The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Public Service, Administrative Reform, Policy Coordination and Delivery has called for effective coordination in the implementation of the Government policies and programs within Government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
According to Mr Pateh Jah, “if effective coordination is in place between Government institutions, it will help in terms of coordinating the policies by making sure that Government policies and programs are implemented as designed in the attainment of the project goals and outcomes which will make sure that service delivery is at the optimal level,” PS Jah explained.
Jah stated that many a time, the Government development plans are affected because the sectors are working in silence which causes overlapping activities within Government institutions.
In realization of this, he said the government decided, and come up with the Ministry of Public Service, Administrative Reform, Policy Coordination and Delivery.
According to PS Jah, Public Service Ministry is mandated to serve as the overall oversight for the implementation of Government policies and programs.
“As a new ministry, will make sure that Government development priorities are attainable as enshrined in our mandates,” PS Jah assured.
He recalled that for the past years, the Government came with some development plans to make sure that the country attains robust socio-economic development, especially to attain the status of a middle-income country.
For us to attain middle-income status he said there is a need to work hard to make sure that the country is seen as a competitive destination of foreign investment to create jobs to improve the lives and the livelihood of the citizenry.
“As a new ministry, we are currently working on the mandates of the ministry because Personnel Management Office (PMO) and Department of Strategic Policy and Delivery (DSPD) are now coming together to form this new ministry called: ‘Ministry of Public Service, Administrative Reform, Policy Coordination and Delivery.’
The Ps disclosed that his sector is also working on the organizational arrangement of the new ministry which includes the functional and responsibilities of various units under PMO and DSPD. “We are also working on structures that would make us work to deliver the mandates of the new ministry effectively.
As of now, we want to focus on four key areas like public service delivery, policy coordination, performance management, and human resource management,” PS Jah informed. He added that his ministry will continue to do the functions that PMO was doing before, adding that the mandate now is broadened and it will continue to formulate human resource policies, professional developments, support, and design reform process, provide a periodic report to the executive, among others.
He said in the past civil service was micro-managed by the executive but in this government, it is not the case because now, civil servants are free to come up with new ideas as to how their institutions can be run effectively without interference from the executive.
By: Lamin B. Darboe
Information Officer, PMO
