Africa-Press – Cape verde. Parliament approved on Wednesday Article 8 of the 2026 Budget Law Proposal, which provides for the creation of the School of Public Administration.
The government’s initiative was approved with 37 votes in favor from the MpD, 26 votes against from the PAICV, and four abstentions from the UCID.
The decision confirms the executive’s intention to move forward, as early as 2026, with a structure dedicated to the training of civil servants and public managers, considered by the government as strategic for modernizing and professionalizing the state apparatus.
“Regarding 2026, the decision is not new. It is an ongoing process that does not jeopardize existing entities. It will be a simple, low-cost structure that will work in partnership with existing training bodies, but with a specific focus on the training of civil servants,” stressed the Deputy Prime Minister, Olavo Correia.
The governor also highlighted that the future school will be a “transformative” instrument, designed to make Public Administration more efficient, responsive, and focused on providing excellent service.
“It is worthwhile to have an entity with this specific responsibility. The Government understands that implementation should occur next year,” he stated.
The MpD deputy, Edna Oliveira, justified the majority’s favorable vote by highlighting the loss of training capacity after the extinction of the former National School of Administration.
“We are not voting on a mere budget forecast; we are voting on the future of Cape Verdean Public Administration. We lost a school that trained thousands of professionals. The centralization of training at Uni-CV was a mistake; universities train professionals, but they do not train civil servants,” she reported.
Edna Oliveira emphasized that developed countries maintain National Schools of Public Administration and that Cape Verde cannot be left behind.
“We need prepared personnel and continuous training. The absence of this institution has been costly to the country.”
In turn, PAICV deputy Fidel de Pina, whose party unsuccessfully requested the elimination of the aforementioned article, stated that the PAICV voted against the proposal because it considered it excessively costly.
“We clearly voted against it because this urgency makes no sense ten years later. The government announced cuts in spending, but increased it. There is no need to create yet another physical structure when universities are facing difficulties,” he commented.
The deputy also accused the government of using the creation of the school as a political instrument.
“It’s just another structure to materialize ‘jobs for the boys.’ We advocate for training, but with rationalization of resources,” he argued.
Deputy Dora Pires, from UCID, in turn, said that her party opted for abstention, arguing that the function can be performed within the University of Cape Verde (Uni-CV).
“It’s not worth creating a new structure when there are already conditions for training within the university,” she argued.
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