critical analysis of performance agreements (1)

GROUP 3- AN ANALYSIS OF MINISTERS’ PERFORMANCE AGREEMENTS

Matheus Taapopi – 201406567 Goli Banda – 20140929 Hillary Muyunda – 201404563 Shamyn Louw – 201410510Public Policy 10

March 2016

INTRODUCTIONNamibia like many other African countries faces various barriers to economic, social and technological development. We do however recognise and appreciate the efforts of His Excellency, President Hage Geingob, for his visionary and transformational leadership for putting in place standards in his government in form of performance agreements for his executives.In this context, performance agreements are negotiations that are typically binding arrangements between the president and his actors for a course of action. These agreements are a method of expectations and accountability for meeting a set standard of duties .Be that as it may, “the public sector needs capable, ethical and dynamic leaders who will engage their creativity and tap into the potential capabilities of the workforce to build a high performance culture focused on delivering efficient and effective services to the citizens.” –NSW Public Service Commission.

PRIME MINISTER: MRS. SAARA KUUGONGELWA-AMADHILA

PERFORMANCE AGREEMENT: PRIME MINISTER

Make sure that compliance with the affirmative action act is increased by 80% and that there is improvement in the recruitment process.

Affirmative action measures designed to ensure that persons in designated groups enjoy equal employment opportunities at all levels of employment and are equitably represented in the workforce of a relevant employer (Sifani, 2009).

Have about 9300 public servants trained through institutions such as NIPAM, thereby enhancing efficiency and service delivery.

NIPAM’s mandate is to provide administration and management training, instilling a Namibian Public Sector culture, co-ordinating, partnership building, operational research, capacity evaluation and to serve as a think tank in the Public Sector [NIPAM Act 2010 (Act 10 of 2010, Section 5)].


The natural disaster risk management plan will be reviewed and a strategy will be developed to reduce the impact of disasters.

Advantages:1. Through the affirmative action an equitable environment is provided through

which the disadvantaged in society remain optimistic to be a part and parcel of their citizenry county and pursue opportunities that the government provides.

2. The office of the prime minister in conjunction with NIPAM has a goal to have about 9300 public servants trained this will enhance the effectiveness, efficiency and service delivery in the public sector.

3. The natural disaster plan insures the safety of the people and eradicating the impacts is mainly to prevent disasters from negatively affecting the running of the economy.

Disadvantages:1. Natural disasters are

unpredictable and costly which bring about the usage of money set for other projects.

2. The goal of everyone being equal is lost with affirmative action because the minority groups now have special privileges.

3. Time consuming


MINISTER OF ECONOMIC PLANNING: TOM ALWEENDO

Performance Agreement:1. Plan, prioritize and direct the course of natural development, by coming

up with more adequate strategic plans.2. Improve understanding of national development programs by advocating

for more strategic mechanisms in order to attain a better standard of living and better economic growth.

3. Ensure the implementation of government programs, by effectively coordinating the National Statistical system, collect and analyze quality statistical information required for evidence based policy, planning and decision making.

4. Improve the effectiveness of the implementation of government plans and programs, by planning, managing and monitoring government‘s capital investment programs as well as guide the formulation and revision of policy.


Encourage continued public engagement on national development, by implementing programs or organizations that assist small entrepreneurs to start up a business, by providing them with subsidies or short term and as well as programs that educate people on efficient ways to improve their standard of living.

Advantages:1. Sustained economic growth 2. Employment creation3. Reduction in poverty4. Increased income equality5. Good standard of living


Disadvantages: Economic development is all about implementing efficient strategic plans;

therefore there are challenges that hinder those objectives from been achieved, such as:

1. High cost finances, for all those objectives to be to be attained, there should be money spent, and every program that is implemented requires a huge budget.

2. Lack of flexibility in the labor market .Some of the people have a very low self-efficacy, they have an inability to adapt to a change, and therefore it will take quite a while to attain to such a situation.

3. Time consuming, coming up with efficient strategic plans is an extremely time consuming process, a large amount of time is spent in order in order to attain a well-developed structure.

MINISTER OF ECONOMIC PLANNING AND DIRECTOR OF N.P.C: MR. TOM

ALWEENDO

PERFORMANCE AGREEMENT: MINISTER OF FINANCE

Performance AgreementsEnsure than an annual target of total debt of not more than 32% of Gross Domestic Product is achieved, thus maintaining economic stability

Improve foreign reserves by ensuring an annual target of three months import cover.

Improve GDP growth rates by 5.5% and have a consistently low inflation rate of less than 10% in order to give room for rising economic growth.

PERFORMANCE AGREEMENT: MINISTER OF FINANCE

Advantages:1. Decreased dependency on creditors2. Lower costs of debt due to higher

credit rating.3. Government saves money .4. High economic growths.5. Inflation expectations will be low.Disadvantages:6. Lower economic growth.7. Decrease in cash flow

MINISTER OF FINANCE: CALLE SCHLETTWEIN

HIGHER EDUCATION MINISTER: DR. ITAH KANDJII-MURANGI

Put in place aggressive measures for Namibian vocational and technical higher education institutions to produce technical and high level skilled human resources to drive the economy.

Advantages:1. Building a strong primary sector is one of the best strategies to drive an

economy2. Higher technical and higher HR skills engenders entrepreneurship, thus

trigger creation of new industries, increase employment rate, increase productivity, in the long run high economic growth will be achieved and improved living standard


Disadvantages:1. Limited public sector budget constraints the ability of

government to provide adequate and stable funding to public sector training institutions

2. Training system is largely underfinanced, provision for technical vocational skills are expensive, since facilities, material, equipment and maintenance costs are high

3. Wont be attainable in one year, since it calls for structural institutional transformation


(PA, 2) Develop a national innovation system to produce scientific technological and social innovations as well an innovative processes that will drive economic growth.

National Innovation System, is a set of distinct institutions which jointly and individually contribute to the development and diffusion of new technologies and which provides the framework within which governments form and implement policies to influence the innovation process. As such it is a system of interconnected institutions to create, store and transfer the knowledge, skills and artefacts which define new technologies” (Metcalfe, 1995)

Put simply it’s a network of institutions in the public- and private-sectors whose activities and interactions initiate, import, modify and diffuse new technologies


Advantages:1. Key development lies in closing the gap of technology2. Promotion of national innovation system is required for long

term industrial and economic developmentDisadvantages: 1. The acquisition and implementation of technological

capabilities, however involves heavy investment in technology and social infrastructure

2. Innovations in low and medium technology sectors are more attainable than those in a whole technology system


Disadvantages continued….

3. Product innovations are more important that process innovations because of the effect on the product structure

EDUCATION MINISTER: KATRINA HANSE-HIMARWA

Performance Agreement• Reduce the dropout rate of pupils at schools by 1% a year and also ensure that there is an improvement in completion rates.

• Increase enrolment rates of children at pre-primary level thereby improving readiness of learners for primary schools by 95%.

• Ensure adequate funding for construction and rehabilitation and equipping of education facilities by 55%.

• Complete 10 capital projects in a year while also similarly increasing the number of classrooms by 280.

EDUCATION MINISTER: KATRINA HANSE-HIMARWA

Learners and students in general report a variety of reasons for dropping out of school therefore the solutions are multi-dimensional. Advantages:1. Improvement of the education system2. More schools to be build, furnished and equipped with furniture and general

equipment3. School and community collaboration4. Early interventions/ early literacy development5. Active learning and educational technologyDisadvantages:6. Time consuming, such a progressive plan wont be attainable in one year2. Costly

CONCLUSIONIn finding, we have come to understand and highlight that the performance agreements of the respective minister as intended policies and programs they wish to undertake in a year. So far we have come to understand that the policies that the ministers intend to undertake relate to the characteristics of public policy in that they serve to distribute and redistribute wealth and social services. They also serve to regulate the limitations, behaviours and further promote as well as protect organisations and individuals. The policies to be undertaken and implemented by the government also aim to redress the imbalances challenging the nation. They further aim to address the demands and concerns of the Namibian community.

REFERENCES Directorate Disaster Risk Management. (2011). National Disaster Risk Management Plan. p-

10. Windhoek, Namibia. Metcalfe, J. S. (1995). "

Technology Systems and Technology Policy in an Evolutionary Framework," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(1), pages 25-46.

Namibia Institute of Public Administration and Management. (2016). NIPMA’s Mandate. Retrieved from: http:// http://www.nipam.mdi.na

NSW Public Service Commission. (2013). Guide to performance agreements for the Senior Executive Service. New South Wales Government, Australia.

Sifani, JN. (2009). The impact of Namibia's affirmative action policy on employment of the designated groups (A thesis for the Degree of Master of Science in Economics). University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia. Retrieved from: http://www.isis.unam.na/theses/sifani2009.pdf

https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/cambje/v19y1995i1p25-46.html

https://ideas.repec.org/s/oup/cambje.html

http://www.nipam.mdi.na/



http://wwwisis.unam.na/theses/sifani2009.pdf



critical analysis of performance agreements (1)

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