Public officers must be motivated

...to drive ethical conduct in public sector

Chief Justice Georgina Wood says the state must provide job security and other remunerative packages for public office holders in order to improve performance and drive ethical behaviour in the public service.

“While it is expected that public servants have high standards of ethical conduct, the other side of the coin is for the state to provide them job security, opportunities for promotion and career development.

“If public workers feel under-paid, over-worked and insecure, they are less likely to embrace initiatives to improve performance -- including ethical conduct,” she said at the Ghana Audit Service’s fourth annual accountability lecture in Accra.

She said the fast and changing global economic conditions demand transparency and accountability from public office holders to ensure socio-economic progression and to improve public interest and trust.

“Our conduct as public servants impact directly on the dignity and image of the public service; we must therefore make a conscious effort to do the right thing always.

“Public service demands public trust. Ghanaians expect public servants to serve them with fairness and to manage public funds properly, on a daily basis.”

Mrs. Wood called for a fair and reliable public service, saying it will create an enabling environment for economic growth and general improvement in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the wellbeing of Ghanaians.

“The key challenge for governments all over the world is to ensure that they adapt the mission and vision of the public service to meet current needs; and more importantly, ensure that its core values and standards tally with the changing public expectations,” she said.

This year’s lecture was under the theme “Public Ethics and Public Trust -- Keystones of Good Governance and Accountability”.

Professor Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi, Executive Director, Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), touched on the need for civil society organisations (CSOs) to intensify efforts to promote ethical standards in the public service.

“Civil society organisations and other non-state and society-based actors have played, and continue to play, complementary roles in supporting the efforts of public servants and agencies to entrench ethical practices in the public service.”