ABSTRACT
The Civil Service in Commonwealth African states had its origins in the creation of a machinery by Britain to consolidate her colonial administration in her dependent territories in Africa. The early Civil Service therefore grew out of military occupations and, in many cases, the public officers were military personnel drawn from the colonial regiments and occupation forces. The Civil Service in these African states in its early stages was therefore mainly concerned with collection of revenue and the maintenance of law and order. Financial administration was on the basis of simple accounting of revenue and expenditure and the balancing of the budget. In the social services, such as health and education, the Civil Service was not directly concerned with their development. The change of policy on the racial structure of the Civil Service, as described earlier, was a by-product of the revolutionary approach to colonial administration in the post-war years, accelerated by the increased tempo of nationalist agitation for independence.
