President Adama Barrow said on Thursday 2020 was not, by any means, a normal productive year.
The Gambian leader, in a New Year message delivered on the eve of 2021, said government’s performance was not optimal in relation to revenue generation and economic growth.
“Earnings for the business community across the country were equally below average. The bright side of all these is that our development path has not been blocked, thus we will continue to work with hope, zeal and confidence,” he stated.
President Barrow said government projects, programmes and sector reforms were on course, as it continued to monitor and keep them on track.
He pointed out that the civil service reform was in progress to yield a motivated and dedicated workforce which was sincere to the nation, committed and guided by the regulations that governed service delivery.
According to him, the recent salary increments and the new pension scheme in place had been made attractive to align them with the realities of daily life and the cost of living in the country.
He also said these positive developments should result in boosting output, work ethics, discipline and professionalism.
“Our vision is that all civil and public servants work with dignity, and are respected at home and honoured by the people while in active service and after official retirement. This is the type of quality workforce that The Gambia deserves.
“The Civil and Public Service will no longer be disrespected, disregarded and used as tools to be hired and fired for no just cause,” he said.
President Barrow said, due to the virus, institutions had to work on rotated shifts and reduced capacity, which impacted negatively on performance, and lowered the national productivity rate.
He further said the makeshift arrangements also retarded the attainment of key policy and programme targets.
“In the year ahead, therefore, all civil and public servants are urged to redouble their efforts and output in order to compensate for lost time and revenue, as the education sector is already doing. We encourage the sectors to emulate the strategies they have employed in the interest of their students and stakeholders,” he stressed.
President Barrow cautioned all heads of the various ministries, departments and agencies to begin to pride themselves not only on the policies and strategic plans they had developed, but also on the programme targets and tangible results achieved as the days ahead rolled by.
“The time has come to transit from mere planning and restructuring to hard work and output. This is not an attempt to downplay the role that civil servants have been playing, but a matter of stepping up performance, and warding off unfair criticism.
“As we enter 2021, I propose that work for quality performance and quality results be adopted as the resolution of the workforce across all sectors, institutions and disciplines,” President Barrow stated.
He added: “Our National Development Plan was designed for a three-year period, ending December, 2021. We now have to begin a stocktaking process to assess and evaluate our performance so far.
“This is necessary to inform the next steps, especially for designing a longer-term successor plan. The process calls for the participation of all categories of citizens, both within and out of Government circles,” he stated.
