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The government of Burundi is committed to bringing public services closer to the people

ByWebmaster

Jun 26, 2022

BUJUMBURA June 27th (ABP) – The government of the Republic of Burundi, through the ministry in charge of the Public Service in collaboration with the ministry responsible for community development, is committed to bringing public services closer to the population, the Minister of Public Service, Labor and Employment, Mr. Thaddée Ndikumana, told the press on Thursday, June 23, 2022, during the celebration of the African Public Service Day.

Regarding the decentralization policy, Mr. Ndikumana stressed that the Ministry in charge of the Civil Service is at work because, he explained, it has offices in all the provinces.

In collaboration with the Ministry in charge of the Interior, the Ministry has initiated one-stop shops in 10 provinces of the country, for the public services to be closer to the people. The one-stop shops in Kirundo and Ruyigi provinces will soon be inaugurated, Minister Ndikumana pointed out, recalling that the government’s objective is to see a representation of each ministry in each commune of the country, while the executives of the various ministries must leave their offices to serve the people.

He was delighted that the Ministry of Public Service has been able to resist the Covid-19 pandemic during the past two years, thanks to the leadership of the Head of State, Mr. Evariste Ndayishimiye, who always advocates the work in synergy of the different ministries, as well as thanks to the selflessness and resilience of the health and territorial administration staff.

                                                               The Head of the AU Liaison Office for the Great Lakes Region

Asked why this Day is celebrated at a time when there are still wage disparities among state civil service personnel, Minister Ndikumana replied that most civil servants who had salaries below those of others of the same level have been adjusted. Given the new job-type qualification, the amount of 12.5 billion will be used for the 2022-2023 financial year to continue to adjust State civil servants.

The initiative of the government is commendable and is appreciated by other African countries, hence the African Union (AU) will send to Burundi, in a moment to come, the representatives of the member countries in the approach of the joint review where they will be able to see how Burundi successfully carried out its program of administrative reform from which the new wage policy stems.

Regarding the digitization of State services, Minister Ndikumana said that in the general State budget for the 2022-2023 financial year, it is planned to digitize the public service, starting with the files of all civil servants.

After the scanning of all the files, the ministry in charge of the public service will make the classification by place of assignment, and it will go to each commune to identify if all the employees are on the ground and active. We will collaborate with the ministry in charge of education to authenticate the diplomas deposited in the files of the State civil servants within the framework of eliminating the fictitious cases and the false diplomas, he clarified.

The Head of the AU Liaison Office for the Great Lakes Region, Mr. Balasiz Gonzag Patrick, reported that Burundi celebrated African Public Service Day for the first time, a day that was set up after consultations at the African level between ministers of public service with the support of certain partners, precisely to recognize the contribution of public officials.

He also indicated that through the leadership of the Burundian authorities, it has been observed that once well supported, a public service can play a catalytic role.

The Republic of Burundi has been able to put in place a resilience and response plan to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has saved human lives, he said with joy.