Ambassador Jonathan Wutawunashe (JW) recently retired from the position of Secretary to Service Commissions, after more than 40 years of service in Government. The Sunday Mail’s TANYARADZWA RUSIKE (TR) spoke to the former top bureaucrat and diplomat, who reflected on his tenure.
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TR: Can you give a brief background of who Ambassador Jonathan Wutawunashe is?
JW: I was born at Gutu Mission in September 1955. The son of a teacher, I attended several rural schools in different parts of Zimbabwe. I did my secondary schooling at Fletcher High School, and first and second degrees in the Arts at the then University of Rhodesia, which I later followed up with a Master’s degree in International Affairs at American University, Washington, DC. I then joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1980, and was in the first batch of Zimbabwean Foreign Service trainees.
From there, I was selected for further diplomatic training in Australia, and benefited from subsequent exposure to policy analysis through a programme at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. As a diplomat, I have held high-level postings in North America, Europe and Asia. My most recent postings as Ambassador were to India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and the Maldives.
I am also a writer, poet, songwriter and musician (many are familiar with his song “Vana Vanokosha”). I used these talents to great effect in my role as a diplomat.
I was appointed to the post of Secretary to Service Commissions on a four-year contract in September 2018, a position from which I retired in September 2022.
TR: Can you take us through the journey during your tenure as Secretary to Service Commissions?
JW: I joined the Commissions at an exciting inflection point in the development of our country, a point at which the New Dispensation was embarking on a determined programme of transformation, ushering in a paradigm in which performance needed to be efficient, effective, verifiable and auditable.
At the Service Commissions, we realised, as we came in as new appointees, that the task for which we had been appointed was essentially one of administrative and institutional overhaul to give traction to the dictum that the assurance of positive outcomes delivered to citizens by public servants meant the abolition of a “business as usual” mindset.
The upshot of this was that no job, including ours, would ever be the same again.
In our strategic planning, we, therefore, dug deep, interrogating each structure and each job to determine its validity in helping deliver on the national vision. Work streams that were adjudged to be too narrowly conceived were broadened, while jobs that added no value were jettisoned. Once this internal exercise was complete, we engaged in the task of interrogating the structures in line ministries on the same rationale.
The Commissions became more creative and nimble, no longer focusing on being mere employers, but becoming true talent managers, attending holistically to all facets of public service, and to all dimensions of the livelihoods of public servants.
A new approach to remuneration that emphasised the need to go beyond the constraints of payroll interventions saw the creation of new livelihood opportunities in the form of well-conceived non-monetary benefits.
Measures were adopted to protect public servants from rent-seeking behaviours in the marketplace, notably through the provision of Government transport, accommodation and access to affordable loan financing.
The yardstick used to measure performance was recalibrated to produce a Personnel Performance System that quantified delivery, rewarded performance and punished non-performance.
TR: Can you outline some of your duties during your tenure?
JW: The job of Secretary to Service Commissions has a wide span of control. As head of the Secretariats of the Public Service Commission, the Defence Forces Service Commission, the Police Service Commission and the Prisons and Correctional Service Commission, the Secretary to Service Commissions, who, contrary to a common misperception, is not in the grade of Permanent Secretary, oversees the work of those secretariats as they prepare decisions and other documents for the Commissions, correspondence with Government and other entities and key communications.
As accounting officer, the Secretary is responsible for the preparation and management of the institution’s budget.
Policy drafting and communication of policy positions are key aspects of the work.
The communication of recruitment, training, promotion and other personnel processes constitutes a significant part of the job.
The Secretary also oversees the operations of Government pay points, namely, the Salary Service Bureau and the Pensions Office.
TR: What major achievements would you like to highlight?
JW: One key achievement registered by our team during my tenure was the transformation of Government’s training architecture through the creation of the Public Service Academy.
It was a pleasure for me to oversee the development of course modules that inculcate the values of the New Dispensation. I was particularly privileged to be involved in the incorporation of the patriotic and integrity values of the syllabus of the Chitepo School of Ideology in the curriculum of the academy.
That component is a major driver of the culture change called for by the Second Republic.
The Commissions, the Public Service Commission in particular, have become visible, rather than esoteric institutions.
Communication with the public has dramatically improved, and much more is known about the functions of the Commissions than was in the past. This, for me, is most gratifying. Camera shyness is a thing of the past.
TR: President Mnangagwa has emphasised the urgent need for an improved work culture among civil servants. How were you enforcing this during your time?
JW: Better coaching and encouragement are key, and the Commissions did their best to communicate the new values, the centrepiece of which is bringing positive outcomes to the people immediately.
Targeted training programmes have been of great assistance in this regard. Frequent consultations with Ministers and Permanent Secretaries on how best to align structures and procedures with the mandates given to them by the Office of the President and Cabinet are helping to accelerate the adoption of the new delivery culture.
TR: You served for a long time in the public service, what lessons did you learn?
JW: The first lesson that comes to mind is public service is service, not status or gain. You have to want to serve. Serving implies a willingness to make personal sacrifices and to accept opportunity costs.
The second lesson is related to the first, and that lesson is humility that accepts that you don’t know everything, and must work with others. We each hold a piece of the puzzle, and things make sense when each one contributes the piece they hold.
A third lesson is that we must reject invitations to self-loathing with which adversarial elements incessantly bombard countries that liberated themselves.
Self-affirmation is essential; diffidence and progress are antithetical.
TR: How will you be enjoying your retirement?
JW: I have retired from the job of Secretary to Service Commissions, but not from serving my country. I consider the current cessation of specific activities as but a brief sabbatical, but one during which I am not expected to rest on my laurels, but to re-attire for more service, in whatever shape or form it may come.
My lovely wife Shuvai and I are farmers, and we shall continue to do our bit. We are also musicians, and we may release something during this sabbatical. We are both writers as well.
Well, who knows? – The Sunday Mail
