Kufuor urges Public Servants to be committed to change

Accra, July 20, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Wednesday tasked Public Servants to make the most out of current global trends by gaining mastery of the new skills spawned by new technologies.

"We must demonstrate awareness and readiness to adopt globally accepted best practices and engage in the necessary networking required to synergize the sector in its relationship with the community and the private sector," he said.

President Kufuor made the call when addressing the Second Annual Conference of Public Service Chairpersons, Chief Executives and Chief Directors of Public Boards, Commissions, Authorities, Councils and Agencies in Accra.

The day's Conference on the theme: " Corporate Governance in Public Service Organisations", was jointly organised by the Public Services Commission, Ministry of Public Sector Reform, UNDP and the National Governance Programme.

President Kufuor said in the advent of Information Communication and Technology, the speed of change in practically every aspect of socio-economic management naturally dictated adaptability of individual public servants and institutions to working at a quicker pace than ever before.

" This need not result in illegalities, short-cut or any compromising of the principles of accountability and transparency."

"These principles are crucial to the efficiency and responsiveness of the public sector to national development. Failure to maintain them saps confidence in governance and engenders instability," President Kufuor explained.

President Kufuor said the intense media focus in recent times on allegation of irregularities by some personalities and some Boards in the Public Sector might give the impression that the entire public sector was corrupt.

He noted that, " the reality however, is that there are many committed people in the public sector who are giving dedicated service to their institutions and State."

On Public Boards, President Kufuor said the appointees must share the vision and policies of the Executive.

The Board must also see itself as the brain behind the organisation providing vision, policy direction and targets for Management and Staff. Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, Minister of Public Sector Reform said the sector was poorly equipped and stressed the need for the Public Services Commission to be equipped with modern resources to work well to increase services and productivity.

He said the Civil Service should be a high office well equipped and resourced to operate efficiently and effectively. Dr Nduom expressed the need for stakeholders in the sector to work consistently to address problems affecting the sector in a sustainable manner.

Professor S. N. Woode, Chairman of the Public Services Commission, said the Conference, which began last year would be instituted into an annual affair to create a platform for participants to interact with the Executive.