Gambian President Adama Barrow has established a department for strategic policy delivery (DSPD) to monitor the implementation of the country’s national development plan (NDP) .
The Gambian leader emphasised that with capacity, commitment and honesty, the team should ensure that decisions taken are executed to realise the promise made to Gambians.
The inspiration to transform the policy analysis unit to a department came from the experience of African countries, such as Rwanda. The idea was first introduced by Mr. Tony Blair as Prime Minister of the UK some twenty years ago.
“Today, several governments around the world have created delivery units at the centre of government in order to accelerate performance and improvement,” the statement said.
The president has urged officials of the newly department to maintain professionalism in allowing change to take place, while reminding the cabinet of its responsibility to ensure that they succeed when they are called on to account to the Gambian people in 2021.
He commended the initiative and thanked the Tony Blair Institute for the technical support and applauded the United Nations Development Programme for supporting a Gambian expert as adviser to the department.
Secretary General and Head of Civil Service, Ebrima O. Camara said the new expansion at the Office of the President is to translate the political ambitions into action by re-balancing policy and implementation.
Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to the President on Governance and Policy, for strategic political oversight, Ahmad Fatty explained the need for a broader range of technical tools to better understand the quality of progress being made, and the desire to improve overall management of government.
“The initiative is a performance management reform intervention mechanism at the centre of government. It places high priority on problem solving, improving civil service performance and securing sharper focus on government priorities,” he pointed out.
DSPD director general Alhagie Nyangado detailed out the core functions of the department in bringing visibility on the priority issues, follow-up on cabinet conclusions and policy advice on the economy through coherent coordination with the sectors to ensure evidence based decision making on the implementation of the NDP.