A ZAM Transnational Investigation from Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Ghana and Nigeria.

Dedicated officials help the public from within corrupted systems in African countries. Their lead, if followed, could lead to better governance throughout. But why do authorities ignore their examples?

Many public services in Africa are inadequate, dysfunctional, or corrupt. However, a ZAM team found dedicated officials who successfully provide proper healthcare, public transport, necessary paperwork and other services in Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Ghana, and Nigeria. On these ‘islands of functionality’, wonders are worked with small resources, at times even at a profit too.

The buses of Ghana’s State Transport Company, for example, are well maintained, with professional drivers, WiFi, and double the staff it used to have under previous management, while those who are ill in Lagos State, Nigeria, receive care with working medical equipment and appropriate medication in the local Federal Medical Centre Ebute-Metta. In Uganda, happy customers of the driver’s license centre were found while in eastern Kenya, a passionate rescue service ensures that victims in emergency situations are speedily saved and cared for. And in Malawi, mental health patients who were previously kept constrained by their desperate families, without any professional care, now regularly recover thanks to the treatment provided by the Zomba psychiatric hospital.

But why do these services remain isolated? Why aren’t authorities using these examples of good public service as models to implement throughout the state? And why do the same authorities, when asked, refuse to respond to that very question?

This new ZAM investigation highlights the public servants who fight for change from within -and exposes the politicians invested in the status quo. And if there is a lack of political will to govern better in countries such as these, what does this mean for the international community when liaising with their leaders?

Public Servants will be published on www.zammagazine.com on 6 December 2023.

For queries, please contact Evelyn Groenink at evelyn@zammagazine.com

ZAM Investigations team

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