ABSTRACT 

This study is a critical review of the implementation of the Namibian rationalisation policies during the period 1993 - 2004. The main objective of this study was to analyse the rationalisation policies and to assess the extent to which they had an impact on the structure, shape, (and to a lesser degree) the effectiveness of the civil service. It examined the gaps and discrepancies between policy intentions, the implementation process and eventual outcomes, in terms of the size and cost of the Namibian civil service, and drew lessons from international and local experiences for future policy interventions. The implementation of the rationalisation policy was analysed using the model of Grindle (1980) in which consideration is firstly given to the effect of policy content on implementation and secondly to the extent which a specific political and administrative context influenced policy implementation outcomes. Grindle's model was particularly useful to the policy analysis, and implementation in Namibia. Like in many other developing countries, the demands, interest representations and major conflicts occur at the output stage of the policy process and this phenomenon was also observed in the Namibian case. From the literature and research findings, it is evident that implementation of the principles of NPM especially that of "leaner civil service", proved to be politically and administratively quite problematic in the case of Namibia. For example, implementation of the policies was filled with controversies and disagreements among the major actors; as a result the shape and size of the public service were hardly changed because of constant power struggles and reluctant interplay between key stakeholders. Thus, although NPM is theoretically appealing as an approach to reform, the NPM model proved somewhat difficult to adopt in the Namibian civil service. Comparison of the policy intent with the eventual outcome indicates that government failed to achieve its policy aim of reducing the size of the civil service. However, judged from the perspective of benefits accrued, the study found that the policy has been largely successful with government succeeding to a great extent in commercialising non-core functions. Designing new civil service reform policies should take into account the lessons learnt from previous attempts, draw on international experience but most importantly it should be "home brewed". In other words, it should be based on local preferences, requirements and circumstances.