The Government Secretary, Mr. Tlohang Sekhamane, has challenged the African Association for Public Administration and Management (AAPAM) round table meeting to address the state of poverty visible in most African countries. Delivering a keynote address during the opening ceremony of AAPAM annual roundtable conference held at Lesotho Sun on Monday 25 November,2002, the Government Secretary said the nation looks out for public administrators and managers for rapid growth of development in countries.

Mr. Sekhamane said since the inception of AAPAM 40 years ago, poverty in Africa has widened and deepened, and there has not been any visible change in the state of poverty, saying even though AAPAM is not a poverty reduction association, it is the responsibility of administrators to ensure that their countries graduate from the level developing countries. He noted that there is a serious problem of development in Africa hindered by, among others, lack of employment, poverty and the state of
HIV/AIDS. He cited Lesotho as an example where the rate of unemployment is 41% while that of HIV/AIDS spread is 31%, clarifying that even though he is not conversant with other countries statistics, the problem might be more or less the same.

The Government Secretary urged AAPAM to look out for causes of poverty and possible solutions to the problems, saying that the time has come that the association must have an impact on the people who look out for them for survival. He said the conference could not have come at the right time, especially when most countries including Lesotho are deep into the implementation of Performance management amongst civil servants. He explained performance management as a devise that helps organizations to capture people with skills to ensure that things do happen, adding that performance management challenges every civil servant to start delivering effective and efficient services to the nation they serve.

At the occasion, AAPAM Interim President Dr. Jonathan Chileshe said the process of improving the public sector tends to be complex and complicated, saying that however, there is ample evidence that it can be managed successfully by those governments determined to rise up the challenge. He mentioned that the roundtable provides for a better understanding and opportunity among others, on sharing lessons of experiences of the different initiatives governments are taking to enhance the performance of public management institutions in our midst.

Mr. Sekhamane said progress will be build on the outcome of the associations previous conferences that addressed good governance and globalization respectively. He indicated that after all performance management is not only important but also a means to providing accountability and transparency demanded by the public in the use of public funds. He noted that performance management is among many things, the process of communicating organizational missions and objectives to all stakeholders with the ultimate aim of maximizing value added. He concluded by saying to this end, AAPAM puts stress on training, believing that it provides the requisite competences and expertise in systems for the advancement of all round national development.

The AAPAM round table conference is held annually for administrators and managers from Africa.  The last meeting was held in Abuja, Nigeria.

25 November,2002