Strategic Management of Government Information in Africa

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Strategic Management of Government Information in
Africa

• A Case of Kenya

Presented by Mr. Charles Nandain
Head of ICT, Library and Co-ordinator of Makerere
University (Nairobi Campus) Programmes at the
Regional Institute of Business Studies
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Presented by Mr. Charles NandainDate 29th
March, 2006For IFLA/AGIOPS-FAIFE-ECA Seminar
on the Strategic Management of Government
Information in Africa
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Introduction

• The study adopted case studies in which ten
  government registries were sampled.
• This were later classified into three broad
  categories for ease of discussions.
• The findings were used to get ways for the
  strategic way forward proposed.

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Records as a Strategic Component
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Definition of Terms

• Strategy
• a decision about how to use available resources
  to secure a major objective in the face of
  possible obstructions such as competitors,
  public opinion, legal status, taboos and similar
  forces.

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Definition of Terms

• Strategic Management
• a set of decisions and actions that result in the
  formulation and implementation of plans designed
  to achieve a companys organizations
  objectives

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Definition of Terms

• Government Records
• Public records whose scope includes
• The records of any Ministry of Government
• The records of the high court and of the
  electoral commission
• The records of any local authority

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Current Scenario
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Current Scenario

• Kenya still embraces repressive laws and policies
  that hinder free access to government
  information. Such impediments have been
  inherited from the colonial laws
• Such laws negate the records management as a
  strategic component of good governance and
  democratization and deny citizens the right to
  know.

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Current Scenario

• However, the current political reforms, have led
  to the increased demand for openness in the way
  the government delivers its services to the
  public.
• In circular letter Ref. OP.CAB.12/6A of February
  15, 2006, on Training of Staff, Head of Public
  Service Amb. Francis K. Muthaura, EGH noted that
  service delivery to the citizenry was inferior
  despite public servants undergoing training. He
  observes

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Circular on Training

• . Despite the efforts by the Government to
  build a strong human resource base in the Public
  Sector, Service delivery to the citizenry remains
  wanting. Public servants continue to pursue
  academic qualifications to meet the requirements
  of their respective schemes of service. Such
  training is in most cases not job related and
  does not, therefore, contribute to performance
  improvement. This is not in keeping with the
  general trend world wide which is to match job
  requirements with the skill levels so as to
  realize organizational gals and objectives.

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Current Scenario

• from the date of this circular, the government
  will direct its training resources on job-related
  short sources that enhance performance and
  service delivery. The government will further
  focus on on-the-job training by adapting new
  approaches such as coaching, mentoring, and
  counseling for performance and service delivery.
  A culture of continuous learning will also be
  encouraged as a way of developing personnel in
  the Public Service.

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Circular on Training

• public service must move away from training for
  promotion and emphasize on training for
  performance improvement.
• The government must also take cognizance of the
  fact that the country has sufficient human
  resource with professional and technical
  qualifications from which the Public Service can
  benefit.

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Current Scenario

• The Standard Editorial, March 23, 2006
• Complains about difficulty of accessing
  government information and calls for a Freedom of
  Information Bill
• what those calling for responsible media are
  not telling you is that it is easier to climb
  mount Everest than to get information from the
  government even on the most mundane issues like
  the year of birth of a cabinet minister. This is
  because government operations are shrouded in
  secrecy
  

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Level 1 Registries

• Level 1 consisted of registries and record
  centres with poor records management in totality.
  
• These systems were characterized by the staff
  with no ideas of records management systems. The
  leadership under this level are ignorant of their
  situation.

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Level 1 Registries

• Level 1 consisted of registries and record
  centres with poor records management in totality.
  
• These systems were characterized by the staff
  with no ideas of records management systems. The
  leadership under this level are ignorant of their
  situation.

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Level 1 Registries

• 1.      Policies
• i)   There is no policy governing the management
• .
• ii)  Lack of goals and objectives in the
  registry.

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Level 1 Registries

• 2.      Registry Practices
• Poor filing and classification system are used in
  the registry.
• Appraisal is not done regularly registry that has
  records dating back to the 1920s
• The retrieval tools Inferior or non-existent
  tools that are neither revised nor updated.
• Naming and Coding of Files File titles are not
  clear on the contents of the file.
• Circulation There are no circulation
  procedures in place to ensure action officers get
  information on time.

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Level 1

• 3.      Management Support
• i) There is generally poor understanding from the
  management on the vital role of the registry in
  the organization,
• ii) There is also poor supervision of staff.

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Level 1

• 4. Facilities
• i)  Poor storage equipment used for storing
  records.
• ii)   Lack of filing racks
• iii) There is no space for future expansion of
  the registry.

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Level 1

• 5. Preservation and Conservation
• i) Poor House-Keeping and storage Procedures

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Level 1

• 6. Staffing
• Registry used as a dumping place for officers
  with disciplinary cases or low performance.
• Unskilled and inadequate staff, deployment of
  clerks to registries.
•   Registry staff lowest on the cadre hence lack
  of support staff.
• The lack of scheme of service and poor working
  environment
• Low motivation, poor remuneration and poor
  working environment.

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Level 1

• 6. Staffing
• Issues of gender discrimination are evident.
• Nepotism and Tribalism negatively dominate
  promotion and hiring patterns.
• is a lot of idleness due to poor supervision from
  various sections of the department.
• Cronyism factions and rivalry within teams.

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Level 2

• This being a transitional level, characteristics
  and attributes are a mixture of those for level 1
  and level 3. Many of those that have been
  highlighted in level 1 and those to be
  highlighted at level 3 appear in this level.

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Level 3 Registries

• i)                    Staffing
• Qualified and skilled staff working in the
  registry,
• Strong staff training and development programmes.
  
• Co-operation among the staff in the registry and
  entire Ministry. Evidence of team spirit.
• Individual commitment the registry staff was
  devoted fully to the activities of the registry
• Integrity the registry staff believes in open
  and honest relationships.

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Level 3 Registries

• Resources Availability
• Resources are availed from the respective
  ministry for the management of the registries.
  This ensures that basic facilities and stationery
  for the day-to-day running are available and
  hence maximum output from the registry staff.

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Level 3 Registries

• records management programme is followed right
  from the time of creation, use, maintenance and
  disposal.
• record survey and appraisal are carried out in
  order to determine the value of records to be
  preserved permanently and those to be destroyed
  after the scheduled period.

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Level 3 Registries

• Finding aids are prepared such as catalogues,
  indices and movement registers
• Conservation and preservation of documents is
  sacrosanct.

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Level 3 Registries

• Automation
• The registry is not automated
• Disaster Management
• The security of records is poor. The
  organization has not put in place disaster
  management structures such as fire detectors.

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Strategic Way Forward

• Policy to harmonize operations of all record
  centres and registries.
• Standard training
• Establish professional societies or associations
  to work with civil societies to advocate for
  proper Records Management

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Strategic Way Forward

• Harmonizing the operations to be uniform to
  eliminate/reduce attributes and characteristics
  manifested in level 1 and level3.
•  
• Involve international civil society in setting up
  proper regulations to access government records.
• Encourage short courses, research and information
  sharing,