Civil Service reforms welcome
Published On April 8, 2015 » 9367 Views» By Administrator Times » Opinion
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RENOWNED Professor of linguistics Noam Chomsky once said  that if you believe there is no possibility of change, you guarantee there is no possibility of change.
In various institutions of governance, change is inevitable, such is the path that the country’s Civil Service is undergoing, that of reform.
Civil Service refers to the body of government officials who are employed in civil occupations that are not political.
Vice-President Inonge Wina says public service reforms will guarantee values and principles that enhance good corporate governance are upheld.
Ms Wina informed a gathering of the Association of African Public Services Commission in Livingstone that there has been increasing demand by the public for Public Service Commissions to enhance transparency, accountability, and prudent use of public resources among many others.
It is true that a competent, effective and neutral civil service is the backbone of any country’s governance structure, without this, delivery of service in the public sector spell nothing but doom.
Hence as observed by the Vice-President, reforms to update the performance the public service or the Civil Service remain a matter of urgency.
Civil Service reform is a deliberate action to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, professionalism, representativity and democratic character of a civil service, with a view to promoting better delivery of public goods and services, with increased accountability.
Countries that do not have an organized Civil Service system are at a relative disadvantage in executing their programmes and policies.
A well-functioning civil service helps to foster good policy making, effective service delivery, accountability and responsibility in utilising public resources which are the characteristics of good governance.
The importance of the civil service to governance stems from the service presence throughout the country and its strong binding character, administrative and managerial capacity of the services, effective policy-making and regulation, effective coordination between institutions of governance, leadership at different levels of administration, service delivery at the cutting edge level and provide ‘continuity and change’ to the administration.
The Civil Service, as the primary arm of government, must keep pace with the changing times in order to meet the aspirations of the people.
It creates strategic mechanisms and processes for policy and decision making coordination; for literally re-forming institutions for the delivery of services, sometimes through contractual arrangements with civil society and private sector organisations; for improving delivery mechanisms within core public sectors and broader contexts; and for other means to strengthen processes and procedures for effective, efficient, economical and ethical management.
In both administrative and governance reforms, Civil Service reforms are essential to reshaping the behaviour of human beings in initiating and managing all these changes sustainably.
Prudence and accountability in the use of public resources is one of the matters that attracts public scrutiny at any level of expenditure, hence an updated and well functioning public service is key to delivering to the expectations of the masses.
Public Service Commissions have an important role to play in ensuring that the public service performs professionally by engaging citizens that follow the code of conduct fit in the service so as not to undermine policy guidance thereby improving the levels of good governance.
As ably put by Ms Wina – the Public Service Commission in Zambia in collaboration with other sector service commissions, play a fundamental role in promoting and maintaining good corporate governance and public administration in the public service.
In a different score, reforming the service is beneficial to the country and it creates attractiveness and helps to keep the much needed workforce.
The reform process also helps to attract and retain more qualified human resources to the public service thereby making it more effective and efficient in service delivery.
Such intervention or process of reform will help Zambia to maintain its cream-De-la-cream of workers and prevent it from leaving the country for greener pastures to other countries as has been the scenario for the past many years. OPINION

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