Chief Directors sign performance contracts
Chief Directors of all the ministries have signed performance contracts with the Civil Service to deliver efficient services this year.
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The practice, which was initiated in 2013, provides the platform for the work of chief directors to be assessed periodically.
It is also intended to promote healthy competition among sector ministries to improve performance, productivity and ultimately ensure effective and efficient service delivery.
Govt’s secretariat
In an address read on his behalf at the signing ceremony, the Chief of Staff, Mr Julius Debrah, said the Civil Service was the secretariat of governments all over the world and its basic function was to assist the government of the day to formulate, implement, monitor and coordinate programmes for development.
He said the civil service was indispensable in the government’s efforts to achieve its mandate, as it provided the instruments for translating ideas into workable plans, objectives and activities.
Mr Debrah said Ghana’s Civil Service had over the years gone through a number of administrative reforms geared towards improving the conduct of government business.
Achieving performance target
Mr Debrah said efforts were being made to focus the mindset of the Civil Service on achieving performance targets within specified time frames while ensuring stakeholder satisfaction and the provision of services in a cost-effective and efficient manner.
He advised the chief directors to be true to the principles of professionalism, excellence, transparency, accountability and selflessness which, among others, governed their work.
“You should strive to expunge the negative behaviour and attitudes exhibited by some staff which tarnish the image of the service. lt is only by so doing that the Civil Service can begin to take its rightful place and earn respect and recognition in the business of national building”, he said.
For his part, the Head of the Civil Service, Nana Akwasi Agyeman Dwamena, said the reintroduction of the agreement was consistent with the President’s agenda of creating a better productive and proactive public service.
Professionalism
Nana Dwamena indicated that the objective for improving the service was to enable it to develop a professional culture, for which reason, he said, chief directors must carefully renew the work assigned to their staff to ensure that quality was not compromised.
He announced that the Civil Service and its development partners had developed a training programme on evidence informed policy making.
He said a technocratic committee of Cabinet had been established to support the Cabinet Secratariat to clean up Cabinet memos from ministries that did not meet the standards.