If Government was a restaurant, how would it work? How would the customers get treated, and how would the waiters behave? What sort of customer service would there be, and what efforts would be made to get things right?

1. October 2007
If Government was a Restaurant
Once upon a time there was a country which had only one restaurant. All the people in
that country had to eat in that restaurant, so thousands went there every day.....
They did not dare to ask questions of the waiters or
Anti- by Rakesh Rajani managers. Experience showed that it did not help. Those
HakiElimu (Tanzania) who had asked in the past had been told ‘be patient’,
Corruption http://www.hakielimu.org/
Resource ‘don’t you see I am busy’, ‘come back tomorrow’ or
Centre Download this document from ‘we have lost your order’. Others were told ‘who are
www.U4.no www.U4.no you anyway?’ If you paid ‘a little something’, your
order could be a little expedited.
When the food did arrive, often it wasn’t very good.
It wasn’t very balanced or healthy, at times it wasn’t
...but the service was a bit of a problem. People who clean, and usually it wasn’t enough – especially in the
were hungry had to wait for hours to get food, and second half of the month because the restaurant had
in some cases even days. There did not seem to be ‘run out of supplies’. You had to pay anyway, though
an order to things. Some people who arrived late got some waiters charged a little less if you agreed not to
service quicker, a few others got particularly big plates get a receipt, right underneath posters exclaiming ‘this
of food, but most suffered more or less silently. is a corruption free zone’.

2. One day the restaurant owner taking initiative, asking questions not matter whether the managers
passed by, and became quite or going out of their way to make or waiters did their job or not. The
alarmed. He called a meeting of all the restaurant work better. managers did not really supervise
the managers and told them things
had to change. The managers The newspapers kept
were to remember that ‘customers reporting about the “...why don’t they just get their
were king and queen’. Service had continued problems at incentives right – reward those
to improve, and there was to be the restaurant, so eve- who do well and sanction those
more accountability. New rules ryone was aware. One
were issued, including a code of time, expert consultants who don’t?”
ethics for managers, a manual for were hired. Some flew
waiters. There was even a ‘client in from Europe, with
service charter’, that explained the funding from donors. They inter- the waiters, possibly because the
restaurant values and its obligationsviewed a lot of the customers and managers themselves did not do
to customers, though most of the managers and wrote large reports. their jobs. There appeared to be no
customers never got to see it. A strategy was developed with a consequences. At most a few of the
Swahili name to show really bad ones were transferred.
“The funny thing was that it did it was locally owned
– MKUKUHUMGA All this puzzled the tortoises, who
not seem to matter if the staff (Mkakati wa Kubore- lived at the edge of the restaurant,
treated the customers well or did sha Uwajibikaji na Hu- immensely. “Instead of all the rules,
their job right. The incompetent duma za Mgahawa). guidelines and seminars”, observed
and uncaring staff always got Its main point was that one tortoise, “why don’t they just
restaurant management get their incentives right – reward
their salaries, and were not held
should be accountable those who do well and sanction
accountable.” to the customers. More those who don’t?”
capacity building semi-
nars were done. Manag- Rakesh Rajani was until recently the ex-
Afterwards, there was some ers went abroad on exchange visits. ecutive director at HakiElimu, a non-profit
difference. Several managers Codes of ethics, manuals and client organization which seeks to contribute to-
wards creating and sustaining a national
worked really hard to make their service charters were all updated. movement for social and educational
part better organized than before. change by stimulating broad public en-
Some of the waiters were more But life for most of the restaurant gagement, information sharing, dialogue,
alert and kind to customers, though customers did not improve. The membership development and networking
they could do little about delays in food was poor and the service bad. throughout Tanzania. www.hakielimu.org
the kitchen or the mosquitoes. But And despite all the tough talk about Photo on page 1: ‘Table de cantine’ by
for many others it was business as accountability, the rules were rarely Ludovic Roif on www.flickr.com
usual. Another problem was that enforced. The reality was that it did Cartoon by Marco Tibasima
a lot of the managers and a few
waiters always seemed to be away
for capacity building seminars. They
would come back with lots of files
and papers on improving restaurant
services, but kept the little brown
envelopes for themselves.
The funny thing was that it did not
seem to matter if the staff treated
the customers well or did their job
right. The incompetent and uncar-
ing staff always got their salaries,
and were not held accountable. The
hard working ones got the same as
the rest, and no special recognition.
If anything, the other managers and
waiters ridiculed them, saying ‘you
think you are better than us’, ‘you
think you are smarter’, etc… and
so after a while even they stopped