Soon after her inauguration, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah announced the consolidation of 21 ministries into just 14. This move signalled a shift in the government’s approach to administrative efficiency as the decision, part of a broader strategy to tighten the fiscal belt, aims to streamline operations, reduce redundancy, and create a more cost-effective government.
Economic analyst Klaus Schade weighed in on the decision, noting that the drastic reduction in the number of ministries reflects the President’s determination to break away from the status quo.
“The drastic reduction in the number of ministries indicates that the president is serious when she says it is no longer going to be business as usual,” he said.
The economist welcomed the move that is expected to improve the overall government operational efficiency while potentially saving taxpayers’ money.
However, some experts cautioned that merging ministries could have its own challenges, including that historically, government departments have operated in silos, leading to inefficiencies, miscommunication and duplication of efforts. While merging ministries could mitigate these issues, it will require strong administrative leadership to ensure effective coordination and communication flows smoothly within the newly-consolidated entities.
“To avoid creating new silos within the merged ministries, strong administrative skills are needed. It’s crucial to ensure different directorates, departments and divisions within each ministry work together and don’t replicate efforts or work at cross-purposes,” Schade noted.
One area of particular focus will be the government’s efforts to address poverty alleviation, which the new administration has identified as a top priority. To maximise the impact of poverty alleviation initiatives, Schade highlighted the importance of effective coordination across ministries.
“Mainstreaming poverty alleviation in each ministry requires strong coordination mechanisms at the highest level. Without it, there could be duplication of efforts, or worse still, create gaps in the implementation of key programmes,” he said.
Sanlam Investments chief executive Tega Shiimi ya Shiimi noted that the principle and idea of consolidating ministries is a welcome re-focused approach.
“Our civil servant force has expanded to unsustainable levels over the years, which has brought fiscal strain and allowed inefficiencies as well as maladministration to creep in. Whether these consolidation moves will prove positive and beneficial remains to be seen in the near future. Practical, enforceable operational efficiencies will be a challenge on the ground for these merged ministries,” he stated.
He continued: “It makes theoretical sense to align our national objectives of industrialisation with the mining and energy sectors, which sees obvious spin-offs for the SMEs’ sector. Similarly, aligning the sources of food security such as fisheries and agriculture and land should re-focus the common goal of feeding our nation. Furthermore, it is believed that the consolidation of these ministries and some key portfolios under the Office of the President will ignite the necessary focus on improving this very key and underserved sector of the economy”.
Shiimi ya Shiimi noted that the majority of new leadership hails from technical and some bureaucratic backgrounds within their respective portfolios of appointment, which is always fundamentally a good thing. This also somewhat allays unsubstantiated fears of lack of experience.
However, he pointed out that the challenge will be balancing the necessary technical interventions with the political agenda and priorities of the ruling party and ultimately the policymakers.
In this regard, he said one should not discount the role of many of the experienced leaders who are now back-benchers or retired and the value they possibly can add to this new leadership, especially since many have expressed a willingness to serve where and when they are called upon.
Photo: Heather Erdmann