Service in Namibia
25 October 2007
The fourth meeting of the Ministerial Bureau of the fifth Pan-African
Conference was held in Windhoek, Namibia on 24 to 25 October 2007. Honourable
Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, the Chairperson of the fifth Pan African Conference
of Ministers for Public or Civil Service chaired the meeting which was hosted
by the Deputy Prime Minister of Namibia, Honourable Dr Libertina Amathila and
included participation by the Commissioner of Political Affairs in the African
Union Commission, Honourable Julia Dolly Joiner.
The meeting reviewed progress made in the collective work of the Ministers
of Public Service, under the auspices of the African Union Commission (AUC). In
addition to a detailed reflection on the progress made in a number of areas,
the meeting solidified the collective actions that will be taken to strengthen
the state of Governance and Public Administration on the African continent.
Thematic areas that were covered included: a report on the Africa Public
Service Charter championed by Algeria, a presentation on E-Government and Free
Open Source Software, a report on the African Management Development
Institutes' Network (AMDIN) and a report on the All Africa Public Sector
Innovation Awards championed by Mauritius.
The Pan African Ministers' Conference has decided to review the African
Public Service Charter with a view to its formal adoption by the African Union.
Algeria is championing this aspect of the Ministers' programme and will host a
seminar on 3 December 2007 in Algiers. Most African countries have their own
codes and rules relating to public service that overlap with the Public Service
Charter.
The meeting resolved that the Charter be used as a basis to evaluate the
efficacy of the codes established and to ensure alignment between their codes
and the Charter.
The Bureau noted the potential of Free and Open Software (FOSS) to improve
service delivery access, efficiency and effectiveness. FOSS has the potential
to cut costs and also facilitates open communication between governments and
its citizenry.
In taking forward the usage of FOSS, it was noted that there needs to be
recognition of the importance of the coexistence of different software
platforms and applications within public sector organisations. The movement
towards FOSS usage in government is growing and a number of governments have
made decisions on the full utilisation of FOSS for the delivery of
services.
The AMDIN report noted positive developments. AMDIN was formally
incorporated at its first biennial AGM and conference at the end of August
2007. The new AMDIN Executive now has representation from all five African
regions. The second training programme was delivered and benefited from
participation from all African regions. AMDIN has acknowledged that its initial
emphasis and take up had been with national MDIs, but has now undertaken to
include all relevant regional and continental entities and networks in its
prospective membership campaigning.
The All Africa Public Service Innovation Awards championed by Mauritius is
an initiative to promote and reward innovation in the public services across
Africa. The first awards will be made during the sixth Pan African Conference
of Ministers for Public or Civil Service to be held in April 2008 in Addis
Abba, Ethiopia. Bureau members were encouraged to assist in marketing the
awards in their own countries and regions, as well as to continue strengthening
innovation. The closing date for the submissions of entries in the Awards is 30
November 2007.
Among the other issues discussed was the work on Anti-Corruption championed
by Nigeria and the need for the mobilisation of resources to ensure the
actualisation of the Ministers' work. The meeting agreed to assist Burundi to
source funding to host a workshop on Post Conflict Public Service
Reconstruction. The Ministers also discussed preparations for the sixth Pan
African Conference of Ministers for Public or Civil Service to be held in April
2008 and agreed that the work of the various champions would be thoroughly
documented in preparation for the event. Another issue remaining on the
Ministers' agenda is capacity development on the continent.
In closing the meeting, the Chairperson and members of the Bureau thanked
Namibia for hosting the meeting and looked forward to the Africa Public Service
Day Celebration event. The Chairperson and the members of the Bureau also
restated their commitment to the further development of the collective efforts
to support Governance and Public Administration transformation and development
across all member states of the African Union Commission (AUC). They further
committed themselves to ensuring that the programme grows from strength to
strength and that it is adequately resourced and that the required capacity is
in place for implementation the level of the AUC and within member states.
Issued by: Department of Public Service and Administration
20 October 2007
