Article 38G of the Constitution guaranteeing the freedom of the public service from political influence, one of the changes from the Herdmanston Constitutional reform process, did not matter to the PPP/C. Ram & McRae has always recognised that one of the biggest challenges facing a post-PPP/C Government is how it could carry out its plans and programmes with a public service – however defined – that had been compromised by political influences and appointments. The situation had become so bad that Permanent Secretaries were not only openly partisan, but were candidates in the national elections.
But these masked a deeper problem: the contract employee syndrome. Article 201 of the Constitution envisages the role of the Public Service Commission (PSC) as being principally responsible for the employment of public officers. Its role has been partly usurped by the Public Service Ministry which in the 2014 Estimates described itself as having overall responsibility for the management of all ministries, departments and regional administrations.
The Constitution provides for a Public Service Commission consisting of six persons appointed by the President – three after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition, two nominated by the National Assembly and one on his own professional judgment. The power to make appointments to public offices and to remove and exercise disciplinary control over holders of public offices vested in the PSC. Public office is defined in the Constitution as an office of emolument in the public service which in turn is defined as the service of the Government of Guyana in a civil capacity.
Budget Focus 2014 pointed to the importance of institutions to a country’s development and disparagingly referred to some paper institutions, seemingly designed not to function, such as the Integrity Commission, the Public Procurement Commission and the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). We were not unmindful of the fact that it required the intervention of the Bar Association a couple of years ago to have the JSC constituted, and even so, the JSC seems to be operating well below par.
From all indications, the Public Service Commission is in a worse shape. It is perhaps fortuitous that in its efforts to have the JSC properly constituted the Bar Association worked with then Speaker Mr. Raphael Trotman. He is now Minister of Governance and must be paying keen attention to the operation and performance of the Constitutional Commissions. Ram & McRae considers that one of Mr. Trotman’s priorities should be to advise the President on the status of each of constitutional commissions and to have them fixed. Many of them are in poor shape.
President Granger has abolished the Public Service Ministry and placed its functions under the Ministry of the Presidency. That as pointed out elsewhere is the prerogative of the President. Mr. Trotman would not be unmindful that the Office of the President was at the centre of the contract employee syndrome. He would be aware too that his political colleague and now Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, in Opposition, had called for a moratorium on the hiring of contract employees. In 2013 he even promised that “if the practice persists into next year’s budget the opposition will indeed be unforgiving.” Then, Mr. Nagamootoo was “in favor of allowing the resuscitation of employment by merit through the Public Service Commission”.
While Focus shares what we hope are still the Prime Minister’s sentiments, it recognises that the Granger Administration could not begin to function without recruiting a number of persons on contracts while it tried to fix the broken system. We are concerned however, judging from the data in the Estimates that the Administration may be going too far when it comes to contract employees. Having made all allowances for the reorganisation of the ministries, we note that the number of contract employees under the new Administration will increase in 2015 over the already huge numbers in 2014.
The increase is not great – 3,671 over 3,628. But they point in the wrong direction. What is troubling however, is that employment cost for contract employees is projected to increase year on year by 15%. For public sector wages as a whole the increase is only 11%. In other words, contract employees are receiving a larger share of the pie.
We will be watching very closely to assess whether the new Administration’s actions on contract employees will match the rhetoric used when in opposition. The Finance Minister in his Budget Speech announced that the Government plans to revamp the public service, to build capacity and improve efficiency, and to enhance the conditions of service of public servants, including salaries. The task of carrying out a study with a view to making an in depth report has been given to Professor Harold Lutchman who headed the list of the APNU + AFC.
Professor Lutchman is experienced enough to recognise that the extremely high number of contract employees within the system currently cannot facilitate the development of a vibrant, viable public service. Since the Office of the President is an agency beset with one of the worst cases of the contract employee syndrome he will have a battle on his hands. He will require not only considerable resources and some specialist expertise to achieve the desired results but must be allowed the freedom and the independence to act in his best professional judgment.
He should be given all the resources and facilities he needs to restore quality in the public service, described by President Granger as the “engine of the executive”.
