Negative perception about public service worrying - Bani

Mr Prosper Bani, Chief of Staff at the Presidency, on Tuesday, expressed concern over the pervading negative perception associated with the activities of the public service.

He said it was worrying to see bureaucracy, corruption, high attitudinal decay, indiscipline and unethical behavior persisting in the service after many public sector reforms.

The Chief of Staff said this at the opening of a training workshop meant to sharpen the competencies of Chief Directors and Chief Executives of public service on human resource management.

The training, under the auspices of Ghana and Australian Public Service Commissions, was on the theme: “Leadership for the future, influencing and achieving outcomes.”

Mr Bani said the sordid audit report on the accounts of public institutions and growing perception of corruption were signs of leadership ineptitude.

He said the good intentions, programmes and policies of political leaders would still fail if the public service lacked the requisite technical and professional leadership capacities.

Mr Bani, therefore, called for strong and effective leadership in the public service and challenged the Chief Directors and Executive Officers to work towards minimizing those perceptions to build up public confidence and trust in the service.

Mrs Bridget Katsriku, Chairman of the Public Services Commission, said there was a paradigm shift that placed high demand on public servants to be accountable, transparent and deliver quality service to take people out of poverty.

However, in Ghana, the public perception about the public service did not reflect the practice of the new model, and urged managers to develop commitment and a sense of stewardship to change the negative perception.

Mrs Katsriku said the Commission has come up with a new performance management system and has developed a human resource management policy to be submitted to cabinet.

She said it was also establishing a human resource management information system adding that “I urge you all to cooperate with us to create a better environment to deliver quality service to the people”.

Ms Joana Adamson, Australian High Commissioner to Ghana, said the workshop was designed to challenge participants to address critical issues around the stewardship role of modern public sector leaders.

She said it was the duty of public servants to influence and achieve outcomes for the future generation, adding, “We all have to leave behind a stronger, more effective public service than the one we joined.”