THURSDAY 5TH & FRIDAY 6TH APRIL, 2018: The Head of Local Government Service, Dr. Nana Ato Arthur paid working visits to the Techiman Municipal, Techiman North District and Wenchi Municipal Assemblies in the Brong Ahafo Region as well as Offinso North District Assembly in the Ashanti Region to interact with staff. The Head of Service was accompanied by the Chief Director and other members of his Management team.
Interacting with staff at the various Assemblies, the Head of Service reiterated his vision for the Service which was anchored on five thematic areas namely (1) building capacities of staff; (2) sharing of best practices among Assemblies; (3) improving revenue mobilization; (4) sanitation management; and (5) professionalism.
Dr. Arthur urged staff to ensure the practice of good time management and show dedication to work. He advised officers to eschew vices such as leakage of official information and improper use of official working hours eg being absorbed in social media. The Head of Service also informed staff of a recent Supreme Court ruling on political neutrality of staff in the Civil and Local Government Services and advised that enhanced professionalism would help to be politically neutral.
The Chief Executives and their Co-ordinating Directors in their address informed the Head of Service and his team of proactive measures put in place for improved revenue mobilization and judicious use of resources. They identified inadequate staff, office accommodation and logistics as some of the challenges hampering service delivery by Assemblies at the local levels.
Staff of the Assemblies visited took the opportunity to interact with the Head of Service and sought clarification on issues of concern. Some of the issues raised were; delays in promotions and payment of salary arrears; non-inclusion of some category of staff in training programmes; requirements for the Acting Co-ordinating Director role; decentralisation of the Ghana Health and Education Services; and migration from one Service to another.
The Head of Service and his team members took turns to respond to the concerns of staff and thanked the leadership of the Assemblies for the warm reception accorded them.