Over 100 political office-bearers from Namibia attended a four-hour virtual briefing about Namibia’s government performance management, which was conducted by the Commonwealth Secretariat on 17 June.
The briefing was directed to reviewing the key concepts relating to Government Performance Management, and sharing international experiences and best practices relating to the design and implementation of an effective Government Performance Management System (GPMS).
Additionally, it was aimed at “introducing the Commonwealth’s state-of-the-art software, SMART (Strategic Management and Accountability for Results Toolkit), as a practical tool for GPMS.” SMART is developed to “help public services to prepare their Commitment for Results (CFR) documents.”
I-Ben Nashandi, executive director in the Office of the Prime Minister noted that the tool is planned to automate government performance management after recently revising Namibia’s government performance management policy.
Professor Prajapati Trivedi, the Commonwealth secretary general’s special envoy for sustainable development goals, led the briefing and praised the government of Namibia’s commitment to strengthen its performance management.
“This briefing today is testament to the government’s commitment to forging a ‘whole of government’ approach to improve public service performance and service delivery, and the achievement of national development goals.”
The briefing followed a five-day intensive training programme, conducted in February 2022 by the Commonwealth Secretariat, on government performance management for more than 200 senior government officials from Namibia.
The training offered practical tools and techniques for enhancing systems of performance management in government, and was intended to develop a results-based performance management system, as well as equip participants with knowledge and expertise in using SMART software.
Additionally, last month, the secretariat’s Biennial Pan-Commonwealth Meeting of Heads of Public Service/Cabinet Secretaries saw more than 250 top government officials from across the Commonwealth united in endorsing the adoption of a 16-point Generally Accepted Performance Principles (GAPP) as a guide for governments to design an effective GPMS, which Namibia is expected to benefit from.
Dr Kalumbi Shangula, Minister of Health and Social Services, expressed his appreciation to the Commonwealth Secretary General as well as the secretariat staff for taking the initiative to assist Namibia to strengthen its government performance management system as part of the wider national reform agenda.
“It is my government’s goal to align Namibia’s GPMS to the generally-accepted performance principles,” he stated.
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