Africa-Press – Angola. The State is intensifying inspections of the implementation of the Simplifica 1.0 Project, assessing the level of integration in the processes of the Public Administration, in order to conform them to the purposes of facilitating the life of the citizen, said yesterday, the secretary of the President of the Republic. for State Reform.
Pedro Fiete added, by the way, that it is not enough to simplify, it is necessary to accompany the process, in its execution, making it clear that the adaptation period is practically over, and that, at that time, it is heading towards a phase in which will be triggered sanctioning mechanisms.
“We are now going to supervise, ensure training and then introduce the sanctioning dimension in order to guarantee that the measures are complied with and that we have an effectively simplified administration”, he stressed, stating that the life of the citizen must be really facilitated, in the regarding the relationship with the Public Services.
The Secretary of the President of the Republic for State Reform, Pedro Fiete, who addressed the matter, when he was providing additional information about the letter addressed to the Angolan Bar Association (OAA), said that the same calls attention to the need for immediate compliance and application of the simplification measures in force by this institution.
He referred that the Bar should refrain from requiring candidates, when registering trainee lawyers and others, to present requirements or documents that have already been discontinued. In the context of inspection, he said, the State has already urged a number of public institutions, in order to appeal to them for the immediate compliance and application of the simplification measures that are already in force.
Pedro Fiete said that, according to the reports of some specific situations, acts were found in which “even with the measure in force, duly approved by the Executive, “we witness, in practice, some institutions that continue to demand from citizens the same documents that already have been eliminated”.
As an example, he pointed out the requirement for a Criminal Record Certificate for the purposes of registration and presentation in the Public Administration, when this document has already been eliminated since last year, through Decree 188/21. However, since then, in specific circumstances, institutions have demanded the Criminal Record from individuals, denounced the secretary of the President of the Republic for State Reform.
Although not generally observed, Pedro Fiete added that such situations are occasional and take place in isolated circumstances, in which there is a kind of non-compliance and resistance.
For the secretary of the President of the Republic, the Executive’s biggest concern is that, after all, the situation is not fully resolved “and we still have some specific circumstances that we must call for compliance with the guidelines contained in the Simplifica 1.0 Project”.
“We appeal to the conscience of each one of us, within the framework of the civil service, of complying with what is determined by the Executive”, he punctuated, referring, then, that, in addition, “there is also an ongoing program aimed at training of staff who deal directly with the user, emphasizing that, sometimes, they do not receive information about the discontinuity of the documents in question.
Staff training
The Secretary of the President of the Republic for State Reform stressed that one of the answers to the above-mentioned concern is the continuous training of basic personnel who deal directly with the user.
The State, he stressed, is also working on a broad staff training program, in order to pass on the tools and make known the simplified measures and procedures that have been implemented by the Executive.
Pedro Fiete urged the Public Administration sectors themselves to collaborate and permanently invest in staff training, thus avoiding the continual presence of these occasional situations of resistance to change.
“It’s no use simplifying the procedures, and, in practice, continuing with the same vices, which sicken the civil service”, said Pedro Fiete. What has to be printed now, he reiterated, is the training of staff and, then, the inspection of compliance, giving rise to the sanctioning dimension, in the context of accountability for non-compliance with the measures.
Bar Association
Regarding the letter addressed to the Angolan Bar Association (OAA), signed by the Minister of State and head of the Civil House of the President of the Republic, Adão de Almeida, Pedro Fiete said that, in this sense, “what we have been doing is to urge public institutions, calling on them to immediately comply with and apply the Simplifica measures”.
This issue, he underlined, “falls within what we call a conduct problem.” “The Executive is making an effort to simplify procedures, but now, the citizen and the official who deals directly with the Public Service user are called upon to comply with the indications required by the State”, highlighted Pedro Fiete.
As part of the application of Simplifica, the Residence Certificate, as well as the Criminal Record, was also discontinued, for citizens who have the Municipality Card.
Simplify 2.0 will have more impact on citizens’ lives
After making a positive assessment of the Simplifica 1.0 Project, executed in the order of 75 percent, the Secretary of the President of the Republic for State Reform said that Simplifica 2.0 provides for measures with more impact on the lives of citizens, having highlighted the elimination of Declaration of Homologation of Higher Studies, which now has a direct relationship between the university and INAREES.
Within the scope of Simplifica 2.0, Pedro Fiete pointed out the Commercial Permit, which becomes a single and lifetime document, as well as the Industrial Permit, which will have a term extended from five to ten years.
The secretary recalled that the second phase of the Project, already approved and published in the Diário da República, at the beginning of last month, is expected to be implemented soon. Thus, Simmplifica 2.0 only needs implementation.
Before approving the Simplifica 2.0 Project, Pedro Fite clarified that an assessment had been made of the implementation of Simplifica 1.0, which has been 75 percent executed so far. He said that there is still a way to go for such measures to be developed to one hundred percent. “We will continue with the same dynamics, so that the implementation is fully accomplished and, simultaneously, it starts with Simplifica 2.0”, he concluded.
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