The Head of the Ghana Civil Service, Nana Agyekum-Dwamena, has called on all Civil Servants to emulate a change of attitude geared towards attainment of set goals for the improvement of government business.

He further noted that, as a proud Bureaucrat, he can attest that the hate towards bureaucracy breeds failure in the Service and the economy at large. Adding that, bureaucracy, a system of governance, is not a problem but the lackadaisical attitude amongst staff of the Service which needs to be changed.

Nana Agyekum Dwamena, who was speaking at the Public Lecture as part of the 2022 Civil Service Week and Awards Ceremony, held at the Nathan Quao Auditorium, stressed that “the more we hate bureaucracy, the less successful we become as a nation. There should be a change of attitude”.

Delivering a presentation on the year’s theme, “Digitalisation in the Civil Service of Ghana: An Agenda for Improved Productivity and Service Delivery”, the former Chief Director – Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation, Dr. Kwaku Ofosu Adarkwa, citing, among others, noted the digitization of public records by the Public Records and Archives Administration Department (PRAAD). Stressing, a well-documented information breeds partnership with the Private Sector.

He also called on the Ghana Civil Service to consider the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). Adding that, there is a need of promoting open-source development to enhance innovation in an effort to build the skill set of the citizenry.

Dr. Adarkwa further proposed to the leadership of the Service, the need to leverage on data to advance the development of Value-Added Service (VAS), to enable Civil Servants operate in the VAS regime.

Concluding, he acknowledged the digitization efforts implemented by the Service. He however, noted that more needs to be done in engagement to serve the citizenry. Calling on Civil Servants to stand in readiness in the stakeholder engagement on the draft Digitisation agenda. He further called on Civil Servants to think more systematically and creatively towards the digitization agenda.

For his part, the President of the Association of Ghana Industries, (AGI), Dr. Humphrey Ayim Darke, in his submission on the topic, “Digitalisation in the Civil Service of Ghana: Implications for the Private Sector Development”, stressed that an all-inclusive resource coordination is needed for the digitization agenda to implement set policies. Thus, it is important to put monitoring and evaluation measures in place after set policies.

According to him, a well-structured Public administration will enhance partnership between the Public and Private sectors. Saying, the success of the latter heavily depends on the former.

Dr. Ayim Darke further added that regulations should be put in place to alleviate monopoly in the market-place. Adding that, digitalization should be an integral part of the public sector as it engenders transparency, fairness and efficiency in service delivery.

Speaking on behalf of the Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Mrs. Ursula Owusu Ekuful, the Deputy Minister, acknowledged that her outfit is keenly interested in the Civil Service because “you do the work for government. Even when policies have to be in place, without you, nothing goes on. So, we are making sure you have the needed competences to meet the new technologies that are running at a fast pace”.

Touching on some initiatives of her outfit to ensure a paperless system, she mentioned that her outfit has digitized the Registrar General’s Department, Births and Deaths Registry, E-Procurement, E-Parliament, E-Pharmacy, among others.

Also, on Data Protection, the Deputy Minister noted that data protection laws are already in place. Thus, Data Controllers have been trained. In that light, when Data Commission finds out of any mismanagement or uncertified data usage, victims will face the law.

In conclusion, she appealed to the Ministry of Finance for financial support to enable her outfit to render its best services to the public.

Also gracing the Lecture were the Chief Director – Office of the Head of Civil Service, Ing. Godwin Brocke, Civil Service Council Members, Chief Directors, Directors and Deputy Directors of the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as Representatives from the OHCS Secretariat and some Staff of the Civil Service with majority joining via virtual platforms.

The Ghana Dance Company; Ghana Dance Ensemble from National Theatre cheered participants with soothing performances.

The 2022 Civil Service Week celebration, which commenced on Wednesday, July 20, is expected to end on Friday July 29, 2022.

Policy Fair, Tourism Day and Health Screening will run concurrently each day from Monday, July 25, to Thursday, July 28, 2022.

The final inter-ministerial football games will be played on Thursday, July 28.

All Civil Service Staff are encouraged to participate in the programmes on the virtual space and be present in-person where required.

Social media handles for virtual participation are;

Facebook: ohcsghana or clogsag; Twitter: civilserviceghana1

Website: www.ohcs.gov.gh; YouTube: civilservicegh or clogsag hq.