AN INVESTIGATION OF PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY AND ITS EFFECTIVE
OPERATIONS: CASE STUDY OF CHIBOMBO’S IMMIGRATION STATION, ZAMBIA
Bertha Mwanza
Student ID: BPA 17210759
Supervisor: Ms. Mwansa Mwape
A research proposal submitted to the School of Education, Social Sciences and Technology
As a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the
Bachelor of Science in Public Administration of University of Lusaka
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................. i
CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................. 1
1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY .................................................. 1
1.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background of the Study ....................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem ...................................................................................................... 3
1.3 Aim of the Study ................................................................................................................... 4
1.4. General Objective ..................................................... Ошибка! Закладка не определена.
1.5 Specific Objectives ................................................................................................................ 4
1.6 Research Questions ............................................................................................................... 5
1.7 Significance of the Study ...................................................................................................... 5
1.8 Study Assumptions................................................................................................................ 6
1.9
Limitations of the Study ................................................................................................... 6
1.10 Delimitation of the Study .................................................................................................... 6
1.10 List of Operational Definitions ........................................................................................... 7
1.11 Organisation of the Study.................................................................................................... 7
CHAPTER TWO .......................................................................................................................... 10
2. LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................................... 10
2.0 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 10
2.1 Empirical Review ................................................................................................................ 10
2.1.1 Service Delivery in the Western World ........................................................................ 10
2.1.2 Service Delivery in Africa ............................................................................................ 12
2.1.3 Service Delivery in Southern Africa ............................................................................ 13
2.1.4 Immigration Service Delivery in Zambia ..................................................................... 13
2.2 Conceptual Framework ....................................................................................................... 15
2.3 Theoretical Framework ....................................................................................................... 15
2.3.1 The Bureaucratic Theory (1864) .................................................................................. 16
2.3.2 Theory of Human Service Delivery (2007) .................................................................. 16
2.3.3 Structural Functionalism Theory (1858-1917) ... Ошибка! Закладка не определена.
2.4 Gaps in Literature ................................................................................................................ 16
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CHAPTER THREE ...................................................................................................................... 20
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.............................................................................................. 20
3.0 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 20
3.1 Research Design .................................................................................................................. 20
3.2 Target Population ................................................................................................................ 20
3.3 Sample Size ......................................................................................................................... 20
3.4 Sampling Procedures ........................................................................................................... 21
3.5 Research Instruments and Pilot Study................................................................................. 21
3.5.1 Research Instruments .................................................................................................... 21
3.5.2 Pilot Study .................................................................................................................... 21
3.6 Data Collection, Analysis and Presentation ........................................................................ 22
3.7.1 Data Collection ............................................................................................................. 21
3.7.2 Data Analysis ...................................................... Ошибка! Закладка не определена.
3.7.3 Data Presentation ................................................ Ошибка! Закладка не определена.
3.8 Ethical Concerns ................................................................................................................. 23
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 23
APPENDIX I ................................................................................................................................ 23
APPENDIX II ............................................................................................................................... 24
APPENDIX III .............................................................................................................................. 25
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CHAPTER ONE
1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
1.0 Introduction
In this chapter, the main elements that surround this study are presented as the background that
touches on the operations and public service delivery in Immigration Department in Zambia. The
chapter also presents the statement of the problem, the aim of the study, the objectives of the
study, the research questions, the significance of the study, the study assumptions, the limitations
and delimitations of the study, the list of operational definitions, and the organisation of the study.
One significant issue encompassing public administrations is they should be proactive and
comprehensive in overseeing chances. Management of risk is at the focal point of such public
services and is requesting more noteworthy aptitude from staff (Shanks, 2017). As indicated by
Munyeka (2014, p. 27) "liberation and fast development in innovation eliminated passage
boundaries into the internet based climate, subsequently compelling public administrations to
change and simultaneously to overcome consumer’s dread and the apparent danger of deceitful
web-based exchanges. It is in this manner apparent that these are among the many difficulties
encompassing public administrations and hence management should keep up with undeniable
degrees of inspiration and fulfilment to hold their workers.
Countries around the world are striving to improve public service delivery, and no blueprint
solutions are available. Sophisticated technical solutions have been proven insufficient to improve
services for the poor. Experience suggests that without adequate political, administrative and
social institutions, service delivery improvements do not come simply through policy reforms,
administrative engineering, facility modernization, or staff training. Improving public services
requires making policymakers, public servants, and service providers accountable to citizens; and
promoting citizen engagement and trust in public institutions. Recognizing the interconnections
between institutions, service delivery, and citizen trust and engagement is especially crucial in
fragility, conflict and violence settings.
1.1 Background of the Study
. In Zambia, the history of the current public service reforms can be traced to the period in the
1980’s when the government tried to reforms that would improve the government as well as how
well the public service would be managed. (Carmicheal, 1986). Besides, Mukwena (1992) stated
that the public service showed correspondence of how the administrative structures are developed
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through the inter alia use of the foreign administrative reforms. They also engaged the expatriates
to train the local public servants to achieve the desired results. Mukwena emphasized that the
central role of the government in developing the public service processes was investment in the
administration and improvement of the public service administrative capability.
Operations and Public Service Delivery are simply terms that have been used to describe the
collective services that are performed by the Immigration Department (Chibi, 2017). The
Chibombo Immigration Station is one of the public (government) service stations composed of the
public servants who are professionals that are hired on merit and these form the administration part
of government and are appointed on a permanent basis. The other types of public servant are those
who are appointed politically and most times serve for the period that their party is in power. Both
the career public servants and the political appointees need to work hand in hand and in close
harmony in order for the public service to function as a whole.
The public service is the largest employer in Zambia which accounts for a large percentage of the
output for the goods and services such as health and education services. Oyedele (2015) indicated
that public services consist of areas of the public management such as central and local
government, health, education, defense, judicial system, internal affairs and, non-commercial
semi-state organizations. The main aim of the public service is to deliver goods and services at a
lower or no cost at all. The public service plays an extremely important role when it comes to the
administration as well as the policy formulation and its implementation. In order for the country
like Zambia to have any significant progress and to enhance its development, it needs to have
effective operations and public service delivery (Oyedele, 2015).
In Zambia, like many other developing countries, the operations and public service delivery in the
Immigration Department have several challenges, Lopes et al (2017) pointed out that service
delivery challenges are attributed by various social needs, ageing societies, economic pressure,
income inequality, and unequal access to services. For instance the ineffective service delivery in
several developing countries are not only triggered by the inadequacy of resources but also the
difficulties of incentives, accountability and governance that range from one context to another
(Global Development Network, 2016). In the same way, the effective operations and public service
delivery may vary from one context to another, leading into collective operations and public
service delivery anticipated to increase equality attaining the precise reverse (Lopes et al,. 2017).
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The study has been necessitated by the lack of efficient service delivery or complaints from the
users of the services offered by public organizations operations and the processes that are involved
in order for the service to be delivered. In particular, the Zambia’s Immigration Department has
been viewed by the public as inconsistent with the conception that the issuance of passports to the
citizens is ineffective. The Zambia’s Immigration Department offers services that very few people
appreciate. In order to understand the operations and public service delivery offered, there is need
to understand background of service delivery.
It can therefore be seen that the provision of civil service originated from using long systems which
are still in effect even in the modern day delivery of services and has seen the provision of civil
services to be a slow process
Following the information expounded above, the Zambia’s Immigration Department as one of the
institutions that make up the public service, was created by the Act of Parliament Cap 122 of 1965
(Zambia immigration, 2022). The department which is under the ministry of Home Affairs is
mandated to enforce the immigration law in Zambia. The department is responsible for service
delivery in an independent manner in the quickest possible time. Citizens in the past have
complained about the ineffective service delivery. The alleged ineffective service delivery has not
been spared by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in the service delivery move
from slow to nearly impossible characterised with long queues and unanticipated delays in services
such as collection of already processed permits/visas. As such it is imperative that the department
effectively deliver the services as an instrument for enhancing good governance as well as
promotion of the country’s foreign investment as the department is the first line of contact with
the outside world. This research proposal intends to investigate public service delivery and its
effective operations with a case study of Chibombo’s immigration station, Zambia
1.2 Statement of the Problem
According the SADC report, Zambia received around 170,200 immigrants by 2019 of the majority
was from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, India, Somalia,
Burundi and the United Kingdom. The country also received asylum seekers and refugees from
Congo, Burundi and Somalia mainly who made up a total number of 15,933 in 2013. By 2020,
Zambia was hosting a total of 57,700 refugees. Zambia as a middle income had a challenge in
managing the refuges as the two refugees camps Maheba and Mayukwayukwa were filled and are
at present filled to capacity. The refugees have moved from the camps are setting up shops around
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the country to sustain their living. The Immigration Department in Zambia was at the time under
staffed and is currently still not managing to make follow ups of the refugees and has in the recent
past being faced with budget constraints which further made the work of the immigration
department almost impossible to handle .
The Department of Immigration in Chipata has apprehended seventy-six (76) Ethiopian nationals
for the offence of unlawful entry. The Ethiopians aged between 15 and 35 years were intercepted
on Wednesday, 21st April 2021 near Musekela area in Chipata by a team of Immigration Officers
from the Chipata Regional Immigration Office and Mwami Border Control (Zambia Immigration,
2021). They were found concealed in maize bran-laden Zambian Registered Volvo Truck,
following a tip-off from members of the public. Additionally the Chibombo Immigration Office
on Tuesday, 20th April 2021 apprehended eleven (11) Ethiopians aged between 11 and 30 years
for unlawful entry and two (2) Zambians, one of them a uniformed Police Officer, for aiding the
Ethiopians to enter and remain in Zambia illegally (Zambia Immigration, 2021).
Kekana (2018) stated that the Zambia’s Immigration Department has a mandate to secure the
country in order to stop the illegal immigrants who pose a serious threat to the country’s internal
security such as terrorist’s attacks and other cross border crimes
Cortes (2008) stated that the influx of low skilled immigrants has a huge effect on the labour force
because they provide services such as housekeeping and gardening at very low prices and the
citizens with low skills are deprived from getting the jobs. It is against this background that the
study will investigate effective operations and public service delivery focusing at Chibombo’s
Immigration Station as a case study.
1.3 Aim of the Study
The study will aim to investigate the nature of the operations and public service delivery at
Chibombo’s Immigration Station.
1.4 Specific Objectives
The specific objectives of the study will be four-fold, these are:
1. To ascertain the current approaches used by Chibombo’s Immigration Station in operations
and public service delivery.
2. To assess the responsiveness of Chibombo’s Immigration Station in operations and its public
service delivery
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3. To identify the challenges experienced by Chibombo’s Immigration Station in effecting
operations and public service delivery.
1.6 Research Questions
The study will seek to answer the following questions:
1. What are the current approaches used by Chibombo’s Immigration Station in operations and
public service delivery?
2. How the responsiveness of Chibombo’s Immigration Station in operations and its public
service delivery?
3. What challenges are experienced by Chibombo’s Immigration Station in effecting operations
and public service delivery?
1.7 Significance of the Study
Through this study, it is hoped that it will assist Chibombo’s Immigration Station and the
Zambia’s Immigration Department in general to identify ways to put in place in order to effect
operations and public service delivery. The study will also be helpful in the departmental strategic
guided by the Zambia’s Immigration policy regarding the policies to adopt to ensure effective
operations and public service delivery. Further, the study will contribute knowledge to effect the
operations and public service delivery and the lesson to learn from the developed countries as far
as immigration operations and public service delivery are concerned. In addition, beneficiaries of
the study will include the following:

The employees - the study will help the employees by having an insight into how the delay in
the delivery of services affects the clients as well as how the operations affect the country as a
whole because a delay in one department will have a trickle effect to the other departments and
other sectors.

The stakeholders - the Immigration Department as a security department is always expected
to work hand in hand with the other security wings such as the Office of the president, the Drug
Enforcement Commission including its sister wings which are the police and prison services.
The stakeholders will have a knowhow of the department operates in order to deliver effective
services to the public because a larger concentration is the issuance of permits where the other
wings are incorporated and the border operations.
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1.8 Study Assumptions
For this study to be successful the following assumptions will be considered. These will be:
1. The study will target literate respondents knowledgeable on operations and public service
delivery challenges and ways on how to improve them.
2. The selected respondents will need to provide accurate data.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
For this specific study, selected immigration officers might decline not intending to take part,
owing to the fact of alleged respondent unfairness, especially about questions concerning to
effective operations and public service. As it will be a known fact, the researcher will ensure that
these limitations have little or no substantial consequences on the significance of the study. Not
only that, since the study will only involve respondents from one immigration station, the target
population will be regarded to be small in number to represent the views of the general populace
of Immigration stations in Zambia as a whole. As such, the study findings will not be generalised.
Further, the process of collecting the data will be a possible challenge because some people are
usually reluctant to give out information about their work stations. Furthermore, with the
prevailing of Covid-19 pandemic and need to observe social distance as a measure, interviews may
be conducted through virtual means such as phoning, zoom hence posing a challenge in terms of
financial resources. In addition, access to research literature might be challenge because sometimes
what seems as a research gap turns out to be just a misconception.
1.10 Delimitation of the Study
According to Simon and Goes (2013) delimitation defines the population from which
generalizations can be carefully made and are under the researcher’s control, these delimitations
might be imposed for practical reasons, such as lack of time or financial resources to carry out a
more thorough investigation. This study will only investigate effective operations and public
service delivery at Chibombo’s Immigration Station. There are other issues that will be reviewed
in the literature study however this study will only confine to the following aspects: extent to which
Chibombo’s Immigration Station effects operations and public service delivery, how responsive
Chibombo’s Immigration Station is in its operations and public service delivery, identification of
the challenges experienced by Chibombo’s Immigration Station in effecting operations and public
service delivery, and ways on how to improve operations and public service delivery in the
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immigration department. The target population will be potential officers knowledgeable about
immigration’s operations and public service delivery.
1.10 List of Operational Definitions

Public service refers to the administrative service of the government that is responsible for
carrying out all the works of the government.

Public services refers to the services that offered by the government and the government.
employees to all the people that are in that country such as Health care and Passport issuance

Clients refers to the people who are interested in the services of the department.

Immigrant refers to any person who moves from their country of origin to another country to
take up residence.

Immigration department refers to the department that is responsible for the movements of
peoples that are coming and leaving the country. It also maintains how the people will remain
and stay in the country.

Investigation refers to systematic study or inquiry in order to find out something or to gather
information.

Public organisations refers to all the public sector organizations that
are run by the
government in order to provide goods and services that will benefit all the residents and citizens
of that country.

Stakeholders refers to the people who have an interest or concern in the operations of the
department.
1.11 Organisation of the Study
In this study, Chapter one highlights the introduction and background of the study, statement of
the problem, aim of the study, objectives, research questions, delimitation and limitation of the
study, list of definition of significant terms. Chapter two will present related literature based on
the study objectives, theoretical framework and conceptual framework. Chapter three will present
the research design which will be descriptive survey design and case study design, the research
methodology, target population, sample size, sample procedure, research instruments, pilot study,
validity and reliability of instruments and data analysis techniques. Chapter four will present the
research findings. Chapter five will interpret and discuss the research findings while chapter six
will present the conclusion and suggest recommendations. Figure 1 below is an overview of
organisation of the study.
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Figure 1: Overview of the organisation of the study (Source: Author 2021, Researcher)
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CHAPTER TWO
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction
The public service being one of the key and in some cases the most important form of service
delivery, the study will be undertaken to highlight the importance of the services that are delivered
by the Immigration Department. However, a number of studies have already been undertaken in
the past about the service delivery of the Immigration department and other studies in other
security departments.
This chapter will look at the past studies that have been conducted by other researchers/scholars.
Service delivery has become a serious concern among the citizens and stakeholders who will need
to benefit from the past research, the current and the future researches that will be conducted.
The literature review will provide a perspective on the processes that take place during the delivery
of the services from the starting pointing up to the last point when the service is finally delivered
to the final person(s). The literature review will provide a perspective and overview of the past
studies that were conducted. The study will combine the past to present format and the broad to
specific format. Furthermore the conceptual framework will be presented and key theories
2.1 Empirical Review
2.1.1 Service Delivery Globally
According to the Centre for Migration studies (2021) the United States of America under the
United States of America Homeland Security, the estimates where that the country has to attend
to approximately 31 percent of the Immigrants who are job seekers. The country receives Black
Refugees from around the world on a weekly basis. It also states that in all but the eight states in
the United States of America, the majority of the employees are foreign born which indicates that
the immigrants are also essential workers who need the services of the Immigration Department.
The study also highlights that the percentage of the undocumented workers exceeds that of the
native born essential workers by nine percentage points that accounts for the 15 states which have
the largest labor force. This shows that the countries depend largely on the Immigration
Department to legalize the stay of the illegal immigrants and any delays in how they are handled
leads to bigger effects such as high crime rates. The illegal immigrants sometimes migrate because
of circumstances which they cannot control such as a threat on their lives but they at times possess
the skills which the local population does not have in some cases.
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The immigration Department has always had a strong Impact on how the country improves and
develops the health systems and other sectors of the country by facilitating the entry of the
expatriate labor force in the country. Trost (2018) states that Canada has a good economic situation
which has highly been affected by immigrants and the country having a prominent publication
output of the immigration services. Efficient delivery by the department is therefore of essence.
The IOM (2019) revealed that the migration of persons between the years 2018 and 2019 that led
to major migration and displacement events that were caused by the conflicts from Syrian Arab
Republic, Yemen and South Sudan. The scale on international Migration increased because of the
trends which accounted for 272 million migrants globally for that period of which 52 percent of
the international migrant were males and 72 percent were of working age which is 20-64 years of
age. The migration trends put pressure on the immigration services around the world since they
needed to carry out extensive scrutiny of the migrants in case there were terrorists among the
people who were migrating and most countries around the world felt the effects of that migration
that took place.
Trost (2018) further states that countries like Sweden and Norway showed that high immigration
work is owed to the latest development with the increased mobility, worldwide crises and the
constant need of flight and migration by the people and concluded that countries which have good
economic situation are highly affected by the immigrants. This means that the countries need good
immigration service delivery to enhance the country’s economies.
According to the United Nations Report of 2015, it stated that the immigration had become a vital
topic throughout Europe and globally around the world because the immigration made it possible
to have effective mode of transportation and made it easy for the people to move around the globe
quickly in order to accept jobs.
The European Social survey that was conducted in the year 2014 in 20 countries reported that the
immigrant that originated from the same ethnic group or same race most often will migrate to the
same regions and this means that the immigration services would need to be intensified as the
immigrants who come in large groups pose a threat of competition over the socio economic and
symbolic resources.
The United Nations report after its research listed the Asian born migrants accounted for 40 percent
(112 million) of the international migrants and terrorists originating from India, Bangladesh,
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Pakistan and Afghanistan. This has led to the immigration officers around the world to be on high
alert when scrutinizing the citizens from the above listed companies.
2.1.2 Service Delivery in Immigration Sector in Africa
The study done by the African Union (2020) advanced that about 41 million international migrants
were moving from or to Africa and the movements were because of the displacements in the
warring countries and other movements were irregular migrations (AU, 2020). African migrations
are largely intra African migrations which have been demonstrated by the endless daily border
crossings. African migration will continue to be on the rise because of the economic impacts and
conditions of the African countries. These impacts greatly on the immigration departments and
home offices who are constantly arresting the illegal immigrants and legalizing the stay of the
migrants who come in search of employment opportunities. The immigration department ensures
that peace is maintained and conflicts are alleviated between the citizens and the migrants.
According to Nationen (2009) joint which is a border post that was commissioned between Benin
and Nigeria in October, 2018 was set to revolutionize the cross border trade and the movements
between the two countries in order to enhance their economies. The immigration department
needed to ensure that cooperation is increased between the countries as well as ensure there was
easy mobility between the borders.
The Intra-African trade among countries also helped in addressing the developmental challenges
that the neighboring countries were facing such as the food product that are being sold could
ameliorate the food shortages and in turn the bordering countries will experience improved food
security. (Newland and Taylor, 2010) The immigration officers had a duty of ensuring that the
cross border traders had the right documentation that was needed for them to cross and carry out
the business operations.
The study undertaken by the UN 2021 Over 31 million Africans live outside the country of their
birth, the majority within the African continent. In fact, the majority of migration is intra-regional
or intra-African, especially in west and southern Africa, and only about 25 percent of African
migrants go to Europe (UN, 2021). The migration of the people that seek employment can be
turned off out rightly. About 8.4 million migrants move around West Africa and this represents
2.8 percent of the total population. The immigration department had to ensure that it issued the
right employment permits to the candidates that were deserving of the permits. Permits needed to
be issued according to the qualifications.
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Many organizations in the country do not take into account the plight of the refugees. According
to Staedicke (2018) the refugees who are neglected and concentrated on the Democratic Republic
of Congo, Burundi, Ethiopia, Nigeria and south Sudan were forcibly displaced within and beyond
their countries borders because intense movements. This increased the work of the immigration
workers in the countries were the refugees and asylum seekers moved to in order to facilitate the
entry and stay of the said groups of people. In 2018, approximately 148,000 Congolese refugees
and asylum seekers fled the Democratic Republic of Congo and were hosted by the neighboring
countries and Zambia was one of the host countries
The services of the immigration were not only needed to receive the refugees and asylum seekers
entering the countries, they were required to maintain the records of the refugees who were in the
country. According to Salant (2017), millions of people that were displaced around the world most
of the times are unable to return to their countries of origin and new crises are driving many more
to flee their countries. The writer indicates that around 2016, the record high of 65.6million
displaced persons worldwide of which 22.5 million were refugees who were receiving protection
outside their countries of origin.
2.1.3 Service Delivery in Immigration Sector in Southern Africa
According to Flanagan (2014) South Africa recorded a significant increase in the population due
to the migration of people from most African countries and the persons from Asian origins
especially the Indians. The people that migrated to South Africa between 2020 and 2021 was
approximately 520,628 of which 486,602 increased the Black people population, 47,228 were
colored and the 4,109 grew the Indian population leading to the growth of the country’s population
to 60.1 million. However, the white population in South Africa has considerably declined between
2020 and 2021 by 17,311 after the outbreak of the Corona Virus. South Africa has in the recent
past seen an influx of foreign nationals who are entering the country to look for employment since
the world economy has been badly hit by the pandemic. The South African home office and
immigration has recorded a high rise in the issuance of residence and work permits but they have
not managed to stop the entering of illegal immigrants. The department was working day and night
to manage the migration of people which had became a strain to the country.
2.1.4 Immigration Service Delivery in Zambia

The service delivery originate from way back according to the following writers:
Hahn-Burkett (2019) indicated that service delivery began at the time that the Pendleton Act
of 1883 was passed. The Act was enacted in order to facilitate the ending of the spoils
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
systems that characterized who won the various positions in different governments around
the world. The service delivery originated in stages around the world. Each country has a
different way of how the service delivery functions and how their various services are
provided.
Spiller and Urbiztondo (1994) pointed out that the use of the competitive examinations in
order to do a selection of the civil officials in China and it began during the reign of the Han
dynasty which later saw an expansion that included all the important positions that were
established until the Sung dynasty. This was how the Chinese government developed their
civil service through the different dynasties.
Between the years 2013-2017, the immigration department issued 101,792 permits and the most
issued were employment permits accounting to 49.4% of the total permits issued and the temporary
permits accounted for 19.5% (Migrants-refugees, 2022).
Apart from keeping track of the people entering the country, the Zambian Immigration has seen a
rise in the number of people who are applying for visas with a rise in the restricted countries such
as Egypt, India and Pakistan. According to the IOM migration report, the Zambian immigration
department issued about 278,355 visas between the periods of 2013-2017.despite having such high
numbers of visa issuances, the country continues to record illegal entrants without visas to allow
them entry into the country. This has made the work of the immigration department very difficult
because the process has to be reversed once the arrests of such persons are made.
The immigration department has had to make the necessary provisions for all the persons that are
entering and leaving the country. It also had to ensure that people who were in the country were
issued with the right permits. The refugee statuses have to be determined and accorded to the
deserving persons and at the end of it all ensure protection of the people who have to remain within
the country.
Zambia hosted 57,700 refugees in 2020 and received 7,870 individuals in 2019. According to
UNHCR, at the end of February 2018 Zambia hosted more than 72,151 people, including 44,283
refugees, most of whom were Congolese (92%). “UNHCR in Zambia supports the government’s
efforts to provide protection and assistance to refugees and asylum-seekers. These include safe
and fair access to territory, asylum procedures and rights, inclusion in national services, selfreliance and opportunities to earn a living, and long-term measures such as integration into the
host country and possible resettlement in third countries”(UNHCR, 2022). In 2018 the figures
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slightly increased, with 49,734 refugees but only 3,291 asylum seekers, of which 17,866 Angolans
and 4,976 Rwandans.
2.2 Conceptual Framework
Conceptual framework is a schematic interpretation of the relationship between dependent and
independent variables. Figure 2 below is the proposed conceptual framework that will be used to
conceptualize the variables at play and how it will guide this study.
Chibombo’s
Immigration
Station
operations and
public service
delivery
current
approaches
responsiveness
challenges
Figure 2: Conceptual Framework (Source: Author 2021, Researcher)
In Figure 1, a number of selected factors effects operations and public service delivery. These
selected factors are: current approaches, responsiveness and challenge. These factors are the
independent variables. Operations and public service delivery are the dependent variable. The
conceptual framework implies that the independent variables effects the dependent variable.
Therefore, to investigate the effective operations and public service delivery, sampling will done
across all the selected independent variables.
2.3 Theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework will be used to describe the theories that will support the study of public
service delivery and the assumption that was made by the past theorists. The theories will describe
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why the research problem that is being researched exists. The following are the theories that will
support the study:
2.3.1 The Bureaucratic Theory (1864)
This theory by Max Weber proposed that the institutions were supposed to be run using rigid
hierarchy of people and the people needed to be governed by strict rules and procedures. The
theory was designed to solve big problems that were experienced the organizations at the time
when industrialization was at its peak. The theory was based on five principles which were the
formal hierarchy structure, the formal rules and norms that were to be used, specialization of duties,
equality among all the employees and the employees were to be recruited based on abilities and
qualifications.
The bureaucratic theory is what is still being used in the modern day civil service. They follow
formal hierarchies and follow strict rules and procedures which make it very difficult when it
comes to delivery of services by the officers. When with the advancement in technology, most
civil services are delivered using long processes which in turn delay the delivery.
2.3.2 Theory of Human Service Delivery (2007)
Reader (2017) came up with the theory to help give an understanding on how the people work with
the different systems that take place in order to deliver services. Reader’s theory emphasized that
the people are most of the time judged by the subjective criteria without understanding that
delivery of service is not as easy as it appears most of the time. The proponent attempted to show
how the best system of service delivery can be created. To support the theory, Okpych et al (2014)
state that numerous research shows that there are linkages between research and human practices.
Research directly contributes to the goals of practice and the practice that is properly conducted
will equally contribute to the intended goals of the research. Similarly, Herrick (2014) in his
analysis indicates that the human service professionals most often gain the direction in service
delivery from the policies made by the organization in order to advance the well-being of the
individuals that they serve, different families and the societies as a whole without any exceptions.
2.4 Gaps in Literature
Despite researches that has been conducted on civil service delivery, not enough studies have been
undertaken which has accounted for the gaps in knowledge. There is need to conduct more research
in the area of service delivery. A lot more research needs to be conducted on the service delivery
of other government institutions and departments.
16
Regardless of the different researches that have already been carried out, there still has been
enough research which has given ways on how the civil service can provide services without using
the bureaucratic systems that have been in place for many centuries.
17
CHAPTER THREE
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction
This chapter will present the methodology to be used in the study. This chapter presentations will
include the research design, target population, sample size and sampling procedures, research
instruments and pilot study, data collection, analysis and presentation, and ethical concerns.
3.1 Research Design
A research design is a set of methods and procedures used in collecting and analysing measures of
the variables specified in the study (Creswell and Creswell, 2017). For that reason, to achieve the
objectives of this study, the researcher will use the descriptive case study method. This method
will be ideal and applicable to this study primarily because it will investigate the effective
operations and public service delivery at Chibombo’s Immigration Station qualitative data.
Qualitative methods, such as interviews, are believed to provide a 'deeper' understanding of social
phenomena than would be obtained from purely quantitative methods, such as interviews (Gill et
al., 2008).
3.2 Target Population
Population is the whole set of objects and events or group of people which are the objects of
research and about which the researcher wants to determine some characteristics (Sarantakos,
1998). The total number of officers at the Chibombo immigration station is 18 employees. The
immigration officers (officer in-charge, senior officers and officers) at Chibombo Immigration
Station will constitute the target population. The officer in-charge will be important in the study
as he/she is the overseer and make informed decisions about Chibombo Immigration Station in
general. Senior and other officers are also responsible for executing operations and service delivery
hence will play a vital role in the study.
3.3 Sample Size
According to Maleche (1997) a sample is a quota of the target population selected by means of
systematic procedures for study. Borg and Gall (1993) stated that a descriptive case study needs a
sample size of not fewer than 10 objects to sufficiently describe the phenomenon of interest, and
address the research question at hand. But at the same time, a large sample size risks having
repetitive data.
20
Position
Number
Officer in-charge
2
Senior Officers
4
General Officers
6
3.4 Sampling Procedures
Dommeyer (2017) sampling is a process of selecting a number of individuals or objects from a
population such that the chosen group covers subjects’ representative of the characteristics found
in the whole group. This study will adopt the purposive sampling procedure. For this specific
reason, all the respondents will be purposively sampled because it enables researchers to squeeze
a lot of information out of the data that they have collected. A purposive sampling is a procedure
where a researcher picks participants based on the knowledge of research topic, interest and
willingness to participate freely (Morse, 2010).
3.5 Data Collection
In addition to literature study as collection method for secondary information, structured interview
guide will used to collect primary information. After ensuring research instruments’ validity and
reliability, the researcher then will seek permission from the concerned authorities to undertake
study. After seeking the permission, the researcher will contact the selected respondents and make
available to them the consent letter. Following that, the researcher will arrange for the initial
meeting with the selected respondents either face-to-face or phone interaction.
3.6 Research Instruments and Pilot Study
3.6.1 Research Instruments
The study will employ structured interviews as research instrument to collect information from the
selected respondents because they are easy to replicate as a fixed set of closed questions are used,
which are easy to quantify – this means it is easy to test for reliability. Structured interview guide
will consist of open descriptive questions that will require short explanations.
3.6.2 Pilot Study
Ensuring research instrument’s validity and reliability, the researcher will first conduct a pilot
study. A pilot study will guide the selected respondent role and any doubts in the questions will be
21
noted and corrected to ensure that desired information is collected. After the pilot study, the
researcher will modify if need arise the interview questions guide.
3.7 Data Analysis and Presentation
Data analysis is the process of developing answers to questions through analysis and interpretation
of collected data. Data analysis involves organising the collected data, filtering the collected
information by means of summarisation and categorisation, and identifying and linking the
patterns and themes in the collected data (Patton, 1987). Data collected from the interviews will
screened, a process of proofreading information for errors, correction and sorting (Tabachnick and
Fidell, 2007). Descriptive analysis will be used in explaining certain characteristics of the study.
Gay et al (2011) indicated that descriptive analysis is the procedure of collecting information to
provide answers to the research questions. Since qualitative information comes in the types of
stories, citations and portrayals, topical strategies for information investigation will be utilized to
dissect qualitative information subsequent to changing over into quantitative units for examination
through a measurable bundle. Topical examination was utilized to classify the data. Then the
information will be coded and checked for completeness.
According to In and Lee (2017) data presentation refers to the organization of data into graphs,
tables or texts so that logical and statistical conclusions can be derived from the collected data. In
and Lee also stated that ways of presentation must be determined according to the data format, the
method of analysis used, and the data being emphasized. For this study, data were presented in
tabular, graphical and textual forms.
Tabular data presentation involves conveying data that has been converted into words or numbers
in rows and columns (In and Lee, 2017) anyone with a sufficient level of knowledge can easily
understand the data presented in a table. Further, In and Lee stated that tables are the most
appropriate for presenting individual information, can present both quantitative and qualitative
data, and accurately present data that cannot be presented with a graph.
Graphical data presentation simplify complex data by using images and emphasizing data patterns
or trends, and are useful for summarizing, explaining, or exploring quantitative data (In and Lee,
2017) graphs are effective for presenting large amounts of data, they can be used in place of tables
to present small sets of data and best presents information must be chosen so that readers and
reviewers can easily understand the information
22
Textual data presentation is the method of conveying data as it is used to explain study findings
and provide contextual data (In and Lee, 2017) textual data are fundamentally presented in
paragraphs or sentences, texts can be used to provide interpretation or emphasize certain data and
if quantitative data to be conveyed consists of one or two numbers, it is more appropriate to use
textual presentation than tabular or graphical presentations.
In addition, Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) will be used for data computation for
this study. The computed data will be presented in tables, graphs and text for ease interpretation
of the research findings.
3.8 Ethical Concerns
All ethical research practices and principles will be considered for this study. The researcher will
seek permission to conduct the study from the relevant authorities and the study respondents will
be required to agree freely whether to or not to participate in the study. The researcher will explain
to the respondents the necessity of their participation before participating in the study. The study
respondents will be guaranteed that the collected information will be treated with privacy and
confidential and to will be used only for the purpose of this study.
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26
Zambia
Department
of
27
APPENDIX I
The Research Budget
a) Stationary
10 Pens
K20.00
2 Reams of paper
K130.00
2 Highlighters
K20.00
1 Correction fluid
K15.00
2 Note book
K20.00
b) Typing and Printing
Printing
K100.00
Binding proposal
K20.00
c) Transport
Pilot study field visitation (1 time)
K100.00
Main study filed visitations ( 3 times)
K300.00
Total
K825.00
23
APPENDIX II
Research Plan
Activity
Sept
2021
Oct
2021
Identification of the problem
Formulation of the topic
Proposal development
Proposal defense
Development of instruments
Data collection and analysis
Submission of draft report
Correction of draft report
Submission of final report
24
Nov
2021
Dec
2021
Jan
2022
Feb
2022
Mar
2022
APPENDIX III
Consent Letter
I am a final year student at the University of Lusaka. I am at current enrolled for in Bachelor of
Science in Public Administration. I have to complete research component and one of the
requirements is that I conduct study and write a study report about my work. I would like to request
permission to conduct an interview with you. My study topic is effective operations and public
service delivery in immigration department. Operations and public service delivery are simply
terms that have used to describe the collective services (border management, entry and exit control,
internal peace, permits and visas, and refugees and asylum seeking) that are performed by the
immigration department. Related researches have been done on this study topic in other parts of
the world and I am interested in investigating effective operations and public service delivery
focusing at Chibombo Immigration Station.
The study intends to gain insight into the operations and public service delivery in immigration
department. In this study, I will ascertain the extent to which Chibombo’s Immigration Station
effects operations and public service delivery, find out how responsive Chibombo’s Immigration
Station is in operations and public service delivery, identify the challenges experienced by
Chibombo’s Immigration Station in effecting operations and public service delivery, and seek
ways on how to effect operations and public service delivery in immigration department as a
whole.
The interviews will take place at a site and time will suit you as the interviewee. The interview
session will take about 30 minutes. Follow up interviews may be done for clarity and depth of the
data. The information obtained will be accessed by only me and my research supervisor and will
not be disclosed to other parties. Your identity and all other respondents/participants will be
protected by using fictious names during data collection, analysis and writing up of the research
report. The data collected for this study will be in the possession of me and my supervisor.
Please sign to confirm

I
confirm
that
I
have
read
and
understood
the
information
sheet
dated………………………………………………………………...…… for the above study.
25

I have had enough time to understand the research information, ask questions and have had
these answered satisfactorily. I fully understand that my participation is voluntary and that I
am free to withdraw at any time, without giving any reason. I fully understand that data
collected during the study, will be looked at by responsible individuals from (University of
Lusaka) or from regulatory authorities, where it is relevant to my taking part in this research.
I give permission for these individuals to have access to research data.

I agree to take part in the study.
……………………………………………...
Name of Person consenting
………………………………….
Signature
Date………………………………………………………………………………………........
26