Between August 22 and 24, 2017, the Head of the Local Government Service, Dr. Nana Ato Arthur paid working visits to seven (7) District Assemblies in the Ashanti Region. The visits form part of a nationwide familiarization tour of District Assemblies and is designed to enable the Head of Service interact with staff at first-hand and also to share his vision with staff. The Assemblies visited were Asante Akim South District, Asante Akim North District, Asante Akim Central Municipal, Ejisu-Juaben Municipal, Asokore Mampong Municipal, Bekwai Municipal and Obuasi Municipal.
In his interaction with staff, the Head of Service raised a number of issues. He informed officers of the ongoing staff re-shuffle and said it was to improve the performance of Assemblies. Dr. Arthur also noted the poor performance of most Assemblies in the area of revenue mobilization. To this end, he urged the Assemblies to come out with realistic revenue forecast and projections using reliable data. He also urged the Assemblies to institute measures to plug ‘revenue or financial leakages’ to enhance revenue mobilization. He again, commended Assemblies that have introduced electronic biometric clocking devices to check lateness and absenteeism. Furthermore, the Head of Service said it was important for Assemblies to be security conscious and put in place measures to eliminate theft, waste and misuse of available resources.
Dr. Nana Ato Arthur stressed on the need for Assemblies to prioritise capacity building of their staff. In this regard, he suggested that some percentage of Internally Generated Fund (IGF) could be one of the sources for funding capacity-building. This according to Head of Service would sharpen their skills and improve productivity. Dr. Nana Ato Arthur also cautioned against the misuse of social media during productive hours and urged the adoption of good work ethics by staff. He charged staff to improve and strive for excellence in service delivery. He further urged staff to rally behind the new Chief Executives to enable them succeed. In all the Assemblies visited, members of staff were given opportunity to ask questions and also seek clarification(s) on issues of concern.
The Chief Executives were appreciative of the visits by the Head of Service and his team and indicated their commitment to adhere to all the Policy Frameworks of the Service. They also pledged to use the resources available to the Assemblies judiciously. The Head of Service was accompanied by the Chief Director, Mr. Joseph Dasanah and some senior officers of the Office of the Head of the Local Government Service (OHLGS).