Petty Beaurocrats and the girls

I will begin this by stating the obvious: As an outsider in this land, I lack the cultural and  historical experience required to qualify me to make a serious critique on almost any subject. Also, it is not my intention to share my observations as an effort to convey a truth. It is in this spirit that I offer the following observation: the Zambian system of government and business seems awash with undesirable aspects that are often the trademarks of inefficient bureaucracies and their attendant petty bureaucrats.

People who, in my opinion, take their jobs and positions of authority way too seriously. Also, there seems to be a general attitude of acceptance by the public for many of the accompanying petty rules and regulations that seem so unnecessary and yet, are interwoven into common daily activities. (Sound familiar?  Yes, the US and many other countries are also awash with petty bureaucrats!)

 Zambians are proud, hardworking people, and it is not surprising that when there is an overabundant supply of people who need jobs, people are hired to do things that do not seem essential, such as: gatekeepers attending open gates, or uniformed protectors to watch your car while you park in in a perfectly safe public space or someone to hand you a ticket upon entering an establishment devoid of clients so that you will be waited on in proper order.

The contrast with my own cultural experience was highlighted when I accompanied my host Lawrence to a local bank to transfer funds to a friend, Martin, who lives in neighboring  Botswana.  Martin needed to purchase ceramic supplies for our project. Upon entering the bank we were invited to wait in line by a uniformed guard. When our turn came, I attempted to accompany Lawrence to the teller to explain the particulars of the transfer. As we approached we were told that rules only allowed one person to go up to a teller at a time. We ended up conducting our business by shouting information back and forth across the bank foyer, Lawrence at the teller, me still in line. No plea for common sense will work to dissuade a rule keeper from his job and similar strict adherence to rules can be expected with nearly every business transaction. Being polite, patient and accepting are requirements necessary to move the process along as quickly as possible.

What I believe I have observed in Livingstone as a social norm is a certain respect for the regimented systems imposed on indigenous people under the formal control of British colonial occupation. I suspect that fixing social status by wearing uniforms and following strict protocols may have resonated with the people and even mirrored indigenous systems of establishing social status through dress, ceremony and ritual. One thing is clear, that gaining independence did not bring an end to this aspect of display of authority. In Livingstone, and I assume most of the country, all school children wear uniforms displaying the colors and style of the school. Anyone in fact who is in charge of anything will likely have some form of dress that announces the status of their job.

While I retain my visitor status, I have been in a position to simply observe this phenomena, and rarely did I feel any frustration arise that I surely would have felt had I faced similar restrictions on my home turf.

Some of the Saturday girls

The one exception came when I lost an opportunity to teach classes to a group of girls at a local high school. This project was particularly exciting to me because I had planned to teach a project that high school students were doing at the same time back home. I was excited about the possibilities of the students Facebook-sharing their experiences across the globe. This opportunity went south (no double meaning here) when protocol was not strictly followed prior to setting up our first meeting. No amount of explanation or apology was going to alter the decision to cancel this opportunity. Things can get complicated and often do when cultures come together. I had prepared myself to accept failure along with success when I signed on as a cross cultural ambassador, but this was a tough one.


The silver lining was that I had more time to work with another group of girls that I will call the Saturday girls…which I will share in a future blog.