Tamale – Wednesday November 21, 2018: The Office of the Head of the Local Government Service (OHLGS) in collaboration with the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS) commenced a series of nationwide trainings on Decentralisation and Local Governance for Heads of Department of District Assemblies. The first of these training programmes was organised at the Global Dreams Hotel in Tamale, the Northern Regional capital. The two others would be held in Upper East and Upper West Regions involved Heads of Departments of Assemblies in the three Northern Regions.
The training was to deepen and enhance knowledge and understanding of the structure, issues and challenges associated with the process of decentralisation and local governance with emphasis on the roles and responsibilities expected of departments. The training was expected to foster a deeper appreciation of the challenges of decentralised local governance to ensure the effective, efficient and coordinated performance of the Heads of Departments of Assemblies.
Opening the workshop for the second batch, the Director for Management and Technical Services at the OHLGS, Ing. Mabel Amoako-Atta (Mrs) noted that, knowledge gap existed among Heads of Departments of Assemblies and that was very much observed during interviews. She underscored the critical need to bridge the knowledge gap for enhanced capacities of departmental heads to facilitate the effective discharge of duties. She called for active involvement of participants to ensure they derive the best from the training.
Speaking on behalf of the ILGS, the Acting Director of the institute, Abdulai Dramani (PhD), was elated about the collaboration between the OHLGS, ILGS, DANIDA and Office of the Head of the Civil Service (OHCS) in the organisation of the training programme. He said time and space (ie the geographical location of Assemblies within which officers work) were factors that had contributed in creating the knowledge and skills gap observed among officers. He urged participants to network to share experiences and best practices relevant to the performance of their duties.
The workshop which begun on Monday November 18 would end on Saturday November 24, 2018. A total of Two Hundred and Twenty One (221) Heads of ten (10) Departments from Assemblies in the three Regions of the North in addition to staff from the respective Regional Coordinating Councils had been slated to benefit from the training.