Administrative responsibility in a developing country: Theoretical considerations and the case of Zambia

Administrative weaknesses in post colonial Africa have not commonly been assessed against notions of responsibility. Regarded as involving both institutionalized controls and moral obligations, responsibility provides a useful means of assessing the limitations and weaknesses of administration. Having elucidated the ideal of responsibility, the article takes Zambia as illustrating a situation present in different third world countries where administration is unsatisfactory judged against the ideal. Weaknesses are elaborated and the reasons for failures discussed. Emphasis is placed on the overcentralization of control in the person of the President and the failure in staff development and training to recognize the importance of encouraging a sense of moral obligation and the undue emphasis on management techniques.