The
Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni in The Gambia, in collaboration with
Global Human Resources Development Initiative, recently organised a one day
interactive seminar for middle level managers in the public sector at the
Management Development Institute conference hall.
The
objective of the seminar was to strengthen the capacity of 25 middle level
managers in the public sector on leadership, strategic management, public
sector management among other things.
During
the meeting, participants explored and gained insight into leadership
essentials through in-depth lecture, group discussion, hands on exercises and
facilitated learning.
At the end of the seminar, participants were
equipped with knowledge and skills to be more effective managers in their
respective organisations.
Delivering
her keynote address, Mrs Awa Sillah, the program coordinator of Mandela
Fellowship, noted that the workshop was designed by the Mandela Fellowship for
alumni to give back as they believe and add value for effective service
delivery.
Mrs
Sillah stated that the forum was also designed to give them the opportunity to
brainstorm on some leadership fundamentals but most importantly to give them
the opportunity to network.
She
also stated that the Mandela Washington Fellowship in The Gambia recognises the
role of the public service in national development, adding that they should all
be committed to support the country in achieving the set goals and objectives.
She challenged the participants that as
leaders of the most important institutions in The Gambia, much is expected of
them to transform and manage change in order to bring about more efficiency and
effectiveness in the delivering of services.
However,
she went on, for the ongoing learning and evaluation process to be successful,
it must be integrated into the mindset of the public services.
She
further said the Mandela Fellowship have commissioned seasoned resource persons
that facilitated the sessions.
For
his part, a representative of the 2016 Mandela Washington Fellowship, Baboucarr
Saine, described the workshop as timely and significant initiatives as it seeks
to address priority areas of the public sector to promote efficient public
services performance and delivery.
He
said like any organisation desiring to succeed, the government of The Gambia
must have recognised that it could not do so without its most treasured
assets-its human resources.
He
noted that this is achieved by well-trained, disciplined, highly qualified and
motivated corps of officers, stating that developing civil servants and
equipping them with requisite knowledge and right attitudes to enhance their
performance and boost their productivity should always be a priority.
Modou
Drammeh, the guest speaker, expressed appreciation to anyone who had
contributed in one way or the other toward the success of the training.
He
stressed that leadership is a critical element in achieving organisation
success, adding that many oganisation prosper or falter based on the quality of
the leaders.
He
implored the participants to take the learning opportunity with seriousness to
filter the information and put it into practice as leaders of their
organizations.