Men account for 54 per cent of executive positions in the public sector, the Public Service Commission (PSC) has revealed.

The remaining 46 per cent is occupied by women, PSC Chairperson Salmaan Jacobs said while unveiling the latest PSC statistics contained in the annual report for the financial year 2021/22, in the capital on Wednesday.

He said Namibia, out of the 71 305 public servants excluding the Namibian Defence Force, Namibian Police Force, Prisons and Correctional Service personnel, has 63 per cent women and 37 per cent men in the lower categories. On management level, the roles are reversed.

“On management level, the percentage of men are 54 per cent, while women are 46 per cent, both at government offices, ministries and agencies (OMAs) and on regional council level,” Jacobs said.

The total staffing in the public service is 107 654.

Jacobs said this during his first public address as the newly appointed PSC chairperson, effective 01 December 2022, to staff members from the Department of the Public Service Commission Secretariat and Department of Public Service Management.

He also noted the dire implications the pandemic had on public sector workers.

“Many public servants succumbed to this pandemic and many families lost their loved ones and breadwinners during this period,” he said.

Furthermore to the annual report, Jacobs announced that PSC will start providing annual addresses to their staff and the public as well about PSC’s work.

“The commissioners felt it may be a good idea to give, in addition to the annual report, an annual address to the staff and the public about the work of the commission,” he noted.

It will focus on what the commission did the previous year, the challenges faced by PSC during that period, and proposals to improve on these challenges, as well as the way forward, he explained.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency