Abstract:
Our research (2009)2 with public servants in Rwanda, Burundi and Southern
Sudan points to the importance of training both leaders and managers for both
democracy and socio-economic development. Public sector education and training
rooted in constitutional and administrative law, sensitive to the history and culture
of a specific country can enhance public sector leadership and management and
enhance governance. A 2010 study by the United Nations also points to “ineffective
leadership, weak governance institutions, inappropriate human resources, lack
of mechanisms to engage citizens in public policy-making decisions and lack of
or ineffective delivery of public services as some of the central causes of violent
conflict”. The corollary therefore is equally important – that leadership steeped in
the principles of democracy, accountability and transparency, secure in outreach to
the community and respectful of the rule of law and the constitution are essential
to avoiding a return to violence, avoiding stalled peace and ensuring effective post
conflict reconstruction of the nation state. Essential to successful peace building,
political and economic stability is a continuous, sustained and targeted approach
to training and development of professional public servants in the public service.
The latter in particular requires the immediate and effective transformation and
training of conflict driven institutions into democratic institutions that are inclusive,
responsive and representative. These in turn require leadership and vision steeped
in a democratic ethos that promotes better governance, national integrity systems,
respect for the rule of law including administrative law and the Constitution.
Conventional debates about the leadership/management dichotomy are rooted
in the more traditional literature and reflect the false dichotomies embedded in the argument that separates public administration and politics. At the heart of this
debate is the argument that managers have subordinates and leaders have followers
and at another level public administration is the preserve of managers who are
appointed and politics is the preserve of leaders who are elected.
