Remove suspicions and perceptions

Story: Albert K. Salia
A RETIRED Diplomat, Mr K.B. Asante, has stressed the need for the suspicions and unhelpful perceptions that have characterised the relationship between civil servants and the political leadership to be resolved.
That, he said, was necessary if the civil service was to implement government policies with the understanding and zeal which would accelerate economic and social development.
According to him, the performance of the civil service had suffered a great deal from lack of understanding between the political establishment and the service.
Delivering the eighth Golden Jubilee lectures in Accra on Thursday, Mr Asante said “the political establishment and the public service should abandon unfounded perceptions and work together to administer the country with the confidence, passion and devotion which Ghana deserves. With such unity of purpose, Ghana can look forward to the future with hope and confidence”.
He was speaking on the topic “The Ghana Public Service: Assessment of its performance since independence and the way forward”.
According to him, if the achievement of the public service had fallen short of expectation, the way forward was to remove some of the identified unhelpful perceptions .
Mr Asante said there was a tendency to keep public officers away from political decisions as it was not taken kindly for civil servants to step into the shoes of ministers when they were away.
He explained that the issue of suspicion of loyalty of the public servant to the government in power had characterised the relationships since independence.
Consequently, he said, it was often felt that senior civil servants should retire when the government fell while the new government was suspicious of heads of public institutions.
“There is a long period of inaction in the service while the new government decides whether to continue with the existing heads of the public service,” he noted.
Mr Asante said the suspicion was unnecessary as a good civil servant was a professional who promoted the objectives of the government if such policies were clearly spelt out.
According to him, if the public officer failed in his or her duty or to comply with a policy, he or she could be dealt with.
Mr Asante said it was important that the civil servant absorbed himself in the policy of the government he served and promoted those policies and took cognisance of the national interest and changed circumstances.
“Someone has said that a good civil servant behaves like a woman of easy virtue. Actually, this is not correct. He does not serve two masters at the same time.
Mr Asante said a civil servant who had served a previous regime very well could be trusted to serve a new one with the same zeal and efficiency.
  He said party affiliation and ethnicity should not determine positions in the public service and that rules should be respected and appointments be made with dispatch after a change in government.
He said a major failure of the Public Service had been its inadequate response to the aspirations of the government and the people, siting for instance that “the failure of the public service to react appropriately led to a faulty structure and system which still bedevils elementary education in the country today”.
Mr Asante, an octogenarian, who has seen the evolution of the civil service since independence, reminded Public Servants that their duty was to help achieve the objectives of the manifesto and policies of the party in power while suggesting politely but firmly how the pursuit of a party’s interest should not violate the national interest.
He said despite the occasional disappointing performance, the Public Service had done well in the past 50 years by reacting well to government demands.
According to him, civil servants had been bred in the tradition of cautious orderly progress, and favoured the transformation of the people but believed in hastening slowly with measured steps.
“Thus began the conflict between the Civil Service and government which wanted to accede to the people’s demand for rapid transformation, economic and social development,” he said.
He pointed out that the Ghanaian who was impatient for a better life would not be happy with delays in the implementation of government policies vis-à-vis a bureaucratic civil service.
Mr Asante called on the state to recognise the invaluable contribution of civil servants and reward excellent performance with suitable national awards, stressing that “salaries should be commensurate with responsibility, and differences in emoluments in the public service should be rational”.
“At 50, we should be mature enough to examine ourselves critically, accept our faults and shortcomings and resolve to improve rapidly. We have done moderately well. But we have the talents, the resources and a potentially good civil service to build a proud prosperous country,” he added.
    A retired civil servant and former Ambassador, Dr E.M. Debrah, called for a national monument to honour the unknown civil servant who had served their country well.
The chairman of the Public Services Commission, Prof S.N. Woode, reminded public servants that the demand for expeditious and quality service was so high.
He, therefore, called on them to change their attitude to work by embracing the change required of them in the discharge of their duty.