The Executive Director of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has said that public service delivery can positively change with good leadership.
Musisi made the remark on Saturday as a discussant on the first panel of the 2018 Ibrahim Forum in Kigali, Rwanda. At the Forum that is organised by MO Ibrahim Foundation, Ms. Musisi also said that public service ‘is not dull and boring as some people say’.
““It’s not a rule that public service is dull and boring and ineffective. We can change, starting with the leadership,” Ms. Musisi said at the forum where discussants are focusing on the growing expectations of public service.
“What do people want in Kampala? They want everything! Because when we came in 2011 there was hardly any public services, service delivery, the basic things that a lot of local authorities take for granted,” she added.
The former President of the African Development Bank Group Donald Kaberuka, while discussing the topic, said that corruption and embezzlement of public funds needs to be tackled if public service is to be made efficient.
“Don’t steal our money. Deliver the services. Be accountable. If those three are met, citizens will understand,” he said.
Another discussant, Yvonne Mensah, Head of Africa, Political Division, Commonwealth Secretariat, said: “We understand quite well that the public service is constrained. However, we also want everything. Housing, unemployment, attitudes, quality of delivery – those are the things that we expect.”
Barclays Africa Group CEO Maria Ramos said: “I was a very proud public servant and I remain a very proud public servant. It is about leadership, it’s about integrity, it’s about purpose, it’s about accountability. It’s a phenomenal career for a young person.”
NEPAD’s Ibrahim Mayaki, while contributing to the debate via teleconferencing platform said that young and brilliant people should be attracted into the civil service.
“Those who are going to public services are not always the best. This is an issue we need to tackle; how to attract youngsters to be public servants,” he said.
