Government committed to working with transparent Civil Service - President

Government is committed to working with the Civil Service, but would want to do so in an atmosphere of transparency and accountability from the Sector, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said.

Acknowledging that the Civil Service was an essential component of governance architecture, he said government would partner strategically with the Service to enable it (government) implement its policies and programmes for the socio-economic transformation of the country.

President Akufo-Addo made this known on Tuesday when he swore into office an eight-member Civil Service Council at the Flag Staff House in Accra.

The Council is chaired by a retired Supreme Court Judge and nominee of the President, Justice Rose Constance Owusu.

The other members include Nana Kwasi Agyekum Dwamena, the Head of the Civil Service, Justice Henrietta Abban, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Mr Edwin Barnes, a retired senior Civil Servant, Mr Isaac Kwame Asiamah of the National Development Planning Commission, Mr. Isaac Bampoe Addo of the Civil Servants Association and Mrs Mary Emelda Amadu and Mr. Isaac Tetteh Adjovu, both nominees of the President to the Council.

Expressing confidence in the composition of the Council, President Akufo-Addo charged the members to confront and deal with corruption, bureaucratic procedures and partisanship in the Civil Service to ensure that it (Service) stays on an even keel to assist government realize its objectives.

He further admonished them to execute their duties in line with the provisions of the 1992 Constitution and to ensure that the many challenges of the Civil Service was dealt with, adding that, they should at all times perform their duties devoid of partisanship and partiality.

The President reminded them that policies on which his government was elected into power were those of the people and therefore, “all of us have to cooperate in making sure that that these policies are realized.”

“At all times, you should be guided by what is of the interest of the people and Ghana…that should be your consideration. Work without fear or favour to realize the public interest of the country,” he told the Council.

He asked the Council to at all times, give him “good and honest advise devoid of partisanship,” to enable him to give strategic direction to the civil service in the ways it mobilizes and deploys its resources.

Justice Rose Constance Owusu assured the President that the Council would carry out its mandate with diligence and abide by the Oaths that they have taken.