INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC SERVICE NEWS

Same sex case goes to court

HONG KONG (December 29): A senior Hong Kong Public Servant has filed a writ in the High Court challenging the Government’s refusal to recognise his same-sex marriage and grant him the same rights and benefits as heterosexual couples.

Senior Immigration Officer, Angus Leung Chun-kwong complained that his marriage status was not recognised by the Civil Service Bureau (CSB) and the Inland Revenue Department.

Mr Leung applied to the Civil Service Bureau for a change of his marital status before he got married in New Zealand last year. He acquired a marriage certificate in that country. 

However, he was told by the CSB that his marriage in New Zealand was not consistent with Hong Kong’s Marriage Ordinance, while the Inland Revenue Department has denied him the benefits and subsidies offered to married Public Servants and their spouses.

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Unpaid workers told to pay

MAKURDI (December 29): Some Public Servants in the Nigerian State of Benue have been told they must pay a fee of N6,000  ($A42) for induction into the Public Service as long as three years ago — even though their salaries have been unpaid for months.

The workers had participated in the three-day induction course organised by the Office of the Benue State Head of Service but said non-payment of salaries had left them too poor to pay.

Permanent Secretary in-charge of Establishment, Office of the Benue State Head of Service, Iorhii Dooga defended the N6,000 collection fee.

"The payment is to enable the Public Service to hold the induction program, as the Government has no money to fund the course,” Mr Dooga said.

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Commission pushes for tribal equity

NAIROBI (December 29): The Kenyan Public Service Commission says there is a need for affirmative action to ensure all Kenyan communities, or tribes, are represented in the country’s Public Service.

The Commission said just four communities made up 58 per cent of the workforce in Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies. There are more than 40 different tribes in Kenya.

The report said five communities are not represented at all, while three had less than 20 employees.

A draft policy from the Commission stated that every Public Service institution must ensure fair and equitable representation of the diverse Kenyan ethnic communities and groups, including minorities and marginalised groups and communities, proportionate to their national population size.

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Wait for promised bonus continues

HARARE (December 31): Most Zimbabwean Public Servants are still waiting for their promised Christmas bonus as the country heads into the New Year.

Teachers have threatened unspecified action in if the salary issues are not resolved.

Secretary-General of the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association, John Mlilo decried the continuing uncertainty over the bonus and pay dates generally while the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors’ Association described the situation as “a circus”.

Opposition spokesman, David Coltart decried the fact that President Robert Mugabe had gone on an overseas holiday “while Zimbabwe was burning, with Public Servants destitute”.

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Extra funds for Malaysian PS

KUALA LUMPUR (January 3): A special one-off bonus is being made to 2.6 million current Malaysian Public Servants and pensioners.

The payment will cost RM645 million ($A205.7 million) which will result in 1.6 million Public Servants receiving RM500 ($A 159) each and one million Government pensioners RM250 ($A80) each.

Also announced was an upgrading of some incentive schemes, which will benefit 406,000 Public Servants. In addition, almost 50,000 pensioners who have 25 years of service will enjoy a fixed minimum pension of RM950 ($A 303) a month.

Officers on contract who have served at least 15 years will be absorbed into the permanent Service. This will benefit around 10,000 contract staff.

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Gnawing fear leads to digitisation

ABUJA (December 31): Fear of depredations by rodents has led the Nigerian Federation Government to launch a digitisation program for its records.

Acting Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita, paying an end-of-year unscheduled visit to Ministries and other Agencies, said it was regrettable that staff records and other important information were still being kept in paper files, which could be eaten by rodents.

“During my tenure, the records and document management of the Federal Civil Service will be fully automated,” Ms Oyo-Ita said.

“We already have a program for an electronic management system, which will be rolled out in 2016 and an archive system and related software will be developed, too.”

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Pakistan PS to get an overhaul

ISLAMABAD (December 30): The Pakistan Government is instituting a package of reforms aimed at overhauling the Public Service.

Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms, Ahsan Iqbal said he wanted a more citizen-focused service, with increased opportunities for training.

Plans included an exchange program with several countries and an online training system building the capacity of officers.

“Renowned educationists have been hired to formulate a model curriculum after reviewing the present education system from primary level to higher education, turning Islamabad into a model city of governance and reforms,” Mr Iqbal said.

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Watchdog to paw down bureaucracy

ALGIERS (December 30): A new body, to act as a national watchdog for the Algerian Public Service is to be established, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has decreed.

"This body will contribute to the elimination of bureaucratic obstacles and the improvement of public services; it will have a consultation framework which will include representatives of Ministerial Departments, elected assemblies, civil society and the press,” President Bouteflika said.

“The watchdog's task is to assess the development of the Public Service. It is also authorised to suggest measures in terms of equity in the access to public services and protection of users' rights."

He said the watchdog would monitor the improvement of society's adherence to changes that must be pursued by the Public Service.

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Modi wants PS to raise game

NEW DELHI (January 1): Indian Public Service chiefs have been ordered to submit their plans for the coming year to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a clear sign the Prime Minister is not satisfied with their performance since he came to office more than 18 months ago.

Mr Modi spent the last two days of 2015 brainstorming with the top bureaucrats on a range of subjects, reportedly seeking transformation and breakthrough on a number of subjects from the Ganga regeneration program to energy optimisation.

Sources said of particular concern was the Hyderabad metro rail project which is behind schedule and suffering cost-overruns.

The sources stated that with Mr Modi’s legislative program held up in Parliament, he may be looking to the Public Service to squeeze out results in areas that don’t need legislation.

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Taiwan driving force for workers

BASSETERRE (December 31): St Kitts and Nevis, one of the few countries to have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, has been rewarded with the donation of a fleet of vehicles for its Public Service.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Osmond Petty said the vehicles were critical to the work of the Ministries and Departments on the two-island West Indian nation.

“Vehicles are critical to the work of Foreign Affairs and National Security and we have made many requests to the Taiwanese Government for vehicles, some of which are still pending,” Mr Petty said.

The vehicles have been assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of National Security and the Kids Office of the Prime Minister.

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PNG kicks out expat bureaucrats

PORT MORESBY (January 3): Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Peter O’Neill has announced that all contracts for foreigners working in the country’s Public Service will be cancelled.

Most of the foreigners are Australians working in Departments such as the Tax Office, Customs, the Auditor-General, the Ombudsman, Treasury and Finance.

Mr O’Neill said the foreign advisers had made local workers lazy while in some cases decisions were being made not in the interest of the country.

He used his New Year’s Message to focus on how his Government was improving conditions in Papua New Guinea with a heavy focus on ridding the national police force of corruption.

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Support for illiterate workers

PORT-AU-PRINCE (December 31): A major literacy campaign is to be launched among junior members of the Haitian Public Service after a survey found that around 5,000 officers were unable to read or write.

Secretary of State for Literacy, Jean Wilberson Timothée said that 3,600 instructors and 350 supervisors would be hired to conduct the campaign.

“They will be paid 6,000 gourdes ($A144) for instructors and 8,000 gourdes ($A192) for supervisors and we will provide a hot meal at the end of each session for the various beneficiaries of the program," Mr Timothée said.

He said the total budget for the program, which is being supported by Cuba and UNESCO, was 50 million gourdes ($A1.2 million) over four months.

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Public Servants eke out on eggs

ABUJA (January 1): Nigerian Public Servants are turning to farming to make ends meet as falling oil prices and a stumbling economy raises the specter of mass sackings in 2016.

Some States are already behind on salary payments despite a bailout by the Federal Government.

Sources said many workers had used the Christmas and New Year holiday to invest in poultry for raising chickens and producing eggs to sell to the public.

One Public Servant in the Ondo State Ministry of Education said salaries for October had been paid just a few days before Christmas. “What do you think I would have used to feed my immediate and extended families if I have not engaged in poultry farming, especially egg production?” The worker said.

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Retirements solving downsizing

ATHENS (January 3): Greek Public Servants have been retiring in their thousands ahead of less generous social security pay-outs, which is solving one headache for the Government.

The departures mean the Public Service has met its downsizing target of 12,000 with hardly any layoffs.

Virtually all the departures were employees taking retirement on the current level of pensions.  Within one month, October to November 2015, 737 Public Servants departed, reducing the total number of State employees to 567,195.

The biggest share of departing employees in this period was from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (151), followed by local authorities (136), the Ministry of Health (119) and the Ministry of Education Ministry (113).

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Two-job workers still stay at home

NAIMEY (January 3): It has been revealed that some Public Servants in Niger have two jobs in different Ministries, but are still staying at home or coming in late.

Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Jonathan Vatsa said the practice of double-dipping in Public Service employment must cease and workers must report at the stated starting times or face the sack.

“The era of coming to work late is over and will not be tolerated by the present administration,” Mr Vatsa said.

“The idea of coming to work any time you feel like is gone. Workers in the State must wake up for their responsibility or face the wrath of the law.”

PS News resumes in mid-January