Windhoek
The Public Service Commission (PSC) last year recommended the promotion and recruitment of 119 foreigners in various government ministries, offices and agencies.
This, according to the PSC, is due to the shortage of suitably qualified and skilled Namibians with the required expertise in fields like engineering, law, medicine and veterinary science.
Most of the foreigners were, among others, employed at the ministries of health, justice, education and agriculture.
The PSC, however, refused to endorse the employment of 138 people during the same period, including directors and policy analysts, whose names had been submitted by 18 ministries and three government agencies, because they were unqualified.
Some of the jobs that the ministries, offices and agencies tried to dish out to unqualified personnel range from positions of director and deputy director to accountant, policy analyst, auditor and development planner. Some of these positions need at least some years’ experience and higher education qualifications.
A director’s position requires experience in a formal corporate environment in management and or strategic capacity and the incumbent must have a post-graduate degree according to several job advertisements for the position that this reporter has screened.
The same position requires at least five to 10 years’ experience at senior management level.
“Other candidates who met the requirements were excluded from the selection process,” the report states.
Among the appointments that were disregarded were from the ministries of education, justice, labour, works, gender, health, international relations, Office of the President and the Anti-Corruption Commission.
The PSC also declined to extend the employment of officials who reached retirement age in the various ministries, saying the job designation is not a scarce skill.
The PSC advised that staff members be informed to retire and posts be advertised.
Also objected to by the PSC was promotion of development planner Grade 6 and policy analyst Grade 7 at the ministries of environment and labour, respectively.
The ministry of gender equality was found to have lowered the requirements for a position, which the PSC declined.
“The ministry lowered the appointment requirements of the posts from an appropriate bachelor’s degree on National Qualification Framework (NQF) Level 7 to a national diploma or equivalent qualification NQF level 6 without approaching the PSC. Thus, the PSC advised the ministry to re-advertise the posts with the prescribed requirements.”
The aim of the Public Service Commission is to make appointments to public offices and to remove, and exercise disciplinary control over, persons holding or acting in such offices.