IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iob/dpaper/202601.html

Sedimentation of salary supplements within the Congolese civil service: case studies in the Ministry of Finances and Ministry of Budget

Author

Listed:
  • Balungwe Shamavu , Paulin
  • Moshonas, Stylianos
  • De Herdt, Tom
  • Malukisa Nkuku, Albert

Abstract

Using the negotiated statehood framework, this paper delves into the dynamics of accumulating salary supplements within the Congolese core civil service departments that have benefited the most from these practices and where they initially emerged in recent decades, before extending to other ministries. The principal findings of this study, derived from data from the Payroll Department of the Ministry of Budget and the Department of Treasury and Funding Resources of the Ministry of Finance, reveal that none of the bonuses paid in the analysed departments adhere to the Civil Service General Statute's requirements. This statute delineates the permissible number of bonuses and the conditions for instituting new bonuses, restricting their total to twothirds of the base salary. These departments have adeptly transformed their routine duties into bureaucratic norms to negotiate new bonuses, facilitated by informal accountabilities between senior civil servants and the ministerial authorities.

Suggested Citation

  • Balungwe Shamavu , Paulin & Moshonas, Stylianos & De Herdt, Tom & Malukisa Nkuku, Albert, 2026. "Sedimentation of salary supplements within the Congolese civil service: case studies in the Ministry of Finances and Ministry of Budget," IOB Discussion Papers 2026.01, Universiteit Antwerpen, Institute of Development Policy (IOB).
    • Handle: RePEc:iob:dpaper:202601
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://medialibrary.uantwerpen.be/files/2137/9f432f0d-d821-4814-8310-57c1e8d61c98.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chuku Chuku & Kenneth Onye, 2019. "Macroeconomic consequences of state fragility in sub‐Saharan Africa," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 1101-1140, August.
    2. Malukisa Nkuku, Albert, 2025. "Politique de l'autruche et fragilité chronique de la réforme de l'administration publique en République démocratique du Congo," IOB Working Papers 2025.10, Universiteit Antwerpen, Institute of Development Policy (IOB).
    3. World Bank, 2008. "Democratic Republic of Congo : Public Expenditure Review," World Bank Publications - Reports 8117, The World Bank Group.
    4. Guy Nkamleu & Guy Nkamleu & Bernadette Dia Kamgnia, 2014. "Working Paper 196 - Uses and Abuses of Per-diems in Africa- A Political Economy of Travel Allowances," Working Paper Series 2070, African Development Bank.
    5. World Bank, 2008. "Democratic Republic of Congo Rebuilding the Public Service Wage System : Synthesis Note," World Bank Publications - Reports 19528, The World Bank Group.
    6. World Bank, 2008. "Democratic Republic of Congo Reforming the Public Service Wage System : Background Paper," World Bank Publications - Reports 18921, The World Bank Group.
    7. Sahn, David E., 1992. "Public expenditures in sub-Saharan Africa during a period of economic reforms," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 673-693, May.
    8. Hasnain, Zahid & Manning, Nick & Pierskalla Henryk, 2012. "Performance-related pay in the public sector : a review of theory and evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6043, The World Bank.
    9. Theodore Trefon, 2009. "Public Service Provision in a Failed State: Looking Beyond Predation in the Democratic Republic of Congo," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(119), pages 9-21, March.
    10. Mr. Ian Lienert & Jitendra R. Modi, 1997. "A Decade of Civil Service Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa," IMF Working Papers 1997/179, International Monetary Fund.
    11. Belay Seyoum, 2020. "State fragility and human development: a study with special emphasis on social cohesion," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 48(1), pages 39-61, November.
    12. Johannes Herderschee & Kai-Alexander Kaiser & Daniel Mukoko Samba, 2012. "Resilience of an African Giant : Boosting Growth and Development in the Democratic Republic of Congo," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2359, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shunji Oniki & Melaku Berhe & Teklay Negash, 2020. "Role of Social Norms in Natural Resource Management: The Case of the Communal Land Distribution Program in Northern Ethiopia," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-17, January.
    2. Willy McCourt, 2001. "The New Public Selection? Anti-corruption, psychometric selection and the new public management in Nepal," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(3), pages 325-343, September.
    3. Lassou, Philippe Jacques Codjo & Hopper, Trevor, 2016. "Government accounting reform in an ex-French African colony: The political economy of neocolonialism," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 39-57.
    4. Arimoto, Yutaka & 有本, 寛 & Kurata, Masamitsu, 2017. "Adoption of Management Practices in the Public Sector of Bangladesh," Discussion Paper Series 654, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    5. Sahn, David E. & Dorosh, Paul & Younger, Stephen, 1996. "Exchange rate, fiscal and agricultural policies in Africa: Does adjustment hurt the poor?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 719-747, April.
    6. Abu, Girma Moges, 2005. "The Distributional Implications of personal Income Tax Reforms: The case of Civil Service sector in Ethiopia," Ethiopian Journal of Economics, Ethiopian Economics Association, vol. 9(2), pages 130-130, May.
    7. Adeola F. Adenikinju & Olugboyega Oyeranti, 1999. "Characteristics and Behaviour of African Factor Markets and Market Institutions and Their Consequences for Economic Growth," CID Working Papers 31A, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    8. Yong Ming Wang & Waqar Ahmad & Muhammad Arshad & Hong Li Yin & Bilal Ahmed & Zulfiqar Ali, 2021. "Impact of Coordination, Psychological Safety, and Job Security on Employees’ Performance: The Moderating Role of Coercive Pressure," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-19, March.
    9. Joan Margalef, 2026. "A probabilistic measure to state fragility," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2026-20, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. Vanessa van den Boogaard & Yannick Lokaya Bokasola & Gayatri Sahgal & Caleb Jérémie Dohou, 2026. "Beyond the state, but reinforcing it? Informal tax institutions and state legitimacy in the Democratic Republic of Congo," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2026-12, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    11. Mr. Ian Lienert & Mr. Feridoun Sarraf, 2001. "Systemic Weaknesses of Budget Management in Anglophone Africa," IMF Working Papers 2001/211, International Monetary Fund.
    12. Lofgren, Hans & Cicowiez, Martin & Diaz-Bonilla, Carolina, 2013. "MAMS – A Computable General Equilibrium Model for Developing Country Strategy Analysis," Handbook of Computable General Equilibrium Modeling, in: Peter B. Dixon & Dale Jorgenson (ed.), Handbook of Computable General Equilibrium Modeling, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 159-276, Elsevier.
    13. Cordella, Antonio & Cordella, Tito, 2017. "Motivations, monitoring technologies, and pay for performance," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 236-255.
    14. World Bank, 2023. "Ensuring Equitable Financing of Schools in FCV Contexts," World Bank Publications - Reports 40627, The World Bank Group.
    15. Razafindrakoto, Mireille & Roubaud, François, 2010. "Are International Databases on Corruption Reliable? A Comparison of Expert Opinion Surveys and Household Surveys in Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 1057-1069, August.
    16. Geenen, Sara, 2014. "Dispossession, displacement and resistance: Artisanal miners in a gold concession in South-Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 90-99.
    17. Alexander De Juan & Carlo Koos & Miquel Pellicer & Eva Wegner, 2022. "Can reconstruction programmes improve political perceptions in conflict contexts? Evidence from eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 90(4), pages 427-455, December.
    18. Aletheia Donald & Julia Vaillant & Francisco Campos & Maria Emilia Cucagna, 2018. "Caring about Carework," World Bank Publications - Reports 30118, The World Bank Group.
    19. Ibale, Douglas Amuli & Docquier, Frédéric & Iftikhar, Zainab, 2024. "Spatial Inequality, Poverty and Informality in the Democratic Republic of the Congo," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    20. Jan Henryk Pierskalla & Nick Manning & Zahid Hasnain, 2012. "Public Sector Human Resource Practices to Drive Performance," World Bank Publications - Reports 25489, The World Bank Group.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iob:dpaper:202601. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Hans De Backer (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iobuabe.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.