Technical vs political competence: What should determine appointment of ministers?

By Perry Munzwembiri

Section 104 (3) of the Zimbabwean constitution states that ministers and deputy ministers are to be appointed from among Senators or members of the National Assembly, but up to five people, chosen for their professional skills and competence, may be appointed from outside parliament.

The constitution further holds that the appointment of ministers is the prerogative of the President of the republic.

Following ZANU PF`s overwhelming victory in last year`s July 31 election, President Mugabe appointed his 26 member cabinet of ministers, and some of the appointments were met with a fairly large dose of criticism by the public.

In the aftermaths of the President`s appointment of the cabinet, one local daily covered the appointment with the headline, “Mugabe recycles dead wood.”

This summed up the sentiment of a section of the population who felt that there were no fresh ideas that the ministers would bring, especially considering that some had served since independence in 1980.

Just over a year now since their appointment, and there has not been any cabinet reshuffle, nor has there been a minister who has been fired. It stands to reason then, that their principal is satisfied with their performance to date.

But with the fundamentals of the economy deteriorating, it may be time to have discourse on whether it is time to consider theappointment ofskilled experts as government ministers, as opposed to the current method which has been labelled by some, as nothing more than a patronage system.

What we have seen not only in Zimbabwe but globally, is the appointment of ministers based purely on political as opposed to technical competences. Academics have shied away from debate on this critical issue. In his academic paper, ‘Do Democracies Select More Educated Leaders?’

Tim Besley, Professor of Economics and Political Science at the London School of Economics notes that modern political economy literature has,“not only neglected the problem of political selection, but it has been positively hostile to the topic.” Yet this is a very important aspect of national development that has to be considered carefully by all stakeholders in a nation.

For example, it is highly improbable that an individual would trust an engineer to manage the legal aspects of their life, nor would they solicit the services of someone skilled in law to handle their personal finances.

Be that as it may, when it comes to governmental level, this is what has been the norm. Can a country leave its financial and economic planning fate in the hands of a lawyer?

This discussion becomes particularly interesting when one looks at economic and finance ministers globally, especially in light of the global financial crisis. Consider the following scenario that occurred in Europe when a bailout package for Cyprus was being considered in 2013.

German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble-a lawyer by profession- was of the view that the Island Republic of Cyprus was not systemically relevant, and that a bankruptcy of the country would not pose a danger to the future of the Eurozone.

European Central Bank President, Mario Draghi countered this sentiment by saying, “Such a comment is what one hears from lawyers. The question of whether Cyprus is systemically relevant or not is not a question a lawyer can answer. It is a topic for economists, and Schäuble has a degree in Law.”

This occurrence is widespread and over the years we have seen that governments are less inclined to appoint policy makers and ministers with the relevant expertise of the particular ministry in which they are appointed.

The only risk with such a system, and what a significant risk it is, is that ministers who lack the requisite technical competence are more likely to make bad policy decisions, as their scope of understanding key issues affecting their ministries may be limited.

In Zimbabwe, one could argue that technical competence is not as important for ministers, as it is the Permanent Secretaries who are charged with the actual running of the department on a day-to-day basis, from our British inherited system of government.

But considering their prominence as the face of the government in whatever ministry they are in, one might argue how it is critical to appoint ministers with the necessary skills and competence to oversee important portfolios.

Taking a bias at the finance and economic planning portfolios, there has been good precedents in some of Africa`s leading economies.

South Africa`s previous finance ministers Trevor Manuel and recently appointed Nhlanlha Nene who all have expertise in finance and economic matters by training are good examples of technically competent ministers, and they haven`t fared particularly badly either.

Another example is that of Ghana`s current finance minister, Seth Terkper who is an expert on economics and tax issues, and even has a textbook on tax published under his name.

Technocratic governments-whereby government ministers are not career politicians,in fact, in some cases they may not even be members of political parties. They are instead supposed to be experts in the fields of their respective ministries- have gained considerable clout especially in Europe.

Former Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti`s government was one of technocrats, and so too wasGreece`s government headed by Lucas Papademos, and more recently, the one in Bulgaria.

Bringing the argument home, it may be worthwhile to have the debate on whether it would be beneficial to the Zimbabwe`s developmental cause, if experts in different areas were to be appointed as ministers to run the portfolios of the fields they are experts in.

The increased understanding they have of their domains, and the skill set they possess, would better equip them to tackle the various challenges faced by the country. Again, the odds of avoiding policy missteps would be lessened, and the correct and proper decisions would be made at ministerial level.

No doubt this is a highly sensitive subject as there may be many political forces at play in the appointment of ministers. For now though, governments are content at selecting ministers basing on their political value as opposed to technical competence to a greater degree.

It may well require crises of epic proportions to effect a change to this line of thinking, which will see experts being appointed as policy makers, not only in Zimbabwe, but the world over.