District Co-ordinating directors urged to enhance competencies
The fifth annual conference of the Association of District Co-ordinating Directors has ended at Jirapa in the Upper West Region with a call on them to enhance their competencies to ensure the efficient administration of the assemblies.
The Head of the Service, Dr Nana Ato Arthur, who made the call, said as the rallying point in the achievement of the vision and mission of the assemblies, the directors should first and foremost identify the realities on the ground, mentor and coach other staff to realise their competences in the drive to achieve the goals of their assemblies.
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“The paradigm shift today places great responsibility on the office of the coordinating directors who are not only accountable to themselves but also accountable for the actions taken by officials under their control”, he emphasised.
Dr Ato Arthur said the district coordinating directors had the duty to bring on board the various constituents of the assembly.
“The non-appreciation of this role has led to some coordinating directors micromanaging activities of some officers instead of delegating a task to Head of Departments and staff,’ he noted.
Right to information
The Upper West Regional Minister, Dr Hafiz Bin Salih, urged the directors to be guided by public accountability since, with the passage of the Right to Information Law, their affairs would be open to public scrutiny.
“Be circumspect in whatever you do because people will take advantage of their right to information to pry into your affairs for the sake of transparency and accountability” he added.
Dr Salih observed the unproductive tendencies of staff of the assemblies, such as reporting late to duty but closing early, absenteeism whenever the chief executives were out for official duties and the poor quality of reports submitted by some of them and urged the directors to ensure compliance with the code of conducts and ethics of the service.
“You must crack the whip when necessary to instil discipline to quicken the decentralisation process”, he urged them.
Communique
In a communique issued after the conference, the district coordinating directors affirmed support to the government in its efforts to achieve the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda.
They commended the government for the introduction of the various programmes and policies to improve the general condition of the citizenry through the transformation of the economy.