LILONGWE (Maravipost)–Malawi President Peter Mutharika has told the nation that the Public Service Reforms Programme, launched Wednesday in Lilongwe, will be implemented because there is an overflow of political will.
Speaking at the launching ceremony, which took place at the Bingu International Conference Centre, Mutharika noted that the Public Service is the centre of government operations and plays a key role in the social-economic and social well-being of this country.
“We must, therefore, have a Civil Service that is professional, efficient, and effective and ready to meet current and future challenges of this country.
“When others say that the private sector is the engine of national development, I say that the Public Service is the OIL of the engine that has to be renewed periodically,” said Mutharika.
According to him, there have been 79 attempts to reform the public service in the past but owing to a number of reasons the efforts did not produce the desired results; hence the establishment of the Public Service Reform Commission to help map out factors that have derailed the efficiency of the civil service.
He also echoed Vice President Saulos Chilima’s sentiments that “reforming the Public Service is not a matter of multiple choice”.
“It will be done and it must be done. And it must be done now.
“It will be done because the public, especially the young generation, wants change – therefore we cannot afford to pass over a country to the new generation when we are resistant to change. So the reforms will be done because the public wants them to be done.
“The second reason the reforms will be implemented is because there is political will. And again as the Vice President has always said during consultation meetings, there is an OVERFLOW of political will. I dare to add that there is an OCEAN of political will to implement the reforms,” asserted Mutharika.
He also highlighted that there are both public sector reforms which focus on optimal allocation of human resource and public service reforms which focus on improving service delivery.
He also claimed that the nation has seen some of the “quick-win reforms” that have already benefited the public like the reduced time it takes to print passports due to the decentralization of printing to Lilongwe and soon to Mzuzu.
“I am, therefore, more than happy that as a government we are walking the talk and we are on our way of reforming the public service to make it professional, efficient, and effective,” he said.
