By Lamin B. Darboe
The Director of Management Service and Inspectorate Division (MSID) at the Personnel Management Office (PMO) has revealed that his Division is presently working on the implementation of a Biometric Time and Attendance System at all Government institutions. This he said is premised on the Civil Service Reform Programme 2018-2027 which identifies punctuality and discipline as major issues requiring urgent attention.
The biometric clock-in will help validate employees’ reporting time to work, with recognition of unique physical characteristics; such as fingerprints, face, or irises.
In addition, biometric clocks are believed to be effective tools for accurately tracking and managing hourly wages, using fingerprint sensors or other biological characteristics analyses to authenticate data.
Mr. Momodou Bah made this revelation in an interview with Gambia Daily. He used the opportunity to highlight his Division’s mandate and responsibilities.
He disclosed that based on PMO’s verification exercise that was carried earlier, 90% of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) have already procured the device and are being mounted and utilised.
“We envisage that the introduction of the electronic clock-in device will help to improve attendance, ensure punctuality, and increase workforce productivity within civil service,” he posited.
On the mandate, activities and plans for the division, Mr. Bah, explained that MSID’s responsibilities include: formulation and review of schemes of service, staff inspection, job evaluation, and grading, confirmation in appointment, manpower budgeting and control, transfer of service, and recovery of wrongful salaries.
The MSID, he went on, is also responsible for verification of vacancies in the civil service before they are made known to the Public Service Commission (PSC), as well as quarterly payroll review of sectors.
On the progress registered, the Director noted that aside the formulation and review of schemes of service, manpower budgeting and control, they have developed a lot of cadres and schemes over the past years, the recent one being the Personal Assistant Cadre (PAC). “The PAC cadre emerged as a result of the restructuring of the Secretarial Cadre aimed at addressing the redundancies associated with the cadre”.
He went on: “These schemes serve as a guide during recruitment and promotion for officers in the different cadres in the Civil Service”.
On manpower budgeting and control Mr. Bah informed that the Division holds budget sessions annually with MDAs to discuss staff levels in terms of the number of posts and grading.
This he said, is to ensure that agreed levels are not exceeded in the workforce budget terms and that the existing posts are justified and continue to remain necessary and relevant.
In conclusion Mr. Bah assured that the MSID will continue to execute its mandate for effective and efficient service delivery for the citizenry.
