The work of the public service must not slow down in view of the 2022 General Election.
Prime Minister James Marape made these remarks when addressing a morning meeting with ministers, departmental secretaries and heads of Government agencies and State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) on Tuesday.
Marape announced that the Prime Minister’s Department, PM Marape will carry out spot checks of all departments, agencies and SOEs in the lead-up to 2022.
“In the face of the coming elections, many times, work (in the public service) slows down,” Marape said.
“I stress to you: No work must slow down.”
The Prime Minister said that just because a particular minister was going for the elections did not mean that the department under him must slow down work.
He said departmental secretaries and heads of agencies and SOEs must have control of the human and financial resources they had at their disposal.
“If you do not know how to manage, maybe you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Marape said.
He said his Government came into place with a set agenda in the Loloata Understanding of 2019.
He said Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) had been given to all ministers, which, in turn, had been given to departmental secretaries and heads of agencies and SOEs.
“While the political leadership has set this agenda, it is the bureaucracy which must deliver on these important KPIs.
“By the end of this year, each of you must report back to us on what you have achieved over the last two years.”
Marape said there were four more Parliament sittings to go before the 2022 elections, and department secretaries and heads of agencies and SOEs must give their scorecards to the county, which must be linked to Government’s KPIs, Vision 2050, Medium-Term Development Plan and the Constitution.
He said departmental secretaries, and heads of agencies and SOEs, were selected on merit and must justify this with scorecards of their achievements.
“I owe you no special favor, and you owe me no special favor, we owe it to our people.
“Show us what you have done over the last two years, under my Government, and what we will do for the balance of 2021 going forward.
“Political seasons will come and go, but public service machinery will live on,” he said.