Local Govt Service working to reduce audit infraction
The Office of the Head of Local Government Service (OHLGS) has said it has put in measures to reduce audit infractions in the various metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs).
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The measures include sanctioning of officers who mismanage assets of MMDAs, training of staff, sharing of best practices among the MMDAs, and creation of cells where staff can report issues as part of efforts to reduce infractions.
Head, Local Government Service, Dr Nana Ato Arthur, made this known at an engagement with the media in Accra.
“The concrete steps we have taken include marriage of the assemblies that are doing very well with the assemblies that are not doing well for them to share best practices.
Besides the District Chief Executives who we cannot sanction, because they are not directly under the service, we sanction any other staff of the MMDAs involved in any infraction,” he said.
In addition, he said six staff from each MMDA across the country including engineers, procurement officers, Chief Executive Officers, Finance Officers, Internal Auditors have been selected and trained in how to reduce audit infractions complemented by the creation of cells where staff could report issues relating to audit infractions for action to be taken.
Employment
He said in the past six and half years, the Service had recruited 14,000 personnel to serve in various capacities in a number of government agencies including the MMDAs and regional coordinating centres (RCCs). The current staff strength of the service stands about 40,000.
“Those we have recruited are in various classes: agriculture, engineering, procurement social welfare and community development, human resource, physical planning, births and deaths, statistics, budgets, environmental officers among others.
With financial clearance from the Ministry of Finance we may recruit more persons this year,” he said.
The Head of the Local Government Service said the service currently had 164 Coordinating Directors and 97 in acting capacity from various professional classes heading the 261 MMDAS, and 14 Chief Directors with two in acting capacity managing the 16 RCCs.
"Promotion and career progression in the service have also witnessed a very significant increase since 2017," he said.
With funding from the District Assemblies Common Fund, he said the service was constructing a Human Resource Development Centre at Akomadan in the Offinso North District in the Ashanti Region.
The facility, scheduled for completion in July 2024 would be used as a university upon its transfer to the Institute of Local Government Studies for management.
“We will have a centre, that will be known as Local Government Service Centre, just like the Civil Service School, for the training of personnel of the Service,” he said.
Initiatives
On his major achievement since his assumption of office in March 2017, Nana Arthur mentioned the completion of a five-storey office complex for the OHLGS.
Dr Arthur said he was sure the service under his leadership was achieving its goal of strengthening local government and deepening decentralisation in the country as it worked based on four thematic areas.
The thematic areas, he named as ensuring transparency and accountability in the management of RCCs and MMDAs; empowering MMDAs on best practices in administration, development planning and management; improving revenue mobilisation through innovative ICT solutions in MMDAs and sharing of best practices by assemblies through twinning or sister-city partnerships.
He mentioned the achievements of the service in the past seven years as including the introduction of the performance management system and performance appraisal that assesses the performance of management and middle-level professionals in the LGS; introduction of town hall meetings within MMDAs and introduction of an electronic biometric clocking system that was encouraging punctuality in the LGS.
He said the use of unannounced visits to MMDAs had also served as a tool for assessing the performance of staff, helped management to be abreast of happenings within MMDAs and devising the needed strategies to deal with emerging issues.
He said the Local Government Service established under the Local Government Service Act, Act 656 of 2003 was to ensure the efficient management and administration of the nation's decentralised local government system.
“The mission is to support local governments to deliver value for money services through mobilisation, harmonisation and utilisation of quality human capital and material resources to promote local and national development and the vision is to be “a world-class client-oriented service”.
