Abstract
The practice of public administration has for long been on the receiving end of disapprovals, negativity, public accusations, and prejudicial public judgements, especially on what governments are doing wrong. In recent years, however, this trend has been challenged by the rise of a scholarly movement fixated on projecting positivity in the study and practice of public administration. This paper feeds into this currently prevailing discourse on positive public administration, identifying and unpacking a positive case from Zimbabwe’s well-documented response to the HIV epidemic. Built from a review of widely available documentary sources and statistical information, the paper presents a case of positive public administration anchored on three replicable lessons for African and other countries of the Global South: (a) leveraging multisectoral collaboration and broader stakeholder involvement, (b) innovating on domestic financing to boost resource levels for HIV response, and (c) the availability of demonstrable political will from government.