#Editorial

Good Morning Mr. President: Need for continuity in the civil service 

Jun 8, 2020, 10:44 AM

Mr. President, if we want to have effective productivity in civil service, we must have continuity in the system.

Mr. President, in stereotyping persons who worked with or worked under former governments as "enablers" leaves much to be desired.
In 1994 former President Jammeh committed the error of haunting our civil service until today.
Gambia must learn lessons from the past and other societies.
One of the reasons why United States of America became a powerful force to reckon with in the world arena of activities is continuity.
Every 4 or 8 years seats are changed at Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington.
A change guaranteed by elections where the way forward is paved by voters or elections. The latter could not have been achieved in the absence of checks and balances within an independent justice system. Continuity must remain the soul of state machinery where succession is guaranteed by dispensation. Justice and democracy would be flanking dispensation for all genuine reasons combined.

Mr. President, counsel and advice are best given when solicited by the leadership. 

The notion of ‘Jammeh government folks’ should not work in this government is wrong and tantamount to discrimination against deserving Gambians who are well qualified, experienced, and honest experts in their own rights. 

Your government should set aside the misconceptions and discriminations against such people. It’s important to note that anyone who is credible and whose record of performance in government of the past era can equally serve this country in the new dispensation. 

A fundamental mistake of your leadership of New Gambia is the rush to weed out so many officials with impeccable track records in public service in the government of Jammeh.

Mr. President, the service is now failing due to the lack of adequate capacity in developing the country. 

This requires recognition of the realities of the situation and for bold decisions to be taken by your leadership for a reform of the civil service. 

The service must be functional, productive and rewarding in the process of development.

Mr. President, you need a competent team and not a group of sycophants who put self before nation. 

Your government is accused of poor performance due mainly to a civil service that has been decimated.

We expect your leadership to know what works and what does not work; what is bad and what is good for the country.

Mr. President, you need to make an independent assessment of the situation on the ground combined with the public's opinion about the performance of your government. 

This will help you greatly in working out best strategies in the reform of the service to make the implementation of the NDP realisable. Time is of the essence.

Mr. President, administration is an important fundamental factor to a system of government.

It is therefore important that those who spearhead the administration be officers of broad view of the service in terms of provincial and central administration and diplomatic service. The leadership to guide the executive should have adequate capacity for effective and efficient service delivery. 

Finally, Mr. President, now that the rules of the state of emergency has been relaxed, people should double their efforts by always observing the rules and regulations of WHO especially wearing face mask, use sanitizers in public places like offices, worship places, markets and also to observe social distancing. Government must help by way of subsidy in providing face masks and sanitisers in public places to ensure effective compliance.

We shouldn't be complacent even though the lowest number of infected persons is in West Africa.

Good day!