Mills opens first National Re-invention workshop

Akosombo (Akosombo), 17 March '99 -

A strategic document on re-invention and modernisation of the public sector has been approved by Cabinet as the framework for transforming the public service into a more efficient and effective institution. Vice-President John Evans Atta Mills the opening of the first national workshop on "Reinventing Government" at Akosombo said the document provides for major reforms of central government agencies and local government institutions, programmed implementation of decentralisation reforms of the national policy process and the cabinet system. The document also deals with subvented agencies' restructuring and re-engineering and enhancement of the strategic partnership between the public sector, the private sector and civil society. It is aimed at redefining the role of the public sector within the context of the country's new democracy and development programme. "The workshop is to review the new roles and functions of central government agencies, which have been responsible for regulating the Public Administration System. The role of these agencies have contributed to the rigidities, excessive duplication, weak co-ordination and poor supervision, culminating in the lack of accountability and poor performance of the Public Service". The workshop is also to provide the needed capacities in terms of structures and organisation, systems and processes, socio- cultural and performance-oriented work values to support the implementation of the new role, the organisers, the National Institutional Renewal Programme (NIRP),said. The participants include the top hierarchy of government machinery, the Private Enterprises Commission, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, the World Bank and Non-Governmental Organisations. Dr Appiah Koranteng, National Co-ordinator of the National Institutional Renewal Programme, which is charged with the public sector reform, said his oufit has completed detailed functional and institutional analysis of 33 subvented agencies. He said out of these, at least 25 of them will be part of a pilot programme that will close while subvention will be stopped to at least seven agencies. Dr Koranteng was addressing the opening session of the first national workshop on "Reinventing Government" at Akosombo on Wednesday. Eight other agencies will be restructured and re-engineered in addition to all institutes under the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research, Dr Koranteng said. Agencies to be commercialised will have a viable mandate but under redefined terms of service delivery. Dr Koranteng said the workshop has been designed to reach agreement with stakeholders on the list of agencies to be commercialised whose implementation will start this year. He said programmes will be designed to implement reforms in the remaining 150 or more subvented agencies including those that will continue to be on government subvention in the second phase of the programme. However, agencies, which do not have valid mandates and need to be closed down will have to be closed down within the early part of the first phase. He said an alternative employment programme, aimed at managing redundancies that may occur as a result of the restructuring and realignment of the public sector agencies, has been developed. The conceptual issues and implementation methods will be discussed at the seminar. Dr Koranteng charged all stakeholders in the programme to do their best. "For once, this programme must be different. Attaining effective and efficient public service means confronting head-on the possible challenges."