An interesting piece from Fr. Pete Henriot (Column in the POST 11/05/2009) on the operations of the RTSTA. The season for positive stories has been extended!
The PANEL
Written by Fr Pete Henriot
Why don’t you write something positive about the government?” That’s a question I sometime get from readers of this column. Whether or not it’s a fair question, I’ll let others judge.
Why don’t you write something positive about the government?” That’s a question I sometime get from readers of this column. Whether or not it’s a fair question, I’ll let others judge.
But today I will readily be positive about one government agency that I recently dealt with. And then I’ll follow-up with some questions that are “negative but positive.” By that I mean that these are questions that many of us might ask not simply to criticise the government but to encourage a more constructive approach to development in Zambia.
Well, last week I discovered that it was time to renew my driver’s license. I almost forgot the date of its expiry - and we all know that would not have been a good thing to do! So early one morning, I went in search of the offices of the Road Traffic and Safety Agency (RSTA). As an aside, I find the media adverts of the RSTA really entertaining and educative. I hope that they have some effect in encouraging safer driving and hence saving lives. Driving along the very busy Lumumba Road in Lusaka, I had difficulty in finding the RSTA offices. Some pedestrians were helpful to me, pointing out the slip road along which the offices were located. But why, I thought, could not the Agency put up a big sign welcoming citizens to their offices? Particularly since it is such an important office. Or at least a little sign, pointing out the way for wandering searchers like me? (That’s one of the “negative but positive” questions I referred to above!)
When I finally found the offices and warily entered the premises, I was prepared for a tiring wait in long queues, facing some unfriendly and unhelpful people, and coming away not completely satisfied with my efforts to be a law-abiding person. To my surprise - and here is where I am getting positive! -I encountered very good service indeed. Clear directions from the start, lines not too long, satisfactory answers to my queries, equipment in good working order (no computer breakdowns), clean and neat desks, and even a large television monitor showing some of those entertaining RTSA safety adverts! I left the offices within 45 minutes with what I had come for - picture proof that I could still drive on Zambian roadways for another ten years! Civil servants civilly serving? Now I don’t want to exaggerate and give the impression that the RTSA is an ideal office, a bit of “heaven on earth.” Maybe some others have at other times had other experiences. Probably so. But it did impress me that the Zambian civil service bureaucracy at times can indeed work, civilly delivering civil service!
But why is my happy experience that morning with RTSA not always the case when a person seeks the forms necessary to do her or his business, or the answer to questions important for staying legal and happy? Why are there so many other stories - real “horror stories” - of hours of waiting in line only to be told “Come back tomorrow!” Or of repeated comments like “Your papers are not here - are you sure you really did file them with this office?” Or of subtle hints that some nchekeleko might speed things up, like “I’ve been working here all morning and am really hungry!” (Remember, “bribes” in Zambia are strictly forbidden, but “facilitation fees” are readily accepted!)
Well, last week I discovered that it was time to renew my driver’s license. I almost forgot the date of its expiry - and we all know that would not have been a good thing to do! So early one morning, I went in search of the offices of the Road Traffic and Safety Agency (RSTA). As an aside, I find the media adverts of the RSTA really entertaining and educative. I hope that they have some effect in encouraging safer driving and hence saving lives. Driving along the very busy Lumumba Road in Lusaka, I had difficulty in finding the RSTA offices. Some pedestrians were helpful to me, pointing out the slip road along which the offices were located. But why, I thought, could not the Agency put up a big sign welcoming citizens to their offices? Particularly since it is such an important office. Or at least a little sign, pointing out the way for wandering searchers like me? (That’s one of the “negative but positive” questions I referred to above!)
When I finally found the offices and warily entered the premises, I was prepared for a tiring wait in long queues, facing some unfriendly and unhelpful people, and coming away not completely satisfied with my efforts to be a law-abiding person. To my surprise - and here is where I am getting positive! -I encountered very good service indeed. Clear directions from the start, lines not too long, satisfactory answers to my queries, equipment in good working order (no computer breakdowns), clean and neat desks, and even a large television monitor showing some of those entertaining RTSA safety adverts! I left the offices within 45 minutes with what I had come for - picture proof that I could still drive on Zambian roadways for another ten years! Civil servants civilly serving? Now I don’t want to exaggerate and give the impression that the RTSA is an ideal office, a bit of “heaven on earth.” Maybe some others have at other times had other experiences. Probably so. But it did impress me that the Zambian civil service bureaucracy at times can indeed work, civilly delivering civil service!
But why is my happy experience that morning with RTSA not always the case when a person seeks the forms necessary to do her or his business, or the answer to questions important for staying legal and happy? Why are there so many other stories - real “horror stories” - of hours of waiting in line only to be told “Come back tomorrow!” Or of repeated comments like “Your papers are not here - are you sure you really did file them with this office?” Or of subtle hints that some nchekeleko might speed things up, like “I’ve been working here all morning and am really hungry!” (Remember, “bribes” in Zambia are strictly forbidden, but “facilitation fees” are readily accepted!)
So is it fair to ask a “negative but positive” question like why don’t we have a better civil service? All too often, the civil service does seem to slow down the forward march to development in this country. Why aren’t all offices efficient and effective like RSTA - or at least the small and select sample of RSTA I experienced last week?
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