Acting Secretary to the Cabinet Patrick K. Kangwa has emphasised that the public service is key to building a healthy and wealthy Zambia.
When launching the commemoration of the 2022 Africa Public Service Day on ZNBC TV, Mr. Kangwa said the public service should play a pivotal role in supporting and facilitating the achievement of national nutritional needs.
This year, the Africa Public Service day will be commemorated on 23rd June under the theme “Enhancing the resilience of the African public administration to support and facilitate the realization of Africa’s nutritional needs during and post covid-19 pandemic”.
Mr. Kangwa said people expect the public service to embrace emerging technologies, inclusivity and diversity in molding a public service that is responsive to the needs of the people.
“The Africa public service day is an entrenched event on the African union calendar. On this day, member states recognise the value and virtue of public service to the community. Since 2008, the government has leveraged the Africa public service day to reflect on the contributions of the public service to national development. This day has also been used to give due recognition to our public service institutions that have made great strides in service delivery. This has motivated public service workers to continue with the good work and to come up with new initiatives and innovations in the discharge of their duties,” Mr. Kangwa said.
“The theme is derived from the declaration of the African union heads of state and government of 2022, as a year of nutrition. The theme is in line with our aspiration, as a country, to build a healthy and wealthy nation. A nation with a human capital that is well nourished and in good health. a nation capable of rising above all its present and future challenges. This is a sure way of achieving our vision of becoming “a prosperous middle income nation by 2030”.”
“The theme calls on the public service to play a pivotal role in supporting and facilitating the achievement of our national nutritional needs during and after the covid-19 pandemic. This is what our people expect from the public service. It entails embracing emerging technologies, inclusivity and diversity in moulding a public service that is responsive to the needs of our people. This also entails having a public procurement system that ensures goods, works and services are procured at the right cost, delivered at the right time and are of the desired quality,” Mr. Kangwa said.
He highlighted some activities lined up to celebrate the Africa public service day.
“The public service has organised a number of activities to celebrate the Africa public service day. There will be exhibitions to showcase various services offered by public service institutions as well as public discussions on topics of public interest. These activities will run from Monday, 20th June, 2022 and will climax on Thursday, 23rd June, 2022, the actual day of the commemoration. The exhibition, at national level, will be held at east park mall in Lusaka,” Mr. Kangwa said.
“I, therefore, urge members of the public to participate in the commemoration of the 2022 Africa public service day. During the commemoration, members of the public will be able to access various government services in one place. These include provision of health services and issuance of title deeds and national registration documents.”
