General News of Wednesday, 23 July 2003

Source: GNA

Senior minister decries current state of the public service

Accra, July 23, GNA - Senior Minister Joseph Henry Mensah said on Wednesday that the public services remain in a state of considerable ineffectiveness because of the neglect of systematic training, capacity building and career development of public servants.

Speaking during a visit to the National Institutional Renewal Programme (NIRP) Secretariat in Accra, he said a weak public service could not serve the government well enough in implementing its development agenda.

A statement from NIRP quoted Mr Mensah as saying, it is therefore, necessary to take stock of the on-going public sector reforms in order to prioritise them and redefine the reform programme that seeks to make the public sector more efficient and effective. Mr Mensah is also responsible for Public Sector Reforms and the NIRP.

Dr Appiah Koranteng, National Co-ordinator of the NIRP, charged staff of the Secretariat to redouble their efforts in ensuring that the reforms are carried through for efficient delivery.

He said the pilot phase of the programme has achieved significant successes but admitted that a lot of work still needs to be done. He pledged support of the secretariat to assist the Senior Minister in the implementation of the public sector reforms.