By: Lamin B. Darboe
In its efforts to digitalise the civil service systems, the Ministry of Public Service, Administrative Reform, Policy Coordination and Delivery is installing biometric time attendance devices in all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the public service and linking it to government payroll system. Smart Business Group Ltd, a Gambian multipurpose company, assisted by the IT officers from Ministries of Public Service and Communication and Digital Economy (MoCDE), are undertaking the installation and programming of the system.
So far the team has installed 46 Biometric Time Attendance Devices out of the 100 Government MDAs. This will ensure that the system will automatically stop salaries of civil servants who don’t clock in for more than one month, unless some plausible explanation is provided to restore their salaries.
Civil servants are therefore advised to abide by the rules and regulations in accordance with the General Orders and Public Service Commission (PSC) regulations, in the event they stay away from work due to unavoidable situations like ill-health, maternity, further studies or even resignation. The Ministry believes that the new system will ensure punctuality, and regularity, and overall contribute to effective performance management in the civil service.
