Adentan SPEFA group schooled on good leadership

Accra, May 24, GNA - Members of the Adentan Social Public Expenditure and Accountability (SPEFA)group has urged both right holders and duty bearers to embrace good quality leadership skills.

Mr Felix Agyei Amakye, a lecturer of the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS),who gave a talk on, 'Leadership and Accountability', at the Third Forum of the SPEFA, advised the members to embrace communication, consultation and cooperation as effective tools for good leadership.

Leadership, he said, was the ability of an individual to influence, motivate and enable others to contribute towards the effectiveness of an organisation, adding: 'It is about taking risks to do what others are not willing to do.'

'It is all about change, the process of influencing others to accomplish a desired goal, understanding people and about getting people pointing and acting in the same direction to achieve development goals,' he emphasised.

Mr Amakye gave a practical demonstration of what constituted good leadership skills, saying it required good communication, consultation and cooperation.

'Leadership is establishing direction, developing a vision of the future and strategies and providing energy to achieve success.

'Leadership aligns people and communicates change; leadership is about engaging people in the communities so that they see the District Assembly's success as a platform for their success,' he stated.

Mr. Amakye explained that there were three types of leadership namely; Transactional, which focuses on exchanges that occur between leaders and their followers; Transformational, which is the process of engaging with others to create a connection that increases motivation and morality in both the leader and the follower; and Pseudo-transformational leadership, which focuses on the leader's own interests rather than the interests of their followers.

He identified transformational leadership as the most preferred option, saying it caused change in individuals and social systems, enhanced motivation, morale and performance of followers through a variety of mechanisms.

'Being a role model for followers that inspires them, challenging followers to take greater ownership for their work, and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of followers, the transformational leader thinks into the future, creates changes, implements new ideas that will ensure sustainable development,' he explained

Transformational leaders, he noted, did not stay with the status quo, but worked hand in hand to create a future for the community they worked, and were forward thinking and creative.

He listed visioning, sense of responsibility, managerial, motivation and communication as some of the professional skills a good leader must possess, while confidence, reputation, self-satisfaction and integrity could be said to be personal skills an effective and good leader must have.

Madam Nora Ollennu, the Chief Executive Officer of Intervention Forum, a non-governmental organisation, who is also the Local Capacity Builder and Focal Person for the Adentan Citizens' Group, gave an update of a number of activities undertaken by SPEFA.

She said a five-member Steering Committee of SPEFA attended Town Hall meetings of the AdMA, during which they learnt a lot about the Assembly's activities.

A monitoring team of the group also visited some project sites at Adentan, Amrahia, Frafraha, and Ashiyie to acquaint themselves with the progress of work, and challenges facing their implementation.

The group noted that while some of the projects were disability-friendly, others were not, while some schools had no playground for children.

They also observed that while some projects had been completed, others had been abandoned and were overgrown with weeds.

Madam Ollennu acknowledged the commitment of members of SPEFA to its activities by their quick response to its meetings and activities.

This, she noted, attested to the importance they attached to the forum, and their desire to build on the knowledge gained from the several topics that had been treated in previous quarters.

With regard to the topic for the day, Madam Ollennu said it was imperative for both right holders and duty bearers to understand and embrace the subject.

'It poses as a critical factor to the success or otherwise of social accountability and as such cannot be overlooked if the latter is to be the mainstay within the municipality,' she stressed.

She, therefore, entreated the participants to make the most of the session by understanding the concept of leadership and accountability.

She also urged them to convey whatever they would learn at meetings to the groups they represented, saying: 'We owe it to ourselves to have the knowledge acquired here travel beyond the confines of this auditorium.'

Mrs Sarah Agbey, the National Coordinator for SPEFA, impressed upon the participants that development was not about violence but about, and for the citizenry, adding that knowledge was meant for all, Ghana and the AdMA.

She encouraged the participants to grow their leadership skills in them with knowledge, wisdom and money.

She encouraged members of the SPEFA group to stop talking and develop the right attitude and appreciate what they had come to learn.

Mrs Agbey said leaders were problem solvers not talkers or complainants, and urged them to embrace the attributes of good leaders that they had learnt from the session.

'We are supposed to acquire knowledge and put it into practice,' she said. 'See the leader in you and serve,' she urged.

GNA