On-Going Changes At Ministries Departments & Agencies

In-depth investigations by The Crusading Guide have revealed that the ongoing changes or transfers being effected at the various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) including the Ministry of Finance (MOF) which have led to some media speculation and public debate, are after all long over due necessary administrative measures in line with Civil Service Regulations on Secondment.

An official source at the MOF told the paper that most of the top officers affected (or still to be affected) by the exercise had overstayed their statutory period of secondment to the ministry. “Most of the affected officials affected had been here for over two or three years; a situation which was in complete violation of Civil Service Regulations underlying their employment and secondment status,” quipped a well-placed source at MOF.

The Crusading Guide’s source cited Maj (rtd) Tara, Alhaji Jawula and K. Anyemedu as persons who had spent more than the statutory two years on secondment approved by Civil Service Regulations, at their ‘new’ stations and yet nothing administrative was being done about their status as required by the regulations. Maj Tara’s transfer took effect in 2001.

Conditions relating to secondment (Section 51 (3) states that “Secondment shall not normally exceed two years, with an extension period of one more year on approval, after which period the officer shall exercise his option to transfer to the agency or return to the Civil Service or be deemed to have been transferred to the agency and accordingly be informed by the approving authority.”

Major Tara who was on secondment from the Controller and Accountant General’s Department had had over three years at the MOF, and had not taken steps to meet the requirements of the Rules of Secondment until he was moved in 2001.

The same situation applies to Anyemedu who came from the IRS to MOF. After over five years, he has been asked to go ‘back to batan’ (Internal Revenue Service) “to assist to revitalise the IRS,” the paper’s source said.

Perhaps, the most interesting storyline is the one about Alhaji Jawula. As administrator, he came from the Northern Regional Administration to MOF. He has since spend ten years in the ministry. “At best, in the civil service, administrators are transferred every four years,” explained the source, which quickly added that “his transfer will be the prerogative of the Head of Civil Service.”

With regards to the case of J.A. Yamoah, the source said the man was on loan from the Bank of Ghana (BOG) to the MOF, at the expressed request of Yaw Osafo Maafo upon the latter’s assumption of office, and after spending two years, he could either be retained or sent back to his mother organisation as demanded by the Civil Service Regulations on Secondment. The latter option was effected.

Referring to Mrs Batsa and Mrs Apenteng, the paper’s source revealed that the two ladies were on interdiction and “the cases they are involved in are still being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the security agencies.”

In the course of the paper’s investigations, it sighted an official circular dated 10 May 2002 and titled: “Civil Servants on protracted secondments contrary to Rules of Secondment,” authored by K. Obeng-Adofo, Chief Director for Head of Civil Service addressed to all Chief Directors and Heads of Department. It was copied to ministers, the Chief of Staff, secretaries to the President and his vice, district chief executives, secretary to Cabinet, the Auditor-General and the Controller and Accountant-General.

“A study of the records of civil servants released on secondment to approved employment has revealed that quite a number of them have over-stayed their terms of secondment. Many of these cases are apparently not supported by authority, and therefore such officers would normally be expected to revert to their parent organisation,” underscored the circular.

The circular argued that “a prolonged secondment that runs beyond the approved period has adverse impact on morale, and staff feel cheated, where secondment personnel are know to enjoy more favourable terms of service in their new employment in addition to privileges like promotion, which they normally enjoy alongside their colleagues in the civil service.”

“As a protracted secondment has morale as well as performance-related implications, it has been decided to review all cases of secondment. Where it is established that staff have overstayed their secondment, Chief Directors and Heads of Departments are requested to recall the officers unless they exercise the option to remain in their new employment,” the circular advised.

The circular conceded that it was the responsibility of the office of the Head of the Civil Service and parent organisations of those on secondment, to ensure that there was “sustainable staffing stability, particularly, in the critical areas of the Civil Service bureaucracy.”

“Such protracted secondments can no longer be entertained as the resultant vacancies remain unfilled during the period of secondment,” added the circular. The circular reminded the management of the MDAs of their “moral responsibility to discharge in this connection, since they are the immediate monitors of staff on secondment, and are therefore expected to bring to the notice of this office when a secondment lapses.”

“The affected officers themselves, being aware of the regulations, know that there’s no victimisation in this exercise which is an ongoing one. No cause for alarm. Due process will determine all actions at MOF,” assured the paper’s source.