Zanzibar — ZANZIBAR's president Dr Ali Mohamed Shein has urged public servants in Africa to adopt positive work attitudes that can improve public service delivery.

In his speech to open a fiveday 34th African Association for Public Administration and Management (AAPAM) roundtable conference that began, Dr Shein said people expect improved services. The speech that was read on his behalf by First Vice President Mr Seif Sharif Hamad, Dr Shein emphasized that working attitudes should clearly be studied by more than 300 delegates from across Africa who are attending the meeting, to accelerate implementation of performance management in the public service.

"In Zanzibar share the same concern with the rest of Africa, and for that matter with the entire world, to create a public service that is based on good governance, accountability, and responsiveness," he said.

However, Dr Shein said that the implementation of various forms of performance management system in the public sector are not without challenges such as "failure to integrate performances management systems in the institutions, resistance to change (fear of unknown), limited resource, and lack of political will to support."

He stressed that performance management movement in the public sector is irreversible because it forms the basis for transformation to deliver better services. "Our citizens are no longer solely interested in the administration of law but also in the quality of services that are rendered and outcomes that accrue from the government intervention," He insisted.

AAPAM president Dr Abdon Agawa Jok Nhial thanked development partners including international organizations for support. Some of the participants come from Canada, India, South Korea, United Kingdom (UK), South Africa, and Unites States. The Minister of State, union government President's office- Public Service Management Ms Celina Kombani asked civil servants attending the conference to deliberate on various issues aimed at achieving better services delivery.