A civil servant or public servant is a person in the public Sector employed for a government

department or agency. The extent of civil servants of a state as part of the "Civil Service" varies
from country to country.
For administrative purposes, Northern hodesia !as divided into eight provinces, and each
province !as subdivided into districts. A "rovincial Commissioner headed each province. The
"rovincial Commissioner !as responsible to the minister in charge of African Affairs for the
#good administration$ of his province, and for the preservation of la! and order in it. The
"rovincial Commissioner had po!ers under the Native Authorities %rdinance to appoint any
African to be the #Native Authority$ for an area for a period of six months. &e also had certain
'udicial po!ers and duties( he held a court !ith po!ers e)uivalent to those of a resident
magistrate. *n turn, a +istrict Commissioner !ho !as assisted by administrative staff, technical
and clerical staff, administered each district.
The +istrict Commissioner !as responsible to the "rovincial Commissioner for the #good
administration$ of his district and for preservation of la! and order in it ,-itchell, ./012. This
type of rule !as referred to as #direct rule$ or #pre3fectoral system. *t !as based on the use of
4uropean colonial administrators in local administration. These administrators dealt directly !ith
the people. This system !as identi5ed !ith the French, though the 6ritish also used it in some
parts of its territories. *n this system, a large number of administrators had to be brought from
4urope. unning side by side !ith the 4uropean colonial administration, !as a type of rule,
!hich !as 7no!n as 8indirect rule.$ This !as a type of rule !hich !as instituted by either
incorporating existing chiefs into the administration( removing uncooperative chiefs in favour of
others !ho might or might not be their legitimate successors( or creating chiefs !here there !ere
no chiefs as in Southern 9ambia and then putting them under the Native Affairs department to
administer the affairs of the natives.
*t !as organised by ta7ing traditional structures and changing them into Native Authorities.
Chiefs !ere given po!er and 'urisdiction over traditional affairs. The sovereign epublic of
9ambia came into existence on the :;th %ctober ./0; by operation of the 9ambian
*ndependence Act of ./0;, an Act of the 6ritish government. The Act provided that the territory
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7no!n as Northern hodesia !ould cease to be a 6ritish protectorate and become an
independent epublic of 9ambia.
As Tordoff ,./<=2 observed, #one of the 9ambian government$s most urgent tas7s in ./0; !as to
transform the inherited structure of provincial administration3 the focal point of the colonial
system of government3 into an instrument of economic development.$ Thus,3 in >?uly ./0; the
old system of provincial and district government !as abolished and, the follo!ing month, !as
replaced by a ne!, more limited structure of provincial and district government. The reformed
provincial and district government arrangement !as intended to coordinate and implement
government policies and provide a lin7 bet!een government and the ne! structure of party
po!er. *t !as stripped of most of its predecessor$s functions, !hich !ere distributed among
central government ministries and their agencies. For example, the @ocal Courts +epartment of
the -inistry of ?ustice too7 over the re 3 organisation and running of the old native authority
courts ,9ambia, ./00a2( the responsibility for la! and order !as devolved to the police... The
-inistry of @ocal Aovernment became responsible for supervising the rural local authorities
through its o!n cadre of local government of5cers ,Tordoff2.
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