Zambia’s state of bureaucracy battles with the affect effect of colonialism. This therefore has undermined and reduced the efficacy of the bureaucracy. This can be seen in areas such as education, managerial styles, organizational structure, and sociocultural environment. As a result, of the after effect of the colonial government which strongly ruled Zambia, administrative discretion which is an important attribute in any bureaucracy has been severely lacking. South Africa on the other hand today, post 1994, also faces similar challenges in similar areas such as Zambia. This essay will therefore discuss by comparing and contrasting the challenges faced by Zambia and South Africa’s bureaucracy after being under repressive governments.
2. CHALLENGES CONFRONTING ZAMBIA AND SOUTH AFRICA AS OF COLONIALISM AND APARTHEID
2.1. EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGE
The conspicuous lack of education amongst civil servants in Zambia has contributed largely to the lack of administrative discretion within its bureaucracy. According to Lodge (1998, p. 3) research conducted shows more than two-third of the country’s civil servants in 1973 were not graduates. As the government programmes and courses offered are taught in short duration of time and in most of the universities the curriculum are not practically applicable to the Zambian community. Another major challenge faced by the Zambian bureaucracy with respect to education is the inability of the executive arm of the government to appropriately appoint the right personnel suited for a particular public office. Most often, the government places individuals in areas not suited to their trained skills and expertise which leads to further inefficiency within the bureaucracy.
On the other hand, South