Ministry of Local Government PS Kumumanya Urges Civil Servants to Strive for Improved Service Delivery

By Namutebi Sumayiya

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government, Mr. Ben Kumumanya has called upon officers in Local Governments to improve service delivery to the communities.

“One team, one team” is the way forward for Local Governments “he said while emphasizing the importance of team work.

Mr. Kumumanya was closing a two-day workshop on the implementation of the Balance Score Card system for performance assessment of civil servants at the Jinja Civil Service College. The workshop was attended by human resource managers, district planners, and community development officers from districts in Eastern Uganda.

Mr. Kumumanya encouraged the officers to endeavor to make a contribution towards the attainment of social economic transformation, Pan Africanism and democracy in Uganda.

He advised Local Government Officers to strive towards ensuring citizen centric service delivery to ensure that people are happy with government services.

“Talk, listen, and attend to them. Bring the issues affecting people to the technical planning meetings, plan, and address them,” he said.

The Permanent Secretary called for increased involvement in fighting corruption and developing solutions at different levels of government.

“Get angry about corruption. It is only when you are really angry that you will be able fight against corruption and cause change,” he said.

The Permanent Secretary acknowledged the challenges affecting service delivery in the Local Governments and he encouraged the officers to work with the available financial and human resources. He promised that his Ministry is committed to finding solutions.

He reminded the officers to commit to their duties to create impactful change.

“Don’t be so focused on what you want that you take for granted what you already have. You are lucky to be among the few public servants out of over 45 million Ugandans, if you feel you are unable to work, please quit to give a chance to other Ugandans who are willing to serve their country”. He said.

The Ministry of Local Government is spearheading the implementation of the Balance Score Card(BSC) across local governments. The BSC is a performance management assessment tool that takes into account the needs of the customers, the supplier, the employee, the process, technology, and innovation. The BSC is replacing the performance appraisal forms that the government has been using to assess staff performance.