A career in public service is for anyone who wants to make a difference even if it means putting public interests ahead of personal interests. Unlike many public servants who say they chose public service because they enjoy giving back to the community, for Marbeline Goagoses it was all about the fascination with government’s global communication process in international relations.
In her own words, “Joining the public service was a strategic move on my part in terms of growth and pushing my boundaries out the confines of the newsroom and traditional journalistic practices. I needed a new challenge, and I knew that there would be no better place to put into practice everything that I have learned over the years than in government,” she said.
Goagoses is currently serving the government as the deputy director in the Directorate of Information and Research and IT Sub-Division at the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation (MIRCO), a position she has held since 2013.
She has it that after an extensive career in many jobs, and wearing many hats within those jobs, she has, “for now”, found a place in government where she is comfortable and confident in what she does.
“I know that one must never say never, but I do not see myself leaving the public service in the near foreseeable future. Also, we cannot ignore the fact that the benefits of working for the government are great.”
Goagoses, a media guru, with years of experience in both print and broadcast media, states that working for the government was her dream and that it provided her with the opportunity to share information and educate the public on a larger scale.
“I find great pleasure in sharing information with others in an attempt to bring to them something that they did not know before – and to enlighten them to make better decisions and choices,” she said.
Among her duties, Goagoses is entrusted to maintain a positive image of the Government of the Republic of Namibia to national and international audiences by providing information to the media, as well as using social media platforms as an effective tool for public information dissemination on matters concerning the ministry as her main responsibilities.
Moreover, she said it is her directorate’s responsibility to develop dialogues amongst politicians and the public on issues of Namibia’s Policy on International Relations and Cooperation.
Her story
Born on 13 December 1977, Goagoses is the eldest of four siblings and a mother of a seven-year son, Tristan Goagoseb.
Goagoses completed her secondary school at Dawid Bezuidenhout in 1995 before moving to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where her mother was on a diplomatic posting.
In Ethiopia, she enrolled in a bridging course that would lead to a Law Degree from 1996 to 1997, but studying Ethiopian law was not in the cards for her. She dropped the course and moved to Pretoria, South Africa, where she enrolled in a course in human resources and graduated with a diploma in 1998.
“I soon found that human resources did not stimulate my mind in the way that I needed it to, and so, instead of continuing with studies in human resources, I moved to Johannesburg, and then enrolled for a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism in 1999 at the Tshwane University and graduated with a degree in journalism in 2002,” she says.
Previously, Goagoses worked as a reporter at The Star newspaper in Johannesburg from 2000 to 2001, and then for a niche magazine called Shortens Publications as an editorial assistant and reporter from 2001 until 2002.
In 2003, she joined the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) as a senior reporter, covering stories for radio news and television, as well as presenting news for NBC radio and television as a news presenter.
Goagoses left NBC in 2006 to join the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA Namibia), first as an Information and advocacy officer, responsible for the dissemination of information amongst other key tasks and later promoted to the national director of the Media Institute of Southern Africa, a position she held until 2012.
Rewards
Goagoses maintained that the distinctiveness of the ministry of international relations lies in the fact that it does open one up for exposure to the rest of the world. “I appreciate that we are in constant communication and interaction with nationals from all around the world, thus expanding our sphere of knowledge from an international audience,” she said.
“What I find most satisfying about my work is the ability to effect change by implementing new projects and programmes to our annual activities and also to be in a position to influence people and shape the mindsets of a large number of people through information sharing,” she said.
She revealed that recently, her ministry launched an Awareness Raising Campaign, which aims to enlighten the public on Namibia’s Policy on International Relations as well as to raise awareness of the core functions and responsibilities of the ministry.
“I am very excited about his project because, in the form of a 5-minute video clip, we can inform and educate the bigger public on our roles and responsibilities at the ministry, and also other frequently asked questions in line with the ministry’s foreign policy,” she said.
Narrating her contribution to government, Goagoses confidently believed that she brought a lot of experience and some important skills to the ministry.
“One of my first tasks as a deputy director for information and research at the ministry was to set up the Directorate of Information and Research in such a way that it would cater to the overall communication needs of the ministry optimally. Today, the directorate boasts to be one of the top-ranking public relations (communications) officers of all the ministries in government,” she said.
Goagoses is also the brainchild behind the introduction of the e-newsletter, which over the years, through the input of her colleagues, keeps improving and is today also one of the few e-newsletters that stand out from the rest.
E-newsletters highlight the ministry’s activities and are emailed to all staff, OMAs, stakeholders and members of the diplomatic corps. The e-newsletter is also posted on our MIRCO website for public consumption.
“I have also made significant contributions in the form of drafting the ministry’s communication plan and setting up some of the ministry’s social media platforms in early 2013. To date, the directorate maintains updated Facebook, website, Instagram and Twitter pages on a consistent and regular basis.”
“Recently, we introduced a MIRCO YouTube channel where we load recordings of our activities and events. MIRCO was nominated as number 3 amongst the top 10 Best Communicators of 2021 by the Kalahari Reporters, which is an outstanding ground-breaking social media that encourage citizen journalism.”
Work-related accomplishments or memorable moments
When asked to point out some of the directorate’s achievements, Goagoses was quick to point out Dr Theo Ben Gurirab Lecture Series, which aims to inform and engage the public about contemporary global events.
“In order to encourage and engage a larger audience participation, the directorate added a virtual and hybrid component to the lecture series, whose main purpose is to encourage the public to be involved in shaping policy on international relations and cooperation,” she said.
Goagoses boasted that so far, the directorate has hosted 17 Dr Theo Ben Gurirab lecture series.
Furthermore, she said the ministry resource centre continues to disseminate relevant information, such as online magazines and relevant books, to users to encourage the culture of reading in the ministry and the public as well.
Among her wish list, Goagoses said she is currently in the semi-final phases of completing a book that she has been working on for many years.