“Consistent with its philosophy of fostering growth and promoting rapid and efficient delivery of resources within all sectors of governance, The Gambia Government acting on Executive advisory, has effected major changes within the Civil Service….”
So the Government’s philosophy is “foster growth” and “promote rapid and efficient delivery of resources within all sectors of governance”. Bravo…. And so redeploying “Permanent Secretaries and Directors Generals” is what will bring about the realization of the twinned philosophy?
May be you should tell us the “growth” in our trade sector? How has the private sector and private investors impacted the economy? How is the economy growing? What has been its growth between 2017 and March 2020? What about unemployment among the youth? How far has it been slashed from the 45% or so percent indicated in the 2018 labour or work force survey of GBOs? And growth in all the sectors such as education, health, social security, agriculture, etc.?
Might help to tell us how the redeployed Permanent Secretaries and DGs have contributed or failed to contribute to these growth, thus necessitating the reshuffle… We might be in the position to gauge their performance. Or that’s classified secret.
“…promoting rapid and efficient delivery of resources within all sectors of governance…” What “resources” were the redeployed senior civil servants expected to deliver “within” their sector of governance? You might they had benchmarks to achieve; standards to realise and resources to generated within their sectors? You mean there was some “performance appraisal” done for and with all of them, and they were found to have achieved or not achieve their targets or performance objectives? Thanks for have a criteria by which performance is measured.
And since it is about “all sectors of governance”, my presumption or supposition is that other sectors of governance will be touched by the “electric broom”? Or there is “rapid and efficient delivery of resources” in the other sectors of governance untouched?
Guess these “resources” that are supposed to be delivered “within” all sectors of governance are for the common good? You know some sectors of governance aren’t necessarily “resources deliverers” but rather “service providers”. Guess that too is being rapidly and efficiently delivered? Well…. if the resources aren’t being delivered, the services may not the efficient…
“….The Gambia Government acting on Executive advisory…” Government, I learned comprises the Legislature, Excutive and Judiciary…. But the arm of Government affected by the redeployment is the Executive. You mean the Executive arm of Government acted on its own “Exective advisory?” Or rather it was the Executive that advised the Gambia Government? Ok… The Executive, whose powers are vested in the President, advised who? The Gambia Government? So the National Assembly and the Judiciary were consulted, nay advised? The Exective appointed a Deputy Secretary General and deployed a DG as Ambassador without consulting the National Assembly…. Its legitimate powers though…The “Government acting on Executive advisory…” is a tautology, nay very confusing for me. Or am I missing something, English Language not being my forte?
Let’s examine the expectations
“With these redeployment and new assignments, Government envisages a more productive and efficient civil Service administration which is the bedrock of our development aspirations anchored in the National Development Plan..”
So the expectation is that the redeployment will bring about a “more productive and efficient Civil Service…”… Is the assumption that the civil Service is “not very” productive and efficient? Is the assumption that this redeployment will bring about a more productive and efficient civil service? Will redeployment really bring about the realization of the expectations? Seriously? Through change of guards? What has happened to the much touted civil Service reform?
What is the press release trying to tell us about the redeployed senior civil servants? Can’t get it…
Let me suppose.as thus, just suppositions…
# PS Basic Education has fostered growth and brought rapid and efficiency delivery of resources within MoBSE. It is expected he would bring about the same at the Ministry of Agriculture….
If this assumption is true, then why redeployed the PS Agriculture…The assumption is that he hasn’t done a good job.
If the assumption is untrue, then why redeployed the PS Basic Education? You have been unsatisfied with his performance, thus the redeployment….
I can use the same suppositions for the others and beat down the justifications advanced.
People who have interacted with the Permanent Secretaries Basic and Secondary Education; Agriculture; Trade etc; or the head of SSHFC and attested to their efficiency and hard work.
If you need a “productive and efficient civil service”, why then change winning horses midstream, midway to the end of the NDP? If the evidence is otherwise, which I very much doubt since I have interacted with few of them, then why redeployed people who you think haven’t contributed to a “more productive and efficient civil service”?
“The Gambia Government therefore urges all public and civil servants to support this initiative for the achievement of our development aspirations”
Really? Why should they when you haven’t advanced sufficient reasons or justifications for the redeployment? Or you are insisting on blind loyalty or support? You really think that a “more productive and efficient civil service” will be brought about through such intermittent redeployment? You really believe that this is the way to achieve our “development aspirations”? Don’t you think that by making “Permanent” in “Permanent Secretary” a rather “Impermanent” job, you are cutting off or demotivating the head which is supposed to lead the realization of the aspirations? Do you think that a wholesome civil service reform, deliberate, systematic, visionary reform, is what is needed? Or you think “redeployment” is part of that reform?
The civil and public services are the nerve centre of our development dreams. When they become boards on which we play political games, we will not achieve our development aspirations. But to achieve so, our civil service needs reform, systematic, visionary, coherent, radical. Efficiency and productivity aren’t possible in a rut.
