Public service or disservice?

WINDHOEK – Just about everyone has lived through or heard about long queues at unoccupied counters in stuffy Government departments, endless waits in State hospital waiting areas or tiresome bureaucratic circling by officials.

Wendelinus Gustav, a student at the Polytechnic of Namibia, says he applied for his identification card in 2002 but only received it in April of this year. “Those people are very unfriendly and lazy,” he said of officials at the Ministry of Home Affairs at Rundu, where he applied for his ID.”They take their time with your documents.It’s like time wasting for them to help you.”Another student, Armstrong Sitwala, recounted an experience he had at the Windhoek Central Hospital.”I took a woman and her sick baby to hospital and when we got there the nurse told us to go to the cashier first,” he said.”But when we got there, no-one was there.We waited for more than 45 minutes before going back to the nurse just to be told to return to the cashier.””They don’t take your situation seriously,” he added.Judging by the numerous complaints aired through the media, ordinary Namibians do not feel that the public service is up to standard when it comes to service.”There is a problem,” admits Inge Murangi, Deputy Director in the Efficiency and Charter Unit (ECU), the department responsible for the implementation and monitoring of the Public Service Charter in the Office of the Prime Minister.”This stems from a superior attitude public servants have towards the people they are serving,” she says.”But this can be rectified,” she adds.”We are trying to change this attitude.We have to train and expose our staff to things which make them responsive to the needs of the people and to attend to those needs.”Murangi explains that as part of their efforts to improve public service performance, awareness campaigns were launched in 2003.Under the banner ‘Together we can make a difference’, one campaign targeted public servants while another was aimed at the public with the slogan ‘We are here for you’.She says a performance management system is currently being piloted in two ministries to see how it might improve service before it is introduced to all Government departments.”If the Public Service Act and the part on discipline and grievances could be amended, then it could help,” she says.”That is also part of what we are trying to do to improve service.To harmonise rules and regulations so that we do not put something on the table yet there is a law hampering the progress of what you are trying to do.”Murangi says that the aim of the Efficiency and Charter Unit is to see the public service transformed by 2007.”Wherever you are giving bad service, you are opening up for corruption,” she said.”That is not what we want because that might put us in a position from which we might not be able to untangle ourselves.”Gabes Anduba, Deputy General Secretary of the Namibian Public Workers Union (Napwu), says they are running a training programme to improve the service of their members.”We encourage our members to serve the public with heart to ensure they are assisted sufficiently,” he says.”We realise that people need to be competent, efficient and disciplined when giving service,” he adds.”What is important is to encourage people to produce, to work, to love their jobs.”Anduba says frustration and job dissatisfaction contributes to poor service delivery in the public service.”Managers have to encourage their people to perform,” he said.Charity Mwiya, Operations Manager at the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI), says a poorly performing public service has a direct effect on business and investment in Namibia.”If there is some degree of laziness or a lack of discipline, obviously that would have a very negative impact on business,” she says.”If there is a high degree of absenteeism in a particular ministry, specifically the Ministry of Trade, then there will be problems with the registration of companies and getting information related to trade, which we would need to provide to investors.””It is a very serious concern and it would have a very negative effect on the economy,” she added.”Not only in terms of loss of businesses, but also in attracting investments as well as promoting business in our country.”However, not everyone has a bad experience of public service.Samuel Roile (33) has Kaposi’s sarcoma, a type of cancer that causes purplish-red patches on his body.It has affected his lungs and heart and he is always short of breath and tired.He cannot stay on his feet for long periods and only manages a slow shuffle when walking.He speaks slowly with a deep wheeze and breaks out in coughing fits after short conversations.His doctor sent him to the Ministry of Home Affairs to re-apply for national documents.His documents were stolen and he needs to apply for a government disability grant.On a Wednesday morning in mid-October, Roile, accompanied by his father, turned up at the Home Affairs offices in the Northern Industrial Area of Windhoek, to re-apply.He says that Home Affairs officials immediately issued him with a birth certificate after making a phone call to the southern Namibian town of Mariental, where he was born.”They were really friendly,” he says.”Their service was good and they helped me immediately.”Roile was told to return the following Monday to check if his identity card was ready.He also has no complaints about the treatment he receives from medical staff at State hospitals.”They treat me good,” he almost whispers.”I get my pills and food on time and when I want to make a phone call they always assist me.”- Nampa-Echoes News Service (Polytechnic)”Those people are very unfriendly and lazy,” he said of officials at the Ministry of Home Affairs at Rundu, where he applied for his ID. “They take their time with your documents.It’s like time wasting for them to help you.”Another student, Armstrong Sitwala, recounted an experience he had at the Windhoek Central Hospital.”I took a woman and her sick baby to hospital and when we got there the nurse told us to go to the cashier first,” he said.”But when we got there, no-one was there.We waited for more than 45 minutes before going back to the nurse just to be told to return to the cashier.””They don’t take your situation seriously,” he added.Judging by the numerous complaints aired through the media, ordinary Namibians do not feel that the public service is up to standard when it comes to service.”There is a problem,” admits Inge Murangi, Deputy Director in the Efficiency and Charter Unit (ECU), the department responsible for the implementation and monitoring of the Public Service Charter in the Office of the Prime Minister. “This stems from a superior attitude public servants have towards the people they are serving,” she says.”But this can be rectified,” she adds.”We are trying to change this attitude.We have to train and expose our staff to things which make them responsive to the needs of the people and to attend to those needs.”Murangi explains that as part of their efforts to improve public service performance, awareness campaigns were launched in 2003.Under the banner ‘Together we can make a difference’, one campaign targeted public servants while another was aimed at the public with the slogan ‘We are here for you’.She says a performance management system is currently being piloted in two ministries to see how it might improve service before it is introduced to all Government departments.”If the Public Service Act and the part on discipline and grievances could be amended, then it could help,” she says.”That is also part of what we are trying to do to improve service.To harmonise rules and regulations so that we do not put something on the table yet there is a law hampering the progress of what you are trying to do.”Murangi says that the aim of the Efficiency and Charter Unit is to see the public service transformed by 2007.”Wherever you are giving bad service, you are opening up for corruption,” she said.”That is not what we want because that might put us in a position from which we might not be able to untangle ourselves.”Gabes Anduba, Deputy General Secretary of the Namibian Public Workers Union (Napwu), says they are running a training programme to improve the service of their members.”We encourage our members to serve the public with heart to ensure they are assisted sufficiently,” he says.”We realise that people need to be competent, efficient and disciplined when giving service,” he adds.”What is important is to encourage people to produce, to work, to love their jobs.”Anduba says frustration and job dissatisfaction contributes to poor service delivery in the public service.”Managers have to encourage their people to perform,” he said.Charity Mwiya, Operations Manager at the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI), says a poorly performing public service has a direct effect on business and investment in Namibia.”If there is some degree of laziness or a lack of discipline, obviously that would have a very negative impact on business,” she says.”If there is a high degree of absenteeism in a particular ministry, specifically the Ministry of Trade, then there will be problems with the registration of companies and getting information related to trade, which we would need to provide to investors.””It is a very serious concern and it would have a very negative effect on the economy,” she added.”Not only in terms of loss of businesses, but also in attracting investments as well as promoting business in our country.”However, not everyone has a bad experience of public service.Samuel Roile (33) has Kaposi’s sarcoma, a type of cancer that causes purplish-red patches on his body.It has affected his lungs and heart and he is always short of breath and tired.He cannot stay on his feet for long periods and only manages a slow shuffle when walking.He speaks slowly with a deep wheeze and breaks out in coughing fits after short conversations.His doctor sent him to the Ministry of Home Affairs to re-apply for national documents.His documents were stolen and he needs to apply for a government disability grant.On a Wednesday morning in mid-October, Roile, accompanied by his father, turned up at the Home Affairs offices in the Northern Industrial Area of Windhoek, to re-apply.He says that Home Affairs officials immediately issued him with a birth certificate after making a phone call to the southern Namibian town of Mariental, where he was born.”They were really friendly,” he says.”Their service was good and they helped me immediately.”Roile was told to return the following Monday to check if his identity card was ready.He also has no complaints about the treatment he receives from medical staff at State hospitals.”They treat me good,” he almost whispers.”I get my pills and food on time and when I want to make a phone call they always assist me.”- Nampa-Echoes News Service (Polytechnic)