Exercise to determine true size of Civil Service

The Minister of Information and Presidential Affairs, Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, on Tuesday said there is an on-going exercise to determine the true size of the Civil Service.

He said this would enable the government to realise the needs of the Service within the process of re-organisation to improve its conditions. Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey said this when answering questions in Parliament.

Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, NDC-Kumbungu asked the Minister the number of Special Advisers and/or Special Assistants (Personal Assistants) to the President, Ministers, Regional Ministers and District Chief Executives so far recruited or employed.

The Minister said as at now there are 27 Special Assistants and Advisers in the system. Eight of them are presently at the Castle, while the rest are attached to the Ministries, Departments and the Regions.

Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey said the Civil Service would need about 37 Chief Directors as its full strength at the national and regional levels to man it but as at now only eight of such officers are at post, half of whom are on contract.

He said this means that the top of the bureaucracy of the Service was woefully understaffed and the situation has put much pressure on Ministers to wrestle with their mandate to implement decision with despatch to usher in the "Golden Age of Business".

Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey noted that it was such a situation that has led the Government to accept the need for Ministers to have Special Assistants in their offices to assist them and to some extent to help Chief Directors in the speedy implementation of policies and in the discharge of other ministerial duties and commitments.

He said for the Civil Service to play its role more effectively, it must be staffed with persons with integrity, knowledge and skills and they must also function under conditions of service that are seen to be attractive.

Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey noted that the Service of today is not as effective as it should be, adding that its capacity for initiative and policy implementation has been weakened by low morale, weak management and the failure of the system to ensure that the skills of Civil Servants are upgraded through periodic courses in capacity building.

"An equally important factor which explains the weakness and lethargy in the Civil Service derives from what we all recognise to be poor conditions within the service, including poor salaries and wages," he added.

He said government acted quickly to identify many of the problems and various initiatives are being considered to address them.

He assured Civil Servants of Government's support as long as they carry out their duties impartially and with integrity, adding that the government has also given the issue of remuneration some attention and "in the less than two years of the NPP administration, Civil Service salaries have been raised by 60 per cent."