Create avenues for citizens’ participation – NCCE

Mrs Charlotte Osei, Chairman of the National Commission for Civic Education, said on Friday that effective public service must of necessity include effective citizens’ participation in public service delivery.

She said it would be impossible for the public service to serve the people effectively without creating an avenue for citizens’ engagement and participation.

Mrs Osei said: “Public service exists to serve the public and when there are no avenues for effective citizen engagement and participation, the people become frustrated.

“We need to create an enabling environment for the public to make input, contribute, challenge, and complain about the quality of service, policies and programmes to avoid unnecessary speculations,” she added.

Mrs Osei, who was speaking at the on-going Fourth Biennial Africa Public Service Day celebrations, said when there was mistrust between the citizens and the service, it could lead to despair and chaos among other things.

The celebration, which entered its seventh day, was on the theme; “Africa Public Service in the Age of Open Government: Giving Voice to Citizens”.

It is being attended by African ministers, public servants, parliamentarians, and officials from the African Union, chief directors of public service, academia, civil society, and organized student bodies.

Mrs Osei said individual citizens had the “legally guaranteed possibility of shaping and determining the democratic process” and must be able to contribute to that democratic process, not just through voting, but knowing, understanding and being able to comment on government policy.

She, therefore, urged public services to create genuine platforms for the engagement of all by employing traditional authority and models where necessary, community entry and engagement methods.

An Africa Public Service Day Awards is scheduled for Sunday, June 23, to award Public Service Organizations (PSOs) which have distinguished themselves in a competition to be organised as part of the deliberations.

The PSOs would compete in various categories such as the Most Innovative Public Service Organization in Service Delivery, Best Pavillion, and Best Performing Public Service Organization, among other topics.