Kikwete to open public service forum

President Jakaya Kikwete is expected to grace the twelfth forum of the Commonwealth Heads of African Public Service to be held in Dar es Salaam.

President Jakaya Kikwete

The forum is aimed at addressing various challenges that the public service sector faces in African countries.
“In 2005 Tanzania was offered the honour to be the first country in the continent to organise the second conference that was held in Arusha,” said the acting Permanent Secretary (PS) in the President’s Office (Public Service Management), Mr Hab Mkwizu.
The Two-day meeting will convene from 13th to 15th of July, this year, drawing participants from various heads of public service in Africa. More than 15 countries will be represented.

The countries which have confirmed taking part are Bostwana, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Sierra Lione, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
The history of the meeting of the heads of public service from African countries goes back to June 2004 when it convened in London, United Kingdom. Mr Mkwizu said that the theme of the meeting will be: ‘From good plans to effective execution: Anchoring Policy Coherence, Strategy and Execution for higher performance culture in the public service.”

It will bring together more than 15 members of Commonwealth heads of African Public service. “During the meeting we will share ideas, agree on strategies and mechanisms that will facilitate the achievement of sustainable development goals in respective countries,” he stressed.

Addressing journalists in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Mr Mkwizu said that the meeting would give the participants an opportunity to exchange experiences and to pinpoint resolutions on how to tackle the challenges in the quest to strengthen actions and efficiency.

“We expect to bring together more than 15 heads of public service from African countries which are also members of the Commonwealth. The meeting will analyse different challenges and how to tackle them with a view to improving the public service sector,” Mr Mkwizu said.

According to Mr Mkwizu, many challenges that afflict the public sector in African countries are due to flaws in the formulation of policies and plans geared toward national development.
“It is important for public service executives to have enough knowledge of policy analysis,” he said. But he was quick to point out that lack of an effective systems of evaluation and monitoring of policies were among the challenges that beset the public sector.