Cabinet operations revamped

PRIME Minister Nahas Angula yesterday announced a shake-up in the way Cabinet has conducted business since Independence, in an effort to speed up decision-making and Government action.

Cabinet will now only meet every second week, decisions will be certified immediately and action letters sent to Government Ministries and Offices within 24 hours of the meeting – making it possible for a public announcement on Cabinet decisions within 30 hours of being taken. Further, Cabinet committees have been reduced from nine to seven and will now become the first port of call for submissions before they are presented to Cabinet for a decision.Cabinet took the decision to revamp its operating system at its 19th meeting on August 23.”We want decisions to be effected immediately.Implementing Ministries must be on the ball.Cabinet should spend more time on urgent and priority issues and take decisions more quickly,” Angula told a media briefing in Windhoek yesterday.The move, he said, was primarily in response to President Hifikepunye Pohamba’s call for more efficient service delivery, and to ensure that available resources are utilised economically and that Government receives adequate returns from its efforts.Angula said the new measures would be implemented on a trial basis until at least the end of the year, when an assessment would be made on whether Cabinet’s work had been enhanced.”If it is found that the new measures do not meet expectations, Cabinet will have to look at other measures to address better governance,” said Angula.Traditionally, Cabinet has met at 09h00 every Tuesday.They will now still meet on the same day, and at the same time, but fortnightly.Since Independence, decisions taken at a particular sitting of Cabinet have only received final approval at the following sitting the next week – and it can be another week or two more before these are announced publicly.Decisions on Cabinet submissions have also been prolonged by the referral of submissions to Cabinet committees for scrutiny.Cabinet committees will now be expected to meet during the week in which Cabinet is not sitting, to review submissions and advise the Ministries concerned whether they are to be amended before being placed before Cabinet for approval.Angula said Cabinet had to focus its attention on Government priorities and very urgent matters and should not be bogged down by wading its way through submissions that are not always well formulated.The new structure will retain the Committees on Overall Policy and Priorities, Public Service, Defence and Security – which will now also include International Relations – the Treasury, Legislation and Land and Social Issues.A new Committee on State-Owned Enterprises to deal specifically with monitoring the performance of SOEs, their management, performance contracts and the declaration of dividends will replace the former Committee on Economic Development and Parastatals.The new committee will work in line with a proposed law on SOEs, expected to be tabled before Parliament soon.The former Cabinet Committee on Law and Order, which was chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, and that on International Relations and Protocol, will both fall away, and their tasks included in the portfolio of the committee on Defence, Security and International Relations.The Cabinet Committees will be served by Technical Committees consisting of Permanent Secretaries of the different Ministries represented on the various Cabinet Committees.Angula said Cabinet would still reserve the right to appoint ad-hoc committees to deal with particular matters as they arise.The President will chair the Cabinet Committee on Overall Policy and Priorities, as has been the case in the past, to consider and advise on the long-term planning objectives of Government as well as all issues related to the general direction of Government policy.The Prime Minister will chair the committees on Defence, the Public Service and that on State-Owned Enterprises.Further, Cabinet committees have been reduced from nine to seven and will now become the first port of call for submissions before they are presented to Cabinet for a decision.Cabinet took the decision to revamp its operating system at its 19th meeting on August 23.”We want decisions to be effected immediately.Implementing Ministries must be on the ball.Cabinet should spend more time on urgent and priority issues and take decisions more quickly,” Angula told a media briefing in Windhoek yesterday.The move, he said, was primarily in response to President Hifikepunye Pohamba’s call for more efficient service delivery, and to ensure that available resources are utilised economically and that Government receives adequate returns from its efforts.Angula said the new measures would be implemented on a trial basis until at least the end of the year, when an assessment would be made on whether Cabinet’s work had been enhanced.”If it is found that the new measures do not meet expectations, Cabinet will have to look at other measures to address better governance,” said Angula.Traditionally, Cabinet has met at 09h00 every Tuesday.They will now still meet on the same day, and at the same time, but fortnightly.Since Independence, decisions taken at a particular sitting of Cabinet have only received final approval at the following sitting the next week – and it can be another week or two more before these are announced publicly.Decisions on Cabinet submissions have also been prolonged by the referral of submissions to Cabinet committees for scrutiny.Cabinet committees will now be expected to meet during the week in which Cabinet is not sitting, to review submissions and advise the Ministries concerned whether they are to be amended before being placed before Cabinet for approval.Angula said Cabinet had to focus its attention on Government priorities and very urgent matters and should not be bogged down by wading its way through submissions that are not always well formulated.The new structure will retain the Committees on Overall Policy and Priorities, Public Service, Defence and Security – which will now also include International Relations – the Treasury, Legislation and Land and Social Issues.A new Committee on State-Owned Enterprises to deal specifically with monitoring the performance of SOEs, their management, performance contracts and the declaration of dividends will replace the former Committee on Economic Development and Parastatals.The new committee will work in line with a proposed law on SOEs, expected to be tabled before Parliament soon.The former Cabinet Committee on Law and Order, which was chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, and that on International Relations and Protocol, will both fall away, and their tasks included in the portfolio of the committee on Defence, Security and International Relations.The Cabinet Committees will be served by Technical Committees consisting of Permanent Secretaries of the different Ministries represented on the various Cabinet Committees.Angula said Cabinet would still reserve the right to appoint ad-hoc committees to deal with particular matters as they arise.The President will chair the Cabinet Committee on Overall Policy and Priorities, as has been the case in the past, to consider and advise on the long-term planning objectives of Government as well as all issues related to the general direction of Government policy.The Prime Minister will chair the committees on Defence, the Public Service and that on State-Owned Enterprises.