Performance contracts extended to directors
PERFORMANCE contracts have been extended from permanent secretaries to the 463 chief directors and directors in Government ministries, the next level down, as part of the Second Republic’s policy thrust to ensure senior officials are accountable and perform to expectations.
The latest group will sign their performance contracts in Harare today with Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr Misheck Sibanda, expected to preside over the event.
Ministers, permanent secretaries, and heads of local authority departments, Stateowned enterprises and State universities have already signed their contracts, ensuring they are not only accountable to President Mnangagwa but to their mandate as well.
In a statement yesterday, Secretary to the Public Service Commission, Ambassador Jonathan Wutawunashe, said Government continues to raise the bar on performance management in ministries and departments by requiring senior officials to sign performance contracts in order to strengthen service delivery to citizens.
“Chief directors and directors in all 21 Government ministries will publicly sign performance contracts at Harare International Conference Centre.
“At the ceremony, 84 chief directors and directors are scheduled to sign contracts as a representative sample on behalf of a total population of 463 chief directors and directors, the rest of whom will sign their contracts in their ministries and departments,” said Ambassador Wutawunashe.
Last year, Government introduced annual performance contracts for all 21 permanent secretaries in line ministries.
The new system is being extended to the next level, along with a promise to let the public know exactly who exceeded their contractual expectations and who fell short as a means of ensuring Government targets are met.
The move to ensure senior officials sign performance contracts is guided by the nation’s economic blueprint, National Development Strategy 1 and the results will be made public, with clear indications of those who exceeded their targets and those who fell short.
The officials will be evaluated on delivery, efficacy, management and implementation.
Said Ambassador Wutawunashe: “This event signals the cascading to all levels of the high performance work culture which Government in the Second Republic is championing, and which was demonstrated in February at a ceremony graced by the presence of President Mnangagwa.
“This was the event where ministers, permanent secretaries of Government as well as CEOs of parastatals and leaders of local government authorities signed their own performance contracts.
“In the true spirit of the principle, ‘What Gets Measured Gets Done’, the contracts will outline specific strategic objectives, outputs and outcomes targeted for 2022 for chief directors and directors.
“The performance of chief directors and directors will be assessed quarterly, together with that of permanent secretaries with the final evaluation conducted annually.”
Ministers who signed their contracts early this year vowed to deliver on the President’s
promise of an upper middle income society by 2030.-The Her
