One of the highlights of the Twaweza meeting was hearing from Togolani Mavura (left), the Private Secretary to former President Kikwete (in Tanzania, ex-presidents get a staff for life, not like in the UK where they have to hawk themselves round the after dinner speaking circuit). Togolani has worked across the various policy levels of the Tanzanian goverment, and his talk reminded me a similarly witty presentation by the UK Foreign Office’s Babu Rahman. Here’s some highlights:
‘Government is not homogeneous – people think differently in every office, every ministry. You guys are asking yourselves how do you get buy in: How to take pilots to scale? How to translate best practices into impact? You wonder ‘what the hell, here are the facts, why are they not responding?! Here are some tips:
Know the System:
You need to understand who holds the key – Activists spend a lot of time trying to convince the wrong guys. There are those you need to convince, but some officials or politicians just need to be informed, since they have no decision-making influence – you just need their nod.
Which pathway to follow is another catch – parliamentary, thinktank, lobbying officials or civil servants – it depends on the particular policy that you are proposing. Some policies can only be imposed on the executive by the parliament; others emanate from the civil service; for others, you just go to the political party. The National Executive Committee of the ruling party in Tanzania has policy-making powers and can direct the government to act, so get your idea into the party manifesto ahead of the elections.
If, after years of trying, the government has not bought your idea, it is probably because:
– your idea or proposal is good but not good enough compared to those submitted by others
– you have not addressed the core interest, the self-interest, the ‘nerve centre’ of the individual policy makers or core interests of the respective institution e.g. your proposal may render that particular institution irrelevant or threaten their source of revenue
– your idea may just be ahead of its time. In 2010, there was a suggestion for free Universal Primary Education, but the government said it wasn’t possible. In 2015, it adopted free UPE up to Secondary School – the time just hadn’t been right earlier on.
For example, take Twaweza’s idea for paying teachers ‘cash on delivery’ of results. From the policy maker’s point of view, teachers are not just teachers; they are a political pressure group. If you introduce something and it goes bad, the government could fall. It is risky to do experiments on teachers’ welfare. The proposal also needs to be particularly convincing because it has to be scaled up across the country. Tanzania is a unitary system, not a federal system, so any programme has to be introduced in all parts of the country. And if it goes wrong, it can boomerang and trigger an electoral backlash for the party in power.
Learn to see through their eyes:
Government has its own ways of looking at things. Officials are wired to manage stability and predictability and are averse to disorder and instability. Budgetary process is institutionalized and centralized. Individual decision makers and institutions have no freedom to alter the budget passed by the parliament. Therefore, any proposal that you bring which has budgetary implications is likely to be rejected. It is wise therefore to spell out how it can best be financed. Policy makers are humans, and some of them have prejudices – if your proposal has a load of foreigners behind it – they will say ‘the whole idea is alien’!
Messengers are very important. A civil servant will disclose to someone they feel comfortable with. You need to know what they are thinking, know the other side. That gives you the leeway to build something that gets support from both sides.
Use their data:
Governments run through lots of myths. Many of their positions and beliefs are outdated, but have been passed down through generations until they lose their true meaning and become dogma, protected by phrases like ‘this is how it is done around here.’ Like those ‘reuse with an economy label’ signs on government envelopes – that was put on there during some economic crisis in the 60s or 70s, but it’s still on the envelopes!
Data and evidence can overcome such myths, but try and use government data – policy makers are more comfortable when you use data they know and trust. Don’t worry much about the sharpness of the data. Even if the numbers are not as good as your own, or other independent sources, it’s not a big deal. Yours isn’t a debate about whose statistics are right, but how to influence change. The devil is not in the numbers, but in the narratives!
Timing is Everything:
Master the importance of timing. The Government has its own internal clock and internal calendar. It has moods too. It will buy certain proposals in the run up to elections; others in its first term (if they help get it re-elected); still others in the second term (for its legacy).
All governments go through crises at times. For the lobbyist, crisis is an opportunity. There is no better time to lobby for your cause than when the government is struggling to recover from a scandal. Governments are like humans, after a crisis you want to hear good news. It is looking for something to announce, some good news to divert attention from the scandal. That is when to go to politicians with your idea, but the proposal should not be the same subject as the scandal – it should be a distraction.
Get smarter at Lobbying:
You need to up your game on the art of lobbying. It’s no good just presenting a document with lots of data. That’s not enough. Policy makers are overstretched and overwhelmed. Parliament, donors, politicians and people all want a piece of them. Out of around 500,000 civil servants in Tanzania, maybe only 1-2,000 are actively engaged in the policy-making process. They are overwhelmed by papers. If they do not heed to your wonderful proposal it is not because they are dumb, clueless or indifferent, simply, they are over stretched. You need to find other, creative ways to get their attention and harness their interests.’
Great stuff. It’s interesting to compare this with Babu Rahman’s talk – Togolani seems to place much greater emphasis on understanding the inner workings of policy making, whereas Babu focussed more on punchy, clear presentation. Any other differences?