Abuse Of Political Power In The Ghana Civil Service Must End Now-Mr Bempoe Addo
Abuse Of Political Power In The Ghana Civil Service Must End Now-Mr Bempoe Addo
The civil service shall until provision is otherwise made by parliament, comprise service in both central and local government.As contained in the 1992 constitution Article 190(2).
Speaking at a news conference held in Accra, the Executive Secretary of Closag, Mr Isaac Bempoe Addo has reiterates that the civil service is responsible for government administration while the government service caters for local government administration.
For the purpose of this paper the civil service would be used to cover both civil service and local government service.
According to him, from independence, this country has witnessed administrators working at the top echelon of government serving different political regimes without losing their positions. This publication is in honor of Nathan Annan Quao, a celebrated civil servants, described by independent observers as part of a diminishing survivors of an era, which many consider to have a high-noon of quality and dedication to the civil service.
He worked for five successive governments(from Kwame Nkrumah to the John Jerry Rawlings regime) without any tinge of politicization.And also exhibited some key values and principles of the civil service such as leadership, integrity, loyalty, selfless and neutrality which ensures efficiency and effectiveness in civil service delivery.
Ghana has been touted as a beacon of democracy, good governance, and a story of hope for Africa and other developing nations in the world. This is largely due to the successes it has chalked in consolidating its democracy, through successful and successive elections since 1992 to date.
According to him, Ghana appears however not to have a strong, effective, and efficient civil service.
The civil service is pivotal in national development as it serves as the wheel of government machinery.
Mr Bempoe Addo was optimistic that national development connotes ” The Capacity of a country to raise the standard of its residents. It can be achieved by providing individuals with basic livelihood requirements and supplying them with employment among others. Development is a process that creates growth, bring in progress and positive change”.
Thus any impairment in the activities of the civil service would affect national development. It is within this context that civil and local government staff association, Ghana(CLOSAG) has chosen the theme: “Abuse of Political Power in the Civil Service:The Bane Of National Development”. It is important to note that the civil service administration in Ghana has always been a fine blend of Politics and administration to achieve the purpose of governance. Globally civil service administration cannot be divorced from political influence.
Whereas there is no single factor that has compromised the quality and effectiveness of the civil service, one cannot disregard politicisation as one of the contributory factors.
It has been found out that the practice of Political interference has intensified in the fourth republic due to the following key factors among others: Winner-Takes All nature of the 1992 constitution, Creation of “Jobs for the boys”, campaign resources and loyalty, Moneycracy associated with political campaigning, Patronage and clientenism, and Involvement of bureaucrats in politics.
Moreover, it has been observed that politicisation has indirectly affected the mandate of most civil service organizations, stifled development, affected civil service reforms and has “injured” Ghanas fledgling democracy.
By Joseph Nana Yaw Cobbina
