Peduase – Wednesday September 11, 2019: The Office of the Head of the Local Government Service (OHLGS) organised a workshop to sensitise stakeholders in the media on decentralisation and local governance. The workshop, which took place at Peduase in the Eastern Region, saw news editors, morning show hosts, reporters and producers from selected media organisations in attendance. It was also to equip the stakeholders with the requisite knowledge to ensure accurate reportage of issues on decentralisation and local governance.
Addressing participants, the Head of the Local Government Service, Ing. Dr Nana Ato Arthur underscored the contributions of the media in ensuring good governance and shaping development outcomes. He set the records straight on two issues that had gained wide publicity in mainstream media and other online portals in recent times.
First he said, the LGS has interdicted three (3) officers of the Service for their participation in partisan politics pending investigations and decision by the Council. According to him, their actions contradicts Article 284 of the 1992 Constitution that prohibits public officers from putting themselves in positions where their personal interest conflicts or is likely to conflict with the performance of their functions; and the Code of Conduct of the LGS. To buttress the point, he said a Supreme Court judgement in 2016 upheld the rights of all staff of the LGS to actively engage in political party activity however they were to have resigned from office before doing so.
The second boarded on a recruitment scam that suggested that the LGS has issued adverts for recruitment of additional staff. According to Dr Arthur, the Service had just completed a process it begun in February 2019 to engage Two Thousand Two Hundred and Ninety (2,290) additional staff and therefore not the author of the said advert. He assured the general public that when recruitment opportunities turned up in future due process and procedures would be followed and this would be communicated through the appropriate channels.
Participants were enlightened on Ghana’s National Decentralisation Policy Framework and the role of the LGS in ensuring effective Administrative Decentralisation, one of the major pillars of the framework. Other areas discussed included the Legal and Policy Frameworks for Decentralisation and Local Governance; major changes by the new Local Governance Act (Act 936); as well as the common mistakes made in distinguishing between the LGS and other sector specific services and institutions of state. There was an open forum during which participants asked questions to enable them better appreciate the country’s decentralised local governance system.
Also present at the workshop were the Acting Chief Director Mr James Oppong-Mensah, Directors, Heads and other senior staff of the Office of the Head of the Local Government Service (OHLGS).