21 Jun Public Service Day 2019
Guaranteeing an open, fair, accountable and effective public service
Upon assuming Office in March 2017, the Ombudsman set itself a vision of “A public service that is open, fair, accountable and effective”.
On the occasion of ‘International Public Service Day’ today (23rd June), let us be mindful of the major role the public sector plays in contributing to our national development and delivering the vision of “We the People” set in our Constitution of 1993.
The pledge, elaborated in the Preamble of that Constitution, was to build a just, fraternal and humane society in which dignity and equal and inalienable human rights would be the foundation for freedom, justice, welfare, fraternity, peace and unity. The nation embraced a framework of Government where all its powers springs from the will of the people to secure for ourselves and posterity the blessings of truth, liberty, fraternity, equality, opportunity, justice, peace, stability and prosperity.
That framework is administered by the Public Service of Seychelles which comprises Government and all its ministries, departments and agencies, as well as the numerous statutory bodies and state-owned enterprises that have been created over the years. Together they provide the public services vital to nation-building and that citizens need to live and work in a peaceful and effective community.
A public service is only effective and true to the letter and spirit of the Constitution if its numerous institutions carry out their duties and responsibilities towards the citizens fairly, openly and in an accountable and transparent manner.
When in 2015, Seychelles joined the rest of the world to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and make the 17 goals and 169 targets a reality by 2030, it pledged to ensure that it had in place effective governance structures and institutions as well as strong leadership.
Effective governance is the lifeblood of the public service. It is seen in respect for the rule of law, and thrives on participatory, accountable, transparent, effective and efficient management — the ingredients that ensure systems work in the best interest of those they are meant to benefit. This means it acts as an enabler for growth.
Consequently, for the public service to work effectively, every ministry, department, agency or state-owned enterprise must ensure that they not only deliver fair and just services, but that they are also open and accountable and seen to be working in line with the Constitution, the law and to the standards expected.
In turn, every citizen has an important role to play in not only claiming his rights and benefits, but also in exercising his duties as a citizen, so that he can identify if and when anything goes wrong in that service delivery. Any aggrieved citizen should therefore, for the greater good and common interest, make known his complaint so that the service has an opportunity to right the wrong and fix the issue.
It is in righting that wrong or fixing the issue and ensuring the public service is fair, open, accountable and effective that the Ombudsman, acting as a ‘quality controller’ of sorts, plays its vital constitutional role.
If a complainant remains dissatisfied after taking his complaint to the public service provider, he may report to the Ombudsman who is empowered to enquire into and assess the public office’s decision-making and other administrative processes and certify whether or not these were proper, equitable and consistent.
Where the investigation discloses that a public body has acted unreasonably, illegally, unjustly, oppressively or in a discriminatory manner, the Ombudsman can, if necessary, make recommendations on how to improve the process and put the complainant in the position he would have been had the process been properly followed. Where the bad decision or unfairness stems from a bad law, the Ombudsman can also suggest that the law be amended. As this review process improves and the Ombudsman fixes more public sector organisations, we can expect more citizens to walk away satisfied and, more importantly, we will all benefit from an improved and more effective public service.
On this Public Service Day, I invite the general public to learn all about and understand the functions and role of the public service and how it operates and I urge the youth to rally their best efforts to take up life-long careers within this vital sector of a functioning state.
I call upon the 18,000 employees of the public and parastatal sectors that fall under the remit of the Ombudsman, to fully assume the important role they play in delivering an effective and professional service.
A survey to gauge citizens’ satisfaction of service delivery by the public sector was undertaken by Government in 2003, repeated in 2014. Results disclosed that while
the public was ‘highly satisfied’ with some services, such as the Fire & Rescue Services (77.1%), others scored much lower, below 50%.
I endorse the recommendation made in the survey report in 2015 that public services should be continuously monitored and evaluated by each public service provider. I recommend that every public sector institution sets up its own internal evaluating mechanism which provides for real-time appreciation of the quality of its service delivery and an opportunity to check its errors. Meanwhile, the Ombudsman will continue to make constructive criticism that must be received in the spirit in which it is offered – to provide a better and improved public service to our nation that will ensure good governance and keep us on target to achieving our constitutional pledges and those SDGs.
Nichole Tirant-Gherardi
Ombudsman