Chief Directors sign performance contract
Chief Directors of ministries and government agencies yesterday signed performance agreement with the Office of the Head of the Civil Service (OHCS) to provide quality services to the public.
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The agreement is reviewed annually and provides the basis for the assessment of the directors at the end of the year.
Signatories to the agreement were the Chief of Staff, Mrs Frema Opare-Osei; the Head of the Civil Service, Nana Agyekum Dwamena; the chief directors and their respective sector ministers.
The ceremony followed the successful conclusion of the 2016 evaluation exercise during which chief directors were assessed on the basis of their deliverables in their performance agreements for 2015.
Five outstanding chief directors were honoured for their exceptional contribution and performance deliveries based on their previous agreements.
The current Chief Director at the Ministry of Education, Mr Enoch Corbina, emerged the Overall Best Performing Chief Director.
The rest were Mr Solomon Asoalla (Works and Housing), Professor Bruce Banoen-Yakubu (Lands and Forestry), Mr Gideon Brocke (Roads and Highways) and Professor Enock Akazah (Energy).
Act professionally
At the ceremony in Accra, Mrs Opare-Osei called on the chief directors to act professionally in the discharge of their mandates.
She stated that since “President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had no intention to witch-hunt any chief director, the onus is on you to do your best to help the government attain its development goals.
“I will emphasise what the President has always said; that he has no intention to witch-hunt anyone. You must, therefore, be willing to give out your best and not engage in any unprofessional behaviour,” Mrs Opare-Osei stressed.
She also stressed the need for chief directors to uphold the principles of professionalism, excellence, transparency, accountability, loyalty, neutrality and selflessness which, among others, govern their work.
That, she said, would not only help the government to achieve its development goals but also raise the outlook of the civil service.
On their relationship with their ministers, Mrs Opare-Osei said chief directors must endeavour to distance themselves from any act that could create mistrust, since nothing fruitful would be achieved without trust.
She also urged the ministers to regularly organise meetings with the chief directors to create a strong workforce.
Time management
The Minister of Monitoring and Evaluation, Dr Anthony Akoto-Osei, who was present at the ceremony, emphasised the need for ministers and chief directors to use their time efficiently.
He said without the effective use of time, no nation would be able to attain its development goals and added that Ghana had reached a stage where the attitude of public servants should be checked.
Dr Akoto-Osei also urged the chief directors to avoid hoarding information and sign documents on time.
“Just because you are not around doesn’t mean everything should wait for your return. Find other ways to get things done on time,” he said.
For his part, Nana Agyekum Dwamena said the introduction of the performance agreement system was consistent with the government’s agenda of creating a better productive and proactive public service.
He expressed the hope that the evaluation would have a positive roll-on effect on the civil service, and urged all chief directors to take steps to carve out the strategic elements of their performance agreement to their line directors and heads of departments to facilitate the effective operationalisation of the new performance management regime across the service.
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