Can performance contracts help improve public service delivery?

L-R: Interdicted Ministry of Public Service officials, Steven Lwanga, Francis Lubega, Jimmy Lwamafa, and Christopher Obey at the Anti-Corruption Court in Kololo in 2013.

What you need to know:

As Uganda marks the International Public Service Day, doubt is cast on the sector’s ability in ensuring service delivery and gender equity.

By all standards, Eric Ssewalakira’s family is a humble one. He lives with his family in a rented room in Namuwongo in Kampala. Judging by his average daily income of Shs25,000 from riding a loaned motorcycle (boda boda), you would expect him to take his four school going children to schools where there is free Universal Primary Education and use the rest of the income for other needs.

That is not the case though. The family decided to take their children to private schools.
This, Ssewalakira says, is the only guarantee that his children will compete with the rest.
“In government schools, children do not study. Teachers frequently absent themselves and you cannot trust such people with your children’s future,” Ssewalakira, says.
His children being girls, Ssewalakira says they need special attention not to be among the 700,000 Ugandan children out of school cited in a 2014 report by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation report.

He understands the value of education because he puts his life on the line both night and day to raise money for his family, something he thinks would be different if he had not dropped out of school.

Other sectors
As he complains about the quality of education in government schools, Elizabeth Namusoke in Mukono District equates going to a government hospital, especially when you do not have money, to a death trap.
All government hospitals are supposed to offer free treatment depending on the hospital’s manpower and equipment.
But according to Namusoke, that is the ideal but not the reality.
“Who does not want free things? Would I go to a private clinic if the hospitals were functioning?” she inquires.

Decision making
Miria Matembe, an activist and former Member of Parliament, says there is no need for Uganda to mark the day since service delivery is in disarray.
“What is there to benefit the women in public service? People who make decisions are the permanent secretaries, undersecretaries, the directors but women there are negligible. So if there are no people at policy level to articulate women issues, what is there for women,” Matembe says.

According to Matembe, there are no services provided by the sector to be proud of as Ugandans.
“There is massive corruption. Actually, it is endemic and this corruption is state-inspired. President Museveni does not want to antagonise the corrupt because they want him in power,”
Matembe disagrees with the view that women are empowered by having their representatives in Parliament and she is of the view that: “Female MPs are politicians and do not even influence policies. They are easily intimidated by majority of the men in parliament.”

Time for reflection

Uganda joins the rest of Africa to mark the Africa Public Service Day, an annual event that recognises value and virtue of service to the community.
It will be marked under the theme, “The Role of Public Services in Women Empowerment, Innovation and Accessible Service Delivery”.
The Day originates from the conference of African Ministers for Public or Civil Service held in Tangier, Morocco in 1994 who agreed to mark June 23 as Africa Public Service Day to recognise the value and virtue of service to the community.

It is premised at discovering innovations, reward excellence in the public sector, motivate public servants to promote innovation, enhance professionalism in the public service.
The objective is to raise the image of public service, thus enhance trust in government, collect, document and share best practices for possible replication within a country as well as across the African Continent.
On the basis of the theme, Sheila Kawamara, the chairperson of Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET), an umbrella body of several women organisations, says an ineffective public service sector like that of Uganda, affects women directly.

It is unfair for the public sector to be mainly led by men who are less affected by dysfunctional healthcare, roads, education or agriculture where majority women are employed.
“We have not done so well in getting jobs in public sector. It is only the low cadre level jobs that women are occupying and yet a few women who occupy top jobs in public sector are star performers,” she says, acknowledging that there has been slight improvement compared to the past years.
Kawamara’s analysis of the public service sector composition is however, an understate of what government is doing and as such should not be narrowed to job access, according to Ofwono Opondo, director Media Centre.

“Public service should be looked at holistically. Government has done a lot to break the cultural background of women not going to school by introducing universal education….women are now in Parliament, they are represented in Cabinet….and I can say we have achieved 70 per cent [of empowering women] Ofwono says.
He adds that a lot of work aimed at improving women’s health has been done by establishing several health centres including rural areas.
Asked why women are not at the top despite attaining the same education with men, Kawamara says: “Men do not give study opportunities to women and some women turn down the opportunities on excuse of having a baby or they have a husband whom they do not want to leave for insecurity reasons.”
“For now, we are not yet there and men need to support their wives because if they attain higher education and get a good salary, the whole family benefits,” she concludes.

So what is the solution?
But how will Namusoke and Ssewalakira get services in the public sector and stop complaining?
Fred Muhumuza, an economist and former adviser to the Finance ministry, says there are many institutional and structural issues to sort out if such Ugandans are to benefit from the public sector. Until that time, the status quo will remain.
“Look at government schools, there is no supervision and this compromises the standards,” Muhumuza says.
He adds that even if there was supervision, most civil servants are demoralised due to poor pay.
“For those who work, it is because they take a bribe here and there…but who will give a teacher a bribe? Maybe when registering a child but that is once in a year.”

Perspective
On why institutions are not working yet there are several employees in the private sector who are providing a service diligently, Muhumuza says, “The institutions are not working because even the technocrats are interested in politics. They are appointed based on political loyalty.”
Godber Tumushabe, a policy analyst says for institutions to work, it is solely dependent on political decisions.
Therefore, non-functionality of those institutions is a reflection of the incompetence of the political leadership.
“Everything is dependent on leadership. If Ugandans want services let them change the leadership,” Tumushabe says. He believes people are in public service but they do not have power.

Can contracts work?
Also, public service cannot be attained when it is understaffed on top of giving jobs to people as a political reward.
Tumushabe and Muhumuza, both disagree with the idea of putting workers on performance contracts as it is with the private sector because the problem is supervision.
Tumushabe asks, “Will performance contract come with supervision? You can have one but how sure are you that it will implemented.”
Sezi Mbaguta, the Minister of State for Public Service declined to comment and instead referred this paper to John Mitala, the Head of Public Service.
Efforts to speak to Mitala on his known telephone number were futile as it was off by press time.

Background

The UN General Assembly designated June 23 as Public Service Day. The UN Public Service Day intends to celebrate the value and virtue of public service to the community; highlight the contribution of public service in the development process; recognise the work of public servants, and encourage young people to pursue careers in the public sector.
Since the first awards ceremony in 2003, the United Nations has received an increasing number of submissions from all around the world.