ELMINA – Monday 4th to Wednesday 6th September, 2023: The Head of the Local Government Service, Ing. Dr. Nana Ato Arthur has lauded the pivotal role the Client Service Unit plays in every organisation and called for the need to streamline the activities involved in its management to propel the Service to the realisation of its vision of “A World Class Decentralised and Client Oriented Service”. The Head of service made the call when he delivered an opening address at a management workshop on the newly developed Local Government Service (LGS) Client Service Operational Manual (CSOM) held at Elimina.
The workshop has been clustered in four (4) Zones and begun with the Western Zone which brought together Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) and Metropolitan Municipal and District Coordinating Directors (MMDCDs) as the first batch for the Management Workshop. The second batch brought together Management Information System Officers (MISOs) and Client Service Unit Officers (CSUOs) for the Training of Trainers for Regional Trainers and Client Service Unit Officers of the Regional Coordinating Councils and the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Central and Western Regions of Ghana. The programme was organised through the collaborative efforts of the World Bank under the Ghana Secondary Cities Support Program (GSCSP) and the Office of the Head of Local Government Service.
Dr Arthur in addressing the MMDCEs and MMDCDs at the management workshop, stated the importance of the workshop which aims to improve the performance of public institutions that are mandated to provide essential public services to the citizens at all levels. He admitted the challenges encountered by the Service in trying to improve service delivery and lauded the support by the World Bank under the GSCSP in the development of systems, structures and standardised procedures into the Client Service Operational Manual. The Service he announced, was set to carry out capacity building activities towards the establishment of a functional Client Service Unit in the LGS. That he said, involves the establishment of an Operational Manual and a scheme of service for the establishment of the Client Service Class as a Professional Class.
Dr Arthur recognised the commitment of the MMDCEs and MMDCDs as key in the implementation of the reforms to improve service delivery. He charged RCCs and MMDAs who do not have their Client Service Charter to prepare one and existing ones be updated as soon as possible. He stressed the need for management to be responsible for the development and execution of an Action Plan of the reforms prescribed at their respective RCCs and MMDAs.
Madam Esther P. Aikins of Cabinet Secretariat delivered a presentation on the Client Service Charter. A National Trainer who is a Principal Engineer of the Management and Technical Services Directorate (MTSD) at the OHLGS, Ing. Baah Tetteh also delivered series of presentations on Client Service in diverse modules.
The presentations took participants through group exercises and group presentations as well as practical demonstrations which gave participants a better appreciation of the workshop.
The Director of Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) , Madam Elizabeth Kuffour, advised that, it is important to have a legal framework in the Service Charter as well as a Grievance Redress Mechanism System to deal with issues.
Present at the workshop were the Director of Budget, Mr. Emmanual Nartey, Director of Human Resource, Mr. Peter Asante, the Technical Adviser on the GSCSP, Madam Lena Otoo, the Procurement Specialist on the World Bank Project, Mr. Benjamin Ankrah and some Senior Staff at the OHLGS.
The workshop continues in Tamale with participants from the Northern Zone.