Fewer jobs, more pay – Govt says

Senior Minister, John Henry Mensah has explained that government does not intend to embark on any immediate and major redundancies within the sector public service though the sector requires urgent injection of fresh minds.

To make this a reality, an improved new incentive package is being worked into the system to recruit, retain and maintain a well-motivated and highly professional body within the public sector which might include the possibility of retrenching some public servants who are redundant as the government payroll is bloated while public sector efficiency is at stake.

“Speaking to the B&FT, he said government’s focus will be on pursuing programmes to equip and modernise the public sector to respond to challenges of modern day good governance. Whilst agreeing that the public escort requires urgent injection of fresh minds, he assured old hands that they still have a place in the new public service.

Contrary to the widely held belief that reforms were geared at cutting down on government expenditure, the senior minister denied allegations that government lacks the commitment to embark on the needed retrenchment exercise for political reasons, saying, “we are not just interested in throwing workers onto the street for the sake of it.”

A key activity in the reforms is to intensify efforts at purging the payroll of ghost names. Prior to the appointment of Mensah three were suggestions that government would need to carry out a major shake up by laying off up to 60% of the estimated 800,000 workforce.

Since its inception almost a decade ago, the office of the National Insitutional Renewal Programme (NIRP) with sponsorship from the World Bank and the Government of Ghana has been charged with responsibility for reforming the public sector believed to be the second largest on the continent.

According to Mr. Mensah, attention would be focused on maintaining the right size and rationalize the operations of the public sector thereby carving a new image for itself.