The public sector still failing

A deputy Minister for finance, Dr Gheysilka Adombila Agambila, has attributed the inability of the nation to meet its socio-economic developmental policies since independence to the poor performance of the public sector. Dr Agambila lamented to the Network Herald over the weekend that even though government is the largest employer in the country, most of its employees are not performing creditably enough to meet its standards and expectations.

?You don?t have peace even in your own house all because of a public sector that is not performing but living on the state for its survival?. He suggested that this accounts for the slow pace of the country?s economy because ?what is supposed to be used to invest in other areas of the economy is rather used to pay salaries of government?s workers who are non-performing?.

The Deputy Minister described the current situation as a perverse social welfare system that only exists because governments would not want people to riot against them. ?My office and that of other ministers is like a clinic, everyday. People all over you, people waiting on you to call somebody in the public sector to do his job or that like processing passports and birth certificates.?

He attributed this situation to ?the country?s poor educational system that teaches how to read and write instead of impacting skills that can enable people go into self-employment to reduce the large employment burden on the nation.?

As a first step, Dr Agambila suggested that government, should consider cutting down the size of ministries and their large population of employees if it wants to encourage the growth and sustenance of the economy. He said that it is only after government has taken this bold decision that it would be able to ensure efficiency in the public sector because it would then ensure an effective monitoring system that will in turn engender the generation of enough resources to enhance productivity.

Restating the World Bank recommendation of trimming the Civil Service, the minister who conceded that government has lost popularity as a result of the last increases in the tariffs of petroleum products said that move would ensure that government pays its workers a living wage so they could be able to give off their best for the collectively well being of the country.

He also called for a partnership between the private sector and the public to work hand in hand so that together they could enhance productivity and also be able to reduce the rate of inflation to single digit.