Managing Public Records in Zimbabwe: the Road to Good Governance, Accountability, Transparency and Effective Service Delivery
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Forget Chaterera Managing public records in Zimbabwe: the road to good governance, accountability, transparency and effective service delivery Forget Chaterera 1. Introduction Department of Records and Archives, Public records are important as they help National University of Science and the responsible authorities to uphold the Technology and Department of Information rule of law and to demonstrate good Science, University of South Africa governance through fair and equal treatment [email protected] of citizens. The availability of records Abstract enables the public to hold officials accountable for their actions and it enhances The ability by government departments to attain service delivery particularly in such sectors effective service delivery, accountability and good as health, education, pensions, land, and governance is largely determined by their records judicial rights. This means that records are management practices. Delays and failure to access critical to the several aspects of the services due to missing or misplaced records from governance process. In this regard, records public institutions is a common challenge in management can be labeled the road to Zimbabwe. In organisations where records are not accountability, transparency, good properly managed, business operations are crippled governance and improved service delivery. and the rights of citizens will be compromised. As such, this paper examines the status quo in The concept of accountability refers to the Zimbabwe’s government ministries regarding the legal and reporting framework, basic requirements in records management. The basic organisational structure, strategy, procedures concepts covered in this paper pertain to the issues of and actions that a government follows to retention and disposal schedules, registry procedures help ensure that a government is held manuals, disaster preparedness, records management responsible for its actions (Lindberg, 2009). training, electronic records management and records Evans (2008) notes that accountability is the inspections by the National Archives of Zimbabwe willingness by a government to accept the (NAZ). The underlying principle for this paper is responsibility of its actions and decisions. As that public records management units require such, accountability can be perceived to be effective records management practices for the central to the democratic theory as attainment of improved public service delivery, good democracy has been attested to necessitate governance, accountability and transparency. A accountability. Blagescu et al. (2005) qualitative approach that used interviews, content indicates that accountability is when a analysis and questionnaires was used to gather data government is open to the populace and for the study. The overall results showed that public makes available the relevant information to service delivery is at risk due to inadequate records enable the people to meaningfully contribute management practices in the public sector. To that to ongoing national dialogues and debates. effect, an improved working relationship between Accountability therefore refers to the NAZ and public departments is encouraged. obligation that public officials have of providing information, explanations and KEYWORDS: Accountability, good justifications for their performance in the governance, records management, service execution of their functions (Cendon, 1999). delivery, transparency, Zimbabwe JOURNAL OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN SOCIETY OF ARCHIVISTS, VOL. 49, 2016 | SASA © 116 Forget Chaterera In this paper, accountability refers to the government can put in place to bring about ability by a government to be answerable this sense of trust is to ensure that public and responsible for its actions, decisions, records are available and accessible. Good policies and products. The appropriate records management is the tool that can be management of public sector records helps used to ensure the effective availability and in fostering accountability in that records accessibility of public records. provide a reliable, legally verifiable source of evidence of decisions and actions. Effective service delivery is when a Governments may not be able to justify government recognizes citizens as its clients their actions with little or no reference to and strives to provide fast, accessible and past performance or future goals; hence the good quality services (Eigema, 2007). In this need for sound records management paper, effective service delivery refers to the practices in government departments. ability by a public institution to render the Accountability in a government is promoted services sought by a people on time without by transparency. delays that are usually a result of missing and or misplaced files. Records represent an Transparency is a powerful force that can be important and critical source of information applied to fight corruption, improve that is needed by public offices to be able to governance and promote accountability serve the people. The ability by government (Lindberg, 2009). It includes the obligation departments to attain effective service to provide public access to information delivery rests on the accessibility and about the government and the ability by a usability of the information contained in government to evaluate its performance, records. As such, the failure by a public policies and practice in consultation with office to manage its records leads to members of the public (Blagescu et al., inefficiency and difficulties in executing 2005). Transparency therefore means that their expected duties which include serving decisions taken and their enforcement are the people. done in a manner that follows rules and regulations. It also means that information is Accountability and transparency are two freely available and directly accessible to important elements of good governance in those who will be affected by such decisions that good governance is based on openness and their enforcement (O'Reilly, 2009). In and comprehensive stakeholder engagement the same vein, Ginsberg et al (2012) (Lindberg, 2009, O'Reilly, 2009). Good indicates that transparency is the disclosure governance is the process of decision of government information and its use by making and the process by which decisions the public. The end result of transparency is are implemented or not implemented. It is accountability. the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country’s economic In the context of this paper, transparency is and social resources for development when a government is open about its actions (O'Reilly, 2009). Similarly, Walter et al. and ready to engage with the citizenry for (2006) asserts that good governance is the their views, comments and input. The ability transparent and accountable management of by a government to engage with the human, natural, economic and financial populace inculcates in people confidence resources for the purposes of equitable and and a sense of trust towards their sustainable development. The characteristics government. Amongst the measures that a of good governance are participatory, JOURNAL OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN SOCIETY OF ARCHIVISTS, VOL. 49, 2016 | SASA © 117 Forget Chaterera consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive (O'Reilly, 2009). Figure 1 demonstrates the relationship of the key concepts that are covered in this study. Figure 1: 2. Historical background Figure 1 shows that accountability, With the coming of the colonial transparency and service delivery are all administration of the British South Africa aspects of good governance which can be Company (BSAC) in the 1890s, Zimbabwe attained through acceptable records moved from oral record keeping to formal management. record keeping in the form of written records (Tough and Lihoma, 2012, Tough, In ascertaining the status of records 2009). The colonial administration brought a management in Zimbabwe’s government starting point for the country’s record departments, the study investigated into keeping system which unfortunately was some of the fundamental aspects of records incompatible with the country’s oral record management. The issues covered pertain to keeping systems. The effects of this records procedures manuals, disaster challenge have remained lingering in today’s management plans, retention and disposal record keeping practices as witnessed by so schedules, electronic records management, many inadequacies that are seemingly records management training and records inherent in most government departments. inspections by the National Archives of It is however crucial to acknowledge that at Zimbabwe (NAZ). least the colonial rule provided a foundation on which Zimbabwe established a formal record keeping system that can be improved JOURNAL OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN SOCIETY OF ARCHIVISTS, VOL. 49, 2016 | SASA © 118 Forget Chaterera to support accountability, transparency and records before they were inspected by a good governance in the country. government archivist (Matangira, 2014, p. 6). The records that were not sent to Record keeping in Zimbabwe (then known London and remained in the country were as Southern Rhodesia) during the colonial not properly cared for and were haphazardly period was inadequate compared to that of destroyed. To this effect, Zimbabwe lost Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and some crucial part of its documentary Nyasaland (now Malawi). Public records heritage. The increased concern among the were