Africa-Press – Tanzania. ON WEDNESDAY, President John Magufuli swore-in 21 ministers and 23 deputies, a process which heralded the kickoff of the final five-year term of the Fifth Phase Government.
After the swearing-in ceremony, President Magufuli underscored the importance of good leadership to rid the country of the socio-economic ills plaguing the majority citizens, particularly in the rural areas.
Since its independence from Britain in 1961, Tanzania has been on the forefront of enlightened leadership in the East African region and should not lose this initiative to anyone else for that matter.
It is through enlightened leadership that the duty of service to the public, implicit and largely unspoken, has emerged in recent years as a central preoccupation of the shapers of public sector management values.
The duty of service to the public placed upon the public servant is immense. There is widespread agreement about the importance of this duty that the purpose of governmental activity and programme is to provide service to a clientele, a public.
When the subject of service to the public is brought up in ordinary conversation, most people think of a face-to-face telephone transaction with a public servant. When they arrive at the counter as a customer they want efficiency.
In other words, they expect the wicket to be open at convenient times and they expect prompt and competent attention to their concerns. In all of their dealings with the public, public servants are expected to be courteous, efficient, effective, and fair.
Public servants should provide service to the public in a manner which is courteous, equitable, efficient and effective. They should also be sensitive and responsive to the changing needs, wishes and rights of the public and to promote excellence in public service.
Values such as competence, courtesy, efficiency, effectiveness, fairness and accessibility are found in various codes of conduct of professionals working in the government. Many of these codes focus particular attention on the allocation of responsibility in decision-making between the professional and the client.
Right from the word go after independence, the government of Tanzania stressed the duty of service to the public. It established various principles that service delivery should be consumer-oriented, timely, sensitive to the public’s needs, and equitable. We wish our ministers exemplified public service
