Mrs Bridget Katsriku, Chairperson of the Public Service Commission (PSC) and the Implementation Steering Committee (ISC) of the Capacity Development Mechanism (CDM), has lauded the CDM initiative, saying, it was improving service delivery at the public sector.

According to her, the CDM, which was currently being piloted in 16 public agencies in Ghana, would make a greater impact by meeting the needs of the citizenry if it was extended to all public institutions.

Mrs Katsriku made the commendation in Koforidua at a two-day knowledge and experience-sharing workshop, organized by the Government of Ghana Capacity Development Mechanism, under the auspices of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP).

She was impressed about the tangible achievements chalked by the 16 institutions so far, especially in improving and increasing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure at their respective places which had enhanced service delivery to Ghanaians.

The 16 beneficiary institutions, selected from a total of 29 through a competitive selection, were classified into three categories, as Central Management Agencies (CMAs), Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and Subvented Agencies (SAs).

At the workshop, they shared knowledge and experiences gained from the implementation of the CDM activities since 2012, to take stock of the challenges encountered and to discuss common approaches to addressing them.

Enumerating some of the successes of the CDM, Mr Louis K. Amo, the Coordinator for the Mechanism, said it had led to the development and automation of business processes within the MOFEP, which had caused a major shift from paper-based communication to an electronic one, resulting in faster work processes and higher outputs.

He disclosed that through the CDM, the Environmental Protection Agency had acquired and installed a Wide Area Network (WAN), which had enabled applications for EPA permits to be processed online, with no need for people to travel to the head office to process EPA permits.

“And soon the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations is about to roll out the Labour Market Information System that will facilitate scientific studies into labour market issues including the determination of unemployment rate in Ghana,” Mr Amo added.

According to Mr Amo, the CDM had helped the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) to acquire a “Truscan machine” to detect counterfeit drugs and foods in real time, and had enhanced capacity to protect public health, adding that, it had also led to the development and operationalization of the Minister’s Handbook, as well as Schemes of Service for various staff-categories by the Office of the President.

Mr Amo said through the CDM, the Head of the Civil Service had also developed Civil Service Employee Handbook, Chief Directors' Performance Assessment and the Institutional Assessment Manuals, as well as helped the National Development Planning Commission to develop a draft Scheme of Service for various staff categories, Employee Wellbeing Policy and Conditions of Service.

The CDM is a joint effort between the Government of Ghana (GOG) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), now the Department of Foreign Affairs Trade and Development (DFATD), and it is a new GOG approach towards capacity development in a holistic and harmonized manner across the Public Services.

It commenced in 2012 with a 5.2 million Canadian-dollar funding from the DFATD, and it is being implemented using purely Government of Ghana systems and procedures to deepen capacities across the entire public service of Ghana.

The Mechanism is expected to improve capacity of the Public Services for transparent, accountable, timely, efficient and effective performance in public service delivery, in all sectors to achieve the overall goals set out in the Ghana Shared Growth Development Agenda (GSGDA).