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Contracting-Out Public Services in Local Authorities in Zimbabwe: The Contracting - Out Public Services In Local Authorities In Zimbabwe: The Case of Harare City Council By Tawanda Zinyama A Thesis Submitted in Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Public Administration Department of Political and Administrative Studies Faculty of Social Studies University of Zimbabwe June 2016 i Abstract Contracting - out has become a central feature of modern government and one of the key institutions to deliver public services to the citizens. While arguments have and continue to be made in favour of contracting - out the provision of public services to private agents, little is known about the merit s and shortcomings; factors that promote or obstruct effective and successful contrcating - out. The guiding research question was: What are the experiences of Harar e City Council with contracting - out the provision of public services between 1995 and 2014? The study sought to explore contracting - out experiences of Harare City Council in order to provide a source of valuable information for local government managers to ameliorate the contracting - out process es . The principal objective of the study was to inve stigate and describe Harare City Council’s experiences with contracting - out the provision of public services in order to better appreciate the factors that make or break the contracting - out proce ss. The study included a qualitative sample of 52 participan ts pu rposively selected. In addition to these participants, the researcher attended four local government conferences and workshops where nine local experts were interviewed. The study also used a que stionnaire of 45 questions to a survey sample of fifty ( 50) respondents from Harare City Council. Thirty - two (32) completed sur veys were returned. However, three were discarded leaving only 29 and a response rate of 58%. The survey questionnaire included sections that asked about service production arrangement s , contract management capacity, contracti ng out functions, contracting out procedures , management of contracted companies, benefits of contracting out, policy environment, expectations and cha llenges of contracting out. The study also used document search to gather data. Q ualitative analysis of data comprised analysis for similarities and differences, coding and categorising , and constant co mparison. The themes from the data were compared to existing ii literature on contracting - out theories, global experienc es and theoretical framework. T he qualitative analytical frameworks were supplemented by statistical data outputs from Statistical Package for Socia l Scientists (SPSS).The study employed triangulation for data validation by reviewing case data from archiva l records such as council resolutions, memoranda, strategic plans, newsletters, minutes, by - laws, reports, annual financial and budget statements, audit reports and other such documents. The findings indicate that t he contracting - out refor m within Harare C ity Council yielded less than wholly impressive results. The HCC did not contract out the provision of public services but management problems. Contracts were poorly designed and the legal framework was heavily fragmented. Contracting - out in the public sec tor is more complex than in the private sector even if services appear to be the same due to political exigencies. The influence of political and socio - economic factors, such as, demand for quality services and public employee opposition to contracting - out, still help to account for variations in local government contracting. Contract management capacity is an important determinant of local government contracting. Transparency in the contracting out process is essential in order to avoid any controversy about the awarding of tenders. The results showed that HCC lacks a strategic approach to contracting - out. There was no well - documented strat egy for contracting out - ad - hoc approach. It was striking to note that HCC adopted a minimalist approach to contrac t monitoring and supervision. The overwhelming impression was of the absence of formal contract management. The following recommendations were proffered. For contracting - out to be effective and successful, the local authorities should be able to properly m anage the contracting - out processes, that is, to define contract objectives, negotiate contract terms, prepare and implement contracts, and monitor and evaluate performance. There is also need to provide leadership in setting policy, contract oversight and monitoring, setting and enforcing iii regulation and determining costs. There is need for sound policy and institutional f ramework ; l egisl ation governing contracting o ut ; ensuring top management s upport ; t ransparency ; e ncourag ing c ompetition ; s tro ng performan ce m onitoring ; c ontr act design, implementation and m anagement ; s takeholder i nvolvement ; a do ption of strategic approach to c ontracting out and capacity b uilding . iv Acknowledgements Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good. Psalms 127:1 The height by great men reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upw ard in the night: Longfellow Completing the PhD thesis journey is an adventure in learning and personal growth - the outcome of which can result in extraordinary accomplishment and contribution. No one climbs a high mountain alone. The PhD journey was arduous and long, four years from beginning (January 2012) to end (December 2015) and it was sometimes frustrating, exhausting , gruelling and discouraging . Experience and expertise, support and encouragement are all needed. I am indebted to ma ny people who provided these necessities, which helped to make this dissertation a reality. None of them, of course, is responsible for the contents of this work. My intellectual debt is owed to my supervisors: Professor Paul Mavima and Dr. Alfred G. Nhe ma who made this dissertation more readable than it otherwise might have been. Their criticisms and suggestions of my academic work, which sometimes I did not comprehend, forced me to deal with important issues, which I would have otherwise conveniently ne glected in my field study. Their patience, kindness and appreciation of my work have been an energising source of personal encouragement, intellectual challenge and growth. They found me, nurtured my early incoherent work, railed at me when I often needed it and patted me on the back (often undeservingly) to keep me going. Thanks, my supervisors, for the faith. v I would like also to acknowledge and thank Dean of Faculty of Social Studies, Professor Charity Manyeruke for urgi ng me to present my thesis chapte rs to the Department of Political and Administrative Studies of University of Zimbabwe. She used to say to me: “That which you acquire too easily, you esteem too unconscientiously.” I would also like to thank Prof. Charity Manyeruke who, in her capacity as the then Zimbabwe Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA) Chapter Liaison officer, for exchanging ideas about putting up a thesis proposal together. OSSREA and University of Zimbabwe (UZ) are acknowledged for organ ising a month - long Researc h Methodology Training for PhD c andidates , which was considerably beneficial and allowed for networking and interaction with colleagues . I want to thank members of the Department of Political and Administrative Studies at the Uni versity of Zimbabwe for the tremendous assistance and guidance they gave me. It would be invidious of me to single any out but I would like to express my great appreciation to Dr. D.P. Chimanikire (Acting Chairperson), Professor Gideon Zhou, Mr. Eldred Mas unungure, Mr. Hardlife Zvoushe, Mr. Alois Madhekeni, Mr. Lawrence Mhandara, Ms Marvis Chiware, Mrs. Evelyn Mazando and Dr. Heather Chingono for their cogent criticisms of my draft presentations to the department. I also want to thank the POLAD secretariat for organising departmental seminar s for me to present thesis chapters, Mr. Tapiwa Charles Rubaya (Administrative Assistant), Tafadzwa Chigodora and Kudzai Mhishi (both secretaries). I am especially indebted to all Master of Public Administration (MPA) stu dents I taught during those four (2012 - 2015) years. I tested out my ideas on them while their reactions contributed greatly to the evolution o f arguments of this thesis . I also want to acknowledge Mr. Kennedy Manduna (then Teaching Assistant in the Departm ent of Political and Administrative Studies) vi who assisted with SPSS during data analysis. Hudson Mutandwa is also acknowledged for assistance rendered throughout the study. University of Zimbabwe lecturers made insightful presentations at doctoral seminar s on Higher Degrees Workshop s on Data Analysis and Thesis Write - up ; and Skills for Writing and Publishing in High impact j ournals organised by the Office of the Pro - Vice Chancellor - Academic Affa irs and the Postgraduate Centre of University of Zimbabwe. The y provided foundational information on preparing the c ore chapters of the thesis . The completion of this thesis was made possible by financial support from the Vice - Chancellor, Professor Levy Nyagura of the University of Zimbabwe. I was also (two times i n a row: 2012 and 2013) a recipient of POSCO Africa Fellowships Award at the University of Zimbabwe sponsored by POSCO TJ Park Foundation of South Korea in “Recognition
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