UNDESA - UNECA

FFIINNAALL RREEPPOORRTT

REGIONAL FORUM ON REINVENTING GOVERNMENT IN AFRICA: BUILDING TRUST IN GOVERNMENT

United Nations Conference Centre (UNCC)

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

11-13 December 2006

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Acknowledgements

The organizers of the Regional Forum thank all the participants and presenters

for their outstanding contributions and very useful inputs to the themes of the

Regional Forum which enhanced debate during the group discussion sessions.

UNDESA expresses its gratitude to the United Nations Development Programme

(UNDP) and to the Economic Commission for Africa of the United Nations

(UNECA), respectively, for co-sponsoring and for hosting the Forum.

A special word of thanks is also due to Ms. Hanlie van Dyk-Robertson, Special

Adviser to the Minister, Department of Public Service and Administration of South

Africa, who was the Forum General Rapporteur, assisted by Session and Group

Rapporteurs, Dr. Gabriel A. Gundu, Director, African Peer Review Mechanism,

Nigeria; Ms. Norah N. Katumba-Wandera, Component Manager, Ministry of

Finance, Planning and Economic Development of Uganda; Dr. Simon M. Lelo,

Director General, African Training and Research Centre in Administration for

Development; Prof. Richard Levin, Director General, Department of Public Service

and Administration of South Africa; Ms. Mating Mahooana, Chief Local

Government Officer, Ministry of Local Government of Lesotho; Mr. George

Matovu, Director, Municipal development Partnership for Eastern and Southern

Africa; Mr. Ozonnia Ojielo, Senior Governance Advisor, UNDP; and Mr. Mohamed

L. Wahab, Director, South African Police Service.

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Table of Contents

I) RATIONALE FOR THE FORUM AND HOW IT FITS INTO THE GENERAL

PREPARATIONS FOR THE 7TH GLOBAL FORUM 4

II) THE CENTRAL CONCEPT OF “TRUST” 6

III) THE CONCEPT OF “STATE LEGITIMACY” 8

IV) FACTORS INFLUENCING THE TRUST RELATIONSHIP AND OTHER

INTERVENING VARIABLES 10

V) KEY OBSERVATIONS EMANATING FROM THE DISCUSSIONS 12

VI) RECOMMENDATIONS 16

ANNEXES 19

Annex 1.1 Improving the Conduct of Public officials: Implementing the Charter for Public Service

in Africa 20 Annex 1.2 Placing the Citizen at the Centre of Service Delivery Improvement Initiative: Focus on

Quality 22 Annex 1.3 Enhancing the Capacity for Civic Participation in Local Governance 24 Annex 2.1 Rebuilding Public Administration and Reconnecting the Citizen with the Government in

Post-conflict Countries 31

Annex 2.2 Monitoring Governance Initiatives: The Africa Governance Inventory 34

Annex 2.3 Consolidating State Legitimacy through Electoral Arrangements and Civic Engagement

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Annex 3.1 Building Trust in Government through the Implementation of the Charter for Public

Service in Africa 37 Annex 3.2 Building Trust in Government through Improving Service Delivery 39 Annex 3.3 Building Trust in Government through Enhancing Participation of the Citizen in Local

Governance 42 Annex 3.4 : Building Trust in Government through Consolidating State Legitimacy 44 Annex 4 List of Participants 46

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I) Rationale for the Forum and how it fits into the general preparations for the 7th Global Forum

In preparation for the 7th Global Forum on Reinventing Government, scheduled

to take place in Vienna, Austria in July 2007, 95 representatives from the Africa

region - made up of members of Legislatures, Ministers of Public Service and

Local Government, senior officials, academics and representatives of civil society

organizations – and from other bilateral and international organizations met for

three days, 11 – 13 December 2006 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The Forum was a culmination of the following three meetings previously

organized in Africa:

• The Pan African Conference of Ministers of Local Government on the

theme of “Strengthening Competencies for Participatory Planning and

Budgeting for Effective Local Level Delivery of Services” (Maseru, Lesotho,

29 August – 1 September 2006)

• The 28th Roundtable Conference of the African Association for Public

Administration and Management – AAPAM on the theme: “Towards an

Effective Delivery of Public Services in Africa” (Arusha, Tanzania, 4-8

December 2006)

• The meeting of the Bureau of the Pan-African Conference of Ministers of

Public Service on the implementation of the Charter for Public Service in

Africa (Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, 10 December 2006).

The theme of the Regional Forum on Reinventing Government in Africa was

“Building Trust in Government” and a total of four panels and a further four

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presentations provided the formal content from which further debate followed

during plenary and group discussion sessions.

Sessions were structured around the following themes:

• Improving the Conduct of Public Officials: Implementing the Charter for

Public Service in Africa;

• Rebuilding Public Administration and Reconnecting the Citizen with the

Government in Post-Conflict Societies;

• Good Governance in Africa: Public Private Partnerships and Participatory

Budgeting;

• Placing the Citizen at the Centre of Service Delivery Improvement

Initiatives: Focus on Quality and Access;

• Promoting Public Administration Innovation through e-government;

• Monitoring Governance: The Africa Governance Inventory;

• Enhancing the Capacity for Civic Participation in Local Governance;

• Consolidating State Legitimacy through Electoral Arrangements and Civic

Engagement.

In addition four working groups were formed to facilitate the discussions on the

following identified sub-themes:

• Building trust through implementation of the Charter for Public Service in

Africa;

• Building trust through improving service delivery;

• Building trust through enhancing participation by citizens in local

governance; and

• Building trust through consolidating state legitimacy.

The reports of these working groups, as well as, the syntheses of the various

Forum sessions are attached as Annexes to this general report. This report is a

synthesis of the main points that emerged from the presentations, as well as the

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discussion, rather than a chronological report of the inputs and conversations

that ensued.

II) The central concept of “trust”

The overall theme speaks to the concern for an observed trend of diminishing

trust by citizens in their governments. In an analysis of 18 international surveys

on the general topic, presented by Mr. Shabbir Cheema, it appears that,

notwithstanding prevailing Afro-pessimism, Africa is still doing comparably better

than other continents when it comes to citizens voicing trust in their

governments, albeit only with a small margin. Sixty-one per cent of respondents

in the survey indicated growing distrust in government. However, this

comparatively better scenario than elsewhere gives no room for complacency. In

fact, this percentage approaches a ratio of two in every three people being

distrustful; thus by far the majority of African citizens do not believe their

governments are doing the best for them.

Obviously the concept of trust stood central in the proceedings and some useful

conceptual clarification and distinctions were offered by Mr. Cheema. He

reminded the Forum participants to distinguish between political, social and

economic trust, and between interpersonal, intergovernmental and systemic

trust. Given the different dimensions of trust, one must be cognizant of the

complexity of the concept in order to pay justice to it, as well as to support the

growing sophistication in understanding trust and engaging with the trend of

growing distrust.

Since government performance is a critical variable in the trust relationship, one

has to guard against interpreting trust in terms of the varying levels of political

support and endorsement of a particular party to constitute a government after

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victory at the electoral polls or the public views of particular political leaders. If

this was all that was implied by trust, these efforts would have constituted a very

normal part of democratic politics, and they would not be particularly worthy of

the attention of the entire global community in preparation for the 7th Global

Forum.

Trust, it was agreed, is rather to be found in the predictability of behaviour on all

sides according to widely shared societal norms and values. This rather cryptic

definition is in line with two widely used definitions of trust found in the

literature, those of Francis Fukuyama1 and Mark Warren2. Fukuyama defines

trust as:

“The expectation that arises within a community of regular, hones and

cooperative behaviour, based on commonly shared norms, on the part of

members of a community … these communities do not require extensive

contractual and legal regulation of their relations because prior moral

consensus gives members of the group a basis for mutual trust.”

Warren elaborates as follows on the concept of trust:

“Trust is the belief concerning the action that is to be expected from

others. The belief refers to probabilities that (certain categories of) others

will do certain things or refrain from doing certain things, which in either

case affects the well-being of the holder of the belief, as well as possibly

the well-being of others or a relevant collectivity. Trust is the belief that

others, through their action or inaction, will contribute to my/our well-

being and refrain from inflicting damage upon me/us.”

1 Fukuyama, F. (1995) Trust: Social Relations and the Creation of Prosperity, London, Hamish Hamlyn 2 Warren, M.E. (Ed.) (1999) Democracy and Trust, Cambridge University Press,

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Therefore, one of the indicators of trust must be the degree to, and the

dedication with which the public engages in public and civic life, and the

attendant attitudes of trust and reciprocity that develop through such activities.

The relevant concern is that when citizens disengage on a wide-scale from civic

life, they cut themselves off from the phenomenon of social reciprocity, because

they are unable to trust the institutions that govern political life. Therefore,

distrust in this instance might point to a slide in the perceived legitimacy of

existing government institutions (Easton 1965; Miller 1974a,b) and over time

such slippages pose a threat to the overall state legitimacy – a topic that the

excellent presentation of Prof. Ahmed Mohiddin discussed. However, provided

there is a responsive attitude towards the feedback received from citizens, the

effects of distrust could prompt demands, and serve as an impetus for

institutional reform and transformation to take place, thus setting in motion a

process that will restore trust once again.

III) The concept of “state legitimacy”

State legitimacy is a foundation for citizen trust in government and state

institutions. In a democracy, state legitimacy would imply that the people

(principals) validate and are satisfied by the functions undertaken by the state

and its institutions (their agent). Thus, the social contract is a key institution in

this regard.

The past 20 years have been marked by a multitude of governance reforms in

Africa; these include extension of individual freedom under a rights base

approach, wide application of the notion of “good governance”, and the

extension of democracy through the institution of regular elections over large

parts of the globe. Notwithstanding these, distrust between citizen and

government is growing, due to the gap in respect to the expectation of what

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citizens believe is the role and function of the state and what the state and its

institutions in fact manage to do. The disconnect between citizens’ expectations

and state actions can be based on unfulfilled promises by the state/ government,

resulting in a breach of the social contract. Furthermore, the state can possibly

misinterpret what its citizens require from it, effectively acting against their

wishes, or the state may find itself in a situation where demand from the people,

may be beyond what it reasonably can do, given its constraints.

It is helpful for future discussion to distinguish between different sources from

which the state and government derive their legitimacy. These include:

1. Constitutional legitimacy provisions: a country’s constitution; adherence to

the principle of the Rule of Law, etc;

2. Political legitimacy: conformity to electoral promises; traditions; values;

delivery against electoral promises, etc;

3. Traditional legitimacy: respect for traditional values, culture and tradition,

etc.

Political parties, as the aggregators of political opinion, play an important role in

the political legitimacy equation. They make promises primarily to deliver public

goods to the people, through their manifestos, and the governing party has the

capacity to implement those promises through various forms of public service. If

those promises are not implemented, then the government and party fail the

people; and the individuals in office have to assume responsibility, account for

the failure, and bare the consequences. In this respect the issue was raised of

elections as a mechanism to punish individuals for non-delivery. Individual

behaviour of officials, be they political representatives, members of the Executive

or public servants, impact on state legitimacy and the trust citizens endow their

governments with.

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IV) Factors influencing the trust relationship and other intervening variables

It is clear that government performance is more than likely the key factor that

influences trust in governance and the majority of the proceedings focused on

this issue. Therefore, discussion regarding state legitimacy, as reflected in the

previous section, is also relevant here.

Government performance pertains to increasing both the quality and quantity of

public services and public goods available to the people. The critical issues of

equitability in service provision comes into play when considering performance,

but so does efficiency, with sometimes an unwelcome tension between the two

manifesting that may cloud an assessment around performance. Therefore,

several important questions, relevant to this discussion emerged: What has been

done to improve the performance of our respective governments, and what

remains doing? What are the key levers that can release exponentially large

results with a wide and deep reach when it comes to impact? What tools,

techniques and approaches are available? These questions raise the critical

importance of the capacity of public service, which will be addressed within the

recommendations section of this report.

Much of the expectation that the people of Africa have of their respective

governments, is to improve the delivery of public services. They also believe that

the public service remains the single most important vehicle to achieve this goal

either as direct provider, or through facilitating the provision of services through

an intricate web of partnerships, cooperative arrangements with civil society,

including outsourcing. To achieve these goals, capacity is required on at least

three levels: individual, organizational and institutional. An often under-estimated

aspect of capacity relates to utilization of those capacities that are available. Too

often the capacity discussion centers around what capacities are present or

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absent. However, with respect to utilization, the working environment, and

conditions of service for public servants, are all essential areas of capacity that

demand immediate attention.

Of course capacity, although it is of key importance, is not the only factor

influencing performance. The manner in which things are done – the normative

and ethical basis that accompanies capacity and capability – is equally important.

Thus, it is not only output that matters, but also the process followed along the

way are equally important. This matter is particularly significant when we

consider the issue of the developmental state, because depending on the route

followed, an initiative can be more or less effective through developmental and

empowering means in its outcome. Therefore, much attention was given to

creating a culture of participation and empowerment. However, additional work

needs to be done to build the “demand” side by citizens. For this purpose

knowledge about how the State operates must be put together and made

available to citizens. Knowledge of the delicate balance of power spread across

multiple centers in a democracy will empower citizens and civil society groups to

intervene and to demand accountability regarding the social contract between

citizens and government. This holds the key to maintain the balance of power

between the people and their agents (public servants) so that the latter continue

to function within a “service ethos”.

One of the key aspects underpinning the creation of a participatory culture is the

easy access to equal sets of information. The potential role of information and

communications technology in this regard received significant attention -- note

for example, the development of the Africa Governance Inventory (AGI) portal.

However, what African governments are keenly aware of is that e-government,

although valuable, is a supporting tool, and is not an alternative to good and

effective government.

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Government performance and capacity is not the only relevant variable. Another

critically important variable is the presence of social capital. The relationship

between trust and social capital is dynamic and works in both directions. Forum

discussions pointed to the need for increased participation of ordinary people –

not only at the decision-making stages of policy formation, but also and

particularly that they commit to public and civic activity in the implementation,

monitoring, and evaluation stages of the policy cycle.

V) Key observations emanating from the discussions

Before advancing to some of the recommendations, it is necessary to make

additional comments, specifically referring to the African context as well as some

broader, more cross-cutting observations that came up in the discussions –

either outright or indirectly suggested:

• It is important to note Africa’s commitment to the agenda of improving on

governance and building capacity in the institutional organs of states and

governments that is currently prevailing across the continent. Many

changes have been made, and more are underway. It is already possible

to demonstrate significant progress as a result. Recently there has been

an effort by African governments to own the processes, rather than to

undertake institutional reform as part of a package that is forced on by

external forces. One of the most critical initiatives in this regard is the

adoption of the African Public Service Charter; and the very serious efforts

being made to institutionalize the content of the Charter, which is to

become the embodiment of the values set to be embraced by Africa’s

public and civil servants across all African public services.

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• Diversity is one of the main characteristics of African society. One cannot

pretend this is not the case and the challenges diversity poses need to be

faced head on. This diversity is potentially a blessing and could serve as a

building block for good governance. Diversity is widely recognized as a

pillar for human development and building of civilizations. However,

diversity also has the potential to produce inequity, competition and

conflict as well as war and destruction, and the true impact of diversity

depends on how it is managed. However, there are many lingering

questing regarding how exactly to manage African diversity, including:

How should diversities be accommodated through electoral arrangements

in Africa? Should diversity be acknowledged in the constitutional

arrangements of African countries? What would the implications of choices

be regarding diversity? For example, should diverse groups be allowed to

form their own local governments? Will this strengthen trust in

government, or will it effectively become a source of undermining the

central state? These questions illustrate that in the processes of resolving

differences, institutions and capacity for managing conflict, settling

disputes and promoting peace are in fact built. Hence it is by living

together and coping with the challenges diversity poses that these

institutions develop.

• One relevant factor that cannot be ignored in the discussion pertaining to

trust is the issue of Africa’s particular history. This history has included

high levels of conflict in the past, and in some instances those conflicts

have perpetuated until today, or at best are simmering close to the

surface. It is important to be cognizant of countries emerging from

conflict, because they face unique challenges. These challenges are within

their specific context and should not be seen as identical in all cases.

Some countries that emerge from conflicts face fundamental challenges

regarding state formation and building, while others are ready to begin

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reform or transformation of existing systems. There are clearly different

historical and contemporary realities, and the paths each country has

traveled vary greatly. The different paths to liberation might either have

resulted in an initial period of high-trust between the population and the

new regime, e.g. in the case of Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, or

where abuse of the population took place by the new incumbent

government during the conflict, and contemporary society may be

characterized by very low levels of trust in government and its institutions.

Additionally, countries continue to face lingering concerns that relate to

their individual colonial history, which seem to resurface at inopportune

and unguarded moments. These post colonial concerns have caused

dissent and division, and have produced tension with traditional African

value systems. Thus, a better understanding of the explanatory variables

that cause uneven developmental progress needs to be developed.

• Given the great variation on a range of dimensions across the continent,

being intensely aware of and responsive to different environmental

contexts would not only be prudent, but in fact a necessary precondition

for any accurate analysis and successful intervention targeting the African

continent. Tools, techniques, and approaches should be adapted for local

contextual settings when transferring knowledge. Contextual variation

should not only be seen as a burden to cope with, but as an opportunity

for creativity and innovation to be applied in new contextual settings.

• It is generally true that trust is an embedded concept, interconnected with

a wide range of issues and variables; therefore, trust is vulnerable to

many unintended consequences – both positive and negative. Equally so,

a number of key “triggers” or catalysts, correctly identified, could

potentially release progress across a wide domain. Given the complexity of

the concept of trust, it is necessary to be cognizant of the level of

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sophistication with which the term is being used. Therefore, one must

work towards creating greater conceptual clarity, through insisting on

greater utilization of constructs and specifically avoiding conflation of

closely associated, but separate concepts.

• One of the most critical relationships in Africa is the irrefutable link

between public sector capacity and the agenda of development and

growth, which is to lead to the creation of a just and fair society.

Currently, there are tools and methodologies that are available that could

improve governance and building further public sector capacity. There is,

however, a perpetual concern that not all of these tools embody African

values and that all tools and methods should be interrogated on their

built-in ideological preferences and the compatibility of those with the

African values system and agenda.

• Public sector capacity is undermined by the absence of a culture of trust

within and between governments. Poor coordination, redundancy in

governing the system, unwillingness and inability to collaborate on joint

programmes and projects, as well as traditional silo mentality prevailing

between government departments and agencies, destroy goodwill and

unnecessarily deplete resources and divert energy from the real objectives

that must be achieved. As developments in Africa point to more of a

regional and sub-regional modus operandi pertaining to development,

trust on this level should also be built between different governments, and

between governments and other continental agencies.

• It is possible to have too much trust within a political system, and that

concern is as problematic as having too little trust. Too much trust can

facilitate corruption and abuse of offices and power. Additionally,

excessive or blind trust will make those who trust vulnerable. Therefore,

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citizens, civil society, the media and even other arms of government such

as the legislature and judiciary should therefore continue to challenge the

assertions of governments (especially the executive branch, including the

public servants), official policies and government actions. Thus,

independent oversight bodies have an extremely important role to play in

fostering and maintaining critical levels of governmental inquiry.

VI) Recommendations

The following recommendations ensued from the Regional Forum discussions:

• The prevailing commitment to bring about better governance

arrangements, better service to the public, and to build stronger

democratic institutions across Africa, with a commitment to improve the

plight of the African continent and its people, should be supported and

exploited to strengthen the relationship of trust between the people and

their elected governments.

• One of the critical tasks is to expedite institutionalizing a single public

service code for all African public servants, no matter in which country or

at which level of government they find themselves. This code will provide

a values system that has the potential to produce consistency and

predictability in the behaviour of all African public servants, which will lead

to a stronger foundation for a relationship of trust between government

and the people. It has the potential of moving beyond iniquitous

treatment of African diverse populations by public servants. The existing

African Public Service Charter (APSC) is the logical basis for a shared value

system; arrangements for its implementation, such as creating national

implementation desks across all African countries, should be fostered.

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Furthermore, the Charter should be completely domesticated, ensuring

ownership and local support for its implementation.

• Capacity building of African public services has to be prioritized. This is

critical for any improvement in service delivery, development, or economic

growth to take place. Capacity building needs to take place on the

individual, organization and institutional level. Efforts in this direction also

need to address the working context and conditions for public servants in

order to tackle some of the fundamental factors underpinning the

motivational factors of employee performance. Dispositions of passion and

compassion in public officials relating to their professional goals should be

rekindled.

• The issue of citizens’ trust must be addressed with particular emphasis

within countries that have emerged out of severe conflict. Without

people’s trust a government emerging out of conflict will easily and quickly

be destabilized. It is necessary for all post-conflict reconstruction efforts to

create institutional, infrastructural, and human resource capacity that aim

to building legitimacy.

• More opportunities must be created for the meaningful participation of

citizens, communities, and civil society in policy making, implementation

and evaluation. Traditional African practice may offer a rich resource to

explore and to apply in more modern governance contexts. Additionally,

initiatives to empower people to be informed participants in the

governance system should receive further attention.

• The application of information and communications technology can

contribute to building further trust in governments. However, reliable data

to support decision-making processes is in short supply on the African

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continent. The existence of the Africa Governance Inventory (AGI) portal

is a potentially powerful tool in a quest to move decision-making onto a

firmer footing. In order to ensure trust in the AGI portal it is necessary

that African ownership over the process be strengthened. Current

initiatives to get the African Union to become involved in this regard

should be strengthened.

• The emerging consensus around an Africa wide value-system could be

used to guide future discussions pertaining to the appropriateness of

implementing initiatives to further the African agenda.

• Additional research in governance is among the many capacity building

strategic activities that must be undertaken to reinvent government in

Africa. Therefore, African management development institutes will require

extensive and sustained capacity building tools, which will enable them to

support efforts of reinventing government on the Continent.

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Annexes Annex 1 - Panel Discussion Reports 1.1 Improving the Conduct of Public Officials: Implementing the Charter for

Public Service in Africa 1.2 Placing the Citizen at the Centre of Service Delivery Improvement

Initiative: Focus on Quality 1.3 Enhancing the Capacity for Civic Participation in Local Governance Annex 2 – Session Reports 2.1 Rebuilding Public Administration and Reconnecting the Citizen with the

Government in Post-conflict Countries 2.2 Monitoring Governance Initiatives: The Africa Governance Inventory 2.3 Consolidating State Legitimacy through Electoral Arrangements and Civic

Engagement Annex 3 - Working Group Discussion Reports 3.1 Building Trust in Government through the Implementation of the Charter

for Public Service in Africa 3.2 Building Trust in Government through Improving Service Delivery 3.3 Building Trust in Government through Consolidating State Legitimacy 3.4 Building Trust in Government through Enhancing Participation of the

Citizen in Local Governance Annex 4 – List of Participants

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Annex 1.1 Panel Discussion on “Improving the Conduct of Public officials: Implementing the Charter for Public Service in Africa” Background The 3rd Pan African Conference of Ministers in Windhoek, Namibia adopted the Charter for Public Service in Africa in February 2001. The Windhoek Declaration requested the Chair of the Minister’s Conference to submit the Charter to the 56th UN General Assembly. Since then, the Conference of Ministers has been integrated into the structures of the African Union (AU), a further meeting on the Charter took place in Namibia in 2005 and the 5th Pan African Conference of Ministers resolved to review the Charter with a view to its formal adoption through the organs of the AU. Rationale for the Charter and its adoption The Panel discussion reflected on the rationale for the Charter for Public Service in Africa, which is aimed at building trust in government by establishing predictable and consistent service delivery standards and conduct of public officials that will ensure citizens are treated fairly, equitably and without bias wherever they access government services. Its official adoption as an AU document will give true meaning to a unified Africa through a single normative guideline, enhance Africa’s image and demonstrate the continent’s ability to develop its own indigenous mechanisms to improve governance. In this latter regard, it will further strengthen the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). Professionalism and Merit The provisions of the Charter for Public Service attempt to support good governance by ensuring that the modes of recruitment and advancement of public officials are based on merit. The reality on the ground is that the public service is frequently the subject of undue political pressure characterized by nepotism, corruption and holding onto power. This leads to mediocrity and lack of focus as well as a lack of urgency by public servants. Relations between public servants and Ministers can be improved across the continent as well as globally. African public servants are frequently rule bound and focus on process rather than outcomes, professing to be neutral. Inasmuch as public servants are responsible for implementing election manifestos, they cannot claim to be neutral but they must be impartial in the delivery of services by treating all citizens equally. The Charter can only be effectively implemented if the environment is conducive both legally and politically. At the same time the administrative environment should provide adequate compensation for public servants while citizens must be enlightened and empowered to secure the rights which the legal framework and the Charter entitle them to. In order to build trust in government, and to claim legitimacy, there is a need to ensure that Public servants are well endowed with the theory and practice of professionalism. This includes a high standard of professional ethics, transparency and accountability. In the same vein, the values of development orientation, effectiveness and efficiency have become universal across the continent in the era of globalization and democratization. Challenges to Implementation The Panel discussion also considered challenges to implementation. These included an enabling environment characterized by a supportive and symbiotic relationship between public servants and public officials, free of coercion. The specific challenges in post-conflict societies were also discussed since the legacy of wars in plural societies with diverse demographics makes it difficult to rebuild mutual trust between the governors and the governed and between public servants and citizens. This creates distance and alienation between government and citizens often exacerbated by an enduring authoritarian mentality among public servants, in cases further

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clouded by ethnicity and tribalism. The transition from post-conflict situations to democracy also challenges the privileges of public servants whose inclination is often to hang onto these. This in the face of a citizenry now formally empowered through legal and constitutional rights not previously enjoyed, but who need to be substantively empowered through a more concrete understanding of the practice of these rights. In order to build accountable, transparent, efficient and effective public services, performance management systems need to be implemented. These need to link individual and organizational performance and need to be transparent to citizens. Election manifestos of ruling parties need to provide the strategic framework for planning and performance management systems and must be well understood by public servants. Progress reporting through annual reporting and other mechanisms must be accessible to citizens. These form part of the basis for participatory governance and citizen engagement. Service delivery processes frequently need to be reengineered in order to meet targets. The recruitment and retention of skilled professional public servants is a challenge across the continent because the private sector and other countries are competing for human resources in a global context of skills scarcity. This impacts negatively on developing countries, particularly in Africa where the compensation levels of public servants is uncompetitive. Committed, skilled public service professionals and managers are a rarity, which poses grave challenges to effective public services. Reviewing the Charter for Adoption by AU Policy Organs Implementing the Charter requires patience because it involves culture change. The development of progressive frameworks on its own cannot be effective in the absence of transformation and change management. The review of the Charter with the intention of formal adoption by organs of the AU needs to be undertaken with some urgency in order for the 6th Pan African Conference of Ministers to initiate the process of adoption by the end of 2007. The review needs as far as possible to facilitate the involvement of both professional public servants and citizens in order to ensure that the final version is accessible to those whom the Charter intends to serve. A revised accessible Public Service Charter will contribute positively to building trust between governments and citizens.

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Annex 1.2 Panel Discussion on “Placing the Citizen at the Centre of Service Delivery

Improvement Initiative: Focus on Quality”

Every year the African Association holds a roundtable conference in an African country under a theme that would have been agreed during the previous roundtable conference. Last week we had our 28th Roundtable Conference in the town of Arusha, Tanzania under the theme “Towards the Effective Delivery of Public Service in Africa”, that was agreed during the 27th Roundtable Conference that was held at Livingstone in Zambia during 2005. The theme we took this year was central because whatever the governments do the “citizen must be at the centre of the service they are provided with since they are the recipients of the various public services. The citizens are entitled to those services as a right. So in other words, we in the public service must realize that our services to our citizens are not a favour to them, but a right they are entitled to demand. During the conference we had 27 papers delivered among which we had three of the following: • The Centrality of an Effective Policy Management for the Delivery of Services to the

Population in Africa; • The Afro Barometer which showed levels of Service Delivery of various services and

satisfaction response, which highlighted the levels of service delivery the citizens received; • Key Strategies for fighting Corruption and Management in order to enhance accountability

and Service Delivery in African Public Service. The AAPAM motto is that “nobody shall be denied service and that nobody shall be delayed with such service”. We came out with recommendations along the following , but bearing in mind that although all governments are making efforts for improved service delivery to all its citizens, there is still a lot of room for improvements which all of us should work for. Citizens are daily increasing their demands as they become more enlightened about government services. The following was noted: • Promotion of good governance in totality in terms of political governance; • Promotion of effective participation of people in decisions affecting them, i.e. Effective

decentralization of functions together with respective resources, • Both political and economical accountability of leaders and building of ethics and integrity; • Building the capacity of citizens to demand accountability, i.e. Uganda. • Rational allocation of resources making a balance between the productive sectors and

provisions of the social services. This calls for a participatory effective planning and involvement of major stakeholders:

- Central Government; - Local Government: - Civil Society.

There must also be appropriate structures for effective services delivery (we have all heard of retrenchments, downsizing or right sizing). We should develop and implement structures that promote optimal delivery of services within the resources of the African countries. There must also be adequate Human Resources since the human resources are needed to render services to the citizens. There must be adequate numbers of staff to carry out their functions.

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They must also have the necessary skills as well as plans for training and retraining the staff because of the rapidly changing circumstances. There must also be appropriate codes of conduct to make the public sector more accountable for their actions and decisions. Relationships between the political leaders and their public/civil servants (their roles as being complementary and supportive of each other as opposed to being confrontational and competitive for example, Botswana and Uganda. There must also be clear regulations for appointments and promotion of public servants as well as their period of tenure. The case of Uganda where Head of Departments and Senior Management are appointment, they must undergo competitive exams. The evolution of practices of having performance contracts in a number of countries was cited as a move into the right direction. There must be conducive working environment, security of jobs, reasonable remuneration, and reasonable personal arrangements for old age provisions. There must be the promotion of effective and sustainable public/private partnerships in light of the changing role of governments. The emphasis is mainly creating and sustaining an enabling environment for the private sector to deliver most public service (key words is sustainability), since these are areas where government has to intervene directly. Closely related is the role of civil society organization which has done well in a number of countries but guards against the recruitment phenomenon of “N. G. I). There must be an attitude change so that the reforms being undertaken by the different countries are owned and appreciated by all instead of looking at them as belonging the office of the Prime Minister or President, There must also be systematic provisions of ICT at various levels of government and the promotion of young professionals (a forest can be sustained with the growth of young tress), hence the need to bring the young professionals on board and have them developed. There must be benchmarking and good practices which must lead us to learn from each other. These were some of the recommendations that came out of the Roundtable table conference held last week.

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Annex 1.3 Panel Discussion on: “Enhancing the Capacity for Civic Participation in Local

Governance”

A Panel comprising: Honourable Mrs. Sekatle, Minister of Local Government, Kingdom of Lesotho Honourable Protais Musoni, Minister of Local Government, Good Governance, Community Development and Social Affairs, Republic of Rwanda, and George Matovu, Regional Director, Municipal Development Partnership for Eastern and Southern Africa (MDP-ESA - Rapporteur) Key Questions • What are the challenges facing the promotion of participatory governance in Africa? • How can such challenges be overcome? • What are some of the examples of institutionalized participation of local people in governance

in Africa (e.g. integrated development planning in South Africa, Community Development Committees in Rwanda etc.)?

• What should the various actors (local governments, Central governments, civil society organizations, development partners and Donors, local communities) who are involved in local governance do to promote and enhance participatory governance at local level?

Goals of Participatory Governance It is important to acknowledge the specific problems participatory governance is trying to solve. These include: • More efficient allocation of limited resources; • Social inclusion of the marginalised and the poor; • Elimination of corruption. Background The degree to which local people will participate in local governance depends on a number of factors. These include the credibility of the political system, including political parties and political leadership; attitudes about democratic liberties, such as freedom of expression and human rights; the relationship between government and civil society, particularly in respect of control that government may or may not exercise over civil society organisations; civil society’s level of information and knowledge about what government is doing, in other words, functional literacy; economic and financial difficulties and poverty, which tend to shift citizens’ primary concern away from participation; and, lastly, institutional and structural constraints arising from the nature of governance systems and how they function. Basic Questions The challenges facing decentralisation and the promotion of participatory governance include: • How to develop strong leadership that enjoys the trust of the people, and also • trusts in the power of the people; • How to institutionalise participation, i.e., create institutions, organisational • structures and mechanisms that would ensure transparency and accountability, and, above

all, ensure that participation thrives in future; • How to urgently develop a functionally literate and informed citizenry and • prioritise this in the fight against poverty, so that people are able to read this environment

and exploit it to their benefit;

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• How to structure aid by development partners so that it is unconditional and takes into account (and is driven by) local government actors and their priorities, in line with the provisions of the Cotonou Agreement, which advocates greater equity and inclusion in development aid.

What is Participation? A system that is inclusive to involve citizens in decision making, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Participation increases transparency and facilitates to reflect community priorities rather than individual priorities. National Framework Conditions National framework conditions for promoting participatory governance in many the Sub Saharan African countries are generally positive. In Cameroon, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda, the laws mention explicitly that people have a right to participate in local governance. In Uganda for example, Chapter Eleven of the Constitution stipulates, amongst others, that “decentralisation shall be a principle applying to all levels of local government and in particular, from higher to lower local government units to ensure peoples' participation and democratic control in decision making”. The Local Government (Amendment) Act 1997 gives effect to the decentralization and devolution of powers, functions and services to Local Government and administrative units. Section 78 of the Act exclusively defines the Local Government budgetary powers and procedures. Section 36 of the Act provides that the District Council shall prepare a comprehensive and integrated development plan incorporating plans of lower level Local Governments for submission to the National Planning Authority, and lower level Local Governments shall prepare plans incorporating plans of lower councils in their respective areas of jurisdiction. In Mozambique, Article 186 of the Constitution allows for the organisation of local communities to participate in local planning and governance. In South Africa, the Local Government Act of 1996 contains information that allows communities to play an active role in the formulation of an Integrated Development Plan (IDP). In Tanzania the Local Government (Urban Authorities) Act of 1982 and its amendment Local Government (Miscellaneous) Act of 1998 and Regional Administration Acts of 1997(URT 1997, 1998) provides for the establishment of Mtaaa, a structure of local governance that is intended to facilitate community participation in local planning and governance. In Kenya, the Local Authorities Transfer Fund (LATF) under the Authorities Act No. 8 of 1998 seeks to strengthen participatory development by involving stakeholder participation in local authority activities. In South Africa Section 5(1) of the Municipal Systems Act of 2000 provides the following right for members of a local community: • To submit written or oral recommendations to the municipal council or a political office

bearer or to the administration of the municipality • The right to be informed of the decision of the municipal councils or another political

structure or any political office bearer of the municipality, on matters affecting their rights, property and reasonable expectations

• To have access to information on the state of affairs of a municipality including its finances • To access municipal council and committees except when it is not reasonable to do so. Constraints and Challenges facing Participatory Governance Some of these constraints and challenges identified highlighted were as follows: • Participatory governance requires enough mobilization and communication capacity to ensure

that it succeeds; • Lack of capacity within the civic society fraternity and local government itself may militate

against the successful initiation and implementation of participatory governance;

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• Resistance from politicians and bureaucratic weakness or malaise may derail the participatory governance process;

• Potential conflict and citizen apathy that may arise as a result of failure to satisfy the scaled up expectations is a potential challenge to the success of the participatory governance process; and

• Potential conflict of interest between various vested interests or actors, if not properly managed can block the initiation and successful implementation of the participatory governance exercise.

Appreciating the Law For many countries, the challenge is to appreciate the significance of laws that promote participatory governance and to interpret such laws correctly to allow meaningful participation. Political Context There is absence of consensus on political values and mistrust between central governments and civic organizations. Partly this is due to the fact that once in leadership positions, there is fear for rival voices. It seems in young democracies like those emerging in Africa, participatory governance does not auger well with participatory democracy. Those in power become aggressive, authoritative, intimidating, demanding, and arrogant. It seems local leaders are failing to use the liberal laws to mobilize participation fearing that this might create space for opposition candidates to advance their interests. The laws do not elaborate on how this process will occur. African ethnicity and wars Over the last three decades, Africa has been full of wars and at war all the time, destroying traditional values and institutions, and social infrastructure. There are refugees and displaced citizens in any one country. The continuous post independence conflicts have undermined the capacity to create shared values and instead there is mistrust amongst various players - governments, civil societies, and non-governmental institutions. There is need to overcome conflicts. Special initiatives that can contribute towards peace and confidence building need to be put in place. There is need to transform the relationship between the state and civil society. Some leaders see civil society organizations as political competitors that must be controlled. • Local leaders need to be helped to see the merit of a flourishing civil society • Civil society need to be helped to become constructive partners in policy formation and

implementation. • There is need to revisit the African Charter for Popular Participation in Development and

Transformation. The Charter was sponsored by ECA in 1990 and adopted by people's organizations and international agencies as well as by Africa's heads of State. It views popular participation as both a means and an end, "a fundamental right of the people to fully and effectively participate in the determination of the decisions which affect their lives at all levels and at all times."

• There is also need to take advantage of the African Civil Society Resource Centre. The centre is expected to strengthen the capacities of African civil society organizations, promote dialogue between them and governments, and facilitate the involvement of civil society organizations in conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and democratization.

Urbanization It is estimated that by 2030 African cities south of the Sahara will be experiencing a turning point. Half of the population in Africa will be urban. The UN-HABITAT’s State of the World Cities Report 2006/7 warns that whilst cities are becoming engines of economic growth and centres of opportunities, the problems created outweigh their attractiveness and significantly lower the

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quality of life for residents to a level below that enjoyed by their rural counterparts. Thus the need for city development strategies to counteract such outcome. Effective participation requires that the authorities know who the players and stakeholders are: citizens, voluntary associations, NGOs, the business community – and what their incentives are to participate in governance. The situation is not easy particularly in urban centres where the rate of urbanization has outstripped the capacity of city governments. Corruption Corruption and outright abuse of public offices is undermining the process of participatory governance. As stated by UN-HABITAT Report on Citizen Participation (2003, p. 8).Many citizens are becoming increasingly reluctant to spend time discussing and debating issues when they believe that the final decision has already been made. The issue of poverty needs to be taken seriously. It diverts even honest people from pursuing a public good to working for personal short-term gains. It undermines the passion for work and the compassion for public needs. There is a clear divide between those in position of power and influence and the bulk of populations who feel alienated and marginalized. In that regard, there is no sense of oneness or belongingness as citizens feel irrelevant after elections. Funding There is also a big challenge of funding participatory governance. Most local authorities are under funded and simply do not have the resources to engage in meaningful consultations. Even where resources could be available, there is continuous disrespect to rules and regulations especially among the rich and elites who often absent themselves. “It seems people do not know how to live in communities. In order to establish the required institutional framework for capacity building, governments need to allocate resources required to support this approach. Empowerment of citizens with knowledge and information is likely to have significant impact on the quality of local governance. Cultural values Many citizens would not be interested in getting involved in council affairs as long as the local authority delivers. Some of them can only get involved in a specific project and when it is over, their interest ceases as well. The continuous tension regarding mainstreaming of marginalized people in public management, particularly the youth, women, displaced, disabled, refuges, immigrants, traditional leaders, religious leaders, intellectuals. This is enhanced by some of the local traditions that forbid certain groups of the population from participating in public affairs. Below are some of the examples. The case of Singida District in Tanzania Local tradition and custom holds sway in Singida District and it is often oppressive to women, restricting married women for example from speaking before men, lest they be regarded as prostitutes in the community. Married women in particular restricted by their husbands from participating in social and economic activities, and men take up any income generated by women which leaves them even more dependent on their husbands. Widows may however, engage in the community decision-making process as they are perceived to be heads of households like men. The elderly do not normally have the opportunity to participate in decision-making at community level. High bride price that is paid as dowry by men make them feel superior to women, which increases the social power of men over women who can not seek for divorce on fear of dowry being demanded back.

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Socio-cultural and economic factors influencing the participation of women: The Case of Uganda

There are a number of factors which influence women’s participation in the decision making process in Uganda. Most of these factors are related to gender biased cultural norms and traditions. Women headed households constitute the majority of households, which are below the poverty line in Uganda and Entebbe municipality is not an exception. Women also constitute the majority of the people with low levels of education in Entebbe. Related to this is lack of exposure to and understanding of the council procedures such as planning, budgeting and accounting, which prevents women from significantly influencing local Council outputs and making a greater impact on budget decisions. Women also lack an understanding of the local government system and councils and how they operate.

Women are involved in much of the household activities and they have little time to spare and attend council meetings. As a result their male counterparts dominate council meetings and consequently they influence decision-making processes. It has also been noted that for women to attend meetings and participate in council activities they usually require the consent of their husbands. Since some men do not allow their wives to participate in council meetings this impacts negatively on the participation of women the municipal planning and budgetary processes. Women sometimes find it difficult to travel long distances to attend council meetings due to cultural restrictions on mobility particularly at night. However, women based organisations such as EWA are trying hard to make sure that such socio-cultural norms are countered and that women’s voices are heard in the planning and decision making processes.

In many countries however, there are efforts to address this constraint through clear gender national policies supported by legislation and affirmative action. Cases in point are Ghana, South Africa, and Uganda. However in many instances, local authorities do not seem to be aware of the contents of such instruments. There is need to have affirmative action content that addresses the imbalances in service delivery and infrastructure levels between high density poor areas and low density affluent areas. Diversity Individuals and communities are too diverse so much so that generating a shared vision is a big challenge to authorities. And the challenge is how to increase unification of ideas rather than increasing differences. Capacity More often than not, public officials and citizens do not have the right skills and tools to engage in participatory practices. For public officials, there is need to improve competencies in areas such as public relations, negotiation, mediation, listening, consensus building, confidence building, priority setting which are normally not part of the curricular in traditional public administration. Studies in many countries have revealed that whilst local government officials might be well trained as economists, finance experts, engineers, planners, environmentalists and other technical fields, not many are interested in developing skills in communications, listening, or getting exposed to participatory processes in general. On the other hand, civic groups are seriously lacking in advocacy, planning and budgeting as well as policy analysis skills. Studies have also revealed that not all organizations of civil society are adequately accountable, either to their own members or to the public at large. Furthermore, although some groups may be quite vocal, the interests they represent may not be widely shared. In some countries, citizens and civic groups are too busy thinking about their own daily problems to think about collaboration.

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Communication and access to information For effective popular participation and oversight at the local level, the relevant information needs to be made available and accessible to all concerned. Information and communication are central to participatory planning and budgeting processes. However, given high levels of illiteracy, still few people have full understanding of what is happening in governance. Resurgence of Apathy In recent years, there has been a resurgence of the culture of apathy3 manifested in various ways such as: attitudes of despair and depression, non-involvement in important issues that affect community life, lack of interest in public affairs, an attitude of resignation, withdrawal and despair and a state of hopelessness. Apathy is caused by a number of factors that include imposed decisions, corruption, and unfulfilled promises. For example, there is dwindling interest in local government elections. In the recent local government elections in Zimbabwe, less than 6 percent of the registered voters participated in the elections. This was the case in Malawi in 1998 when only 8 per cent of the registered voters participated in the local government election. The reasons that count for low voter turn out are varied. These include: increasing poverty and unemployment. Furthermore, there is continued failure to firmly deal with corruption and abuse of office in public institutions. This weakness gives the impression that leaders at both central and local levels do not appreciate the need for honest government and leadership. Heavy donor dependence and sustainability of governance process In a number of situations, governance processes are donor driven. Civic organizations are in the hands of the donor community. Examples of Institutionalised Participation of Local People in Governance in Africa Integrated Development Planning (IDP) in South Africa

In South Africa Integrated Development Planning was introduced as a key tool for management and progress towards sustainable development. The preparation of the IDP is seen as an opportunity for community building through the provision of forums where discussions can be held, and where common ground can be reached regarding development priorities in the area. Community engagement is therefore central to the successful completion of the IDP. Thus, the IDP process, with the involvement and support of the local citizens, will hopefully obviate the need for mediation of disputes later on. Central government is the instigator of the IDP process through its redefinition of the role of local government, and of strategic planning as a statutory requirement of the IDP process. The agenda for each municipality's exercise was generally set by the Municipal Manager. The premediation, negotiation and engagement was done by different players in most instances, with officials, politicians, professional planners - whether municipal official or consultant - as well as professional facilitators, being mentioned in different projects.

Measures To Overcome Challenges And Constraints: Mobilization and communication Improvement in communication between leaders and the citizens has the potential to enhance participation. As a consequence there is a need to establish an effective mobilization and communication strategy. Lack of capacity in local government and civil society This requires direct capacity and skills building for public officials both elected and unelected, members of civil society organizations and the generality of the ordinary citizenry.

3 Apathy by definition is reluctance by citizens to participate in civic obligations.

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Vested interests Municipalities are often composed of people coming from diverse backgrounds and cultures, ethnic groups and races. There are also the rich and poor, Moslems and Christians, etc. In order accommodate all these groups into the participatory process, ways and means must be found that leads to a win-win situation for all. Unnecessarily raising citizen expectations In order to avoid the unnecessary raising expectations of citizens with respect to the expected benefits of participatory governance it is important to set modest goals and share available information with the citizens concerning the available resources to put in motion prioritized investment projects and programmes. Resistance from local politicians Participatory governance implies the sharing of power between public officials and citizens. This is always a threat to local politicians who see it as a way of cutting down on their legal functions and powers. To overcome this capacity building induction courses for the local politicians must be carried out from time to time that clearly specifies the importance and benefits of participatory budgeting as well as the role and responsibilities of each key player in the process.

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Annex 2.1 Rebuilding Public Administration and Reconnecting the Citizen with the Government

in Post-conflict Countries

Presentation by John F.E. Ohiorhenuan Moderator: John-Mary Kauzya Rapporteur: Ozonnia Ojielo

The sub-text of the presentation was that the existence of government and/or its longevity can no longer be taken for granted. The presentation dwelt on three issues related to the sub-text: First, what are the fundamental challenges countries face in the immediate aftermath of conflict? Second, what are the major considerations that affect re-establishing state sovereignty, legitimacy and reconnection with the citizen, and third, how is the above process affected by external partners and international development assistance? On the first issue, the presenter identified eight challenges that post-conflict countries face:

a. Post-conflict governments, especially transitional authorities, often exercise limited control

over the country’s assets. The development of public policy often has to be negotiated with other actors who may control parts of the territory and/or national resources.

b. The absence of an ethos of governance within the new governing group, especially where they are drawn from former warring parties.

c. Short-term economic orientation of local actors, focused mostly on private gain. This is, exacerbated by a credibility and legitimacy deficit for the new political actors, limiting the citizens’ compliance with their obligations.

d. War economies continue to thrive even when the guns are silent. These parallel economies deny the state access to substantial revenues.

e. Continuing insecurity and violence affect the provision of basic services, and re-establishment of government authority and administration at local levels.

f. Loss of human and social capital. This constrains the revival of public administration and local governance.

g. The culture of impunity and corruption promoted by the conflict, is difficult to contain and undermines the legitimacy of the state.

h. Weak institutions, such as the judiciary eroding confidence in the formal mechanisms for grievance management.

How then should governments rebuild economic and political governance, and regain the people’s trust? The presenter proposed a number of options that have cross-cutting application cognizant of the local context. The first is to foster consensus as state practice. Examples may include new constitutions in broader agreements building on a peace agreement, and anchored on the particular cultures and circumstances of each country. The second is to rebuild ‘process’ skills, as key components in the development of public policy. Credible governance will require the political actors learning new process skills, such as negotiation, mediation, consensus building.

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Third, is to establish mechanisms, systems, and processes for the resolution of day-to-day disputes within society, to reinforce the infrastructure for peace. Religious, civic and community leaders can play constructive roles in fostering an environment for the peaceful settlement of disputes. Fourth, is to build the capacity of public officials in policy design and implementation. This cannot be compensated by handing over decision-making on domestic economic issues to international organizations. This should be coupled with an appropriate incentive regime. Fifth, is to align economic policies with peace-building components. A number of pertinent issues need to be considered here. How should governments determine the trade-off between tight fiscal management and the need to show quick success in providing basic services? Some emerging best practices are worth considering. One of them is to establish robust systems of public control and oversight to minimize imprudence or corruption. Another may be to negotiate the distribution of income from the exploitation of natural resources, such as gold and oil, across geographical, ethnic and sectarian lines. Also, how should the government engage its armed forces in the delivery of public goods? Finally, is the importance of fostering decentralization. Dispersal of key government functions promotes inclusion and participation, and reduces the stakes for a contest over centralized power. Capacity building for decentralization, especially the delivery of basic services in an inclusive and participating manner is important. On the role of international assistance the presenter argues that continuing significant external financial assistance is key to sustainable post-conflict recovery. He further argues that merely establishing formal institutions and processes does not guarantee that policy will be developed and implemented by all relevant actors. What is required is to integrate institution building with building skills and capabilities of civic and political leadership for constructive negotiation and consensus formation. In addition to short-term relief and recovery needs, immediate post-conflict assistance should also target the large scale development of skills and capabilities within the civil service. Finally, the outputs from post-conflict assistance should be measured differently. There is a need for realistic time frames, and outputs should not focus only on physical structures. A range of qualitative and quantitative indicators need to be considered, to assure viable exit strategies for international actors. The presentation generated a very lively discussion. Contribution from participants stresses the need to also consider the following issues:

a. The general approach adopted in most post-conflict societies follows a nonlinear process

from cease-fire comprehensive peace agreement – transitional government peace-keeping – elections and exit. It is important to examine systems and structures to support these processes, especially in countries recovering from protracted social conflict where the structures for change such as civil society or a public service are weak or non-existent. An integrated process should be the way to go.

b. While decentralization is important, it is not the cure-all solution to re-establishing trust in government. What is required is the right balance in decentralizing authority to local levels and having a strong central government that can mediate differences between groups and interests at the local levels.

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c. We must not assume that all post-conflict governments are people-centered. A developmental state where leadership has a clear vision and becomes a rallying point for peace and good governance is not a given. The challenge is that those who lead must generate the confidence of the people. This applies both to post-conflict states and to states which have not experienced conflict.

d. It is important to keep in mind that while the consequences of conflict may be uniform across countries, the causes are country specific, even though these may be uniform underlying causes. What is missing is the issue of leadership. Leadership is critical to re-investing trust in government. Similar institution building processes may produce different results depending on the quality of leadership.

e. These are two contradictions to resolve when we talk of rebuilding public administrations in post-conflict states. They revolve around the two identifiable categories of post-conflict states. The first is those states where the new leaders are perceived as liberators, who start with a clean slate of trust. The second category is states where the new leaders are not wanted by the people. They have to work their way up to build trust. The approach in both categories will be different.

f. It may also be useful to find out what aspect of capacity and public administration needs to be rebuilt. In some conflicts such as Uganda, the public service was intact throughout the conflict. In other conflicts, for example Rwanda, the public service was either completely destroyed or emigrated.

In conclusion, participants acknowledge that each situation is unique and requires creativity. National ownership and national commitment are non-negotiable starting points. The challenge is that in post-conflict states, the very legitimacy of the government is in question irrespective of the typology of conflict or post-conflict state considered, what is required is creative ways of interfacing the government with the various publics – the civil service, the civil society and other stakeholders.

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Annex 2.2 Monitoring Governance Initiatives: The Africa Governance Inventory

Presentation by: Ms.Valentina Resta, Africa Governance Inventory Project Manager, UNDESA and Mr. Tesfaye Berhanu, Government Focal Point, AGI - Ethiopia Moderator: Mr.John-Mary Kauzya Rapporteur: Ms. Norah W. Katumba

a. Regional Forum participants were impressed with the AGI tool which helps sharing key information on governance. In particular the Clerk of the Pan African Parliament stressed the importance of being trained on the use of the AGI. This tool is needed to assist the Pan African Parliament to undertake oversight functions of the AU member countries.

b. The AGI is a good tool that all African countries should adopt in order to access information on governance initiatives undertaken within the continent. It can support various organizations to provide them with appropriate information and also help to share information among countries. Moreover, the AGI can support the APRM process and it is useful in the dialogue between government and its partners.

c. The AGI tool should consider introducing objectively verifiable indicators of the various countries.

d. The issue of the need for harmonization of definitions was emphasized. Bearing in mind that indicators are not the same for different domains of governance, it was recommended to conceptualize governance indicators aligned with the countries definition of democracy.

e. Policy makers were requested to give support to help operationalize the AGI tool. f. Participants endorsed the formation of the Secretariat in Rwanda in an effort to indigenize

the AGI tool. g. Further dialogue needs to be held with the African Union in an effort to forge AGI recognition

in Africa.

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Annex 2.3 Consolidating State Legitimacy through Electoral Arrangements and Civic

Engagement Presentation by: Prof. Ahmed Mohiddin Rapporteur: Ms. Valentina Resta

The focus of the presentation was the critical importance of state legitimacy. It was illustrated that although reforms took place in the course of the last two decades in the African continent, they did not yield the expected results. Changes included larger freedom, good governance, elections as the only acceptable way for government changes. Although electoral democratic processes and democracy appeared to have been achieved, distrust in government i.e. crisis in representative government, still persisted. The presenter observed that the state, having monopoly of collective and coercive power, is the main supplier of the basic and essential public goods and services and is expected to maintain peace and order. However, it is often unable or unwilling to deliver services to its citizens. Hence, the legitimacy of the state was gradually eroded by its own actions or inactions. The meaning of state legitimacy was further explored -- in governance systems the state could be taken as the agent and the people---or citizens in a democratic system of governance---as the principals: if there is acceptance by the principals there is legitimacy. Three types of legitimacy were presented:

a. Constitutional -- adherences to the provision of the constitution and constitutionalism, rule of law; a state acquires constitutional legitimacy if it conforms to these constitutional provisions and processes.

b. Political -- conformity to the political principles, traditions and cultures of the people; and, in a democracy, conformity to electoral promises, and deliveries on those promises; maintenance of law and order; deliveries of the public goods and services; and in particular the type and quality of services promised during the elections.

c. Traditional -- Acknowledgment and respect for the cultures and traditions of the people as important legitimacy factors, especially in Africa where traditional institutions and rulers are still respected in the rural areas. These institutions continue to serve the needs of the people and as such provide security, peace and stability. A government that disrupts or neglects these institutions, undermines or discredits the traditional rulers is likely to weaken its legitimacy. Creatively supporting them is likely to enhance and strengthen its legitimacy.

It was explained that, in democracies, legitimacy derives from an implicit “social contract” between people and the state. The foundations of the “contract” could be a Constitution, stipulating the roles and functions of the state; electoral promises contained in the manifestos of political parties contesting in the elections; or contained in the norms and conventions of traditional institution of a people. Political parties produce manifestos which aggregate political opinions as the basis for their legitimacy when they are in power. When the government fails to deliver, it is the party - hence the people forming it – the entity that fails. When promises are not fulfilled there is distrust. State legitimacy thus entails a critical relationship between electoral commitment to deliver on promised goods and services; as well as the citizens’ satisfactions in the quality and the manner in which those goods and services are provided. It is possible that the inability to deliver the promised goods and services could be due to inadequate institutional capacity; or lack of

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commitment and political will by those who made the promises. It was pointed out that governments are nothing but an ensemble of individuals hence they are “people” - elected politicians and appointed civil servants - working within the institutions of governance guided by the constitutional provisions, norms, traditions, and the political culture of the society in which they live and operate. in the last analysis---and once de-mystified--- it was underlined that state legitimacy means, in effect, the legitimacy of the people in charge and managing the government: politicians, ranking civil servants, law enforcements agents, and the defense forces. The issue was therefore how to make the elected and appointed civil service accountable and bound to deliver on promises. The presenter wondered whether elections ensure that elected officials fulfill the promises made. He further discussed whether elections can punish a government for failing to deliver or whether they can reward parties for their role on delivering promises. He added that nowadays all African countries are committed to good governance and an increasing number of them have adhered to the African peer Review mechanism (APRM). Free and open elections allow people to choose their leaders; therefore people have the power of choosing their leaders. Then the question asked was: how can electoral arrangements be used to consolidate legitimacy? It was mentioned that, in order to respond to the above question, it was necessary to answer the other question on what the elections really are, i.e. arrangements that allow translating the vote casts in a general election into candidates and seats won in a legislature. If the arrangement is perceived to be unfair, it may result in an undemocratic way of achieving things; consequently this brings an erosion of legitimacy. Another crucial issue examined was that of diversity of electoral arrangements. As these diversities are bound to compete, they inevitably create conflicts. Although conflicts are inevitable in human societies they need not necessarily be violent or destructive. Appropriately handled, they could be converted into creative and constructive processes promoting peace, security and development. Badly handled they could create fear, insecurity and destruction to life and property. The presenter noted that many African countries have experienced violent conflicts arising from the mismanagement of their diversities. These conflicts have created distrust in the incumbent governments and, as the governments persisted to harass and alienate the minorities, severely undermined the state legitimacy. It was then stressed that leaders of the past constrained diversity. After independence, diversity was regarded as suspicious as a motivation for one party rule. It was therefore noted that it is crucial to look at the implications on diversity of electoral arrangements. Also important was the need to have a closer look to legitimacy as well as to the issue of residual (from the past) constitutions and governance structures. The example of Kenya was quoted where people got together in 2003 and forced change in government (more than a million people rejected the old constitution). Concluding his presentation Prof. Mohiddin mentioned that a need for further exploring people’s understanding of electoral processes was perceived. A distinction needed to be made between electoral arrangements (narrower, ad hoc concept) and processes (much wider and complex interfacing between the various actors in the political system, state and none-state, civil society and the private sector). He lastly added that capacity still is one of the most challenging obstacles.

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Annex 3.1 Feedback Report of Working Group on: Building Trust in Government through the

Implementation of the Charter for Public Service in Africa

Background The charter for public service in Africa was adopted by the Third Pan-African Conference of Ministers of Public service, held in Windhoek (Namibia) in 2001. However, up to now, few countries have started its implementation several issues and challenges have delayed its implementation, including the following: QN I Outline the issues and challenges that have delayed its implementation in African countries Lack of ownership • Most stakeholders (servants, civil society organizations, sector) were not involved in the

framing of the charter • Many countries (Ministers of Public service) did not commit themselves in the implementation

process of the charter. • Frequent change of Ministries of Public Service in African Countries. • Lack of appropriate mechanisms for follow-up, monitoring and evaluation of the

implementation of the charter. QN II Propose what needs to be done to speed up the adoption of the charter by the African Union. 1. Setting up of a task force followed by national task forces to review the current version of the

charter, by including all the stakeholders (at national, sub-regional and regional levels) on this exercise. The task forces should start meeting as soon as possible, under the leadership of African Union and UNDESA.

2. Set timeframe for the review and other scheduling of activities to be undertaken before the adoption i.e.

• Meeting of the continental and national taskforces. • Wide Participatory reviewing of the charter • Finalization of the version and • Its submission for adoption by summit

QN III Propose what needs to be done to speed up the implementation of the charter. Actions to be undertaken include the following:

Domesticate the charter for ownership i.e.

• Create a continental taskforce to coordinate implementation at AU level • Set Up national implementation desks in all country MDAs • Bring the charter to local context to ensure ownership and local support • Popularize the charter and make it available to all the stakeholders. • Translate the charter into national instruments. • Design Mechanisms for implementation, monitoring and evaluation • Develop mechanism and modalities for Exchange of information and best practices among

member states

QN IV. Would you propose how application of ICT in government (E-government) could assist in speeding up the implementation of the charter?

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The following is proposed: • Put the charter on continental, regional and national websites. • Establish on-line connectivity among all the national desks in change of the charter. • Promote the use of ICT in governments to monitor implementation • Develop strategy for capacity building especially in the area of ICT application and in the area

of change of attitude among the implementers and the users of public services. QN V. How African governments will evaluate the success of implementation of the charter The evaluation should be made following the methods used within the framework of the African Peer Review mechanism (APRM) • Tools for evaluation be designed and adopted by all • Targets and standard be set with time frames • Objectively verifiable indicators of progress be agreed upon • Periodic reports from country desk officers be made to continental desk • Mid term and annual reviews be scheduled Group members • Ashaba -Aheebwa ,Uganda - Chairperson • Lawal Haruna, Nigeria • Simon N. Lelo, CAFRAD Morocco - Rapporteur • Yusuff E. Ogieagbegah, Nigeria • Abdurremane LinoDe Altheida, Mozambique • J. Amadu Kiawu, Liberia • Mick L. Kiliba, Tanzania • Robert M, Mayaya, Tanzania

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Annex 3.2 Feedback Report of Working Group on: Building Trust in Government through

Improving Service Delivery Questions: 1. Challenges and Facing African Public Service in its endeavours to deliver services • Brain drain from PS to the private sector

• low conditions of service • Higher wages • Skills development

• Increasingly aware enlightened. Citizenry becoming more demanding of timely and

qualitative services. Level of expectations is higher in the public sector; • Lack of internal accountability arising from a culture of non-performance, low turnaround of

processes-delivery, discipline, no defined terms of reference, no performance monitoring and evaluation;

• Corruption is a major challenge and is a strong incentive for non-performance. Tax payers’ money;

• Politicazion, political interference in appointments, allocation of development and delivery decision making, leading to low morale, fear of punishment or retribution, favoritism, ethnicity, suspension of civil service by politicians;

• Poor infrastructure and tools of work, resources, regional and other disparities, working in difficult and risk areas;

• Poor information exchange/limited interfacing between agencies and Ministries, of government, and marketing of activities to the public;

• Continuity, consistency and lack of system dependence anchored on perception of unprofessional public service approaches;

• Historical role of ministries, approaches and their relevance to modern demands of government, no connection (coherence?) between the vision of government and the institutions needed to deliver.

2. Propose ways through which the Public Service can improve service delivery • Brain drain

• Improve conditions of service • Make it more competitive, people can come in at any level • Find ways to motivate the staff/incentives/improve working environment/flexi-time

issues/re-training • Continuous development

• High level of expectations, aware citizenry • Well defined customs/service charter/citizens’ charter • Continue to monitor and evaluate compliance with charter • Performance management systems

• Culture: internal accountability • Customary service charter • Clear terms of reference, job descriptions, incentive/bonus • Performance management system, performance assessment/performance contracts

• Corruption • Strict laws, zero tolerance • Strict compliance with service charter • E- tracking of delivery/ digitized systems • Declare assets at all levels (all public officials)

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• Can be abated or controlled • Increase quality and number of prosecutions • How to deal with political will

• Politicization and political interference • Professionalize the service – clear rules of recruitment, promotion, posting, job

descriptions • Ombudsman office with power to prosecute interfering public officials and protect the

civil servant • Enforce service code of conduct • Deepen ownership/belief in public service values, integrity, honesty, fairness, impartiality,

dedication. • Infrastructure, resources, difficult and risky areas

• Risk/rural allowance for working in difficult and risky areas • Multi-service government departments such as health, schools, police etc. in one

complex • Community participation in service delivery and its involvement in the work of the service

centre • Provision of latest tools and equipment; training in ICT

• Lack of continuity and system dependence (reliability?) • Well defined systems • Business process re-engineering • Be system dependent and not people dependent • Build institutions and systems for continuity

• Historical role of ministries/ departments and alignment with modern governance • Vision • Mission • Strategic plan

3. How can Application of ICT in Government Contribute to the Improvement of delivery of services

• Contribution of improvement in service delivery from application of ICT • Easier and faster communication (all forms, mobile, IT info flows) • Online services to speed up service delivery • Cost savings from reduction in paperwork • Quick and efficient delivery of services • More transparency • Tracking and monitoring and easier supervision • Improvement in knowledge management • Comparative experience and best practices from ….. • One-stop shops for service delivery • Better space management • Better business processes for departments (internet, G to G communication • ICT for capacity building • Creating learning organizations

4. Approaches and methodologies the Public Service should use to monitor and evaluate the delivery of service to know whether it is successful or not.

• Good performance management system • Customer surveys • Suggestion boxes, feedback corner, manual and electronic “mystery” shopping – spot checks

and internal review of processes • Stakeholder/ focused group evaluations • Timely acknowledgement of complaints and suggestions as well as timely response

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• Townhall (Indaba) meetings and toll free lines • Based on the above, re-engineering of processes and reviews • Culture of continuous improvement within the service • Using the charter as minimum standards of service delivery • Continuous training in upholding delivery standards • Regular review meetings within departments • Budget for schemes for improving services • Rewarding excellence at different levels through recognition and award schemes.

Group members • Mr. Titus Ndambuki - Chairperson • Mr. Ozonnia Ojelo - Rapporteur • Ms. Fakazile Myeza • Ms. Cherryl-Lee Botterill • Ms. Rose Makelele-Tsangala • Mr. Dison B. Okumu • Mr. Latiff Wahab • Mr. A.K. Hoolass

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Annex 3.3 Feedback Report of Working Group on: Building Trust in Government through

Enhancing Participation of the Citizen in Local Governance What is participation? • A system that is inclusive through which citizens are involved in decision making process,

implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The involvement increases transparency. • A reflection of local priorities rather than national priorities. • A process of meaningful engagement in identifying problems and solutions. • Consultation and information between citizens and authorities. Challenges • Political upheavals, and wars create disconnectivity between local entities • Dependency on donors undermine ownership by local entities • Inadequate capacity among citizens to effectively identify and prioritize their needs. • Organisational problems among civil society regarding verification of their constituencies. • There is a lack of communication to make information available to local communities. • People do not feel comfortable to own the participation process because of various reasons,

e.g. cultural inhibitions and sheer lack of capacity • Lack of political will to provide effective and transparent guidelines for promoting

participation • Lack of immediate benefits drive communities to lose interest in participating in decision

making. • The attitude of the communities towards participation where they feel it is not their

responsibility. • Communities are displaying participation fatigue • Where there are success stories, higher expectations beyond the capacity of the government

are made • Cultural diversity can be opportunity but also a challenge • The HIV and AIDS • Logistical constraints

Strategies and Solutions 1. Central Government: • Political will for genuine participation from the highest office through clear and consistent

policy and legal frameworks as well as resources. • Provide on going support such as training and capacity building • Attitudinal changes on the part of central bureaucrats to let it go • Depoliticizing community participation • Affirmative action for traditionally marginalized groups • Monitoring and coordination in participatory initiatives • Mentoring and technical backstopping

2. Local Government: • Organization of the communities for effective coordination • Clear communication strategies which emphasizes benefits to the communities • Building capacities of communities • Regulatory frameworks, structures and rules of procedure • Coordination and monitoring of developmental ideas • Availability, sharing and dissemination of information to the communities •

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• Resource mobilization as an enabler of participation within the locality • Transparency in resource mobilization and budgeting • Creating a database on all civic organization

3. Communities: • Identification of needs and prioritization • Advocacy within and between communities • Active role in the implementation of policies • Accountability, monitoring and evaluation of policies • Information analysis e.g. budget analysis, by civic organization Enhancing Participation through the Application of ICT • Ensure universal access to ICT • Establishing ICT community centres • Building up professionalism in the sphere of ICT • Overcoming infrastructural constraints like computers, mobile telephone • Provision of legal framework for usage of ICT • Improving efficiency and rationalization of service delivery • Tool for effective management • Enabling community mobilization Group members • Ms. Mfoula Catherine – Cameroon • Prof. John Bardill – South Africa (Chairperson) • Mr. Kaija- Kwamya Chris – Uganda • Mr. Kayuza Joseph – Uganda • Mr. Benard Maswana – Zambia • Mr. Albert Mashika – Congo • Mr. Gasamagera Wellais – Rwanda • Mr. Charles Makunja – UNDP Sudan • Mrs. `Mating Mahooana – Lesotho (Rapporteur) • Mr. George Matovu – MDP-ESA (Rapporteur)

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Annex 3.4 Feedback Report of Working Group on: Building Trust in Government through

Consolidating State Legitimacy Introduction 1. The group, chaired by Dr. (Mrs.) Pontso Sekatle, comprised a total of ten participants, a list of which is annexed herewith. Modus Operandi 2. After reviewing the caption of its designated thematic area along with the structure of the questions provided for guiding the discussion, the Group noted the need to distinguish between State Legitimacy (contained in the caption) and Government Legitimacy. This was informed by the consideration that the over-arching contemplation of the guiding questions was more on Government Legitimacy than State Legitimacy. Accordingly, the Group amended the caption of its designated thematic area to read as follows: “Building Trust in Government through consolidation of Government Legitimacy”. 3. Also, having reviewed its Terms of Reference (ToR), as captured in the suggested discussion guiding questions, the Group regrouped and restructured them in a logical sequence, along the lines of the issues outlined here-below. Challenges Facing African Governments in Conducting Free and Fair Elections.

4. After extensive deliberations, the Group identified inter alia the following challenges. • Weak electoral institutions/commissions • on the one hand, total absence of independence of the electoral commissions in some

countries, whilst on the other hand, independence may be echoed in the nomenclature of such commissions but absent in real terms because appointments into the posts, and funding of such commissions are effectuated by the Executive arm of government

• Limited public trust in the electoral processes hence resort to invitation of foreign election observers to give the impression that the elections are free and fair.

• Inadequate physical public infrastructure, notably access roads to polling stations located in difficult terrains, communication facilities, electricity etc.

• General illiteracy of the national populations, • Culture of political intolerance between political parties and candidates • Lack of level playing field for candidates across the contesting political parties and

candidates. Proposed ways of addressing the Electoral Challenges 5. The Group proposed the following measures for addressing the identified electrical challenges: • Strengthening of the electoral commissions through appropriate building of capacities and

competencies. • Ensuring real independence of the emplaced electoral commissions through enactment and

enforcement of appropriate laws. • The Commissions must be demonstrably accountable, transparent and committed to the

discharge of their duties in accordance with the provisions of the laws of establishment and codes of conduct/ethics in order to earn public trust

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• Government must ensure adequate provision of relevant physical infrastructure that enhance access to polling stations as well as facilitate counting of votes and announcement of results.

• Measures should be taken to increasingly raise the literacy levels of the national population for informed voting

• Cultivation of a sustainable culture of politics of tolerance or of politics of healthy competition amongst the competing political parties and candidates

• Government must ensure emplacement of a level playing field for all political parties and candidates e.g. equal access to the media, no discrimination against or frustration opposition political parties etc.

Value-added ICT for Conducting Peaceful and Fair Elections 6. The Group believes that proper application of the ICT can add value to conducting peaceful and fair elections in several ways: • ICT can enhance speed and accuracy in counting votes, releasing and publicizing electoral

results, • Computerization of voters’ registers can ensure proper management of the entire electoral

process and thereby enhance public trust and confidence in it. Strengthening of Government Legitimacy 7. The Group suggests the following measures to be taken for strengthening government legitimacy: • Effective, timely and impartial service delivery • Parliamentarians must cultivate the culture of regular constituency consultations in order to

ensure that the electorates concerns and expectations are adequately addressed as well as elicit feedback on government policies and practices.

Ways of Ensuring Continuous Assessment of Government Legitimacy 8. The Group suggests that, beyond elections, Government legitimacy can be continuously assessed in the following ways: • Town Hall Meetings • Periodic publication of Government report cards • Emplacement of question time in parliaments • Periodic Government statements on its policies and practices • Enactment and enforcement of Freedom of Information Act • Ensuring sustainability of balance of power amongst the three arms of Government

(Executive, Legislature and Judiciary) • Allowing the Parliamentary Standing Committees to freely exercise the powers Conferred on

them • Enhancing independence and professionalism Group members • Pontso Sekatte - Chairperson • Dr. Gabriel A. Gundu - Rapporteer • Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja • Ms. Hanlie Var Dyk – Robertsan • Prof. Ahmed Mohiddin • Mr. Damrian S Foka • Mr. P.C. Aviro Omolo • Owona Kono Joseph/MP • Mr. Umary Sani • Mr. C.M. Jada

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Annex 4 List of Participants

A. Participants by country Mr. Djamel Kharchi Directeur Général de la Fonction Publique Services du Chef du Gouvernment Alger 16000, ALGERIA Fax: (213) (21) 48 30 52 Mr. Pierre Dagba Chef du Service Etudes et Synthèse à Direction des Ressources Extérieurs Ministère du développement, de l’économie et des finances (AGI Focal Point) B. P. 342 Cotonou, BENIN Tel:(229) 21-30-11-38 Fax: (229) 21-30-16-60 E-mail: pierd52@yahoo.fr H.E. Juvenal Ngorwanubusa Minister Ministère de la Fonction Publique, du Travail et de la Sécurité Sociale, B.P. 1480, Bujumbura, BURUNDI Fax: (257) 22 83 00 Tel: (257) 22 35 14 / 22 54 85 E-mail: juvngor@yahoo.fr Mr. Nicodeme Ntakiyica Secretary General of Government Presidency of the Republic Bujumbura, BURUNDI E-mail: ntanicodeme@yahoo.fr H.E. Mr. Emmanuel Edou Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation Yaoundé, CAMEROON Fax: 237-223-9123 E-mail: edouemmanuel1@yahoo.fr Mr. Ahmadou Ndottiwa Chief Protocol of the National Assembly National Assembly, Yaoundé, CAMEROON Tel: +237 992 5703 Fax: +237 223 15 35 E-mail: ahmadou_nndottiwa@yahoo.fr Mr. Samson Ename Ename Secretary General, National Assembly Yaoundé, CAMEROON Tel: +237 222 2412 / 222 8071

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Fax: +237-222 0979 E-mail: ancm@assemblee-nationale.cm Ms. Catherine Mfoula (Project RAF/05/022) Unit Head, Development and Decentralized Cooperation Unit Department of Regional and Local Authorities Yaoundé, CAMEROON Fax: 237-223-5260 (c/o H.E. Mr. Emmanuel Edou) Hon. Joseph Owona Kono Member of Parliament National Assembly of Cameroon Yaoundé, CAMEROON Tel: (+ 237) 343 80 10 Mobile: 991 20 31 Fax: (+237) 343 80 09 / 343 16 19 E-mail: owonak@yahoo.fr H.E. Mr. Mesfin Tafesse Commissioner, Federal Civil Service Commission, P.O. Box 3240, Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA Fax: (251) (1) 55 39 02 Tel: (251) (1) 55 35 49 / 55 37 49 / 56 29 76 E-mail: fcsccomr@ethionet.et, fcsc@telecom.net.et Mr. Tesfaye Berhanu Senior Expert, UN Team Multi-Lateral Cooperation Department Ministry of Finance and Economic Development Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA Tel: (251-1) 22-66-98 Fax: (251-1) 22-66-48 E-mail: medac2@telecom.net.et, tesfayebh@yahoo.com Mr. Kofi Arkaah-Ocran Monitoring and Evaluation Officer National Governance Programme Office of the President Accra, GHANA E-mail: kocran82@yahoo.co.uk Mr. Titus M. Ndambuki Permanent Secretary and Vice President for East Africa AAPAM 00100 Nairobi, KENYA Fax: 254-20 273-0555 E-mail: aapam@africaonline.co.ke, tndambuki@dpm.go.ke H.E. Ms. Pontso M. Sekatle Minister of Local Government Maseru, LESOTHO Fax: 266-22-32-7782

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E-mail: localgov@leo.co.ls Ms. Mating Mahooana Mamahooana Chief Local Government Officer Ministry of Local Government Maseru, LESOTHO E-mail: mmmahooana@yahoo.com Mr. Matete ’Nena First Secretary Embassy of the Kingdom of Lesotho in Ethiopia LESOTHO H.E. Mr. J. Amadu Kiawiu Deputy Minister Local Government LIBERIA Ms. Olive Chikankheni Director Department of Information systems and Technology Management Services MALAWI E-mail: chikankheniot@malawi.gov.mw, chikankheniot@yahoo.co.uk Mr. Ashish Koomar Hoolass Principal Assistant Secretary, Administrative Reforms Division Ministry of Civil Service and Administrative Reforms Port Louis, MAURITIUS Tel: (230) 201 14 34 Fax: (230) 211 5047 E-mail: ahoolass@mail.gov.mu Mr. Fernando Comolo Head of Department of Informatics Mozambican Parliament Maputo, MOZAMBIQUE Tel: +258 21 22 51 00 Fax: +258 21 22 51 79 / 40 07 11 E-mail: frcomolo@ustm.ac.mz Mr. Abdurremane Lino De Almeida Commissioner Public Service National Authority Maputo, MOZAMBIQUE Fax: (258) 21 485683 E-mail: abdurremane@tvcabo.co.mz Mr. Jan Brandt First Secretary Embassy of Namibia in Ethiopia NAMIBIA Mr. Steve V. Katjiuanjo

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Permanent Secretary Office of Prime Minister NAMIBIA E-mail: skatjiuanjo@opm.gov.na Mr. Morimuni Kavitjene Under Secretary Office of Prime Minister NAMIBIA E-mail: mkavitjene@opm.gov.na Mr. Lawal Haruna O. Administration Officer Office of Head of Civil Service Tel: +234 803 7017 696 NIGERIA H.E. Alhaji Mahmud Yayale Ahmed Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, The Presidency, Federal Secretariat, Phase II Shehu Shagari Way, Central District, P.M.B. 248, Abuja, NIGERIA Fax: (234) (9) 234 83 04 Tel: (234) (9) 234 82 84 E-mail: ayayale@hotmail.com/ tolaopa2003@yahoo.com Dr. Ladi Hamalai Policy Analysis and Research Project, National Assembly of Nigeria, 13 and 14 Danube Street, Off IBB Way, Maitama, Abuja, NIGERIA E-mail: drladi@yahoo.com, lhamalai@nassnig.org Mr. Alhaji Umaru Sani Clerk Senate, National Assembly of Nigeria, 3 Arms Zone, P.M.B. 141, Abuja, NIGERIA Tel: +234 9 2340273 Cell: +234 8033119009 Fax: +234 9 2342159 E-mail: usani@nassnig.org Mr. Yusuff E. Ogieagbegah National Assembly NIGERIA E-mail: comrade18@yahoo.com Mukhtar. I. Bashir Counsellor Embassy of Nigeria in Ethiopia

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H.E. Mr. Olusegun Akinsanya Ambassador Embassy of Nigeria in Ethiopia NIGERIA E-mail: Olusegun.Akinsanya@kahoo.com Dr. Gabriel A Gundu Director/APRM NIGERIA E-mail: gundugab@yahoo.com Mr. Celestin Tchibinda Chef du cabinet du Secrétariat Général du MAEF (AGI Focal Point) Ministère des Affaires Etrangères B. P. 2070 Brazzaville, REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO Tel: (242) 629-90-98 E-mail: pikenne@yahoo.fr Hon. Senator Wellars Gasamagera Political Affairs and Good Governance Committee Kigali, RWANDA Tel: (250) 08499121 Fax: (250)582281 E-mail: w.gasamagera@inteko.no, wellgas@yahoo.com Mr. Anicet Habarurema Secretary General, Chamber of Deputies Kigali, RWANDA Tel: +250 5 82285 Fax: +250 5 82288/82911 E-mail: presse@rwanda1.com H.E. Mr. Protais Musoni Minister of Local Government, Good Governments Community Development and Social Affairs of Rwanda Kigali, RWANDA Fax: 250-84373/250582227 E-mail: pmusoni@gov.rw Professor John Bardill Director, School of Government University of the Western Cape Private Bag X17, Bellville 7535 Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA Tel: +27 21 959 3804/3801 Fax: +27 21 959 3826 E-mail: jbardill@uwc.ac.za Ms. Fakazile Myeza Center for Public Service Innovation Postnet Highveld Suite 400

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Private Bag X 111 Centurion, 0046, SOUTH AFRICA Fax: 27 12 672 1321 E-mail: fakazile.myeza@cpsi.co.za, mokotji.kekana@cpsi.co.za Mr. Sipho Buthelezi AGI Focal Point Department of public service and Administration Pretoria, SOUTH AFRICA Fax: 27 12 866 138 597 E-mail: buthelezis@dpsa.gov.za Mr. Murumba Werunga Clerk, Pan African Parliament Gallagher Estate, Private Bag X16 Midrand 1685, Guateng Province, SOUTH AFRICA Tel: (+27) 11 545 5000 Fax: (+27) 11 545 5136 E-mail: murumba.werunga@panafricanparliament.org H.E. Ms. Fraser-Moleketi Minister of Public Administration Pretoria, SOUTH AFRICA Tel: (27) 12-336-1368 Fax: (27) 12-326-7785 E-mail: minister@dpsa.gov.za Ms. Cheryl Lee Botterill Manager, Good Governance Programme Centre for Human Rights University of Pretoria Pretoria 0002, SOUTH AFRICA Tel: +27 12 420 4525 Fax: +27 12 362 5125 E-mail: ggp@postino.up.ac.za Mr. Mohamed Latiff Wahab Director, South African Police Service SOUTH AFRICA E-mail: wahabl@saps.org.za Ms. Hanlie van Dyk-Robertson Special Adviser to the Minister Ministry of Public Service and Administration Pretoria, SOUTH AFRICA Tel: 27 12 336 1301 Fax: 27 12 336 1810 E-mail: hanlie@dpsa.gov.za Ms. Natasha Pillay Ministry of Public Service and Administration Pretoria, SOUTH AFRICA Tel: 27 12 336 1334

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Fax: 27 866 138 595 E-mail: natasha@dpsa.gov.za Ms. Barbara Watson Chief of Staff Ministry of Public Service and Administration Pretoria, SOUTH AFRICA E-mail: barbaraw@dpsa.gov.za Mr. Johann Van Seventer Ministry of Public Service and Administration Pretoria, SOUTH AFRICA Tel: 27 12 336 1809 Fax: 27 12 336 1809 Prof. Richard Levin Director General Department of Public service and Administration Pretoria, SOUTH AFRICA Dr Ellen Kornegay Director General Department of Public service and Administration Pretoria, SOUTH AFRICA Dr. Mataywa Busieka Director of International and African Affairs Department of Public Service and Administration Pretoria, SOUTH AFRICA Tel: 27-12-336-1306/1703 Fax: 27-12-336-1828 / +27 866138597 Cell: 27-72 288 9002 E-mail: mataywab@dpsa.gov.za Mr. David Monyae Department of Public service and Administration Pretoria, SOUTH AFRICA Mr. Mzi Mbangula South African Parliament SOUTH AFRICA Mr. PJ Gomomo Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration South African Parliament SOUTH AFRICA H.E. Mr. Mohamed Yousif State Minister Ministry of Labour SUDAN (c/o Embassy of the Sudan in Ethiopia)

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Mr. Idris Ismail Minister Plenipotentiary SUDAN (c/o Embassy of the Sudan in Ethiopia) Mr. Damian S. I. Foka Clerk of the National Assembly Dodoma, TANZANIA Tel: +255 26 2322761/5 Fax: +255 26 2324218 E-mail: tanzparl@parliament.go.tz Mr. Mick Lutechura Kiliba Assistant Director Management Services Office of the President, Dar-es-Salaam, TANZANIA Mr. Robert Mayaya Head Coordinator Good Governance Coordination Unit Office of the President (AGI Focal Point) P.O. Box 9120 Dar-es-Salaam, TANZANIA Tel: (255-22) 211-7273 Fax: (255-22) 211-7272 E-mail: robertmayaya@yahoo.com Mr. Vincent J. Kibwana Minister Plenipotentiary Embassy of Tanzania in Ethiopia TANZANIA Tel: 663 43 53 Mr. Hatédéhéema Nonon Saa Directeur de la Planification du Développement Directeur National du Projet Bonne Gouvernance (AGI Focal Point) Lomé, TOGO Tel: 228 221-2745 Fax: 228 904-3574 E-mail: nononsaahat@hotmail.com Mr. John Mitala Head of Public Service and Secretary to Cabinet AAPAM Kampala, UGANDA E-mail: hops_sc@yahoo.co.uk Mr. Chris A. Kaija- Kwamya Deputy Clerk of the National Assembly Kampala, UGANDA Tel: + 256 41 256190/347438

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Fax: +256 41 346826 E-mail: ckaija@parliament.go.ug Ms. Norah N. Katumba-Wandera Component Manager, Ministry of Finance, Planning & Economic Development (AGI Focal Point) Kampala, UGANDA Tel: (256) 41343382 Fax: (256) 41230163 E-mail: Norah.Katumba@finance.go.ug Mr. Ashaba Aheebwa Director, Ethics and Integrity Office of the President Kampala, UGANDA Mr. Constantine Bitwayiki Director, Research, Innovations, Monitoring & Evaluation National Planning Authority Crested Towers, Short Tower, 3rd Floor P.O. Box 21434, Kampala, UGANDA, Kampala, UGANDA Tel: 256-41-250211/2, Cell: 256-772-407248 Fax: 256-41-250213 E-mail: cbitwayiki@yahoo.com Mr. Dison Bosco O. Okumu Director Parliamentary Development and Coordination Office Parliament of Uganda Kampala, UGANDA C/o UNDP-Kampala (Attn. Mr. Sam Ibanda: sam.ibanda@undp.org) Mr. Joseph Kayuza PDM Coordinator Ministry of Local Government Kampala, UGANDA Mr. Benard Maswana Director Masaiti District Health Management Board P.O. Box 42 Masaiti, Copperbelt Province, ZAMBIA Tel: +260 2-760042 Fax: +260 2-512900 E-mail: maswanab@yahoo.com B. Participants from the United Nations Mr. Ozonnia Ojielo Senior Governance Advisor P.O. Box 1423 UNDP

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Accra, GHANA Tel: 233-21-773890-6 Fax: 233-21-773899 Direct: 233-21-785393 E-mail: ozonnia.ojielo@undp.org Mr. John Ohiorhenuan Deputy Director Bureau of Crisis Prevention & Recovery UNDP E-mail: john.ohiorhenuan@undp.org Mr. Junghoon Choi Research Officer UNGC Seoul, REPUBLIC OF KOREA E-mail: luxchoi@ungc.org Mr. Guillermo N. Mangue Development Management Officer Governance and Public Administration Division (GPAD) United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Tel: 251-(0)11-5445468, Ext. 35468 Ms. Monique Nardi Roquette Development Management Officer Governance and Public Administration Division (GPAD) United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Tel: 251-(0)11-5443737, Ext. 33737 Fax: 251-(0)11-5511953 Mr. Abdelrahim Dirar Project Manager AU/UNDP/UNOPS Sudan E-mail: amadirar@gmail.com Tel: +2251911247478 Ms. Hannah Gutema Assistant Res. Rep UNDP Addis Ababa E-mail: hannah.gutema@undp.org Pr. Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja, Facilitator, Africa Governance Institute, UNDP Regional bureau for Africa, One UN Plaza New York, NY 10017, USA E-mail: georges.nzongola-ntalaja@undp.org Mr. Charles Makunja Democratic Governance Analyst

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UNDP, Sudan, Kadugli E-mail: charles.makunja@undp.org Mr. Joseph L.M. Mugore Regional Manager UNDP Regional Service Centre for Eastern and Southern Africa E-mail: joseph.mugore@undp.org Ms. Zemenay Lakew Senior Regional Programme Coordinator United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Mr. John-Mary Kauzya Chief, UNDESA/DPABM/GPAB NEW YORK Mr. Shabbir Cheema Principal Adviser UNDESA/DPADAM, NEW YORK Ms. Valentina Resta Project Manager UNDESA/DPADAM/GPAB, NEW YORK Mr. Flavio Zeni Chief Technical Adviser UNDESA Nairobi, KENYA C. Participants from other organizations Mr. Salim Latib Consultant AU E-mail: salim@knowledgedoc.co.za Prof. Ahmed Mohiddin Consultant Ottawa, CANADA E-mail: amohiddin@wilmo.net, mohiddinahmed@hotmail.com Mr. Albert Mashika Coordonnateur national Service Promotion du Développement Caritas-Développement Congo Tel: + 243(0)998600 671 / + 243 815038757 Fax: + 243 8844948 B.P. 3258 Kinshasa-Gombe, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO E-mail: almashika@yahoo.fr Mrs. Rose Makelele-Tsangala Assistante Caritas ACEAC Caritas- Développement DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

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B.P. 3258 Kinshasa- Gombe Tel: 243-529 29 32 E-mail: rotsangala@yahoo.fr, aceaccaritas@yahoo.fr Mr. Ahmed Hussien Hilcoe ETHIOPIA E-mail: hilcoe@ethionet.et Mr. Ernst Hustaedt Manager GTZ GERMANY E-mail: ernst.hustaedt@gtz.de Dr. Simon Mamosi Lelo Director General African Training and Research Centre in Administration for Development (CAFRAD) Tangier, MOROCCO Fax: (212-39) 32-57-85, Tel 212-61 30 72 69 E mail: cafrad@cafrad.org Mr. C. M. Jada Assistant Director OHCSF NIGERIA E-mail: jadaclmbado@yahoo.co.uk Mr. Abdoulaye Ndiaye ECA Expert Agir Promouvoir SENEGAL Cell: +221 6 38 46 22 E-mail: abndiaye@gmail.com Mr. Makhtar Fall Director, ART SENEGAL Tel: +221 633 50 44 Mr. Aziz Jardine Advisor GTZ, SOUTH AFRICA E-mail: aziz.jardine@gtz.de Mr. George Matovu Director, Municipal Development Partnership for Eastern and Southern Africa (MDP-ESA) Harare, ZIMBABWE Tel: 263-4 77 43 85/6 Fax: 263-4-77 43 87 E-mail: gmatovu@mdpafrica.org.zw