By: Lamin B. Darboe
The Ministry of Public Service, Administrative Reforms, Policy Coordination & Delivery recently virtually inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Rwanda Cooperation Initiative (RCI Ltd).
The new Minister of Trade and Employment (MoTIE) currently overseeing the Ministry of Public Service, Administrative Reforms, Policy Coordination & Delivery, Baboucarr O. Joof signed on behalf of the Public Service Ministry while Ambassador Christine Nkulikiyinka CEO of Rwanda Cooperation Initiative (RCI) signed on behalf of Rwandan Government.
In September 2022, the outgoing Public Service Minister, Hon. Baboucarr Joof led a team of his technocrats on a week-long study tour to Rwanda.
The overall objective of the tour was to learn from the experiences of the Rwanda Government and explore good practices to enable the team understand the roles, responsibilities and functions of the Ministry of Public Service of Rwanda, learn about the organisational arrangement of the Ministry of Public Service of Rwanda; both in terms of structure and reporting vis-a-vis the executive and other stakeholders, understudy specific initiatives such as citizen-state engagement processes, performance management systems.
All aimed towards adapting the above-mentioned objectives in the Gambian context, to have an overview of the integrated personnel and payroll information system of Rwanda, initiate a system of continuous engagement, information exchange and learning between the two Ministries.
Speaking shortly after the signing ceremony, Minister Baboucarr O. Joof said the purpose of the MOU signing is to develop a South-South Cooperation between the two parties in the area of public finance management (IFMIS), procurement, e-Government administration reforms and human resources management (IPPIS) and e-recruitment through the exchange of information, technical resources and expertise.
According to Hon. Joof, the cooperation will focus on the following fundamental areas: public finance management reforms, the integrated public financial management system (IFMIS), digitalisation of human resource management systems and processes, management of civil servants and payroll (IPPS, e-recruitment and e-Government (e-Courts, E-Tax, e-Procurement among others.
“We are interested to exchange good practices and learn from Rwandan experts. This MOU will provide a solid foundation for both of us as Government institutions to commence a process of mutual learning, in order to draw insights from practitioners and experts in specific areas of governance,” Minister Joof concludes.
Speaking virtually from Kigali (Rwanda), Ambassador Christine Nkulikiyinka CEO of Rwanda Cooperation Initiative highlighted the shared mandates between Rwanda Cooperation and Ministry of Public Service in championing people-centered and accountable governance through knowledge-sharing.
Mr. Pateh Jah and Ms. Royiatou Kah both Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry, witnessed the ceremony.
