Hand Over Take Over of Ministry

The incoming Minister for Public Service Hon. Joe Sungi has issued a strong message to all public servants to ensure service delivery reaches the rural people. Minister Sungi made this known during a Handover Takeover ceremony with former Minister Hon Soroi Eoe on the 7th of January.

The incoming Minister says he wants to see a change in the way of doing things in the Public Service. This was the crux of his message during the handover takeover ceremony. “For far too long we have spent time on the “means” but not the “end”. The means is what we do and the end is simply serving our people.

He said, why should someone wait for so long to receive services due to the long queues and processes of the public service system. Minister Sungi said there are very long queue’s and he wants to see it shortened so that the “end” result is realized and that is service delivery reaching our people.

Minister Sungi also highlighted a number of measures he feels should be addressed and some of them are; the appraisal system, organizational structure, Performance Management system and the need for digitization of the public service systems.

He mentioned the need for the appraisal system to be strengthened as it reveals whether an officer is performing or not. He said a lot of actions can be undertaken with the appraisal form. “It can be used to recommend training and even to terminate officers”.

The Minister also spoke about organizational structures where he referred to some departments as having 4 deputies. He said, this shouldn’t be the case and that organizational structures should be standardized across all agencies.

Minister Sungi also mentioned the need for digitization and said it is the way to go. He made reference to the Public Service of India and how a hugely populated country like India with 20 million public servants is efficient and effective. He said, India has the best Public service in Asia and there is a lot that we can learn from. He said, the digitization of the cumbersome processes in the public service can shorten the waiting period. Minister Sungi said he will take on from where the former Minister Soroi Eoe has left off to ensure continuity in the many policy initiatives that has been undertaken.