By Dauda A. Kuyateh (PhD)
It is not surprising that Africa has its realities and its own needs despite decades of foreign aid, democratic governance and development planning. The truth of the matter is that there should be strategic platforms to bring citizens into policy-making and to keep governance transparent and result-oriented because policy implementation remains a big challenge in terms of effective delivery and performance. People–centred governance and feedback mechanisms are fundamental in democratic governance to shape policies that reflect the needs and expectations of citizens. If we get our policy environment and framework right, we will solve more than 80 per cent public policy problems in Africa. We should critically look at how public policy is conceived, and communicated and implemented. There must be clear targets and deliverables, if people fail to perform, they should be made to pay the price. Policy Implementation without accountability is a waste of time. People must be made to account for their stewardship.
Due to the “false start” at the formulation stage of public policy, the effect is spilled onto the implementation stage making it difficult to address the major problems for which they are established. The key objective of public policy is to capture the clear intentions of the government. Without a public policy, there can be no governance. To govern, there must be a set of guidelines. Public policy provides those guidelines.
What should be done next to address these public policy challenges?
Ideally, public policies are designed and implemented to effect action with the hope of solving public problems. Policy implementation challenges in Africa could be linked to improper planning, political instability, and bureaucratic bottleneck, the deliberate imposition of policy, complete alteration to the plan if it is not favorable to the implementers saddled with the responsibility to implement it.
In recent times, Africa has reached a critical juncture marked by economic uncertainty, political upheaval, social unrest, coup’ d’etats, crime, corruption, and ineffective leadership. These issues have resulted in national insecurity, unemployment, and poverty, largely due to challenges in policy implementation, which include unrealistic goal setting, political patronage, neglect of target beneficiaries, and insufficient consideration of the policy environment. Policy implementation is the process of changing a formulated policy into reality.
The reason why most policies implemented in Africa fail and don’t produce acceptable results is because governments and policymakers failed to consider the socio-political and economic environment of a particular target population before making and implementing policies
say for example constructing a market or health centre, school or community centre in an inappropriate location without consulting or engaging the local people. In all of these, we need to get the watchdogs such as the civil society, nongovernmental organizations and epistemic community and the mass media to influence policy as well as advocate for the good of the people so that the interest of the people could not be taken for granted.
Furthermore, these critical questions present a valuable opportunity for policymakers to engage in thoughtful problem-solving to tackle the intricate challenges hindering sustainable development in Africa by establishing achievable and re-implementable policy goals.
In Sierra Leone, we have implemented numerous policies, strategies, and programs across various sectors, including agriculture, energy, water, health, education, environment, infrastructure, legal, labour, trade, and investment. However, these efforts often fail to produce the desired outcomes. Challenges related to public trust, service delivery, accountability, and transparency exists at all levels, often excluding the targeted beneficiaries from involvement.
To bring tangible development and job opportunities to the youthful, energetic population, consistency in policies and the prudent use of public funds is necessary for sustainable progress. However, the government must strengthen anti-corruption institutions, enforce accountability and promote transparency in public service delivery.
It is an established fact that policy implementation is a challenge. The best way forward is to set policy goals that are implementable with measurable impact. Targeted beneficiaries should be involved in the policy design process. This will ensure ownership and prevent the programme from sabotaged.
Also, the cooperation between the policy implementers and the target beneficiary is enhanced for the success of any policy. Policy making and implementation should be changed from the top-down command structure to a more consultative and participatory approach to enhance transparency and accountability and reduce political patronage.
Finally, a policy that is made to positively impact people should be repackaged to meet the needs lifestyle and expectations of the people.
Dauda A. Kuyateh (PhD) is a Senior Policy Analyst and Lecturer, University of Makeni, Sierra Leone
