HO – Wednesday 8th to Friday 17th November 2023: The Local Government Service as part of its reforms to improve performance in essential public services to the citizens at all levels of operation, has trained Four Hundred and Fifty-Two (452) Key Actors and Eight Hundred and Twenty-Seven (827) Technical Staff. The trainees were drawn from the Two Hundred and Sixty-One (261) Metropolitan Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) and the Sixteen (16) Regional Coordinating Councils (RCCs).
The aim of the training was to build their capacities in Client Service Management, to fully develop a standard Client Service Operational manual and to establish a Client Service Class as a professional class in the Service.
The last of the four (4) Zonal trainings ended at Ho in the Volta Region on Friday, 17th November 2023. The participants were drawn from the Oti, Eastern, Volta and the Greater Accra Regions. They included Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Coordinating Directors (MMDCDs) for the Management Section. The technical officers included Client Service Officers (CSOs), Client Service Supervisors and Management Information System Officers (MISOs). Regional Trainers and Client Service Unit Officers of the Regional Coordinating Councils were also present.
In a welcoming remark delivered on behalf of the Head of Service, Ing. Dr. Nana Ato Arthur by some Regional Coordinating Directors, he reiterated the importance of a functional Client Service system as a tool to protect the reputations of the Institution, the client, and the citizens in general. It also provides avenues for positive organizational changes for improved service delivery, he said. A functional client service system, he revealed is an enabler of revenue maximization due to transparency and accountability. He therefore called for professional, motivated client service staff to readily receive requests and grievances, dispatch them to the appropriate department/unit and send feedback to clients within the set timelines in an era where citizens have become very discerning and consequently demand transparency and accountability from duty bearers.
He stressed that the Office of the Head of the Local Government Service will continue to train its entire staff in the various classes to equip them with requisite knowledge to give their best in the delivery of their mandate.
The Volta Regional Minister, Dr. Archibald Letsa who was the invited guest, in his address, admonished Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCE’s) to be the drivers of this new reforms. He also entreated the technical Staff to take the training seriously, to go back and treat Clients with respect irrespective of their appearance and provide the best of services to their clients.
Present at the workshop were the Director of Budget, Mr. Emmanual Nartey, the Director of Management & Technical Services, Dr. Audrey Smock Amoah, the Director of Internal Audit, Mr. Thomas Allotey, the Director Policy Planning Monitoring & Evaluation, Mr. Prosper Ahalivor, the Director of Human Resource, Mr. Peter Asante, the Technical Adviser on the GSCSP, Madam Lena Otoo, the Procurement Specialist on the GSCSP, Mr. Benjamin Ankrah and some Senior Staff at the OHLGS.
Madam Esther P. Aikins at Cabinet Secretariat, Office of the President and the Director of Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Madam Elizabeth Kuffour were also present to share their knowledge on Client Service.
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.