Ministers may soon be required to sign performance contracts, VP Igga *JUBA, 22 November 2013 - *The government has set in motion plans to transform the civil service as part of measures to improve the delivery of public services. Vice President James Wani Igga said the Council of Ministers had agreed to adopt performance management throughout the government whereby Ministers will be required to sign one-year performance contracts based on projects derived from the mandates of their respective ministries.
The VP said Ministers would sign performance contracts on behalf of their ministries; undersecretaries would sign contracts with Ministers; Director Generals with Undersecretaries, and; staff with their supervisors all the way down to junior officers in the ministries. He said there would be an evaluation of contracts on an annual basis to assess achievements and failures. *H.E VP Igga* The Vice President said the government would also initiate reforms aimed at fighting corruption, cutting down on waste of public resources and prioritizing the achievement of national development goals. The VP was addressing the staff of the national Ministry of Labour, Public Service and Human Resource Development at the Ministry premises on Wednesday when he made the remarks. The VP said he had been instructed by the President to visit all government ministries to find out what happens there, adding that in future he would make impromptu visits to ministries. “The main objective of the performance contracts is to improve service delivery to the public by ensuring ministers and civil servants are accountable to members of the public,” he said, adding that the system would come with sanctions and rewards. “Ministers who score well in their contracts will be rewarded. We will link rewards to measurable performance,” added the VP. H.E Wani Igga said another objective of the performance management system was to improve efficiency in government by channeling resources to the national development priorities of the government. The VP said independence comes with responsibility and emphasised the need for hard work saying it was the only way the citizens would enjoy the fruits of liberation. He said it was not fair for the country to be importing food yet it had lots of manpower in various sectors, which was underutilized and singled out the agricultural sector. *Staff oof the ministry of public service beeing breified by the VP* “Look, we are even importing vegetables and tomatoes. This means we are enslaved to the countries from which we importing these commodities yet we claim to be independent. Our land is fertile and we can produce food with a surplus for export,” he said. “We must move away from laziness. We even import brooms which we can easily obtain from the bushes around us”. Also present at the function were the Minister for Labour, Public Service and Human Resource Development, Mr Ngor Kolong Ngor, Cabinet Affairs Minister Elia Lomoro, and Labour Undersecretary Madam Hellen Achiro Lotara. * Reported by Justin Jada and Simon Peter Owaka* VP chairs the Government donors round table meeting *JUBA, 22 November 2013 (NASS)* - The vice president of the Republic, Hon. James Wani Igga today chaired the Government Donors round table at the ministry of Information and broadcasting meeting Hall, the Government Donors round table was establish by the multi Donors trust fund during the interim period. *VP Igga and the diplomats at the Information ministry's main conference hall* [Photo: Francis Oliver] In a statement to goss.org, the Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Hon Michael Makuei said the meeting aimed to change the name of the round table from Donors to Government Partners round table that would be able to support the Government in all aspect. The meeting also agreed to change the objective of the round table from raising funds for the government to setup a joint dialogue on the issues of concern, Hon. Makuei added. Hon. Makuei who is also the official spokesman commended the contributions by the donors during the interim period in supporting the government. *Reported by Francis Oliver, News Agency of South Sudan (NASS)* Cabinet Affairs minister warms traders of hiking commodity prices *JUBA, 22 November 2013 (NASS) *- The minister for cabinet affairs Martin Elia Lomoro warned traders against hiking prices of commodities such as fuel, water, and food items in the country. The Cabinet Affairs minister while in a joint press conference with the minister of Finance said there is no reason why traders must hike prices after the central bank revoked the November 11 decision to devalue the South Sudan pounds. Earlier, the central bank Governor Kornelio Koryom Manyik had announced an exchange reforms,a decision he said was intended to unify the official and parallel exchange rates in the market. However the decision was halted by the national parliament. *Hon Elia Lomoro during the press breifing at the ministry of Information* [Photo: Francis Oliver] Despite the official exchange rate of the South Sudan Pound against the Dollar remaining as previously at 2. 95, many traders are reportedly still charging highly. Hon. Lomoro has called upon the citizen to report any person who may want to make quick money out of the “currency devaluation situation” to the security authorities. The minister for the finance, commerce, investment and economic planning, Agri Tisa Sabuni confirmed his readiness to appear before the parliament to respond to the lawmakers to explain the “supposed devaluation”. He was quick though to say, “the ministry will respect the decision of the august house for the benefit of the citizen of the country”. *Reported by Francis Oliver News Agency of South Sudan (NASS)* -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/SouthSudanKob/CAJb14opi%3Dd8kmy6SthMUzC40G2PoG8bAjfTfWh8ZfEC0yGb5vw%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
