Bolgatanga, June 24, GNA - Mr. Mark Woyongo, the Upper East Regional Minister, on has expressed concern civil servants who continually show disloyalty to the political heads by divulging confidential reports and engaging in subversive activities to undermine their administration. "Recent developments in certain public institutions seem to suggest that some civil servants are disloyal or subversive. They undermine their political leaders by needlessly exposing official documents," he said.

Mr. Woyongo said this when he met with the coordinating directors from all the districts in the region to familiarise and discuss the development plans of the region. He told them that as civil servants they were supposed to serve the Government of the day and show loyalty to their political heads without necessarily exposing their political leanings, "instead, some of you, unfortunately have stuck out your necks showing the political parties you support," he added.

He advised that if they wanted to maintain their dignity, they should remain neutral, at least on the outside, so that they would also avoid conflicts with the people they worked with. "We expect utmost cooperation and dedication to duty in your relationship with your political heads, you can not win the confidence and trust of your political bosses if you do not allow your political neutrality to manifest in all your deliberations or dealings as coordinating directors," he said.

Mr. Woyongo called on the municipal and district coordinating directors to work hard at making the 'assemblies investor and collaborator friendly' so the region could derive maximum benefits from all interventions.

He noted that it was important for the assemblies to receive investors well and give them the necessary support and encouragement that would make them stay and invest in the region. "Persons who depend upon public services or the assembly for services have no options or alternatives to fall on and so we must always strive to satisfy them," he stressed, and asked the directors to show discipline, integrity, dedication and professionalism in their work.

He noted with concern that the internal revenue collection by the assemblies was poor and attributed it to low commitment and untapped large potentials.

He, therefore, urged the assemblies to focus more attention on internal revenue collection instead of relying on the Common Fund for every expense. Mr. Samuel N'lary, Regional Chief Coordinating Director, called on the assemblies to continue work on all good and viable projects that were started by the previous administration. He said the members of Parliament would be given a separate Constituency Development Fund and would, therefore, not require money from the district assemblies. He asked the directors to ensure that they reduced office expenditure while they put in place measures that would increase internal revenue collection.