Public Sector charters to be implemented within 60 days

Accra, April 27, GNA - Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, Minister of State in charge of Public Sector Reforms, on Wednesday said the Sector would breathe life into service charters and put them to use within the next 60 days to inject efficiency into the Public and Civil Services. He said the Office had had the opportunity to review the charters prepared with over eight million pounds a few years ago, adding "we are taking immediate steps to ensure that the service charters are implemented with modification to take into account changes in our governance and national environment".

Dr Nduom made this known at a press conference in Accra to introduce service delivery improvement initiatives the Office wanted to implement and to announce its short-term work programme. The charters include: "How to Acquire Ghanaian Passports", How to Register Lands", "Pension Computation and Delivery to Civil Servants on CAP 30" and "Issuing Building Permits".

Dr Nduom said the objectives of the charters were to simplify processes, clarify rules and procedures and make them transparent to the public, adding that it would be terrible to let such good work done at great cost to go to waste.

The Minister noted that implementing the charters would require the application of technology, training, public education and performance measurement.

This, Dr Nduom said, meant that organisations were to set up once again client service and complaints units to provide the public the opportunity to seek assistance when service delivery organisations failed to deliver as promised and to also ensure services delivered were of the right quality.

On the short-term work programme, he said the Office would support public service workers, particularly those in the Civil Service, to acquire the training, support, equipment and facilities needed to enable them to do their work effectively to ensure a productive Public and Civil Services.

"A productive Public Service is needed if we are to meet the goal of at least 1,000 dollars per capita income in the near future." Dr Nduom noted that another important goal was to build capacity in the Civil Service to provide timely and productive service to the Executive branch of government by improving conditions of service to enable people to retire on befitting pensions.

He said the Office was finalizing work done already for the establishment of a regulatory framework for subvented agencies including the Ghana News Agency, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Head of Civil Service and Public Services Commission adding that they formed the short-term interim activities to begin preparations to move specific reforms into action.

Others are implementing a communication programme to engage stakeholders and the public in general to make reforming the Public Sector an urgent national agenda item, preparing a strategy for dealing with government payroll/personnel system and preparing a comprehensive public sector programme to cover the next five years. Dr Nduom called on the Media to be active partners by assisting the Office to monitor reform projects and to help to determine if positive results were being achieved.