Posted by Chester Morton / Tuesday 29 November 2016 / No comments
The problems of the Civil Service
Definition of Civil Service
The Civil service is the entity that is charged with the
responsibility of carrying out government policies, providing services to the
public and keeping the machinery of government running.
PROBLEMS
Low salaries and wages
One of the problems of the Civil Service is the low salaries
are paid to the Civil Servants. The conditions of service are not attractive so
the Civil Servant is always not satisfied at work.
Low quality of personnel
Another problem of the Civil Service is the generally low
quality of personnel in the service. This is so because the high caliber of
personnel is not attracted to work in the Civil Service. The Civil Service has
to do with what is available on the human resource market.
Political influence
The Civil Service is not free from the interference of the
politicians in their activities. Most politicians want their family and friends
to be absorbed into the service so they influence recruitment and appointment.
They even interfere in issues of discipline in the service.
Insufficient funds
One major problem of the Civil Service is the inadequacy of
funds to carry out their core mandate. In most cases, the government makes room
only salaries and allowances to cater for the remuneration of the workers. For
this reason, there is no money made available to carry out their duties.
Red tapeism
Work in the civil service is highly procedural so the
personnel are expected to follow laid down procedures in carrying out their
functions. This creates a lot of delays for those who patronize the services of
the Civil Service, for example. This has led to the accusation that the Civil
Service is highly bureaucratic.
Nepotism and favouritism
The Civil Service has a problem with nepotism. People are
recruited into the Civil Service not because they qualify to do the job but
because of their relationship with a top politician or a ‘big man’ somewhere.
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
1. Highlight six problems that is faced by the Civil Service.
