After the ending of autocratic rule by Dr. Banda, the main aid donors insisted on civil service modernisation and reform in line with Free market concepts promoted by the International Monetary Fund at that time.
[6][7] Some more contentious aspects of the Skinner reforms were modified in 1965,[8] but they remained the basis of civil service pay and allowances until in 1983, despite a large increase in staff numbers.
It chairman was Sir John Herbecq, a retired senior British civil servant, and the commission reported in 1985, identifying some weaknesses and recommending solutions.
[10] Following the 1993 referendum that ended the autocratic rule of Dr. Banda, free elections in 1994, civil service strikes and two critical World Bank reports relating to the use of Structural adjustment loans that criticised the management of the Malawi Civil Service and its pay levels, and which recommended reducing the number of junior officers and support staff, the incoming government of Bakili Muluzi was forced to take action, by an immediate increase to junior officers’ salaries and by agreeing to an independent inquiry.
It recognised that implementing these proposal would result in a doubling of the civil service salary bill, but was convinced this was necessary, despite the likely objections of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
[14] Although the World Bank and the IMF accepted that the value of civil service pay had declined sharply in the decade up to 1995, they put pressure on president Muluzi not to implement the Chatsika Commission in full or immediately, but to promise to increase the salaries of all grades by 25 percent when circumstances allowed.
[17] The failure of recent attempts at civil service reform in Malawi has been attributed to the insistence of aid donors such the World Bank and the IMF on forcing the adoption a single solution, without recognising local conditions.