The Observer (Kampala)
11 November 2009
editorial
The recent and widely reported clashes between permanent secretaries and their political superiors in different government departments is a symptom of lack of respect for administrative boundaries.
Often, politicians use their vast power and influence to make permanent secretaries undertake decisions that both parties know are irregular. But when it comes to accounting for such decisions, the minister takes a back-seat while the Permanent Secretary, who is the ministry's technical head and accounting officer, sweats to explain.
A typical case in point is the Cabinet sub-committee on the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which was chaired by the Vice President, Prof. Gilbert Bukenya, directing the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works and Transport, Charles Muganzi, to change procurement rules and procedures.
Muganzi told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) last week that although the committee had agreed to international bidding for the vehicles to be used in the summit, he was directed to procure the cars from one company. The consequences of this decision are a bad deal for the taxpayer.
The PS in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Kabagambe Kaliisa, is also at loggerheads with his line Minister, Hillary Onek, over the latter's methods of work.
Kabagambe contends that the minister's decision to appoint a committee to investigate Umeme Limited's contract with the Government of Uganda was ill-conceived because he did not involve the technical staff of the ministry.
Kaliisa also has an axe to grind with the committee's report, which he considers to be a shoddy job. Such an embarrassing feud would have been avoided if the minister and his PS had worked as a team.
Politicians often tend to override and lord it over senior civil servants, which is not fair.
While ministers have the overall responsibility of supervising the ministry, they don't necessarily have the technical competence to run their ministries day-to-day. This responsibility should be left to the PS and senior civil servants. Both parties must therefore respect each other's boundaries because their roles are complementary. Without harmony in the ministries, there's unlikely to be efficiency.
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