By Karamba Touray
I was saddened to learn of the passing of Abdou Sara Janha, a life long civil servant and former secretary general of The Gambia. He was a wise, capable and dedicated professional who understood The Gambia’s challenges as well as its potential in the family of nations. I had the good fortune of having an in-depth conversation with him about his lengthy service while he was living in exile in the UK after the 1994 coup.
In retirement and upon his return home, I benefited from his thoughtful insights on governance and public policy that he occasionally shared on his Facebook page and through additional interactions across other pages. I found in him key qualities I like in leaders – knowledge, experience, wisdom and the kind of moderate pragmatism I see in folks of his generation. With his passing, the sun sets on the golden age of civil service management that I call the Christensen /Langley/Janha tradition of competent structuring and management of The Gambia’s civil service that was based on gradual and proper training, garnering broad based experience and focus on quality.
Yahya Jammeh wrecked that carefully established system that ensured permanent secretaries would have had on average a minimum of twenty years of continuous service, training, circulation into different sectors before reaching those apex positions. A once widely admired civil service put together by good and dedicated professionals like Mr Janha has been hollowed out and hobbled by the two bad presidents that succeeded Sir Dawda in the persons of Yahya Jammeh and Adama Barrow.
We pray for Allah to grant jannah to Abdou Sara Janha, a patriot, wise man and the consummate professional civil servant. We pray for the restoration of The Gambia’s civil service to the degree of respectability and admiration it once had when others came to our shores to learn how we ran our government.
When did you join the civil service?
I joined the civil service as a qualified teacher in 1962. I joined the Administrative Service, Gambia Government, in 1969.
What academic training did you have? Did you go straight for studies or did you go after joining the government?
I earned a BA Degree at Lincoln University in 1969; Masters in Public Policy and Administration, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Diploma in Commercial Policy, GATT in Geneva; and Diploma in General Management from Henley College of Management in United Kingdom.
When did you become permanent secretary and for how long did you serve in that post?
I became a permanent secretary in 1979. I served as permanent secretary from 1979 to 1984. In 1984, I was appointed as chairman and chief executive of the Gambia National Investment Board. I served the board for four years before my appointment as secretary general and head of the civil service (1988 – 1994).
How would you describe the role and function of the secretary general? What was a typical day at the office for you?
The secretary general is principal adviser to the president and as such ensure that policy papers brought before the president conform to government policy framework and proper consultation were carried out with relevant ministries before the papers were given consideration by cabinet. The secretary general ensures that cabinet decisions are implemented. The secretary general coordinates the work of government departments at PS level and keep the government machinery working. The secretary general advises the president on the appointment of senior civil servants and managing directors of corporations and members of public sector boards. The secretary general drives the development of new policies and programmes and prepares briefs and position papers for the government as well as chairs the Joint Intelligence Committee which reports to the president. The secretary general on a daily basis interacts with permanent secretaries, ministers, diplomats, members of the public, et cetera.
The typical day at the Office of the President entails daily interaction with the president, civil servants, ministers, review of policies and programme implementation, coordinating the work of different departments and normal routine administrative work.
Is the Public Service Commission outside the supervisory responsibility of the SG?
The Public Service Commission is independent and therefore outside the supervisory responsibility of the SG.
Does the SG have statutory authority to remove a permanent secretary or did that require a presidential approval?
The SG did not have the statutory authority to remove permanent secretaries. Permanent Secretaries are appointed and removed by the president on the advice of the secretary general. The process at some point may require the endorsement of the PSC.
How did you handle policy differences between a PS and his minister? I am particularly interested in how you as the SG navigated both the politics and the substance of the issue at hand.
The permanent secretary’s role is principally to give the best possible advice to his minister on policy matters. It is the minister who ultimately decides and assumes full responsibility for his decisions. Even where a PS feels strongly about an issue contrary to the position taken by his minister, all he could do is record his advice. He could use his channel to the SG and call the SG’s attention to the issue. The SG could in turn advise the president. However before the matter is brought to the president’s attention, the SG in his vantage position could iron out the differences between the PS and his minister.
Did the president directly intervene in personnel matters or did he generally defer to the SG and PSC?
The president had drawn a strong line between the civil service and politicians. The civil service was deemed to be a professional service and its management was governed by explicit rules, Government Orders and Financial Instructions (GO & FI) as well as PSC regulations in terms of appointment and promotions. The president and his ministers rarely intervened in personnel matters and when they did, they channel their complaint, misgivings through the system which protects the civil servant from arbitrary and erratic decision making which could have deleterious impact on his career.
In your experience has there ever been a PS with no prior experience in gov’t even if the person had a PhD?
There was never a permanent secretary appointed without some prior experience in government in the period I served in government. The non-appointment of outsiders in the permanent secretary cadre was not an explicit government policy. The practice has some virtue and some disadvantages which are open to debate. However, the civil service encouraged Gambians with higher qualifications and relevant job experience to join the civil service at higher grades and levels but never as head of a ministry for a start. However their appointments at relatively higher levels should give them an advantage over time in reaching the top. The vision and plan that was being developed would have allowed people with exceptional abilities and skills to be absorbed into highly remunerative careers other than the Civil service. The senior civil service positions were attractive only for lack of other profitable avenues for achieving one’s personal development.
What would you say was your highest priority in the management of the civil service?
The highest priority was to keep the civil service as professional and as independent as possible. I gave a lot of attention to capacity development through training and intense engagement of the professionals with the work of the government. Senior civil servants were held accountable in implementing government programmes and ensuring that outcomes are achieved with the minimum of risks. The integrity of the service had to be safeguarded in terms of good human resources development and management and strong civil service ethos which frowns on corruption and prides itself on rendering service to the public.
What specifically did you do as SG to retain able civil servants with both the academic credentials and institutional memory to help run a stable government?
I tried to retain able civil servants by giving them challenging assignments and encouraging them to think outside the box and become innovators in the restricted setting of the government machinery. I also believed in continuous training and consultations. We were therefore organising retreats of all kinds to ensure coherence in government’s policies and programme and development of a vision that could secure The Gambia a small niche in the world that would propel its development. I was personally fascinated by small countries that have managed to develop despite their small size and poor resource base like Singapore, Malta, Dubai and even the Scandinavian countries. We were in the process of developing new ways of providing incentives to the best and brightest in the public service. We were trying to develop a leaner and more professional civil service, properly remunerated and accountable. In the unique situation of The Gambia, it was the view that that the senior civil service cadre should be thoroughly professional and forward looking. We were studying systems in places in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and New Zealand where civil servants were remunerated on the basis of performance. We had already started experimenting with the contract system with public enterprises, like Gamtel and GPA. And some system of fixed term contracts for permanent secretaries would have been introduced, renewable only on the basis of performance.
What were some of the mistakes you made as SG?
I am sure I made many mistakes as SG but we had established checks and balances among the institutions of government that allow for such mistakes to be corrected before they became overblown. This notwithstanding, the government had failed to make sure that the system we were trying to institute was protected through proper security. The security system was loose, undermined by tribalism, unbridled political ambition and weak leadership. I failed in persuading the powers that without a good state security system, all the talk about development was just a pipe dream.
