The government has warned that lazy and underperforming permanent secretaries and heads of government agencies will be sacked starting next financial year.
The warning was issued by Lucy Nakyobe, the head of public service during a meeting between government agencies and private sector players organized by the Ministry of Finance in Kampala.
Nakyobe said her office is currently conducting an evaluation of all permanent secretaries to assess their performance. She noted that government wants to ensure efficiency in service delivery.
“Over the years, there has been too much impunity and incompetence among permanent secretaries. Some continue to receive contracts even after their previous ones have expired. But now, there is going to be keen interest in their performance to ensure they meet expectations,” Nakyobe said.
She added that government is considering amending the Standing Orders to improve efficiency in public service.
“Public servants must have integrity, discipline, frugality, professionalism and punctuality in whatever they do going forward,” she emphasized.
Nakyobe also warned against wastage of public resources, citing examples such as the continued use of envelopes to deliver information instead of adopting online systems.
Meanwhile, Ramathan Ggoobi, the Secretary to the Treasury, said the ministry of Finance will continue enforcing measures to cut unnecessary government expenditure.
He pointed out that the excessive number of vehicles used by government officials remains a major source of waste.
“This is still a big challenge where a lot of resources are being wasted for no reason. However, I am happy that limiting travel has helped government reduce on excessive spending,” Ggoobi said.
