Rhetorical But Difinitive.

The National Key Result Areas ( NKRA) fanfare sounds very impressive but isn't it saying the obvious? Who should be resposible for improving the education system in the country if not the Minister of Education: who should see that crime is reduced and public security improved if not the Minister of Home Affairs: who should ensure that corruption is stamped out if not a Minister in the PM's Dept.: who should ensure that poverty and social neglect be overcome if not the Minister for Social wellbeing etc.etc.
That doesn't reduce the responsibility of the othe Ministers nor absolve them from the joint-responsibility of Cabinet.

It's just like saying that each Minister must now focus on the obvious responsibilities within his or her portfolio and ensure that all highlighted or newly defined goals are achieved. Simply put: Do your work and no excuses.

What we all await for is the Key Performace Index (KPI) against which the achievement of the newly defined goals (or priortities) are to be measured. November seems a long way off. At least some idea of what the criteria will be must be made known and discussed as we go along for noe can be really final. Evaluation of goal achievement is always a subjective matter since the degree of achievement can always be pitched against level of satisfaction achieved. Which is better? 90% achievement at 40% level of satisfaction or 40% achievement at 90% level of satisfaction? 100% achievement at 100% level of satisfaction is, of course, the ideal which can seldom be achieved.

So, untill we have the gauge by which achievement and satisfaction level can be measured, how well a Minister or a Public Official performs in the achievement of certain goals, remains arguable. Impressive reports can hide lack-lustre performance just as high-visibility actions hide little progress. Let's hope that the production of the KPI will not become a goal that is given more attention than the results that it's supposed to measure.