We’ve reduced poverty, but still a long way to go – Veep

Many reforms and investments made by the government have helped beat down poverty, Ghana’s Vice President has said, adding that innovative policies and programmes could help reduce inequalities in the country.

According to him, Ghana’s middle-income status “vindicates the accumulation of growth strategies that have been adopted in this country since independence.”

Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, however, said “a lot still remains to be done.” He was addressing senior public service officers at a three-day conference, which is focusing on renewing the face of the public service for high performance, in the Ashanti regional capital, Kumasi.

He encouraged public sector workers to join forces with the government to achieve greater strides.

The VP believes Ghana needs to be innovative in tackling the challenges of a changing socio-economic environment, thus, urged the Public Service “to support the government to anticipate these external problems and how they impact on us and how we respond to these challenges.”

He also admonished the public service to purge itself of sloppiness, which has become an entrenched subculture.

That is one of the ways, he believes, the public service can prove it deserves the single spine salary structure, which has improved the welfare of public sector workers, since its implementation started about five years ago.

He said the government will also resource all the public sector to give off their best.