Page 110 - Afrika Must Unite

THE ADMINISTRATIVE INSTRUMENT 95
arid administration, and were ready to take over the duties of
government the moment the British departed.
For most countries emerging into independence, this has not
been done. Nor have they been able, as G hana was not able, to
speed the Africanization of their civil service at the necessary
rate. We know colonialism and we know that we cannot look
to the colonial power for help in this m atter. It is something we
Africans have to do ourselves. O ur chief difficulty during the
revolutionary struggle is that our main activity is political and
not administrative. Because of this, our best men and women
cannot be spared for civil service training, as they are needed to
advance the political battle. W ith independence they become
ministers, members of parliam ent, regional party leaders,
regional officers, ambassadors. Yet top civil servants, gifted with
administrative skill and imbued with the fervour of independence
and the hope of development, are vital to the reconstruction of
a state. To rely on expatriates is to endanger the revolution. For
the men and women who carry out our policy must be as devoted
and dedicated to the idea of freedom and national growth as the
leaders of the country. They must be free of patriotic and in­
tellectual attachments to outside forces. W ith our own nationals
of integrity we get a civil service concerned only with the public
welfare. Theirs is a twenty-four hours a day job, just like that of
their political leaders. Upon them, to a large extent, depends the
quality of the country’s development and the speed with which
it can be fulfilled.
In 1952 there was only one Ghanaian head of departm ent. By
1957 the figure had risen to twenty-two. Now all the perm anent
and pensionable posts are held by Ghanaians.
An Institute of Public Administration has been established,
where post-graduate students take a year’s diploma course in
the theory and practice of public administration. There are also
special short courses and seminars for senior civil servants: and
research is being carried out to find new techniques in public
administration specially appropriate for Africa. Degree courses
in administration are being offered.
The country needs expert civil servants, aware of, and in­
tegrated into, the society around them, and with interests
directed particularly towards the problems of Africa. Hitherto,