Independent consultants rate senior officials performances

Source: Independent consultants rate senior officials performances | The Sunday News

President Mnangagwa

Lincoln Towindo

THE Government hired independent consultants to evaluate the performance of senior public sector officials, including Cabinet ministers, to ensure that the process was objective, fair and results-oriented.

In 2021, the Government introduced performance contracts for ministers, permanent secretaries, local authority bosses and executives of public entities under an initiative geared towards enhancing accountability and efficiency.

This was meant to supercharge the attainment of Vision 2030 of an empowered, modern, prosperous and highly industrialised country within the next five years.

“The performance of these senior officials is evaluated on a quarterly, bi-annual and annual basis,” according to a summary of results for top performers seen by our sister paper The Sunday Mail.

“To ensure that the performance evaluation process is objective, fair, credible and results-oriented, Government appointed an independent consulting firm to assist with the exercise.

“At the end of each fiscal year, a consolidated performance evaluation report is produced and presented to the High-Level Forum on Public Sector Reforms (Tripartite), His Excellency the President, Cde Dr ED Mnangagwa, and the entire Cabinet for consideration and approval.

“The report highlights the achievements of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), and the performance rating scores of senior public sector officials, starting with the high performers down to the lowest. The report also outlines key policy recommendations for consideration by Government.”

The best performing public officials were recognised for their outstanding work last week during a ceremony held at State House in Harare.

Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona emerged as the top-performing minister, while his Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development counterpart, Dr Anxious Masuka, secured the first runner-up position,
Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister July Moyo took the second runner-up position.

All three were handed their trophies during the State House ceremony.
Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Minister Senator Monica Mutsvangwa was the third runner-up, while her Foreign Affairs and International Trade counterpart Professor Amon Murwira took the fourth runner-up position, though the two were not handed trophies at the ceremony.

The authorities also acknowledged five other ministers for outstanding sectoral performance in specific areas.
The Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry was acknowledged for facilitating the accelerated growth of the tourism sector and its contribution to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

“The tourism sector is now one of the fastest-growing sectors in the economy and contributed 15 percent to GDP . . . ,” reads the citation from the Government.

“The ministry also hosted the inaugural Regional African Gastronomy Forum, whose bid was awarded in February 2024.
“In addition, the ministry facilitated provincial cookouts and one national cookout competition.”
The tourism ministry was also recognised for facilitating the promotion of the sector through hosting and participating in flagship events, such as the World Travel Market, International Tourism Trade Fair (ITB) Berlin, Meetings Africa and Sanganai/Hlanganani.

The Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs ministry was recognised for launching the Presidential Title Deeds and Regularisation of Settlements Programme and decentralising court facilities to improve access to justice.
It also received acknowledgement for the operationalisation of the Companies and Other Business Entities Act and digitisation of registration processes for companies, deeds and intellectual property.
In addition, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education was lauded for achieving the highest O-Level pass rate since 1984 and implementing stringent measures to prevent examination paper leaks.

“(The ministry) introduced comprehensive security measures to prevent public examination paper leaks. Partnered the private sector, communities, church organisations and civil society organisations to build schools.”

Despite global challenges in the mining sector, the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development ensured Zimbabwe’s industry grew by 2,3 percent, with value-added mineral exports reaching US$5,34 billion, exceeding the US$4 billion target.
“Although international commodity prices were depressed, Zimbabwe’s mining sector still managed to grow by a modest 2,3 percent, and unlike others in the region, and avoided significant disruptions like mine closures.

“Despite this, new investments in the mining sector were recorded, with the most notable being the Palm River Mining Project.”
The Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage was honoured for modernising the Civil Registry Office and implementing a smart traffic management system.

“The ministry made major strides in modernising the Civil Registry Office as well as decentralising it to districts, hence easing access to these documents by the citizens,” reads the citation.

“As part of implementing the e-Government system, the ministry is also pursuing the integrated traffic management system (SMART Traffic Management System), among other initiatives.”