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| Mr Thomas Kusi Boafo, CEO, PSRS |
Mr Thomas Kusi Boafo, Chief Executive Office (CEO) of the
Public Sector Reform Secretariat (PSRS), has exclusively informed Business
Day that Ghana is set to outdoor a “Public Sector Reform Strategy.”
The PSRS, which is under the Office of the President, has
together with stakeholders have been working on the document for about seven
months with cabinet already giving its blessing to the document.
This document, with a five-year timeline (2018-2023), will
be different in the sense that it will provide a clear direction to public
sector institutions in terms of guiding their service delivery with emphasis on
efficiency.
So, in the era of this document, acquiring a passport,
registering a land title, acquiring a driver’s licence, clearing goods at the
top are supposed to be stress-free and without the slightest taint of
corruption.
More details of the strategy and the financial commitments
for its implementation are expected to be outlined when the Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta,
Minister for Finance, presents the government’s fiscal policy and budget
statement to Parliament this week ahead of the document’s official launch in
December.
According to Mr Kusi Boafo, the target is to make the public
sector a citizens- and private sector centred one.
Instructively, there are indications that the 2018 budget
will be focused on industrialisation.
This will be achieved through the six pillars or programmes
of the document, namely: Citizens and Private Sector Focus; Capable and
Disciplined Workforce; Strengthening Public Sector Regulatory Framework;
Modernisation and Improved Working Conditions; Strengthened Local Governance
Structure and Digitized Public Sector Systems.
Each of these programmes will be implemented across the
various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MMDAs) and the financial
commitments would be made to those structures.
One of the pillars, which is already in full swing in spite
of the document awaiting its outdooring and full implementation, is the
digitization of businesses.
Currently, the ports area undertaking paperless clearing;
the Registrar-General’s Department is undertaking e-business registration; the
National Identification Authority has launched the digital address system and
the national identification registration process; while the Driver and Vehicle
Licensing Authority (DVLA) has introduced the smart card.
All these process are expected to be boosted in the regime
of the strategic document while new initiatives are rolled out by other
institutions.
Defeating Corruption
Meanwhile, Mr Kusi Boafo can promise that one of the things
that will change about the Ghanaian society is that corruption will be minimised,
if not eradicated. He said “…now public sector workers will no longer be seen
as an enemy of the private sector. People believe the public sector are (sic)
there to milk them.”
Ultimately, “In five years we want the Ghana Public Service
to be the best in Africa, if not among the best, so that the turnaround time of
doing business in Ghana will be shorter, very efficient. If you say you’re
going for passport and we say two weeks it is two weeks; when you get to the
port and you have goods clearing the goods if we say it is going to be three
days then it is three days; land registration if we say its six months then you
get your land title and it is six months,” he indicated.
Informed citizens
A key outcome of the strategic document is the preparation
of a citizens charter.
The rationale, according to Mr. Kusi Boafo, is
that citizens out to know their responsibilities, know where they should go at
any point in time to make enquiries, report their problems and be aware of action
to be taken.
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