Koforidua- October Friday 18, 2019: The Head of the Local Government Service, Ing Dr. Nana Ato Arthur was among one hundred and eighty (180) participants who attended the 2019 Conference of Chairpersons of Governing Boards/Councils, Chief Directors and Chief Executives of the Public Service Institutions in the country. The Chairman of the Local Government Service Council, Nana Rex Owusu-Ansah and the Acting Chief Director of the Office of the Head of the Local Government Service (OHLGS), Mr James Oppong-Mensah were also in attendance. The two-day Conference which was themed ‘Value creation and efficient service delivery in Public Service Organisations in the era of Ghana Beyond Aid’ was organised under the auspices of the Public Services Commission (PSC).
Opening the Conference, the President of the Republic and Guest of Honour, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo, underscored the importance of the Public Service in forging critical and tangible links with the citizenry as well as providing mechanism for continuity. He challenged public servants to embrace and adopt innovative practices and leverage information technology to meet long-term demands. He reiterated government commitment to improve service conditions and work environment for government employees in addition to instituting mechanisms to foster a good maintenance culture and assets stock-taking. He emphasised the need for multi-channels and better access to detailed information; and the redesign of internal services to focus on clients. He called on the leadership of Public Service Institutions to adopt good mechanisms to ensure good corporate governance.
The Chairman of the Public Services Commission, Dr. Janet Ampadu Fofie reminded leaders of public service institutions of the need to insist on adherence to codes of conducts, rules and regulations governing the Public Service. She said the Commission plans to introduce a new performance management policy and urged boards and managements of public service institutions to show commitment to its operationalisation and implementation. She also noted that a new configuration of the HRMIS was underway to facilitate management of human resources, determine ceilings as well as identify idle or redundant positions.
Highlights of presentations at the conference included Value creation and efficient service delivery in Public Service Organisations in the era of Ghana Beyond Aid; the role and expectations of Public Services in the implementation of the Ghana beyond Aid Policy; Experience-Sharing/good practice from (SSNIT, FDA, NIA, GPHA and DVLA) and the role of Heads of entities in ethical procurement.
The Annual Conferences of Chairpersons of Governing Boards/Councils, Chief Directors and Chief Executives of the Ghana Public Services is an annual event that seeks to provide the opportunity for the leadership of the public sector to explore issues of topical and emerging relevance; update their knowledge of government policies and initiatives and share experiences and international best practice in public administration and governance.