Elements within public and civil service administration
“At a time when we have much work to do to address our nation’s critical infrastructure, and as I said, which is currently in dire need of upgrade and repair, this legislation is also a jobs bill and is obviously a jobs creator” – Howard Coble.
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It is not just a chemistry of illusion from the reality that there are some elements within the civil and public service administration that militate against government’s effort at working towards the salient economic development of the country.
Sad to say that there is a tint of realism of such elements which puts government’s business at a snail’s pace.
The Government of Ghana depends on the ministries, departments, agencies, municipal, metropolitan and district assemblies (MDAs/MMDAs) to develop the socio-economic fibre of the citizenry. Owing to that, it is expected that the administrative mechanism at the MDAs/MMDAs nurses some level of prudence in its day-to-day running of government business.
Gone were the days when Ghana’s ancestral political shepherds and the citizenry were loyal to the state. Though it was a human institution susceptible to pitfalls, yet, they relentlessly worked to the last atom of their strengths for mother Ghana. They sacrificed at their places of work to bring Ghana to an expected level bequeathed to today’s workforce.
Such spirit of yesteryears is lost on most of today’s working class, especially within the civil and public service administration.
Today, the slogan, “Ghana is not worth dying for”, harps on many people’s lips. Many are depressed owing to the uproar of corruption swirling in every nook and cranny of the country. When corruption is mentioned, the first thought in mind is politicians.
Though such thought may have a tint of realism, yet, it cannot solely serve as the recipe of the origin of corruption in this country.
It is a common feature these days that some civil and public servants have turned the worthy working spirit of the ancestors anti-clockwise. They no longer have the spirit of servitude for mother Ghana, they rather have become greedy and self-seeking.
The mother of all irony is that the very “self-seeking” workers who fail to augment government’s effort in development are the very first complainants who are poised in combative stance to vilify the government on national issues. Such is the guise of hypocrisy.
Now, what commonly features at the MDAs/MMDAs is, some officers give priority to issues about staff welfare and display laxity towards issues on socio-economic development within their catchment areas.
When it comes to endorsing memos for staff welfare, the alacrity with which the memos are endorsed is just becoming increasingly difficult to comprehend.
For example, an officer may write a memo requesting for an amount of GH₵100 to enable him to execute an official assignment or repair an office equipment. That memo would be on the table of the officer in charge for more than a month, even though it is accompanied by incessant follow-ups. Sometimes, the officer becomes frustrated and tired as a result of the follow-ups and may retreat.
When memos of “fat” amounts are written and they favour the officers in charge, it does not take them more than 24 hours to endorse such memos.
How can the central government succeed in its development agenda for the country if elements of such attitude and magnitude feature in both civil and public service administrations? Doesn’t such attitude commute a message of mixed sentiments to workers?
More so, some MDAs/MMDAs do not adhere to the laid-down administrative structure. Favouritism among officers take precedence over the statutory local government administrative structure. Four or five officers are only seen working on behalf of the substantive officers. Officers use their discretion at will to assign task to any officer to the detriment of the substantive officer.
This attitude has created acrimony and rancour at some MDAs/MMDAs. There can never be meaningful development when there is acrimony and nepotism among the working class.
The best way to operate in an environment is to give a level-playing field to all officers within an administration to contribute their mandatory quota to the development of mother Ghana. Some officers must not think they are more knowledgeable or wiser than officers assigned to their duties and that they can do their work better.
This attitude features in most of the country’s MDAs/MMDAs. Ghana’s development would have been miles and miles away from where she is now. The elements rearing ugly heads in the public and civil service administration impede fast growth.
It is time every worker in Ghana took the bull by the horns to stand against any elements that seem to thwart the efforts of the central government in its bid to develop the country. That is the only way Ghana will be moved to the next pedestal.
Long Live Ghana! Long live the citizenry!!