At committee evaluation confab: Gov’t lauds gains made in new civil servants’ payment, management system.

This was at the end of the 7th session of the Inter-ministerial Committee charged with assisting the service provider chosen to upgrade the Computerised System, for the Integrated Management of State Personnel and the Payroll, known by its French acronym SIGIPES.

The committee was put in place on March 26, 2020. It was also given the mission to monitor and supervise the implementation of a new system for the payment and management of state personnel.

Progress made

Officials disclosed that between when the committee last met and last Thursday, being March 2023 and May 2024, over twelve modules have been established.

They also indicated that the modules have been tested by staff in at least 36 institutions. It was equally said that the blank testing of the application went operational on January 2 this year. 

Those who have been using the system as at now, the Committee was told, are satisfied. Resources indicated that there is infrastructure to permit the parallel functioning of the system. 

Meanwhile, the operational phase of the system it was said, went operational Thursday.

Integration of payment systems 

Speaking to the press, Minister Joseph Le, who is Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee, said it was necessary to make an evaluation, given that some ground has been covered.

In addition, the minister announced that: “In the days ahead, we are going to totally change things. We shall integrate all the services into one computerised system, which is already functional, to ensure dynamism”.

While disclosing that the level of reforms is at 79 percent, Minister Joseph Le said, in the days ahead, the ANTILOPE system being used at the Ministry of Finance, will be harmonised with the SIGIPES that is being used by the public service ministry. 

He said this will enable stakeholders operate with the same information to properly manage civil servants and other issues.

Meantime, the new system focuses on digitising public servant files and developing remote services and reflecting on a broader push towards digitisation in public administration

Benefits of new system

On what the new system is bringing to the management and payment of state personnel, Joseph Le declared that: “This system not only automates payroll processes, it digitises public servants’ files, and manages electronic archives, streamlining record-keeping and data retrieval. However, this takes time, so we are evolving slowly and steadily” 

Features of new SIGIPES

It should be said that the new SIGIPES has several innovations, designed to improve the management of state human resources. Key features include bilingual functionality, supporting both English and French languages, enhancing remote services for more efficient public service interactions and biometric time management for precise time tracking. There are also enhanced security measures to ensure data integrity and confidentiality.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3141 of Friday June 14, 2024