The Association of African Public Service Commissions (AAPSCOMS) at the weekend elected Prof. Tunji Olaopa its vice president for the West African Region.
Olaopa, who is the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) in Nigeria was elected during the 6th General Assembly and Conference of AAPSCOMS held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 6 to 8 November, 2024.
In his acceptance speech, Olaopa said he is committed to not just deepening the repositioning plan already being implemented in the FCSC of Nigeria, but to take the civil service commissions of the 36 states of the federation and the FCT on board, while at once creating a sharing and learning benchmarking set of initiatives to extend the reform wave to the public service commissions across the West African sub-region.
According to him, public service commissions across the continent are stuck in the old bureaucratic mode with its mostly outdated systems and processes.
"They have consequently not been able to take advantage of many frontier-shifting public management innovations and smart cum good practices, thus constrained in the discharge of their roles as gatekeepers for such essential and defining profession as the public administration vocation, which professionalism and capability readiness is core critical to the African country's different transformation journey," Olaopa said.
Also during the event, Prof. Olaopa decried what he identified as a palpable poor state of policy research with a virtual disconnect between the objectives of the research industry and the concerns of policy makers in government.
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He also referenced President Bola Tinubu's desire to institute a government of national competence as a policy framework capable of galvanizing a shift from the pervasive 'know-who' nepotism to 'know-how'.
At the event, Olaopa's counterpart in Kenya, Ambassador Anthony Muchiri, was elected the new President of (AAPSCOMS).
In his inaugural address as the incoming AAPSCOMS President, Muchiri pledged to revamp the association, expand the membership, and make the association a formidable force for championing the transformation of public service across the continent.
"AAPSCOMS is now 16 years old, and there is a need to revitalise it to attain our objectives. I will strive to foster closer collaboration and stronger ties among our members through regular consultations and knowledge-sharing platforms," Ambassador Muchiri said.
Other members elected as AAPSCOMS vice presidents are the Chairperson of the Public Service Commission of Tanzania, Lady Justice (Rtd) Hamisa Kalombola, representing the Eastern Region; and the Chairperson of the Public Service Commission of South Africa, Prof. Samadoda Fikeni, representing the Southern Region.
The newly elected AAPSCOMS leaders will serve for a term of two years, after which an election will be held during the 7th AAPSCOMS General Assembly in Abuja, Nigeria, in 2026.
The Association of African Public Service was established on 9th April, 2008 at Speke Resort and Conference Centre in Kampala, Uganda, where a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between 20 African public service commissions representing 15 countries in Africa.
