[ 2012-05-28 ]

Victor Smith cautions public servants against bureaucracy
The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr. Victor Smith,
has asked public servants to refrain from the
practice of deliberately creating bottlenecks at
workplace.

Such bureaucracy, he said, killed the spirit of
public institutions and frustrated the
government's efforts to execute development
programmes and projects to improve the life of
Ghanaians.

“The practice of public servants introducing
artificial bottlenecks in an attempt to pursue
their personal agenda or private interests should
be discouraged for the sake of the masses”, he
stated.

Addressing heads of departments at Donkorkrom, the
capital of the Kwahu North District in the Eastern
Region last Monday, Mr Smith said, “it is time
public servants saw the interest of Ghana as a
priority over their individual interests if we are
to make any progress as a nation”.

The meeting was to afford him the opportunity to
acquaint himself with the challenges facing public
servants in the area and fashion out how to
address them.

Mr Smith also said the introduction of manmade
bottlenecks at workplaces by public servants in
most developing countries had contributed to most
governments' inability to successfully execute
development programmes and projects to improve the
lives of the people.

“If you become a government official, it does not
mean that you are superior to the people who gave
you the mandate to serve them. It is because we
cannot all govern,” he said.

He added that “we must all share in the vision of
the government to enable it to deliver the
promises we made to the people”.

Mr Smith told the gathering that since he assumed
office as the regional minister, he had personally
seen some official documents that showed that
awarded contracts had been completed and the
contractors paid when in reality no work had been
done.

He attributed the problem to the failure of some
public officials to monitor projects assigned to
them.

“Who are those public officials who are trying to
hoodwink the government?” he asked and added that
“there are so many people ready to do your job and
if your intention is not to work, leave for others
to do the proper job”.

He acknowledged the challenges public servants and
contractors were facing in the discharge of their
duties, and said their conditions could not be
ignored.

“The government acknowledges that you need to be
fairly comfortable so that you can deliver on your
responsibility”, he admitted. “However, if you are
given a job and you do not deliver because you
receive your salary at the end of the month and,
therefore, spend time on the phone chatting and
reading the newspapers, you fail to contribute to
what you are paid for”, he stated.

He added that it was time public servants changed
their attitude towards their work and reminded
them that “Ghana could be better if we do the
right thing for us and the unborn generation to
enjoy”.

Source - Daily Graphic

... go Back