By Amadu
Kamil Sanah, GNA
Ho, Sept. 25, GNA – Mr Yaw Osafo Marfo, the
Senior Minister, said the effective implementation of policies thrives best on
game changing leaders who understand their professional ethics.
“Policies also thrive best when professionals
resolve to coordinate and harmonise efforts to maximise the returns of
resources put at their disposal”.
He, therefore, urged the professionals to take
up the challenge of being game changers in Ghana’s transformational agenda and
stand up to the status quo of Public Service delivery, which had brought little
or no positive changes in the decentralisation process.
Mr Osafo Marfo was speaking at the Fourth
Bi-annual Professional Conference organised by the Office of the Head of the
Local Government Service Secretariat at Ho.
The three-day conference is on the theme:
“Transforming Ghana through Effective Leadership, Coordination and
Implementation of Government’s Policies at the Decentralised Level in the 30
Years of Ghana’s Decentralisation”.
It brought together more than 400
professionals within the Regional Coordinating Councils (RCCs) and
Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
The conference is expected to lead to the
realisation and identification of options to address challenges in the
implementation of policies and systems in line with the Service’s mandate.
Mr Osafo Marfo said effective leadership was
not only about professionalism, but also how people with responsibilities
ensure result-driven supervision, monitoring and evaluation of work and how it
impacted on the organisational desired objectives.
He said the achievements of the Public Service
was nothing to be proud of especially when measured against the Service’s
mission “to support Local Government to deliver value for money services
through the mobilisation, harmonisation and utilisation of quality human
capacity and material resources to promote local and national development.”
He challenged the professionals to be
forthright in their criticisms and deal with the wrong practices that continue
to dent the image of the Public Service.
Dr Nana Ato Arthur, the Head of the Local
Government Service, said the Government, under the leadership of President Nana
Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, was poised to addressing the socio-economic challenges
of the country.
This, he said, was evident in the Government’s
economic and social development policy framework 2017-2024, which was to create
prosperity and equal opportunities for all.
He called for the full utilisation of the
structures at the local governance level by development partners and the
building of capacity, professionalism and provision of adequate logistics to
support activities.
Dr Archibald Letsa, the Volta Regional
Minister, said the role of Local Government professionals in providing the
needed leadership at the local level to achieve effective service delivery was
critical.
Professor John Owusu Gyapong, the Vice
Chancellor of the University of Health and Allied Sciences, who chaired
proceedings, urged the Local Government Service to make the welfare of staff
paramount and advised the staff to do their best to ensure development.
GNA