The Public Service Commission expects that 17 Permanent Secretaries appointed to head government ministries will lift civil service output levels.

PSC Chair Vishnu Mohan says the people selected have performed the best during a rigorous interview process and must now deliver on government’s objectives.

“The objective here is to transform the ministries into more vibrant, forward looking and more strategic units which will help the country progress. We are here to help in that process inculcates the culture of productivity, efficiency. We will continue to interact with the Permanent Secretaries and measure performance and enhancement.”

Mohan says the PSC expects these Permanent Secretaries to operate like Chief Executives – take ownership and run the ministries similar to private sector businesses.

All Permanent Secretaries will be given Key Performance Indicators and the PSC will put in place a performance management programme to track outcomes.

All positions are effective from January 1st with about two months for transitions. The PSC hasn’t announced five posts because the appointees are expatriates and need to accept and sign their contracts.

Their positions are Permanent Secretary for Infrastructure and Transport, Permanent Secretary for Civil Service; Permanent Secretary for Local Government, Housing and Environment; Permanent Secretary for Youth and Sports and Permanent Secretary for Communication and Information Technology.

The unfilled roles of Permanent Secretary for Finance; Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Permanent Secretary for Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations will be re-advertised.

Finally, there is no longer a Permanent Secretary for Sugar; this has been merged with the P.S for Agriculture.