Windhoek: President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah on Friday called on public servants to end the culture of routine overtime, urging greater efficiency, accountability, and discipline in government operations. Addressing public servants, Nandi-Ndaitwah emphasized that overtime must not become a default practice, particularly at a time when the country is facing tight fiscal constraints and growing public expectations for improved service delivery.
According to Namibia Press Agency, Nandi-Ndaitwah questioned the necessity of regular overtime, asking, "Are we really saying the time from eight to one, lunch break two to five is not enough, that we have regular overtimes? I wonder if we are always having work behind that justifies these overtimes." She stressed that fiscal responsibility must be a guiding principle across ministries, especially given that the public service wage bill stands at over N.dollars 35 billion, serving more than 100,000 employees.
Nandi-Ndaitwah highlighted the need for prudent utilization of scarce resources, advocating for the concept of achieving more with less to avoid reaching a critical stage. She linked inefficiency in the civil service to lost economic opportunities, particularly in sectors where government bottlenecks delay foreign and domestic investment. "If you are delaying a necessary investment to come into the country, do you know how many jobs you are sending out?" she asked the public servants, emphasizing the impact on potential employment for Namibians.
Reiterating the significance of trust in public service, Nandi-Ndaitwah likened it to a social contract, urging civil servants not to betray the nation's trust. She called for reform and modernization, stressing the importance of customer care, technology, and a citizen-friendly approach as essential tools for service delivery. "Customer care and citizen-friendly approaches are no longer an option. They are a mass imperative. If we adopt it in the public service, it will be transferred to the general public," she stated.
As Namibia faces ongoing economic pressures, the President's message was clear: efficiency must replace excess, and public trust must be earned through action, not just attendance.