State Department for Public Service Principal Secretary (PS) Mary Kimonye, is leading a team drawn from five institutions to showcase and represent Kenya at the 2021 Continental Africa Public Service Day (APSD) Celebrations being held in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.
The three (3) day celebrations whose theme is ‘Building the Africa We want through embracing an ethical culture that underpins purpose driven leadership in the context of a crisis” was officially opened, Monday, by Dr Constantino Chiwenga, Vice President of Zimbabwe.
The event is being attended both virtually and physically by Ministers and representatives responsible for Public Service and Administration from a few selected African countries owing to restrictions brought about by the ongoing Covid-19 Pandemic.
African Public Service Day (APSD) is a continental event held by African Countries to celebrate progress and achievements made in public service delivery and to showcase innovations made to improve provision of public services to citizens.
The objectives of the 2021 celebrations are to create a platform for African Union (AU) Member States, to exchange and share experiences through showcasing innovative approaches to service delivery, propose ways to embrace ICT as an enabler to innovative service delivery among other objectives.
Government institutions with key public service innovations that are being showcased in Zimbabwe include; State Department for Public Service, State Department for East African Community, Kenya Wildlife Service, Coast Development Authority, Kenya Film Commission.
One remarkable innovation being showcased at the event is Service by Appointment (SBA) by Huduma Kenya. The innovation was brought up in the wake of Covid-19 to ensure that citizens continue to receive critical Government services while observing the social gathering guidelines during the pandemic.
Kenya was privileged to host the 2019 Continental African Public Service Day in Nairobi, an event which was held at Kenyatta International Convention Centre and attended by various African States.
The Continental APSD has been celebrated seven times since its establishment by African Ministers for Public Service at their first Conference held in June 1994 in Tangier, Morocco.
The Countries that have had the privilege to host the event previously include; Namibia (2007), Tanzania (2009 & 2011), Ghana (2013), Congo Brazzaville (2015), Rwanda (2017) and Kenya (2019).
By Brian Kochwa
