Transforming Public Service Two Decades Down The Line
By: Gervasius H Stephanus
THE transformation of the public service is a critical step towards Namibia’s growth and prosperity.
I joined the public service as a teacher four years after Namibia became an independent nation. I had always been concerned that scant discussion was happening regarding public service ethos and the media seems to remain silent about this issue, even today.
The late Education Minister, Abraham Iyambo, consistently urged civil servants to pay heed to the service they deliver to the Namibian child. “Deliver, deliver and deliver…” was his ethos as he emphasised quality service delivery.
Furthermore, the Head of State, President Hifikepunye Pohamba, when he appointed David Namwandi as the Minister of Education, emphasised that “Dr Iyambo is no more and it is up to the nation to ensure that his legacy lives on”. I believe that the recommendations of the National Development Plans (NDPs), the Education and Training Sector Improvement Programme (ETSIP) and Vision 2030 cannot successfully raise the bar unless the public service is radically transformed. Thus, “transform, transform and transform” should be the adage for quality public service today.
The public service is the engine room of Namibia today. If we do not transform it we will be unable to involve all Namibian public and civil servants in the successful implementation and execution of NDPs and ETSIP as well as a number of other significant programmes and projects. Vision 2030 might remain a mirage if we fail to do this.
We need to start with an understanding of how the critical parts fit together. The big drivers of change are the senior public servants. These individuals should play a major role in transforming the public service. The difference between being a public servant and being a politician needs to be made explicit as this seems to mean many things to many people in different contexts. The relationship between the two also needs to be repaired.
I similarly urge trade union representatives to be development agents by adopting a responsible attitude towards their members’ well-being and advocating improved conditions of service. Our trade union leaders have also at times become elements of the problem instead of being part of the solution. This is dangerous ground. Workers lose confidence in them, causing union leaders to lose focus and neglect their core responsibilities. Union leaders should be more rigorously trained and prepared for their roles and responsibilities.
In 1994 and 1995, as an unqualified mathematics teacher, teaching with only a Grade 12 certificate, my colleagues encouraged me to terminate my service to gain my teaching qualification, citing the reason that “there is a good pension at the end” for qualified teachers. They were not concerned about the quality of my service delivery as a teacher nor about seeing me become a more skilled and innovative educator, or about a quality education service in general.
Their encouragement was about the personal financial gain associated with the qualification. This strongly points to a culture within public and civil service that urgently needs to change. We need to embrace an individual and collective sense of worth and ethics if Namibia is to realise its potential future national productivity.
We can no longer afford to blame prior regimes As a post-colonial nation we are responsible for ourselves. It is certainly impossible to see complete change in just 22 years, and to suggest we cannot still see the effects of apartheid today would be a mistake, but we need to avoid continual reference to the subject.
Namibia has a wealth of resources and potential, all we need is to transform and repair the “machinery of the state” so that it delivers efficiently. We should get up every morning and recognise we havea responsibility - socially, politically, educationally, economically and technologically.
Over two decades down the line, claiming a lack of experience and expertise can also no longer be an acceptable excuse. Lack of political will, inefficiency within governance and public/civil servants who are not adequately equipped for their roles are the number one enemies of stability, and we should cease beating about the bush.
We might not have clear answers as to how to achieve this, but it is leading to our failure as a government. Efficient budgeting, prioritising, transformational leadership and oversight training should be mandatory for all public servants. Our Swapo-led government should take a hard line on politicians who interfere with the required administration process.
The thorny issues of corruption; unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditures in financial resources; high levels of income inequalities and high levels of unemployment particularly among the youth; lack of transparency and responsibility and rampant crime should become standing agenda items in all executive meetings and community outreach programmes.
Visible changes need to be made over the next decade.
*Gervasius H Stephanus is an Omusati-based Mathematics Education Officer pursuing a PhD (Mathematics Education) at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa