Mnangagwa promises leaner government but no tolerance for slothfulness

TALKING NOTES FOR HIS EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT E.D. MNANGAGWA’S INAUGURAL MEETING WITH PERMANENT SECRETARIES

Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr Misheck Sibanda,

Chairman of the Public Service Commission, Dr Nzuwah,

Deputy Chairperson of the Public Service Commission,

Deputy Chief Secretaries,

Secretary to the Public Service Commission,

Permanent Secretaries,

Ladies and Gentlemen

I welcome you to this meeting following my inauguration as the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe. This meeting is one of many interfaces I am having with various agencies of Government, for purposes of familiarizing myself with the key players in the Government machinery as well as to provide the general direction to be taken by my Administration.

I am currently in the process of putting together a new Government structure, which should essentially be leaner. This, of course, will entail the merging of some line Ministries in order to remove functional duplications as well as contain unnecessary expenditures, so as to enhance productivity and efficient delivery of service.

I want to assure you that no one will be laid off, except those who have reached retirement age. Those whose Ministerial posts will be abolished will be re-skilled and reassigned to other areas in the Public Service.

I am sure you will appreciate that the rebuilding of our national economy and improvement of the livelihoods of all our citizens both urgent and imperative. Our people have endured economic hardships for over two decades, and now expect this new Government to turn things around, within the shortest time possible. Let us take advantage of the positive optimism among our people, ushered in by this current dispensation, and do our best. This huge weight of expectations from the populace should bid us all to shun the laissez-faire approach to our work, and instead, endeavour to adopt a high-performance work ethic.

Our prime focus should thus be on the implementation of practical solutions to grow our economy, create jobs and boost the incomes our people. My Government will have no tolerance for bureaucratic slothfulness, which is quick to brandish procedures as excuse for stalling service delivery to citizens, investors and her stakeholders. Our mantra should be peak performance, peak performance and peak performance.

As Heads of Ministries, your role is supremely critical in the realization of the aspirations of all our citizens and stakeholders. I will certainly count on you for success in turning around the fortunes of our economy. Indeed, together, we can do it.

I thank you.

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