Establishment of PDU has come without any meaningful explanation -Dipak Patel
Ulande Nkomesha
FORMER commerce, trade and industry minister Dipak Patel says more clarity is needed on how the Presidential Delivery Unit will function if government wants people to buy-in.
On Saturday President Hakainde Hichilema announced the establishment of Presidential Delivery Unit, saying it was aimed at accelerating the implementation of high priority government programmes and projects.
But in a write up, Patel said the announcement by State House on the establishment of PDU without any meaningful explanation did not help anyone.
Patel said the general public, the civil servants and the private sector were not the opposition and deserved comprehensive explanations on how the PDU, which he personally believes
is an excellent initiative, will function.
“I have learnt from my former Ministerial portfolio’s and political campaign management days that keeping the public well informed on matters of public policy is very important if one is to expect their buy-in. I have taken the time and made the effort to review the plethora of information that is available in the public domain on Presidential Delivery Units that have been established in many African, European and Asian countries. I have reviewed their successes and their failures. How and what one communicates is important.
The announcement by State House that the President has created a Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU), without any meaningful explanation does not help anyone. And to suggest, as my friend Mr Clayson Hamasaka, the Chief State House Communication Specialist did ‘that opposition will always criticise government’ misses the point; the art of communications is to the have clarity, cohesiveness and completeness,” Patel said.
“The general public, the civil servants and the private sector are not the opposition, and they deserve comprehensive explanations. This is especially true for the civil servants, who
can either make or break any reform program. Hear me now and believe me later, I have been through two economic reform programs under President Chiluba and President Mwanawasa. Dogged focus from the President, Cabinet
Ministers, Civil Servants and private sector support, and speed, are the key to success.
And for any success, all the key players must know the ‘why’, the ‘what’ and the ‘when’”.
He wondered whether the PDU would deal with rigidities which inhibit investment or policy reform which prevented the acceleration of investment.
“The statement from State House in part reads ‘President Hakainde Hichilema has
established the Presidential Delivery Unit to accelerate the implementation of high priority government programs and projects’. There is a need for further clarity. Will the PDU also deal with rigidities that inhibit investment? Will PDU deal with policy reform.