Transformation of the civil service

One of the reasons for the continued excessive inefficieny and manifest corruption within the civil service has just been removed, thanks to the approval of a white paper by the Federal Executive Council. Up until this change, the Office of the Head of Service was solely responsible for the recruitment, posting, disciplining etc of all civil servants. Under this system, it was virtually impossible to fire people for incompetence or corruption. Those deemed to have erred were merely 'returned to the pool' as the euphemism went. This meant that well known corrupt civil servants merely got a slap on the wrist and a transfer, even after engaging in serious levels of corruption. A corrupt administrator with years of experience in say public-sector aviation issues would suddenly find himself in charge of fisheries, compounding corruption with ignorance in an unholy brew.

The new policy means that all significant HR functions will be decentralised to within the specific Ministry, Department or Agency. This gives each MDA power to hire, discipline and fire. It empowers each MDA to hire sector-specific staff, to implement performance-driven strategies, and to hold recruits to account.

Of course, as with all other aspects of the reform process, quite why this is happening so late in the day is another question entirely.