Saints, demons, wizards and systems: why information technology reforms fail or underperform in public bureaucracies in Africa

Building computerized information systems in weak African bureaucracies is a formidable task. Information systems often succumb to organizational constraints and either fail or underperform. This article examines why and provides a model of how they can succeed. The thesis is that African bureaucracy and, surprisingly, information systems development are contingent structures and processes. Given the right combination of government reformers (saints) and appropriate technical assistance specialists (wizards), the personal and contingent nature of African bureaucracies can facilitate the rapid introduction of information technology reform. The difficult task is to sustain the reform in a context where government staff are apathetic or even hostile to the reform (demons). An information system is sustained when it is insulated—its output is revered and tampering is feared. In African bureaucracies, information systems fail or underperform more often than they succeed, because the saints are few, the demons are many, the wizards are inappropriate, the systems are complex and the organizations are weak. The article concludes by reviewing five conundra of systems development in African bureaucracies: building systems without saints, managing demons, compartmentalizing systems, integrating system compartments and insulating systems. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.