Nana Agyekum Dwamena, the Head of Civil Service, has asked Regional Directors to use their skills, vision, and professionalism to cause positive change in their respective administrations.

He said change started with individuals and not systems nor structures, therefore, civil servants needed to play their roles towards the development of the country.

“Every change process is difficult and it starts from leadership, so as skilled and professional persons, let the change management we are talking about start with us,” he said.

Nana Agyekum Dwamena made the call at the opening of the first Regional Directors’ workshop, organised at Aburi in the Eastern Region, by the Department of Parks and Gardens.

He admitted that although money answered all things, it was time civil servants stopped the attitude of reflecting the ‘No Money Slogan’ and developed their visions.

Nana Agyekum Dwamena also called for team work among civil servants, saying, “Nobody should tell me we the civil servants are lazy, we are not, we are skilled and with the right mind and team work, we can achieve our goals,” he said.

He, however, advised the management of Parks and Gardens to let their impact be felt at Regional Coordinating Council meetings as that would help spell out their contributions and existence in the country.

Mr Ishmael Nii Adjei Browne, the Director of Department of Parks and Gardens, said the three-day workshop was aimed at renewing the commitment and mandate of the Regional Directors towards their communities.

“It is also to share, discuss and brainstorm ideas that will help in our everyday interactions and work at the various regions and communities,” he said.

Mr Adjei Browne, however, named human resource and funding as some of the many challenges confronting the Department, adding, “These challenges have caused us to be suppressed over the years.”

He said the Management of Park and Gardens had started working on internal mechanisms to help solve the problems.

“We have also adopted a national strategy in addressing the problem of afforestation, which is being undertaking in phases,” he noted.

Mr Adjei Browne called for a holistic approach in solving the problems as they were having negative effect on the Department both financially and publicly.

“As workers of Parks and Gardens, let us develop a positive attitudinal change,” he advised.

Speaking on the theme: “Greening and Beautification of Ghana, the role of Parks and Gardens”, Mr Johnny Osei Kofi, the Deputy Chief of Staff and Mrs Dorothy Onny of the Research Statistics and Information Management at the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, both lauded the Parks and Gardens for the theme, saying it was timely.

Mr Osei Kofi reiterated the role of the organisation and called for education and a generational thinking concept with the Ghana Education Service to help promote tree planting and horticulture lessons in all schools in the country.

The workshop, which would be an annual event, brought together all Regional Directors from the 10 regions of the country.