Public Service Charter fails on ratification

Africa is a continent with vast and diverse mineral resources and blessed with a hardworking resilient and innovative population. To keep attracting foreign investors, African public service needs to be responsive to the needs of investors as well as the citizenry,” said Marco Hausiku, Deputy Prime Minister at the opening of the African Ministers of Public Services Workshop on leadership capacity development for improved delivery of public services in Africa using information and communication technologies, in Addis Ababa last week.
He stated that Africa needs to confront the challenges facing the continent today. The latter are emanating from the early post-independent strategies which presumed that public service reforms and administrative capability needs were generic and the same despite varying context and realities.
He further called for the promotion of efficient public service performance management as a key priority for African countries which underpins all other objectives relating to socio-economic, political, cultural, judicial, administrative and governance programmes. “Africa needs a high performing public service that can envision development, design and implement comprehensive national plans and contribute to overall national development.”
“Africans therefore need to reinvent service delivery systems through adoption of modern management practices and application of modern innovation technologies to support and improve delivery of services, simplification of procedure and ease of doing business” he said.
Hausiku also recalled that the conference of African Ministers of Public/Civil Service developed the African Charter on Values and Principles of Public Service and Administration. The charter was adopted by the AU Summit in January 2011, and has since been signed by 19 member states and ratified by three countries. Namibia ratified the charter in August 2011.
Hausiku reminded the Workshop of the commitment of the 7th conference of African ministers of public or civil services (CAMP) held in Nairobo last year which undertook to ensure ratification of the charter by June 2012.
He stated that 12 more ratifications are required for the charter to enter into force. The Deputy Prime Minister urged all countries to speed up their ratification processes. He also presented an overview of CAMP’s long-term strategy on the use of ICT in public services.
The focus on ICT will enable Africa to increase its service delivery, enabling communication across countries and regions, facilitating service delivery, networking government departments and agencies and enhancing access to information and services by citizens.
“Africa must undertake the crucial role of ensuring social and economic development for the well-being of their citizens through ensuring that public services administrations re-engineer their processes to meet the developmental challenges facing the continent,” he said.
In officially opening the workshop, he requested the delegates to provide tangible recommendations and practical suggestions on how to improve public service delivery by using ICT.