Public Service Prepares For Africa Public Service Day 2020
The nation will next week celebrate the Africa Public Service Day on 23rd June.
Celebrated every year across Africa, the day serves as a platform for Public Service organizations to showcase and reward excellence in the Public Service in order to promote and sustain quality in service delivery. The day was set aside by the African Union for public service organizations to reflect on the successes and challenges within the public service and ponder on plausible mitigating measures to address service delivery challenges.
Kenya has this year selected the theme: “Entrenching Good Governance: Developing Transparent and Accountable Public Institutions, which resonates with the 2020 African Union theme “Silencing the Guns: Creating Conducive Conditions for Africa’s Development”.
In line with the prevailing situation occasioned by the COVID-19 Pandemic and emerging natural disasters among them floods and locusts, the national celebrations for this year will focus on responses to these challenges.
“This year’s celebrations will be unique in that it challenges the way we deliver public services in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has forced service organizations world over to be innovative and adapt new ways of doing business,” said Prof. Margaret Kobia, Cabinet Secretary for Public Service and Gender, as she expressed her enthusiasm for this year’s event. She further said that, “even in the wake of challenges posed by COVID -19, continuity and sustainability of excellence in public service delivery remains a priority for government
This year’s events will focus on activities that support the vulnerable citizens in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic; environmental conservation, particularly on tree planting in line with the President’s express commitment to achieve 10% forest cover by 2022; and recognition of public service innovations and citizen engagement.
Specific activities organized by the State Department for Public Service include donations to vulnerable members of the public, tree planting and environmental cleanup activities in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry and other stakeholders, among them county governments and National Administration. Cabinet Secretaries, Chief Administrative Secretaries and Principal Secretaries will lead their respective ministries and state departments in the tree planting exercise in various designated sites across the country.
The Nation’s Public Service sector has organized forums for Citizen engagement through a series of online interactions and public discourses led by renowned scholars and public figures.
The Cabinet Secretary for Public Service and Gender Prof. Margaret Kobia, urged Public Institutions in the National and County Governments to take part in the various activities that have been planned to mark the celebrations in line with their respective mandates.
“This year provides a unique opportunity for publice service to demonstrate sensitivity to challenges facing society and to re-double our efforts in serving the citizens while adhering to ethos and principles of public service,” said the Principal Secretary for State Department for Public Service, Mrs. Mary Kimonye.
As part of the celebrations, Ministries have been requested to identify and recognize Public Service Agencies, institutions and individuals that have applied innovation and excelled in public service delivery while serving in the frontlines of Covid-19 mitigation efforts. Download PDF
See more about APSD 2019 ( African Public Service Day 2019 ) Held in Kenya.
