The four-day Africa Public Service Day commemoration kicked off at Katima Mulilo in the Zambezi Region on Tuesday.

The commemoration is a platform to showcase and reward good initiatives and achievements in the public sector as well as to promote values in the areas of professionalism, accountability, ethics and performance in the delivering of public service.

In his welcoming remarks, Zambezi Region Governor Lawrence Sampofu called on the public servants and all service providers to work together to devise all means possible, such as to reward excellence, motivate public servants to promote innovation, enhance professionalism, trust and integrity in Government.

Sampofu noted that in so doing, the nation will move forward to unleash barriers towards the realisation of the free trade area as aspired.

This year’s commemoration is under the theme, ‘The African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) will require a fit for purpose African Administration to succeed’ and is based on the ambitious trade agreement to form the world’s largest free trade area by creating a single market for goods and services across Africa and deepening the economic integration of Africa.

The governor noted that based on that Namibia is among the participating members to facilitate the attainment of such ambition.

Also speaking at the opening event, Bank of Namibia Deputy Governor Ebson Uanguta called on all public servants to be good stewards of the country as they have been entrusted with the country’s resources and run it and deliver to the public with honest and integrity.

Uanguta added that for workers to deliver, Government should invest in its people so that a high skilled personnel is created.

He called on the staff to stay out of politics and leave politics to politicians, cautioning that public servants might compromise on service delivery and good ethics should they entertain politics.

Giving an overview of the day, Office of the Prime Minister Executive Director I-Ben Natangwe Nashandi reminded the gathering that the day focuses on transparency, equality, accessibility to the services provided by the public servants.

Nathaniel added that as public servants celebrate and appreciate their hard work in providing services to the masses, it was essential to also reflect on what they have done and achieved, and also on what they need to improve.

“We cannot be stuck with the old traditional ways of doing things, we need to move with technology,” Nashandi concluded.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency