Heads of African Public Services commit to wide-ranging reforms to improve delivery of public services

Heads of Public Service in Commonwealth African countries have resolved to play a leading role in creating and institutionalising strategic approaches to manage and measure performance in their public services.

They have also agreed to advise Heads of State and political leadership on policy matters and win their support and involvement in enhancing performance management as a means to continually improve public service delivery to the citizens of Commonwealth Africa.

These were among the commitments made at a recent forum which took place in Mahé, Seychelles from 13 to 15 July, held under the theme ‘Managing and measuring performance in the public service in Commonwealth Africa’.

“Countries that have adopted performance management systems are said, by and large, to have experienced remarkable transformation resulting in positive economic growth, with accompanying improvement in the performance of public sector organisations,” said Joseph Belmont, Vice President of the Republic of Seychelles. In his Keynote Address Mr Belmont added: “To improve performance and achieve national development objectives, we need to build a culture of continuous improvement and personal development among all public sector employees including the leaders and managers. Leadership is critical in this endeavour.”

This meeting, organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat, has taken place annually since 2004 to allow Heads of Public Service to share ideas and experiences on critical public sector development issues.

Mohammed Afif, Secretary to the Cabinet in Seychelles acknowledged the timeliness of the meeting in his Welcome Address “Nine months ago, in the wake of the worldwide economic recession, Seychelles embarked on a series of wide ranging macroeconomic reforms including public sector restructuring with a 12 per cent reduction in its workforce with the redeployment of workers in most cases, to the private sector. We are, therefore, keen to share our experiences, and to learn from our learned colleagues from Commonwealth Africa.”

Among the other affirmations made in their communiqué were to align planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation systems and processes, integrate key strategic objectives with operational measures; ensure broader public participation through parliament, civil society and community consultation; and ensure effective strategies for attracting and retaining talent in the public service.

Jacqueline Wilson, Director of Governance and Institutional Development at the Commonwealth Secretariat thanked the delegates for their openness and frank discussion on the issues and their reaffirmation of the crucial importance of the annual forum as a means to dialogue and learn from their diverse experiences.

The importance of integrating public sector reforms in light of the current economic crisis was also acknowledged as a critical issue in public service delivery. This topic was unanimously chosen as the focus for the next Forum scheduled to take place in Cameroon in July 2010. Philip Ngole, Secretary General, Ministry of Public Service and Administrative Reform, Cameroon said: “Public sectors of countries that host the Forum benefit from sharing the expertise of delegates, and for that reason I am very happy that Cameroon will be hosting the next Forum to be held under the theme Managing and Integrating Public Sector Reforms in an era of Global Economic Crisis”.

Over fifty delegates from 17 Commonwealth countries in Africa attended this three-day forum meeting on managing and measuring performance in the public service.

Key Links:

• Public Sector Development
• Country Profile: Seychelles