SYD ASSIGNMENT 1

A Guide for African Governments to Reform to Better Practices in Governance

with a Focus on the Public-Public office Relationship

GAINGOS S 217031870
Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
What is good governance?....................................................................................................................2
Why do we need good governance?.....................................................................................................2
Diversity:............................................................................................................................................2
Participation:.....................................................................................................................................2
Corruption:........................................................................................................................................3
Recommendations:................................................................................................................................4
Conclusion:............................................................................................................................................4
References:............................................................................................................................................5
Introduction
According to the world bank, governance is the manner in which power is exercised in the
management of a country’s economic and social resources for development (Vishwanath et al.
2005). In order to develop the social, economic and personal lives of its citizens it is imperative that
these governments are good.

What is good governance?

Good governance can be recognised by the following attributes, it is; participatory; consensus
oriented; accountable; transparent; responsive; effective and efficient; equitable and inclusive and
follows the rule of law.

Why do we need good governance?

The main goal for good governance must be to foster an environment where the needs of the
individual are catered for without compromising the needs of the society while looking out for the
environment. We need good governance so that all people have an equal share in the distribution of
our resources, have an equal say over how the policy processes are run as well as an equal
responsibility towards reaching common gaols like a sustainable future. This paper looks at how
African states can reform to better practices in government with an emphasis on the relationship
between the people and the ruling bodies. The following three areas have been identified as the
main areas to improve on in order to improve this relationship.

Diversity:
Africa is without a doubt the most diverse continent on earth with the most countries in the world
(54, 55 with Western Sahara {not recognised by the UN}) and the second most languages spoken
(2138). With these many peoples with diverse differences conflict is bound to breakout between
some groups. This makes the continent vulnerable to conflicts. War is a distraction to everyday life
and has affects that can last for generations, which cause a huge rift that might not be reversed in
one’s lifetime therefore is best avoided all together. Governments need to act as a buffer between
these individual groups to prevents conflicts that might set back progress sometimes irreversibly.
This can be done by making sure there is a representative for each individual group in the decision
making. And by educating the nation that the benefit of the one group can be a benefit for the
whole nation. According to(State et al., 2020),the people must agree that they are a nation in spite
of differences and conflicts, and consent to build it on the grounds that individual and corporate
success depends on national success. Conflicts between groups must be abolished for better nation
building and prosperity. The governments must therefore provide a platform for open dialogue
between different groups that will normalise differences between peoples and celebrate these
differences.

Participation:
In Africa where a larger proportion of the population might not be as educated as that of the rest of
the world, it is up to the governing bodies to encourage and advocate for citizen participation in the
ruling process. Unquestionably the way to do this is to first make relevant information available to
the population. The information in question must be of educational value to the public and it must
not be of a propaganda nature as such information could have a negative effect on the government-
public relationship. As Kocec and Wantcekon (2020) pinpointed, some information could undermine
law and order” Examples include the government releasing statistics on the low probability of being
caught on tax evasion or its own lack of capacity to deal with an imminent terrorist threat”. African
governments should therefore “…engage in activities like setting up government websites,
subsidizing access to communication technologies, publicly posting information and encouraging
citizen dialogue, or otherwise involving citizens and decision making” This will ensure a transparent
government and stimulate public participation in decision making.

Corruption:
Last but not least Africa is a continent with abundant natural recourses, enough to take care of its
entire population. But poor governance aided by corruption is its biggest Achilles heel. According to
rating website transparency.org 58% of Africans think corruption has increased over the last year,
with South Africa (83%), Ghana (76%) and Nigeria (75%) topping the list. Corruption is also evident in
Namibia as proven by the infamous ‘Fish-rod’ scandal that was worth millions of dollars. It is
important to stress that not only government officials are instigators of corruption as the same
website points out that 75 million individuals in sub-Sahara Africa have paid bribe money to either
get out of trouble with the law or sadly, for basic services in the same year.

The way the governing bodies can combat corruption is with transparency, accountability and
responsiveness. First there is transparency, Governments should educate their people on the
processes of how the state and its resources are run. This will empower people to demand better
services without the need to pay extra for ‘favours’ to have the same services. Second is
accountability, people and individuals found to have participated in corrupt practices should be held
liable for the part they played. And the outcome of such cases should be made public so that
individuals can have an idea of what is to come when one engages in such activities. Last but not
least is responsiveness of the government to such cases. Taking the fish rod case as an example
again, the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), has reported “..Namibian media has over the
years reported on alleged looting and money laundering in the fishing sector, it was only after the
damning documentary that authorities started paying attention to these allegations.” Had the
Namibian government responded earlier by involving the Anti-Corruption commission (ACC) for
example to look into the matter, the issue might have been caught much sooner with much less
damage. The ruling bodies should therefore take corruption allegations seriously and investigate
such cases promptly. This will increase public trust in the government, which will make way for a
better relationship.
Recommendations:

Given the above three criterion as areas that have room for improvement in African governance the
following are recommended:

With Africa’s undeniable diversity it is imperative that in order to develop the continent the question
of diversity must be addressed, and not ignored. Managing diversity must be a priority for all
countries in Africa as diversity is not weakness but rather a strength, if it is managed well. Chigudu
(2018) concludes that, if diversity is managed well, benefits occur not only within the organization
but for development to the rest of Africa. Therefore governments should invest in making the
diversities of their respective peoples a celebrated attribute.

Governing bodies should invest in educating their people on public policies and the policy making
process thereby fostering a culture of involvement from the public in said process. This will ensure
participation from the people which will in turn improve service delivery and direct resources to
more pressing issues as the government will be aware of which issues to prioritize.

In terms of combating corruption in governance Africa still has a long way to go. However, if rigorous
action is taken against perpetrators, then corruption will be a less ‘normal’ practice as people will
have alternatives to the solution of their problems. Therefore, it is recommended that governments
bring about a radical change in the way services are delivered but more importantly that they
provide information of the processes of said services. They should also educate their people on the
damaging effects of corruption.

Conclusion:
In conclusion African governments should focus on educating the people on: their policies and rights
to keep the people informed so that they can participate in the law making process; on the benefits
of living and working within a diverse community and on the detrimental effects of corruption as this
will drastically improve the communication between government and community, thereby
improving the whole governing process
References:
Chigudu,D. (2020). Strength in diversity: An opportunity for Africa’s development.Cogent Social
sciences.4(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.20181/5
Kosec, K., & Wantchekon, L. (2020). Can information improve rural governance and service delivery?
World Development, 125, 104376. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.07.017
Seibeb,E. (2022).Fishrot vs Gold Mafia .Retrived from https://nbcnews.na/node/100480

State, A., Polytechnic, V., Ile, I., State, O., & Bazza, M. B. (2020). Tolle Lege: An Augustinian Journal of
Philosophy and Theology. 2(2), 120–127.
Transparancy Internationsal. (2021, July 4). Global Corruption Barrometer-Africa 9th
Edition.Transparancy.org https://www.transparency.org/en/gcb/africa/africa-9th-edition