Creating New Administrative Processes and Structures; How to Achieve Efficiency and Effectiveness in the Zambian Local Government Service Commission

Service Commissions in Africa are identified with the quest for efficiency in the public sector. In Zambia the Local Government Service Commission (LGSC) has been characterized with abolishment and re-establishments due to unsatisfactory performance. The first establishment was on 19th June 1964 as a part-time commission. Between this period and 2010 when the latest re-establishment has been passed by parliament through the amendment of the Local Government Act of 2010, four (4) Local Government Service Commissions have existed. Functions of the commission have included; determination of salaries and conditions of services, creation and abolition of posts, determining qualifications for appointment to local authority posts and any other matters relating to employment of persons in local authorities. During the whole time of the Commission's existence, there have been outcries of their inefficiencies from local authorities, ministry of local government and housing and local leadership. This paper has used Institutional Approach to understand the operations of the Local Government Service Commission; its structure, functions, procedures, legal power and its relationship with the legislature and the executive. The analysis has been done in the perspectives of the changing nature and practice of public administration and has found that the commission has not adapted itself to current practices of public administration. Open system framework is suggested for addressing the problem.