\ v United nations ECONOMIC AND
SOCIAL COUNCIL
5-2,203
Distr.
LIMITED
13 Inarch, 1967 Originals ENGLISH
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA Training Course in Local Government
Personnel SystemsArusha and Dar es 3a?Laam* TarzanJa 9-18 March, 1967
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INTEGRATED LOCAL GOVERI^IMT PERSONNEL SYSTEM WITH SPECIAL PlEFEREHCS TO THE UNITiiD ARAB
REPUBLIC -
1/ This paper has been contributed \yy Mi-* Ahrcsd Hassan El«Gindy, Director of Organization and Administ.ration Department, Secretariat General for Local Administrations Cairo, IKRO The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the United Nations„
M67-58O
E/CNU4/UAP/U3
Table of Contentss - Introduction
I ~ General Bases o:C the Local Administration System In the United Arab Republic :
1. Local Administration Units and their structure.
2a The features of the Systemo
3* Functions and Financial Resources of Local Councils*
II — General Rules of Local Government Personnel System
In tfaai United Arab Republic1« Gradual Delegation of Functions and Transfer of Employees to the Local Councils,
2O Local Administration Personnel System.
3o The Unity of the Government Employees.
4« The Powers of the Governorate in the Sphere of Personnel AdiiLti
5<, Personnel Affairs Committee at the Governorate Level.
63 Personnal Affairs Department*
7* The Power of Appointment to Vacancies*
8. Recruitment and Appointment Procedures.
9o Test Period-,
10« Persciaiiel fti&rim and Benefits.
. 11. Transfer., 12. Leave.
13b Disciplined
14» Service Termination*
15» Contrcl and Supervision over Personnel.
~ Central Afycmcj.cs ir? relation to Local Administration System 1. Ministerial Committee for Local Administration.
2O Minister of State for Local Administration.
3° General Secretariat for Local Administration.
4* Central Agency for Organization and Administration.
5° Administrative Control Agency.
6. Central Agency for Auditing and Accounts.
7» State Councils* - " ./'.
So Central Ministries^ •':■■■'
E/CN.14/UAP/U3
Page 2.
INTRODUCTION
Various countries in their endeavours to perform their administrative
tasks, follow one of two administrative systems-. -- Centralization ■.: .■ ■
- Decentralization.
They adopt either of the two systems according to their political, social and economic conditions, and to the extent they practise sound
democracy. *
Administrative organization in the United Arab Republic has been closely connected with political, social and economic conditions prevailing in the country. .--During, the British occupation, centralization: was adopted as a system of administration, the whole administrative function of the government had been concentrated in the central government represented in
the HeatQuarters of various ministries in the capital or their branches
in various regional units.
The British occupation began to remodel the administration of the country in away tha;t secures the attainment of its objectives. So, it began to create a number of provincial councils, municipalities and village councilSv^The^e-oGunoils were endowed with juristic personality, but with very little powers and functions.: They were erected with the view to
represent the picture, of so-called democratic local representative government
to the outer world. •^e/y.V.v-': - ■;■.■■■ :: ■
Although these councils Mere endowed with independent juristic person ality, their limited functions were mainly consultative and they were
administered by the central government in Cairo, in the meantime the central government had the right to dissolve the Local Council whenever it l^d.
The juristic personality of many councils had been rendered unworkable for a long time for the..simple- reason that there were no councils m many_towns and villages; Cairo, the capital of the country did not have a municipal council utttil..1S42." a^tota*dumber of the councils exisUngat -^a^tiae did not exceed 25 provincial councils, 13 municipal councils and «7 village councils although-:, the .number no* towns and villages at the same time was more
than four thousand.^ ■>■.■■'■ ■ ■ ■■■
^thift*'acLvent of'the: 23rd July Revolution in 1952, a new and national
administrative policy began. -. <Phe leaders of the Revolution realized that the administrative^ysrtem. existing; at that time could not be used as an instrument to achieve political, economic, social and national °^e^v^
of the Revolution. The administrative, system in existence did not secure the participation of the people at the local level in administering the
various affairs of the country.
The law Ho.124 of I960, which was enacted in March I960 announced a pioneer experiment to erect a local administration system characterized by socialist and democratic features. This law which lays *°™fe
principles of administrative decentralization, represente* " ^J^*"
of local administration, marks a new era in the administrative organization of the country. The functions and powers are distributed between the
central government authorities and the local authorities.
Page 3.
Attention was also given to the local administration personnel system of the whole country, for this will result in raising their productivity and efficiency which will lead to socio-economic development. The law No.46
of 1964 concerning the personnel administration system was issued with a
view to attaining this goal.
is a "brief description of the evolution of the local adminis tration system in U.A.R. and the personnel administration system. The following is a brief description of the general bases of this system, and in details the general rules which govern the administration, of the local administration personnel system in U.A.R.
GENERAL BASES OF THE LOCAL AIMINISTRATION IN TJ. A. R.
1.- Local Administration units and their structure
According to the law the U.A.R. is divided into Local administrative units, namely:-
A - Village - rural status B - Town - urban status
C - Governorate - It is usually a region comprising a number of towns and villages.
Each unit isehdowed with a juristic personality and delimited in accordance with its population, urban status and' economic conditions.
These local units, endowed with juristic personality, began to function and shoulder their responsibilities freely and independently but within the framework of the general National Policy, and under the control and supervision of the central government and by its technical financial assistance whenever it is required. In the meantime these local councils according to the law have their special financial resources.
Each unit has a local council which represents tjie local people and expresses their aspirations, requirements and will. The structure of the local council is as follows:-
The local councils are composed of three categories of members:- A - Elected members from among the members elected to the committees of
the Arab Socialist Union within the governorate, town or village.
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4
B - Selected members who are the efficient and qualified elements in the local
community. They must be active members of the Arab Socialist Union«C - Ex-officio members representing the ministries in the local councils.
The elected members are always to constitute the majorityo The main objective of the law of the structure of the local councils of elected,
seleotod and ex-officio members, is to make available to the council competent, efficient and (jualified technical elements which may not be secured through
election only.
2* The feature of the systems
The law of local administration replaced all the laws of local admini stration previous to it, and rendered them all unworkable^. According to this law all local councils are subject to one"legislation and the func tions of all the local councils are unified* Thus a,single legislation stating the rules and regulations which define the functions and responsi bilities of the local councils and determine their structure was provided^
3»- Functions and Financial Resources of the Local Councils s
The application of the system of local administration in the United
Arab Republic resulted in tremendous increase in the functions of these
local councils.. The local councils, in U«A«,R» establish and administer all the local public utilities and provide the local communities with local services such ass education, public health, social affaire, agriculture, food supply .«„ etc. Thus the role of the central govern- . ment is delimited to the function of national planning, control and supervision over'the local councils, technical and administrative assistance to the local councils and the administration of some big national utilities*
The financial resources of the local councils were increased to meet the increasing functions of these councils in a way that enables the local councils to shoulder their responsibilitieso The local-councils1 financial resources are classified into two main resourcesi-
A« Local, revenueso
... B« National government grants- - .--., .in-aid and subsidies^
Fage 5
1 "
11
Committee for Local
•
program which my
flxi* certain time
.^^d *e Ministerial no?sibl1;* of laying down ., , ™ *W*1T> and employees,"
.i'.w-.up. These programs include:
^ the central according to the law0 B - The ,c»pl,te
C - To allocate th and to trausfe
■•" All local affairs administer them effio'e ministries of services
councils, .tm?^
not an easy matter" £
administration system.
V.v''""b.t -> >-^V.'°° "hS local counoils, which
^ ^i", The Psrso™el working in the e,ega.2d thcur functions to the local
c03?lica;ed Pr°b^m. This transference is
°r0ai8:a A'aclne tfce 3PPli°ation of the local
e they arc all cor^d-e
service cation, and.
P-»"i?n"...
si^ered. an independent un± °f
that there will be new ner, ministries within each t opportunity in-the field affec| -tlie periods o
from one govemorate
For this purpose it 7- -
five years, a period"""
? is con-
.*lls means in other words
^f *ranBferred ^om the central V1Oia*e °he Prin°iPle of equal 3";' Cof^ent1^ *is woold.
'" SUoh Periods ^gJi't differ ts conditions and circumstances.
e;""lcS'e2s wi'ihin a period of
Ffege 6
/
The Law states that those employees be seconded or loaned the local councils until their complete transference*
2. Local Administration Personnel Systems
Local councils are independent with regard to financial resources and personnel. That does not mean that these local councils will have separate personnel systems, or a unified system of all local councils separated from the central levels, but according to the law of local administration the same per sonnel system that applied at the national level has been applied to the employees of all the local councils, governorates, towns and villages as well as the rules and regulations governing retirement and pension, except what is stated ty special articles in the law of local administration or its executive regulations. That means that the origin of local administration personnel system is the application of the law of local administration concerning what is stated in it regarding the personnel system, otherwise the general rules govern ing the personnel system of the country are applied to all the employees of local councils*
The governorate councils have the right, according to law and if needed, to add more conditions and rules in laws and regulations which govern appoint ment to certain posts.
The law provides that each local council has the right to lay down a local personnel system for some of its full-time posts within the framework of the general system laid down by the Ministerial Committee for Local Administration, taking in consideration the various levels of local councils and their
financial resources. These systems are ratified by the President of the Republic.
3» The Unity of the Governorate Employeess
The endowment of the local councils with a juristic personality results in the independence of these councils with their budgets and employees. This will drive each local council personnel to a very narrow corner, for that reason, the law stipulates that all the employees working within the domain of the
governorate (the governorate town councils and village councils within its
domain is considered a unified unit in relation to seniority, promotion andtransfer), taking in consideration the unity of each specific category. This
will widen the scope of promotion and transfer for the employees of the town councils.4. The Powers of the Governor in the Sphere of Personnel Administration
The governor is the chairman of the governorate council* At the same time he is the representative of the executive authority of the state, and responsi ble for the execution of the general policy of the state in the governorate, and the execution of laws, regulations and ministerial decrees* He is considered also the local chief of all the employees of the branches of ministries within the domain of the governorate.
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Rage 7 ■
The powers of a governor concerning the administration of personnel affairs are the powers held by ministers and under-secretaries as stated in the laws concerning the state personnel system. He may delegate his powers regarding the employees of the town and village councils to the presidents of these town and village councils to the extent that these powers will not exceed, the powers of a director general as stated in the law»
5# Personnel Affairs Committee at the Governorate levels
Each governorate council has a committee established by the governor's decision. This committee is headed by one of the ex-officio members of the governorate council, and composed of three to five, ex-officiq members repre senting various ministries and two senior officials of the governorate-selected
by the governor*
Its competences
A - To discuss and examine reports of the heads and immediate superiors about their subordinates, and to formulate a final report* If the final report of the committee disagrees with one of the reports of the directors or chiefs, the committee must state its reasons^ ■
" B -To decide on the annual bonus on the bases of the reports and in accordance with law-
C - To be consulted about promotions or transfers of employees.
The competence of this committee covers the governorate and town and village councilswithin its domain.
6« Personnel Affairs Departments
In every governorate there is a Department. This Department's competence covers the governorate with its town and village councils. It has branches at these various levels.
7»' The Power of Appointment to Vacancies!
The appointment to vacant posts in the local council takes place upon the request of the local council itself, but the appointment should be ratified by the governor.
The governor has the right to delegate his power of ratification to the ex-officio members representative of the various ministries in the governorate council, each in his department, in cases where the post vacant does not exceed the 8th grade.
The law endows the presidents of local councils with very wide powers of appointment to part-time jobs* Every president of a council has the right to
Page 8
conclude a contract of appointment to part-time jobs after the approval of the
council and the ratification of the governor. Payment and salaries should be ■
prescribed in the contract*
8« Recruitment and Appointment Proceduress
The recruitment and appointment to vacant posts of. the local councils takes place through an open competition examination between tiie citizens of the
governorate, if they are enough in number, and qualified enough to fulfil the
requirements. -'. . _
The citizen of the governorate is a person who lives within the governor- ate* The notification of vacancies is announced to all the citizens, but locals are given preference, This secures the loyalty of the personnel to their local
councils, and raises their efficiency in return.The notification of vacancies and the conditions of appointment are pre
scribed by a decision of the governor*Appointment takes place according to the winner of ths competition examina
tion.
The Ministerial Committee for Local Administration decides on the techni
cal posts which do not require competition examination for appointment. The procedure of appointment to these posts takes place according to the class of degree achieved on graduation*9« Probation Periods
All the employees, except those appointed ty Presidential decree, are sub ject to a test period of one year, during which it will be decided whether they are qualified to fill the posts they hold. If it is proved that they are dis qualified, the personnel affairs committee will consider either their transfer
ence to other posts, or firing them*,10. Personnel Rights and Benefits;
In order that local councils personnel shoulder their responsibilities
properly they must enjoy the following rights and benefits stated in the laws-A - Promotioni
The Law No, 46 of 1964 concerning State personnel system initiated a
new integrated system of posts' classification. This classificationis based on the duties and responsibilities of every post and the
qualifications of the employee.The Law states that the description and classification of public posts
is considered one of the bases of the personnel system, such as salary,
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Page 9
promotion? bonus ,,e.J5 etc Thus the salary correlates with the duties and responsibilities of "the post*
Promotion to higher posts, which is considered the real incentive factor of the employees for "better performance* is generally "based on seniority and merit,,
Promotion by merit has udv?,u;agos and disadvantage:^ as has promotion by seniority. In view of this the lar combines both of the two "bases in integration to
achieve the best advantages cf both of thimr Fremotion by seniority is the general rule in the lower grades and in posts which do not require specialqualificationss such as clerical workers* Promotions to higher technical and supervisory posts are generally by merit on3y« The annual report of the
employee's activities js the "basis for effecting promotion- The employee cannot be promoted to a higher post unless his annual report is satisfactory* The employee who was a subject to any of the following disciplinary actions cannot be promoted to a higher post until after certain periods mentioned below have
passeds-
Disciplinary ^ctiqnr; Peri ods
5-10 days salary discount - promoted cnl? airier- 3 months
11 - 15 it ;t »i ft ii v 5 n
more than 15 bays salary
discount !l ir ■ M a year
It Bliciud be noticed that the period of aelay correlates with the offence committedo
B ™ Periodical bonus;
The periodical bonus is the annual increase in the salary of the
employee^. It is granted io meet the increasing responsibilities of the
employees The periodical bonus is issued by decision of the governor* It is given yearly on the first of Kay*C >- Incentive
The employee may have an incentive wage on the first of May, equal to his periodical bonus, on the following conditionss—
- The employee's performance must ba excellent in the latest two years.
- This incentive v;age is given once every four years<j
- The number of employees given this incentive wage oust not exceed jfo of the total number of every grads^
■^ "" Expenditures Restorations
The law states that employees have tho right to be repaid all expendi tures incurred by them in performing their i'or-mal dutiesf e.g., transportat
ion*
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Page 10
E - Ovjgrj^E^ wagers
Employees who work more than the norrxl hours of duty in offices of local councils way have overtime ;-;ages.,
P - Other
Employees nay haw other- allowances according to the nature of their .; posts, tho:r duties and their responsibilities*
11. Transfers
The Minister of State for Local AdBinic-tration laay transfer local council personnel to the central govcriiacnfc aftoi- the afcrsemaat of the competent
authority to which this employes win bs transrCprrsd and the concerned local
council have been o"bhaii?ed-
nvv. tr. tr^;^^^. to other goven«orate3 by agreement of the
governors ni
12» Leaves
There are six Muda of
1 — Occasional'leaves 4 .-.. stisdv lorrj<
2 «-Jlnnual leavo. 5 .„ Special 1.3a ''
3 - Sickness leavo* 6 - Pregnancy leav.
The statutory ox- e-;:nerai n^.jon.i-1 holidays atrl such formal holidays are excluded fros the above ircntj.cr.sa kinds of Isav^o
7 days:annually? et^ted for urgent and occasional matters. Each leave must not excond two dayc, X'he fesic feature of this leave is that the employee can £0 on leav- v/ithout previous perm'.3£-'ion of his chiefso
Annual.
It may be called pericdical leave and sranted once a year for one month to all the employees up till 50 yeora oldj employees over 50 years old are gr^ntod two months yearlyc. The aancrl'leave of the newly
appointed employees is granted after zix months of appointment,, It 13
limited to 15 days orjy in -the first year of his service* Any annual
leave, if not granted in one year, nsy he transferred to the following
year6 The adra?.nis jra ;±c::> has the right to co-ordinate the leave -of its
employees in a way k!Uc:i will test tenefit the vrork'and the employees.
Page 11
3 — Sickness leaves
Sickness leave is granted as follows for each three years of services-
3 months with.full salary3 » « half »
3 " !r quarter "
4 - Study leave:
Stu$r leave may be granted with full salary or without pay for a
period not exceeding four yearso It may be extended if this is necessary*
This leave is granted in accordance with the requirements of work and by the agreement of ths Executive Committee of Missions.
5 - Special leaves
It is granted for one month for pilgrimage,. It is granted to an
employee only once during his service.6 — Pregnancy leaves
Is granted to pregnant female employees and is for one montho 13» Disciplines
Public service duties and responsibilities are defined ty laws and regula tions. The public officer who will not perform his duties properly will be subject to disciplinary measurose The disciplinary measures must be based on written investigations of the offences committed by the employee,, The employees of local authorities are subject to the sane disciplinary rules as national civil servants* The governor has authority to impose disciplinary measures on all the employees within the domain of the governorate,
*4« Service termination;
- Service is terminated according to conditions stated in law.
- The employee is granted his salary till the last day of his serviceo
15» Control and supervision over personnels-All the local councils' employees are subject to technical, administra tive and financial controlP This control ar.d supervision aims at follow ing up the execution of their workf finding out the obstacles that hinder the proper po^-xormanoe of work and execution of projects, and evolving
solutions to thema
- In each governorate thare are organs of control, supervision and
inspection^- The governor is responsible for the work of control and supervision,, In
performing this task, he may delegate his powers to some officials in
the governoraiep to ■social cocnittees for this purpose, or he may
request the help of any oentr&l control agencies.*
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F*ge 12
II - Central agencies in relating to local administration systems
The local councils are endowed with juristic personality, and independence • in administering their local affairs according to law. Nevertheless, they are all subject to central control and supervision:, The central organs over local '
councils ares- *
1» Ministerial Committee for Local Administrations
It is headed by the Prime Minister and composed of some Ministers whose responsibilities have some relation to the functions of local councils. Its competence is to supervise the execution of the Law of Local Administration system and to develop it3 It is the responsible authority to lay down pro
grams which are aiming at attaining this purpose«2. Minister of State for Local Administrations
The Minister of State for Local Administration is ex-6fficio member of the Ministerial Committee for Local Administration. His main function is to discuss and prepare the subjects which will be submitted, and to follow-up the execution of its resolutions. Thus he is responsible for the -, co-ordination between "the central authorities and the local authorities on
the one hand, and co-ordination between the local councils themselves on
the other. " •
The Minister of State for Local Administration practices control and
;.. supervision over the local councils personnel* He practices in this .■■= sphere specific financial organization and administrative functions aimed
at providing the local councils with the necessary assistance and super
vision. ■
3»- General Secretariat for Local Administrations
The enacting of the Law No* 124 of i960 provided for the establishment of a Ministry of Local Administration with specific supervisory,finanoxal, administrative, and organizational functions over the local councilse This Ministry was replaced in October i960 ty the Secretariat General for Local Administration, It is the central organ which helps the Ministerial.
Committee and the Minister of State in performing their functions. The
Secretariat General for Local Administration is a financial and administra
tive consultative organ to local councils. Its main function in the field
of local administration personnel is to provide the local councils with
efficient staff, arrange training programs and courses to raise their
efficiency, and to provide the governorates with help in their endeavour
to classify their posts.
Page 13
4» Central Agency for Organization and Administration?
The Central Agency for organization and administration was established with the view to supervise and assist in the organization and administra tion of all state organs, central and local.
Its main functions s-
- To provide the central and local authorities with the necessary help in the classification of their posts.
- To train central and local personnel with the aim of raising their efficiency and productivity.
- There is co-ordination in existence "between the Central Agency for organization and administration and the Secretariat General for Local Administration in the field of the organization of the local units
and local government personnel training.
5« Administrative Control Agencys
Its main concern is to supervise the behaviour and performance of personnel, conduct the necessary investigation of the employees who are charged with certain offences and impose, disciplinary measures.
6. Central Agency for auditing and accountss
Its main function is to supervise and control the work of local councils personnel in the field of accounts and financial affairs.
7« State Councils
This is an administrative court. Its main function is to decide on the cases submitted to it from the employees or against them*
8. Central Ministries;
Their main function is the technical supervision over the personnel working in their branches at the various local levels.
