WINDHOEK: Cabinet Secretary George Simataa has urged accounting officers and implementers in public service delivery to reconsider their positions and recognise that their primary focus is on implementing government policies, plans, and projects.

Speaking on Wednesday during an engagement meeting hosted by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology with chief regional officers from all 14 regions in the Oshikoto Region, Simaata said they should remember that they are not policymakers.

‘We advise and assist in the policy formulation process,’ he said.

He emphasised that the success of policy development and management is heavily reliant on the effective, meaningful, and functional relationship between the political head (minister, council chairperson, or governor of the region) and the administrative head (the ED or CRO) in the public sector.

This interface, he said, should be viewed in light of the functional behaviour, attitudes, mindset, power relations, and abilities of elected and appoin
ted officials in the performance of their official tasks.

Simataa emphasised the need of role clarity in this interaction. The political head is meant to be a policymaker rather than an administrator, whereas the administrative head is expected to carry out the policies formulated by the political head. However, the political head will eventually become involved in administrative matters with political connotations and content, he said.

While politics and administration are formally distinct, in practice, there is a fine and sensitive line that both administrators and politicians can cross, he noted.

‘Unfortunately, there are no standing rules and procedures which guide the behaviour of either of them and which clearly define their respective roles and expected behaviour to each other. In the absence of such rules, the personalities of the two become a major factor in the success or failure of the interface in managing the public services as an instrument of the State machinery,’ he said.

He went on to sa
y that in ministries or regional councils when the political head and the administrative head communicate frequently, issues and concerns facing the ministry or council are more likely to be addressed openly. When there is a lack of trust and respect between the two parties, relations can deteriorate dramatically, giving rise to the ‘betrayal theory’ and fears of ‘bureaucratic sabotage’ as politicians refer to it.

Source: The Namibia News Agency