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Image Tanzania’s public service reform has a long and distinguished history.  At the time of independence, the emerging nation of Tanganyika inherited a public service designed to serve its colonial roots.  The upper end of the public service was dominated by non- Africans; there were few African doctors, managers, and professionals.  The size of government was small, with a focus on providing services to the colonial population.  Reform, therefore, entailed the building of institutional and human resource capacity to respond to the needs of the new nation.

       By the late 1960s, Tanzania adopted a policy of self-reliance, whereby government would be the primary producer and distributor of goods.  This was intended to bring services closer to the people, a majority whom lived in rural areas.  In terms of the public service, this led to a rapid expansion in both the scope and size of Government.  However, by the mid 1980s, the economy was under-performing, there were shortages of essential goods, and the Government began undertaking a long and painful reform of its economic systems.

      By the early 1990s a consensus emerged that the shift towards a free-market economy (where the private sector was to serve as the engine of growth) needed to be better reflected in the structure and size of the nation’s public service.  This consensus was expressed through designing and implementing the Civil Service Reform Programme (CSRP) from 1993- 1998. CSRP focused on COST CONTAINMENT and the RESTRUCTURING of Government.