Refrain From Politics - Veep Cautions Civil Servants

The Vice President, Mr. John Dramani Mahama has told civil servants to strive to keep their political views and opinions to themselves in order to maintain public trust in them, as the country’s next general elections loom.

He said, their services will be needed at very important stages as the preparations for this year’s elections draw near, hence the need for them to keep their balance and refrain from unnecessary political debates that have the tendency to affect their neutrality.

“Keep your political views to yourselves; you do your service to the people and not to any political party. However, you must know your duty has to be in tune with the government, in order to help it achieve its manifestos of four years whiles your services end at 60yrs”, the Vice President pointed out.

Mr. Mahama, who made the remark during his keynote address at the 6th Conference of Pubic Service Chief Executives, Chief Directors and Chairmen of Governing Boards and Councils in Koforidua, added his voice to the call for an urgent change of mindset in the public sector. “There have been numerous public sector reforms, yet most heads of the public services still have the mentality of the colonial era”, he noted.

The Vice President indicated also that the system where performance is not rewarded for hardwork as well as the absence of simple attendance rolls to monitor attendance and productivity, to a large extent, accounts for reasons for young graduates to prioritize the private sector in their search for job.

Osabarima Owusu Gyamadu, a member of the Council of State, who chaired the function, advised leaders of government businesses to begin to adopt the right attitude and change their mindset, if they want to make progress in the public sector.

The outgoing Eastern Regional Minister, Mr. Appiah Kubi, also urged Chief Executives and Chief Directors of public services to strive to march up to their colleagues in the private sector. Mrs. Bridget Katriku, Chairperson of the Public Services Commission, addressing the gathering, pointed out why the original venue scheduled for the conference was changed from Accra to Koforidua.

According to her, the change was as a result of the commission’s decision to offer top executive members of the public sector, the opportunity to see for themselves the developmental challenges in other parts of the country.