Editorial: Can Cabinet Speed Up Its Processes?

IN the wake of an announcement by Prime Minister Nahas Angula yesterday on streamlining the Cabinet governance system and restructuring Cabinet committees, Namibians will ask whether in fact it will promote more efficient government.

The Prime Minister repeated a promise made by President Hifikepunye Pohamba when he took office on March 21, that efficient service delivery to the nation should be the main driving force in all Government policies, programmes, projects and actions. As a result, Angula said, Cabinet had reviewed its actions and operations and resolved to implement a number of measures geared at streamlining the Cabinet governing system.These included a decision that Cabinet would meet in future, not on a weekly basis, but every two weeks.Prime Minister Angula felt this would add both time and value to Cabinet submissions and more proper preparation for such meetings.Following such meetings, the Prime Minister said, the Cabinet secretariat would immediately issue ‘action letters’ to facilitate and speed up the implementation of Cabinet decisions.Cabinet also restructured the Standing Cabinet Committees, which it says will allow for more streamlined action, with the seven committees expected to work hard during the week that Cabinet is not meeting in order to enhance efficiency and decision implementation.What Prime Minister Angula terms the new Cabinet Governance System will initially be done on a trial basis to see if it does, in fact, enhance the desired goals.He emphasised that because Cabinet would no longer meet on a weekly basis, did not mean that special sessions could not be called to address matters of national urgency.He added that because certification of Cabinet decisions would be done immediately, it would further be possible in future to make public these decisions within 30 hours, rather than a week, which has been the case in the past.Any attempt at streamlining to enhance efficiency and service delivery must, of course, be welcomed.Decisions taken need to be speedily implemented.The ‘action letters’ the Prime Minister referred to would seem to be a welcome move in order to get things moving in the various Ministries mandated with various tasks by the executive.It is also important that the new system serves to eliminate confusion, and the recent Government handling of the contentious issue of teachers salaries is of course a case in point.The country has wasted a lot of time and resources on trying to sort out a problem which was largely of Government’s own making – promises that were made and not kept, and then later rescinded, after a national teachers’ strike was threatened.This prospect was averted at the last minute, but Government deserves no praise for its handling of the situation.Better preparation of submissions to Cabinet and more accountability with regard to the decision-making process must therefore be welcomed, if indeed the envisaged new Cabinet Governance System proves to be a workable proposition.Obviously it is early days yet to judge whether the Governance System will work or not, but at least it will give the public a chance to see whether decisions taken are being implemented or are simply adopted and then left to gather dust on various Ministerial desks.Cabinet decisions also need to be made publicly known as soon as possible, and this in turn could facilitate the work of the media in covering the affairs of Government.At least it is a step in the right direction in terms of giving effect to efficient service delivery on the part of Government.As a result, Angula said, Cabinet had reviewed its actions and operations and resolved to implement a number of measures geared at streamlining the Cabinet governing system.These included a decision that Cabinet would meet in future, not on a weekly basis, but every two weeks.Prime Minister Angula felt this would add both time and value to Cabinet submissions and more proper preparation for such meetings.Following such meetings, the Prime Minister said, the Cabinet secretariat would immediately issue ‘action letters’ to facilitate and speed up the implementation of Cabinet decisions.Cabinet also restructured the Standing Cabinet Committees, which it says will allow for more streamlined action, with the seven committees expected to work hard during the week that Cabinet is not meeting in order to enhance efficiency and decision implementation.What Prime Minister Angula terms the new Cabinet Governance System will initially be done on a trial basis to see if it does, in fact, enhance the desired goals.He emphasised that because Cabinet would no longer meet on a weekly basis, did not mean that special sessions could not be called to address matters of national urgency.He added that because certification of Cabinet decisions would be done immediately, it would further be possible in future to make public these decisions within 30 hours, rather than a week, which has been the case in the past.Any attempt at streamlining to enhance efficiency and service delivery must, of course, be welcomed.Decisions taken need to be speedily implemented.The ‘action letters’ the Prime Minister referred to would seem to be a welcome move in order to get things moving in the various Ministries mandated with various tasks by the executive.It is also important that the new system serves to eliminate confusion, and the recent Government handling of the contentious issue of teachers salaries is of course a case in point.The country has wasted a lot of time and resources on trying to sort out a problem which was largely of Government’s own making – promises that were made and not kept, and then later rescinded, after a national teachers’ strike was threatened.This prospect was averted at the last minute, but Government deserves no praise for its handling of the situation.Better preparation of submissions to Cabinet and more accountability with regard to the decision-making process must therefore be welcomed, if indeed the envisaged new Cabinet Governance System proves to be a workable proposition.Obviously it is early days yet to judge whether the Governance System will work or not, but at least it will give the public a chance to see whether decisions taken are being implemented or are simply adopted and then left to gather dust on various Ministerial desks.Cabinet decisions also need to be made publicly known as soon as possible, and this in turn could facilitate the work of the media in covering the affairs of Government.At least it is a step in the right direction in terms of giving effect to efficient service delivery on the part of Government.