‘Don’t see postings as punishment’ - Nana Ato Arthur
The Head of Local Government Service, Ing. Dr Nana Ato Arthur, has advised staff of the local government service not to see posting as a form of punishment but must endeavour to serve in any environment for national development.
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He stated that most government workers, especially local government workers, had taken posting as one of the government’s ways of witch-hunting but assured such workers that “the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) the government has not come to afflict workers with posting”.
“Most of you see posting as punishment and it’s not right. The NPP government is not interested in witch- hunting of anyone. You must endeavour to change your working environment at all times where the need be,” he stated.
Dr Arthur was speaking in Kumasi at a forum as part of his first familiarisation visit to local government service workers in the Ashanti Region.
He stated that the effectiveness of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) depended on their working professionals.
He said the government had done a lot in terms of action plans, review of legislation, transfer of staff from civil service to local service and it behoved local government service workers to position themselves to influence development in the working environments they were posted to.
He explained that changing the working environment of a local government service person from one assembly to the other either within the same region or to another region was not transfer but posting.
He further explained that transfer would be changing the local government service person from local government service engagement to a different engagement in public service, adding that even with that they must be ready to adapt to situations.
Thematic areas for local government
Dr Arthur outlined some thematic areas through which his new office sought to improve local government service, saying capacity building of local government staff was the number one priority.
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) would also be used to improve revenue mobilisation in the various MMDAs.
Again, under the thematic areas, Dr Arthur seeks to strengthen the Planning Units of both the Regional Co-ordinating Councils (RCCs) and the MMDAs.
He noted that the District Development Fund (DDF) and the Urban Development Grant (UDG) were introduced into local governance system to augment funding behaviour of the MMDAs.
He lauded the cooperation between Ghana, Germany and the USA which sought to support local government service with 10.5 million euros and indicated that such efforts were geared towards the promotion of community participation to deepen local governance.
Abuse of social media
Dr Arthur bemoaned the abuse of social media by local government service staff, noting that most public sector workers were not using group platforms on social media proficiently.
He said local government service staff could use social media, especially facebook and whatsApp, to share problems and achievements both intra and inter MMDA.
Revenue mobilisation
In a speech read by the Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, Madam Elizabeth Agyemang, the Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Simon Osei Mensah, emphasised that local government played a critical role in the development of the state.
