Chronicle Editor
Leonard Ncube Victoria Falls Reporter
THE Public Service Commission (PSC) has called on civil servants to play a leading role in implementing the Government’s economic transitional programmes.
Officiating at the 2018 Public Service Secretaries’ Day held in Victoria Falls on Thursday, PSC deputy chair Ambassador Mary Margaret Muchada said it was the responsibility of civil servants to ensure Government programmes are effectively implemented.
“Business should no longer be done in a slow and time wasting manner in the new dispensation. There should be problem solving skills to enhance service delivery and all members of the public should work together for the overall success of Government programmes and projects. Once this is done, the achievement of vision 2030 will become an easy task because everyone will be operating from the same page,” Ambassador Muchada said.
The Public Service Secretaries’ Day was set aside in the 1950s to recognise the significance of secretaries and their value in organisations.
Ambassador Muchada said just like any other civil servants, secretaries should think outside the box to adapt technological skills to be effective and efficient and come up with time saving solutions.
She said secretaries have a pivotal role to play in the day to day running of an organisation’s business.
“The constitutional role of Public Service is to ensure that the civil service is always in a high state of efficiency and effectiveness hence there should be continuous capacity building programmes for executive assistants so that they keep abreast with modern trends of office management,” she said.
Speaking at the same occasion, PSC secretary ambassador Jonathan Wutawunashe said time for change is now.
He implored public servants to adopt a transformation culture, adding that Zimbabwe’s future is in the hands of its citizens.
“When President Mnangagwa is talking about transforming Zimbabwe into an industrialised and knowledge based upper middle income society by 2030 he is directing all of us to change our habits and pace.
“Our civil service needs to work smart and leverage new technologies to deliver results more rapidly. It’s time to retrain, relearn, refocus and rededicate our efforts to create the right fit to the Zimbabwe that President Mnangagwa is preaching every day,” he said.
Ambassador Wutawunashe said the PSC is working on a number of reforms as well as projects such as affordable housing to improve public servants ‘livelihoods.
“The commission is positioning itself to effectively manage change in the civil service by maintaining clarity on ensuring adoption and administration of new performance and ethical standards, extending training opportunities to personnel to equip them for the task at hand while developing conditions of service that are conducive to effective delivery and retention of skills that improve the asset base of civil servants,” he said. – @ncubeleon
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