I
am delighted to welcome you all and for some of
you to welcome you back once again to Namibia, which is your country. Feel at
home and let us know what else we can do to make your stay enjoyable and your
deliberations productive and successful as we go forward.
Apart from concentrating on
the major task ahead of you, namely the preparations for the forthcoming
meeting of Ministers and Administrative Heads of Public Service which will be
held in Cape Town, South Africa, you as experts, technologists and
repositories of a collective institutional memory of preceding Ministerial and
High encounters have got more challenges than that one cut out for you.
Today, the state of the
whole world is in flux. World peace and security face one of the most severe
tests ever of international law and inter-state relations. Global economy is
under heavy onslaught, stretched to the limit of its capacity to deliver both
for the rich and the poor, especially the poor.
You could debate intentions,
connections and objectives of international terrorism but its horrors are
everywhere and undeniable.
We Africans have known
illegality, injustice and dispossession for more than 500 years. Neither
globalisation nor international terrorism is new to us. We fell victims to
Western colonial penetration and brutalities not for a lack of brains but of
guns. In the process, we lost our land, freedom and dignity. Like the
colonial, armed conquest of the past, today’s covert operations, regime
change and military invasion in Iraq and elsewhere are acts of illegality and
arrogance of power.
We hold no brief for Saddam
Hussein, who is a vicious tyrant. But we grieve for the innocent Iraqi men,
women and children who are suffering and dying. These unmitigated acts of
abomination must be condemned by one and all across the world. Namibia did so.
We lament the UN’s fate.
Even as we speak, the
showdown among the 5 Permanent Members of the UN Security Council doesn’t
augur well for world’s stability and dialogue, and this presents us all with
an ominous situation. The so-called humanitarian intervention is a farce.
Today it is Iraq, who will be next? And in all this, our brother, my friend
and colleague, Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General, is nowhere to be seen or
heard of. That’s a tragedy, to say the least.
We are in effect back to the
old, nasty and divisive days of power game. Legitimacy and propriety have been
thrown for the dogs. Africa and the rest of the Third World have been written
out of the equation of conflict resolution and preventive diplomacy.
Collective security has become restrictive and vertical.
To make matters worst, the
economic and security consequences of this new war in the Persian Gulf will
hit Africa the hardest, because we are the poorest, the neediest and the
weakest continent. Our people’s misery will increase manifold from now on
and during the post-war fiasco.
In this altogether hostile
and divisive context of geopolitics and hot pursuit of oil reserves in the
Middle East, a consensus-based multilateralism is out and armed unilateralism
is now the way.
Which way Africa? Which way
the African Union, NEPAD and the African Economic Community? That is the most
telling question for African leaders, and for you, the Public Service
operators and managers. The efficacy and performance of these continental
community building and empowerment institutions are said to depend upon the
development assistance from the G-8. This conclave of the rich nations of the
world is presently trapped in a confrontational game of name-calling and
indecision.
Will they, under such
circumstances, really care that much about Africa? Who ever said, charity
begins at home! And don’t forget the diktat: "if you are not with us,
you are with the terrorists". There is clearly no middle ground here.
What is it that your
important meeting, taking place as it does at the time when the global system
of inter-state relations and law-making is hemorrhaging, should take on? You
are our think-tanks, intellectual A-teams, strategic goal-setters and policy
advisors. Africa is not an island unto itself. What is good governance when
war-talk and technicolour depiction on the worldview of human carnage is the
order of the day? We must first exist before we prosper. The topical issues
you will deal with of development planning, macro-economic framework
objectives and social service delivery are very much germane to peace,
security and stability in the world.
I urge you all to stay
focused, dutiful and optimistic about our survival and Africa’s future. We
need the African Training and Research Centre in Administration (CAFRAD) to
continue doing its indispensable work and enhance the capacity of the existing
back-up mechanisms for decision-makers. Africans have laid claim to the
ownership of the 21st Century as the African century. We must be up to the
challenge and deliver.
We have adopted the African
Charter on Public Service and Administration. Stop talking about it; let it
shine through professionalism, efficiency, effectiveness and loyalty that you
bring to your work. Political office-bearers must do our part to remove all
obstacles in the way. And you must live by and practice the ideals and
objectives of the Charter.
Modern structures need to be
in place, public policy should deal with people’s want and priorities and
managers must concentrate on social service delivery. Building E-Government
capacity is the way to go and in so doing linking it up with other
complementary programmes and national initiatives. Skilled and dedicated
personnel and adequate financing are equally critical factors.
High performance enterprises
are known for their strong and workable business culture, loyal managers and
workers, with emphasis on value for money and responsive service to customers
and, not least, provision of timely and quality advice to Government. They do
all this by adopting and articulating an enlightened and pragmatic vision,
with a predictable roadmap, people-centred and time-bound targets that will
continuously inspire thought and action.
Business instincts and
value-based approach serve the purpose where competition is upfront and stiff.
What the Asian Tigers achieved, African Elephants should not only emulate but
actually surpass. New mindset and persistence should serve as Africa’s
economic credo.
A high performing African
Public Service must provide the best available advice to Government; optimal
social service delivery to the society and stimulating workplace for staff
members. Forward looking innovations and courageous leadership go
hand-in-hand. We are all leaders and we all have got brains. Let’s be worthy
of the onerous duties incumbent upon all of us. We are servants of the people
and they demand change.
African Governments must do
their utmost best to protect the people and promote public interest and social
harmony. As we are now firmly into functioning democracies and regular
elections, the main challenge we face, collectively today, is to firmly place
our continent on the path of sustainable economic growth and social
transformation.
These are, among the
principal, stated strategic objectives of the African Union, its development
programme, NEPAD, and the African Renaissance.
In the Southern African
sub-region, we are actively engaged in consolidating community building and
systemic harmonisation as well as improving policy coordination and
implementation of wide-ranging development programmes and sectoral empowerment
projects, under SADC, COMESA, SACU, NEPAD and the SADC Parliamentary Forum. I
know that similar efforts are ongoing in other sub-regions of our continent.
There is an exciting vision
for the future of the African Public Service. A public service that will be
able to position Africa in a global environment to ensure that we are focused
and seeking out linkages that will guarantee our future; benchmarks itself
against all sectors to determine what it does best, what it can improve and
what is most effectively delivered by the market; provides frank, honest and
innovative advice to Government; and accesses the best service delivery
skills, quality and cost to ensure success.
Today, Internet has become a
common property of everybody. Africa must master and use the magic of
telecommunications as an intellectual weapon and an empowerment equaliser for
self-development and social progress, taking our people out of social despair
and elevating them onto a new stage of technological advancement and economic
prosperity. Information and Communications Technology (ICT), particularly
E-Governance, Teleconferencing, e-mail, and cell phones are not mere
trade-marks but exciting and liberating human breakthroughs. Africa must use
them to leapfrog us into a centre-stage of this globalising world.
Nations that thrive and
prosper in the 21st Century will be those which have the capacity and the will
to adapt to change and adopt pragmatic policies and which seize the
fascinating opportunities that present themselves each and every day. For
Africa to be adaptable and focused, we must move away from armed conflict,
military coups and unworkable economic strategies. We must invest in human
capital, including by empowering women, youth training and protecting our
children.
These initiatives that we
plan to undertake are the necessary foundations that will enable Africa to
secure high performance enterprises. It is the visionary statesmen, the people
themselves, the managers of the Public Service, at all levels, who can and
must actually build the high performing Civil Service we need to take-off,
build together and prosper our beloved Continent – Africa.
Therefore, as you deliberate
on your agenda and continue to do the necessary preparatory work for the said
Pan African Meeting of Ministers, which is going to take place in Cape Town, I
urge all of you to put your collective efforts behind a well-articulated
vision for the future and a bold programme of action for the African Public
Service to achieve its cherished goal of a professional, efficient and
effective service delivery.
I conclude with a thought on
African Renaissance. In reality, African Renaissance is not a garden party,
feeling good variety induced by a fleeting impulse of having fun; a public
affirmation of a sentimental bliss of finding Eureka; or an existential
rediscovery of a self while contemplating Africa’s future: I
think; therefore I exist. African Renaissance, in a crucible stage of its
rebirth, is a bold and daring assertion: I am sick and tired of being sick
and tired! From that point onwards, Africans must rise up and turn around
ready to act in a united pursuit of self-actualisation, self-reliance,
self-empowerment and self-development.
African Renaissance speaks
of social consciousness, political will, intellectual prowess and cultural
rejuvenation towards achieving economic liberation for the poor, the weak and
the needy. African Renaissance will be built only by those who are true
believers that freedom, justice and hard work are noble virtues worth living
and dying for. We must be honest and daring about Africa’s destiny.
I now have the distinct
honour and immense pleasure to declare open the preparatory meeting of Pan-African
Meeting of Ministers and Administrative Heads of Public Services. I wish
you great success with your deliberations.
I thank you.