Public sector urged to ensure a productive private sector
The public sector has been urged to strive and live up to its mandate of ensuring a productive and thriving private sector.
This is because the public sector exists not for its own sake, but to serve the needs of the private sector and the citizenry.
Mr. David Ofosu-Dorte, Senior Partner, AB and David-Africa, made this known at the 2019 United Nations/African Union Public Service Day held in Accra on Friday.
The occasion was held on the theme: “The Intersection of Youth Empowerment and Migration: Entrenching a Culture of Good Governance, ICT and Innovation for Inclusive Service Delivery.”
He observed that it was quite impossible for any nation to progress, “If the collective minds of those within the public service cannot drive that progress.”
Mr Dorte said in a technology-based world where change was ever occurring, the public sector must keep upgrading itself, in order to keep abreast with the changing times, and also maintain its relevance and effectiveness.
He said the public sector should collaborate closely with the private sector, adding that, private sector growth coordinators should be appointed in the public sector, to facilitate effective cooperation.
Mr Dorte projected that in future, within the period of 2027 and 2030, the private sector would grow to become a much more dominant force in the socio-economic sector, which would require an effective public sector that could adequately execute its mandate, of facilitating the progress and success of the private sector.
He said as had been mentioned by several governments over the years, the private sector was indeed the country’s engine of growth, and the sector’s performance was typically a reflection of its chief facilitator, which was the public sector.
Mrs. Janet Ampadu Fofie, Chairman, Public Services Commission, urged public servants to build an image that reflected efficiency and reliability.
She said there was an “unfortunate perception out there that public officers are corrupt, lazy, and unethical, and cannot be trusted to cite a few”.
Mrs. Fofie said for the country to achieve the vision of a “Ghana Beyond Aid”, “we need to be at work, being principled, ethical and trustworthy officers in the performance of our functions as public officers.”
Mr. Thomas Kusi Boafo, the Chief Executive Officer, Public Sector Reforms, Office of the Senior Minister, in a speech read on behalf of the Minister, Mr. Osafo-Maafo, said this year’s theme was relevant and timely because looking at the ever-growing population of the youth, “most developing countries are sitting on time bombs which are likely to explode anytime in their faces, if proper interventions are not put in place.”
He said to be able to properly address the needs of the youth for empowerment, it was necessary to tackle the many difficult challenges that most of the Ghanaian youth faced such as the inability to access quality education, unemployment and under employment resulting from inadequate training for jobs, among others.
Source: GNA