Top govt officials to review public service structure

A committee of top government officials overseeing ongoing restructuring of public service delivery system meets today to discuss proposed reforms in the central government and other institutions, The New Times has learnt. The acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Service and Labour (MIFOTRA), Barnabe Sebagabo, said members of the National Reform Steering Committee will revise a proposal prepared by MIFOTRA. The ministry developed the proposal in collaboration with respective institutions to reorganise attributions, structures and activities of the country’s ministries, offices of the Presidency, Prime Minister, Supreme Court, Public Prosecution and Parliament. “The steering committee will make some modifications on the proposals that were handed in. It is the last draft that is going to be discussed and the next step will be sending it to the Cabinet,” Sebagabo revealed. The committee is made up of three Ministers; Labour (MIFOTRA), Local Government (MINALOC), Finance (MINECOFIN). It also includes the Minister in charge of Cabinet Affairs and Directors from both the President and the Prime Minister’s offices. The officials are coordinated MIFOTRA to implement a decision by the Cabinet last year to reform its institutions for better service delivery. “Every ministry met MIFOTRA on the technical level…the steering committee only has to do some corrections,” Sebagabo said as he explained some of the activities carried out last year on restructuring efforts. Sources at MIFOTRA say that the whole reform is expected to make major changes, especially in ministries that will practically be left to focus more on designing policies rather than continue to deliver some services that could be handled by government institutions at lower levels. Though the whole reform will have the decentralisation process uplifted through giving more powers to local leaders, Sebagabo said that MIFOTRA is yet to provide the draft of the proposal on attributions of local government institutions in particular. Ends