African Journal of Public Affairs Volume 3, Number 1 (2010)
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Item Front matter, African Journal of Public Affairs, Volume 3, Number 1(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2010)Item Political parties in the East African integration process(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2010) Baregu, M.; Ally, B.This article examines four models on the role of political parties in economic and political integration arrangements that have emerged historically. First is the US model in which all political parties in what is essentially a federal dispensation, large and small; old and new, have a national character although parties are not a part of the relevant federal American constitution. The second model is the European Union pattern in which political parties continue to be of a national rather than a federal cross-country character and play virtually no visible role in regional politics except in contesting for the European Parliament. The third is the Russian Federation model which is prescriptive and highly regulated to ensure that parties have a federal character to avoid the possibility of parochial nationalism. The fourth case, which is closer to home, is the Tanzanian model which emerged under conditions of political exigencies involving a revolution in Zanzibar and a military mutiny in Tanganyika.Item Rural development in Tanzania : what exists behind institutions?(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2010) Maghimbi, S.Some pockets of modern economy and society have evolved in Sub Saharan African countries. The Tanzanian economy and society have responded positively to reform, but the country has not yet reached the level of a star performer and neither has it reached middle income level. Inefficiencies, bribery and corruption are widely reported. Now and then hunger is reported in a country where sixty five percent of the population are occupied in farming in rural villages. The article advances the argument that market-supporting and other institutions are not sufficiently grounded for these institutions to assist the country to advance in rural development. Jean- Philippes Platteau’s idea of Where Real Societies Exist is used to show how, what takes place in institutions has led to poor performance of the rural sector.Item Economic theory and public administration : the case of fishery management(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2010) Mkenda, A.In this article fishery management is used as an excellent case to illustrate the way the confusion between positive economics (the domain that deals with descriptive and predictive aspects) and normative economic (the domain that deals with prescription aspects) may lead to the promotion of policies and regulations that may not benefit the public. The main argument of the article is that the predictive and descriptive contents of economics must not be presumed to necessarily constitute prescriptions. Caution is invoked in importing economic theory to the design of public institutions. It is further argued that not each prediction or description constitutes a social optimality. A critical review is provided of the assumptions and conditions that make profit maximisation in fisheries seem to be an important social goal. The article is divided into five sections: section one discusses the overall theoretical background; section two presents an account of the reason why, from the standpoint of a welfare approach, open access to a commercially valuable fishery tends to lead to economically sub-optimal catch; section three discusses the issue of distribution; section four describes briefly the capability to function approach to social evaluation and the relevance of this approach to fishery management; and section five concludes by reiterating the point made earlier that the predictive and descriptive contents of economics must not be presumed to necessarily constitute prescriptions.Item Building a developmental public service in Africa : an assessment of five decades of effort(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2010) Mutahaba, G.; Ally, B.The objective of this article is to provide an overview of the underlying causes behind Africa’s current condition of public services. It is necessary to understand, diagnose, and place in a proper perspective any prescriptions meant to address the specific problems that characterize Africa’s public services. This is with the view to making Africa’s public services contribute effectively to building capable democratic and developmental states, which many of the papers presented during the 30th AAPAM Roundtable Conference, held in October, 2008 in Accra, Ghana, dealt with.Item Parliamentary networking as an instrument of capacity building : evidence from East Africa(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2010) Rugumamu, S.This article discusses the effectiveness of parliamentary networks in East Africa as a tool of capacity building. Given the circumstances prevailing in most African parliaments, there is growing consensus supporting the view that networks are one of the key capacity building instruments on the continent. The article proceeds to discuss the extent that there are no dedicated formal colleges to train parliamentarians and parliamentary staff for their multiple functions. Networking with sister institutions does serve as one critical mechanism for exchanging and sharing information, knowledge and internationally-acknowledged best practices in order to enhance institutional and individual capacities.