Public Financial Management for PRSP - Deutsches Institut für ...

Public Financial Management for PRSP Implementation in Malawi
but more importantly this situation causes uncertainty among other actors
with regard to the distribution of responsibilities and the validity of formal
rules and procedures. These capacity shortcomings have negative effects on
the efficiency and effectiveness of PFM on all stages of the budget process
and the use of public finances. While the capacity constraints may partly
result from an insufficient supply of qualified candidates on the Malawian
labour market, they are also due to a lack of financial resources and adequate
equipment as well as shortcomings in organisation and human resource management,
which are described in the following sections.
6.1.2 Shortcomings in organisational and human resource
management
High staff turnover
High staff turnover is a very common phenomenon in nearly all government
bodies in Malawi, both at central and local government level. Apart from
qualified staff being lured away by private sector companies or donors, there
is frequent reshuffling of staff between key positions in the public administration.
Evidence suggests that this is not merely a phenomenon owed to the
consolidation of a newly elected administration but a general feature of the
public sector in Malawi. This, of course, has severe consequences for these
civil servants’ functioning in the PFM system for different reasons:
First, high staff turnover in government bodies leads to a lack of institutional
memory. It is rare to find the employees working at the same government
institution or even in the same department for several years, especially at
central government level. Therefore, the majority of the staff is poorly informed
about past reforms or decisions. A high turnover also leads to a lack
of routine in working procedures. The research team found one common
symptom during the interviews; many civil servants explained that they were
new in their jobs and excused themselves for not being able to provide all
details about their responsibilities since they were not quite sure about the
regulations defining these. As a result, work efficiency is not optimal until the
newcomers familiarise themselves with their work. Another important consequence
of high staff turnover factor is the frequent loss of training efforts and
effects. High staff turnover thus causes targeted capacity development measures
for public sector employees to be largely ineffective, as individuals being
trained e.g. in the use of specific PFM tools may soon be in a completely
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