Abstract
This Selected Issues paper analyzes the decentralization of government in the Union of the Comoros and its economic management functions foreseen under the constitution. The paper examines the special challenge of combining a civil service reform needed to increase the efficiency of the civil service with the decentralization of the civil service foreseen under the new constitution. It discusses developments in a number of civil service indicators that are often used to analyze the government wage bill and employment in relation to economic and fiscal objectives.
III. Civil Service Reform Under Decentralization7
A. Introduction
41. The Comoros faces the challenge of combining a civil service reform needed to increase the efficiency of the civil service with decentralization requirements under the new constitution. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate proposals for simultaneously reforming the civil service and moving to its decentralization, while maintaining a fiscally sustainable wage bill.
42. During discussions on a staff-monitored program (SMP) in March-April 2001, the authorities expressed their interest in preparing a comprehensive civil service reform program. As a first step, a World Bank consultant assisted the authorities with an assessment of the civil service legal and institutional framework and identified the need for a number of civil service reforms, including streamlining the civil service to make it more efficient. In addition, more general options for decentralization of government were discussed in a comprehensive report prepared in 2002 by a mission of the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD). In this report, considerable attention was given to the scope for, and format of, a decentralization of the civil service in conformity with the constitution.
43. As the authorities proceed with the implementation of decentralization under the constitution and the establishment of a consolidated budget, it will be important to move toward an efficient civil service on the basis of a consolidated wage bill that can be financed on a sustainable level.8 Some progress toward these objectives was made during the two Paris meetings organized by the International Organization of the Francophonie (OIF) in October-November 2002 and May 2003 on the delineation of competencies of the two levels of government. However, the Union and island governments have yet to agree on the number of civil servants that would be assigned to each government under decentralization. In addition, in contrast to the recommendation of the World Bank consultant to streamline the civil service, the 2001 constitution could lead to the hiring of additional civil servants and result in an overlap and duplication of functions, as it delegates wide-ranging autonomy to the islands.
44. The organization of the paper is as follows: Section B presents the background and discusses some key issues. The subsections of Section B, respectively, evaluate public sector wages and employment in the Comoros, present the structure of civil service in 2001, outline the proposals for civil service reform in the Comoros independent of decentralization, and discuss the proposals for civil service management under decentralization made by the World Bank consultant and the FAD reports on decentralization. Section C summarizes the proposals of the two Paris meetings on the delineation of competencies of the two levels of government, and Section D presents some tentative conclusions.
B. Discussion of Issues
Evaluating wages and employment in the civil service
45. In the Comoros, as in several sub-Saharan African countries, the need for civil service reform is in large measure a governance issue affecting economic performance. In this context, an IMF African Department (AFR) report on governance in sub-Saharan African countries highlights problems in the area of civil service reform, such as excessive staffing, “ghost workers” on civil service payrolls, non-merit-based compensation practices, and poorly trained, underpaid, and demoralized civil service workers.
46. In a separate conceptual study on the civil service, FAD provides a range of indicators to evaluate the size of the wage bill and public sector employment. These indicators are grouped into three categories: (i) the wage bill, (ii) public employment, and (iii) wage levels, as presented in Box III.1. An evaluation of these indicators is expected to yield insights into the effectiveness and sustainability of civil service structures and policies.
Civil Service Indicators
Wage bill indicators are as follows:
wage bill as a share of GDP;
wage bill as a share of total spending;
wage bill compared with spending on operations and maintenance for a given sector; and
wage bill as a share of domestic revenue.
The following employment indicators are suggested:
public employment as a percentage of the population;
public employment as a percentage of total employment;
public employment as a percentage of private sector employment; and
share of low-skilled employees.
Wage level indicators are as follows:
average public sector wages as a share of comparator private sector wages;
average public sector wage as a share of GDP per capita; and
compression ratios.
47. The public sector wage bill, employment, and wage level in the Comoros relative to other low-income countries are assessed in Table III.1 using available indicators.
Comoros: Civil Service Indicators
Middle-income countries.
Comoros: Civil Service Indicators
| Comoros | Low-Income Countries | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wage bill | |||||||
| As a percent of GDP | 8.3 | 5.7 | |||||
| As a percent of total government spending | 30.0 | 22.6 | |||||
| As a percent of domestic revenue | 46.9 | … | |||||
| Public employment | |||||||
| As a percent of the population | 1.1 | 6.1 1 | |||||
| Average public sector wage | |||||||
| As a percent of GDP per capita | 716 | 570 | |||||
Middle-income countries.
Comoros: Civil Service Indicators
| Comoros | Low-Income Countries | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wage bill | |||||||
| As a percent of GDP | 8.3 | 5.7 | |||||
| As a percent of total government spending | 30.0 | 22.6 | |||||
| As a percent of domestic revenue | 46.9 | … | |||||
| Public employment | |||||||
| As a percent of the population | 1.1 | 6.1 1 | |||||
| Average public sector wage | |||||||
| As a percent of GDP per capita | 716 | 570 | |||||
Middle-income countries.
48. At 8.3 percent of GDP, the wage bill in the Comoros is relatively large compared with other low-income countries (5.7 percent) even before decentralization (Table III.1). Furthermore, the central government wage bill is estimated to constitute 30 percent of government expenditures, more than seven percentage points higher than in other lowincome countries. The wage bill accounts for almost one-half of domestic revenues, even though public sector employees represent only 1.1 percent of the population. In addition, a comparison of the average public sector wage with GDP per capita suggests that, relative to the average citizen, civil servants in the Comoros enjoy a much higher standard of living than is the case in other low-income countries.
The structure of the civil service in 20019
Ngazidja and Mohéli
49. In August 2001, there were 3,643 paid civil servants on the islands of Ngazidja and Mohéli. Of these 3,097 worked on Ngazidja (equivalent to 1.1 percent of its population) and 488 on Mohéli (equivalent to 1.5 percent of its population). The distribution of civil servants by ministry was as follows for the two islands combined:
over 49 percent in Education,
about 11.5 percent in Health,
7.5 percent in Finance, and
the remaining one-third in other ministries.
Anjouan
50. Since its secession attempt in 1997, the number of civil servants on Anjouan increased by about 50 percent, from 1,864 in 1997 to a peak of 3,156 in 2002. (Figure III.1). A considerable part of this increase was due to civil servants who left the main island of Ngazidja after 1997 on their own will as they felt discriminated or threatened. As a result, the share of civil servants in the total population of Anjouan increased from 0.8 percent to 1.1 percent.
Comoros: Civil Service in Anjouan, 1997–2003
(numbers of civil servants)
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2004, 233; 10.5089/9781451809077.002.A003
Source: Anjouan authorities.Comoros: Civil Service in Anjouan, 1997–2003
(numbers of civil servants)
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2004, 233; 10.5089/9781451809077.002.A003
Source: Anjouan authorities.Comoros: Civil Service in Anjouan, 1997–2003
(numbers of civil servants)
Citation: IMF Staff Country Reports 2004, 233; 10.5089/9781451809077.002.A003
Source: Anjouan authorities.The distribution of civil servants by ministry in 2001 presented a pattern that was substantially different from that on the other two islands:
63 percent in Education,
6 percent in Health,
5 percent in Finance, and
the remaining one-fourth in other ministries.
In 2003, the number of civil servants in Anjouan declined to 3046 as a result of the elimination of “ghost employees.”
Recent developments
51. While the data on the number of civil servants cited above are informative, it will be important to establish with precision their current number. In particular, more detailed information is needed on employees working for the Union and island governments before a judgment on reform is made and a decentralized system put in place. Since the publication of the report of the World Bank consultant on civil service in the Comoros, more civil servants have been hired by the various island governments. At this stage, their number is not known.
General proposals for civil service reform in the Comoros
52. Based on the situation of the civil service in 2001, the report of the World Bank consultant identified the need for the following civil service reforms in the Comoros. The proposals for civil service reform were made independently of decentralization objectives as the constitution with its stipulation on decentralization was adopted only in December 2001.
Reform of administrative and financial management
53. Under the World Bank proposals, the responsibility for paying civil servant salaries would be turned over from the Ministry of Civil Service to the treasury, with a view to improving the control of treasury over the payment of salaries. To assist with this process, a unique computerized database for civil servants would be established. Any administrative monitoring and control would be maintained based on the information entered into this database.
Implementation of budgetary administration of civil service
54. The proposal to base budgetary administration on positions rather than organizational structure aims to match the civil servants with the available budgetary positions. It would also improve budgetary management of the civil service. To this end, all civil servants would be classified by their positions and qualifications, and all budgetary positions would be listed as available, reserved, or allocated. An integrated computerized system would assist in matching the vacant positions with the qualifications of civil servants. Efficiency under this approach, of course, assumes that budgetary positions have been defined in a way that takes into account their priority needs and skills profiles. Basing human resource management on positions rather than organizational structure would have the additional advantage of avoiding the inadaptability of organizational structure in human resource and budgetary management. Instead, the organizational structure would evolve based on clearly identified needs.
Rehabilitation of administration of civil service
55. It is essential to have an automated and simplified administration system allowing administrative, budgetary, and financial management of civil servants. In Anjouan, the system could be a copy of the rehabilitated system in Ngazidja. In addition, the authorities should first take a census of civil servants in Anjouan, and then take measures to consolidate the civil service, starting with the departure of contractuals hired since 1997.10 Furthermore, the authorities should evaluate the amount of salary arrears to civil servants who were already employed in July 1997 and have remained in the civil service.
Proposals for civil service management under decentralization
Recommendations of the World Bank consultant
56. The recommendations of the World Bank consultant on the management of civil service in a decentralized system accept the premise of greater autonomy for the islands under the new constitution for the Comoros. However, these recommendations also point to Article 7 of the Union constitution, which implies that, despite the move toward greater autonomy of the islands, all civil servants in the Union should be subject to the same civil service law and should be compensated based on the same regulation in all parts of the Union. Article 7 states that all Comorians have the same rights, the same freedoms and the same obligations in any part of the Union. No authority can adopt measures which, directly or indirectly, impede the freedom of movement and settling of people as well as free movement of goods in any part of the Union. Given the shortage of qualified personnel in the country, it is feared that, in the absence of a common regulation, competition between different governments would lead to disequilibrium in human resources and an increase in wages to attract scarce qualified personnel.
57. The World Bank report suggests that, despite a high degree of autonomy in their administration under the constitution, it is in the interest of the islands to assign some civil service management functions to a national committee. These would include, for example, the authentication of academic degrees, organization of national examinations, and maintenance regulations. These functions could be performed by a personnel management structure comprising, at the Union level, a Federal Civil Service Commission (Conseil Supérieur de la Fonction Publique) with no administrative power and, at the level of each island, a Ministry of Civil Service with autonomous administrative power. Specifically, the following recommendations are made:
58. Federal Civil Service Commission. The Federal Civil Service Commission would include experienced high-level civil servants, nominated by the island governments, and technicians in human resource management coming from the civil service ministries of the islands. The responsibilities of the commission would include.
organization of national examinations to select the most qualified people,
maintenance of regulations to ensure their homogeneous application, and
authentication of academic degrees to ensure their legality
59. Ministry of Civil Service. The Ministry of Civil Service of each island would be responsible for proposing to its government policies for the civil service, and for implementing the laws and regulations for human resource management. The main responsibilities of the ministry would include.
administration of civil servants,
definition and monitoring of the professional training policy for civil servants, and
implementation and monitoring of the budget for the civil service.
Recommendations of FAD technical assistance report
60. The 2002 FAD technical assistance report on options for decentralization recommends a single body of civil service for the country. The report identifies the following key issues to help determine the appropriate degree of decentralization in a small, resource-constrained country like the Comoros:
people’s right to free movement,
efficient allocation of civil servants between the islands and the Union, and
administration of surpluses and shortages of civil servants.
61. The right to free movement implies a right for civil servants to work for any government regardless of which island they come from. Free movement of people is important for the efficient use of human resources. Since the number of qualified personnel is limited in the country, the absence of free mobility of labor could introduce the risk of having a shortage of qualified labor on one island in spite of a surplus on another.
62. Inefficient allocation of civil servants between the Union and the islands could substantially increase the costs of decentralization. This could be a particular problem on the island of Ngazidja, where responsibilities would be shared by the Union and Ngazidja governments in the same geographical space. The allocation is likely to be simpler on the islands of Anjouan and Mohéli, where nearly all civil servants would work for the island governments. To prevent a possible confusion in the allocation of civil servants between the Union and island governments, the following requirements would appear to be important: (i) the tasks of the Union government should be clearly separated from those of the island governments, based on well-defined competencies; (ii) civil servants who would execute these specific tasks should be employed in line with their skills; and (iii) civil servants should be firmly associated with the appropriate Union or island administration.
63. The decentralization process could be used to help identify surpluses and shortages of civil servants within each administration. Each island would first take an inventory of the number of existing civil servants. A comparison of the identified need for civil servants in each administration after decentralization with the current number and skills of civil servants on each island could indicate the surpluses and shortages of civil servants within each administration. The report suggests that any surplus of civil servants in any administration would first be identified on a list describing their qualifications, and could then be passed on to other administrations in an attempt to match them with the observed shortage of civil servants in their administration. The surplus civil servants would be given a certain period of time (e.g., two months) to find another employer outside of government. Those civil servants who are unable to find employment in this period would need to leave their jobs and, in return, would receive a small compensation in the form of redundancy payments.
64. In summary: the 2002 FAD technical assistance report argues that abandoning the concept of a centralized civil service would be premature, and probably inopportune, because of the complexity of the above three main issues that would need to be addressed under decentralization, namely, respecting people’s right to free movement, achieving an effective allocation of civil servants between the Union and the islands, and identifying surpluses and shortages of civil servants within each administration. In addition, the report argues that a greater degree of island autonomy may also complicate personnel management decisions.
C. Proposals of Paris Meetings
65. During the two Paris meetings, the representatives of the Union and island governments agreed broadly to the delineation of competencies of the two levels of government. However, they have not yet chosen the number and characteristics of civil servants to execute the specific tasks for each government. Instead, the parties agreed on two areas of competency; the first covering exclusive competencies of the Union, and the second defining shared competencies between the Union and the islands.
Exclusive competencies of the Union would include:
Citizenship.
Monetary policy, including the management of international reserves, and determination of the bank rate and exchange rate.
International relations. The Union would be in charge of international relations. However, it should consult the islands in the preparation of texts related to the competencies of the islands.
Shared competencies would include:
Primary and secondary education would be the principal competency of the islands, with the exception of the Union competency for defining a national primary and secondary education policy, evaluating that policy, and establishing the related programs.
Health services would be the primary competency of the islands. However, health policies would be defined by the Union in collaboration with the islands.
Energy policy, postal services and telecommunication, transportation, and environmental policy would be shared competencies of the Union and the islands.
In general, a shared competency would involve the formation of a national policy in a sector by the Union government, while the implementation and daily management of the sector would be the competency of the island governments.
66. The above recommendations of the World Bank consultant and the FAD mission could assist the authorities in the selection of civil servants in line with the delineation of competencies, such that overlap and duplication of functions are minimized. In addition, they suggest that, despite their high degree of autonomy foreseen under the Constitution, it is in the interest of the islands to assign some of the functions related to policies to a national process. However, while this may be intuitive and rational, the challenge will be to effectively implement an allocation of civil servants who will execute the specific tasks for each government. In this context, the authorities would benefit from FAD’s recommendation that civil servants be part of a single body of civil service and be allocated according to the needs of each administration. An efficient allocation would identify surpluses and shortages within each administration and prevent competition between the Union and island governments.
D. Conclusion
67. As the Comoros moves to a decentralized system of government, the authorities face the challenge of combining a civil service reform aimed at increasing the efficiency of the civil service with the decentralization objectives of the constitution, while simultaneously maintaining a fiscally sustainable wage bill. The recommendations of the World Bank consultant and FAD mission could assist the authorities with the delineation of competencies while minimizing overlap and duplication of functions. Design and administration of policies by a coordinated national process would be important for establishing an efficient civil service under a decentralized system.
Prepared by Cemile Sancak.
A background on the actual decentralization plans is provided in an earlier section “Decentralization in Comoros—Striking a Balance.”
According to the study by the World Bank consultant cited above.
In 2003, the Anjouan authorities introduced some measures to consolidate the civil service.
