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Report By Bernard K DADZIE
The Ghana Civil Service says that it is poised to deliver on its mandate to support the government to deliver on its strategic goals on the digitalization agenda across the country.
According to Civil Service, digitalization is a path to modernization and transformation of every economy. It increases efficiency and productivity, protects records, and makes records retrieval easy for improved evidence-based policy decisions.
Findings from the Digital Economy Diagnostic Survey, 2020, indicate that Ghana is among the digital leaders in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, the study further identified key bottlenecks that needed to be removed to further accelerate Ghana’s digital transformation.
Nana Kweasi Agyekum Dwamena, the head of Ghana Civil Service stated emphatically that it has taken service delivery to the next level through a more collaborative and customer-centric approach.
As part of the digitalization processes, he said the National Information and Technology Agency (NITA) under the Ministry of Communications and Digitalization in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and a consortium of local FinTech’s, deployed the Ghana.gov payment platform.
This platform is a one-stop payment platform for all payments for Government services. It integrates all forms of payments from mobile money, card payment, Bank transfer etc. from the comfort of one’s location through a digital device and internet connectivity. This has supported the smooth running of public agencies’ business.
“Indeed, in the words of Pierre Laporte, World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, “Expanding digital access and adoption, enhancing digital public service delivery, and promoting digitally-enabled innovation are essential for Ghana’s digital transformation, which will help drive a robust post-COVID-19 recovery”, he added.
Nana Kwasi Agyekum Dwamena was speaking at the 2022 Civil Service week and awards ceremony at the CLOGSAG Auditorium in Accra. With the theme “Digitalization in the Civil Service of Ghana: An agenda for improve productivity and service delivery”
Nana Kwasi Agyekum Dwamena emphasized that the theme for the year’s celebration – “Digitalization in the Civil Service of Ghana: An Agenda for Improved Productivity and Service Delivery” focuses on one of the core pillars of development not only in our country but globally – Digitalization.
The Ghana Civil Service is the main Public Service Organisation established by the Civil Service Act 1993 (PNDC Law 327) to assist to initiate, develop, and coordinate the implementation, monitoring and evaluation policies of successive governments for national development. The Service is currently made up of twenty-eight (28) Ministries, Three (3) Extra-ministerial Organisations, and twenty-five (25) Departments with a staff of 17, 408.
Over the years, the Civil Service has undertaken several reforms to increase its operational efficiency and drive performance and deliver results. It has fully embraced the national digitalization agenda to further enhance productivity.
The Office of the Head of the Civil Service, in response to the outbreak of the COVID–19 pandemic, put in place some initiatives for the adjustment of working hours for staff. The objective was to intensify the enforcement of workplace health and safety and the implementation of a flexible work schedule.
The flexible work arrangement was widely implemented by the sector Ministries and Departments, taking into consideration mandatory safety and health protocols on restrictions for meetings and public gatherings. Virtual platforms such as WhatsApp and emails, Zoom and Microsoft Teams were used and are still being used to engage and communicate with officers for feedback on assigned tasks.
Additionally, monitoring measures and strategies were put in place to track the performance of officers on weekly and monthly basis. Some specific strategies adopted included the following
The 2022 civil Service week celebration has seen the introduction of a football tournament. The final matches will be played on the 27th and 28th July.
The celebration would be climax with H. E. Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia , the Vice president of the Republic of Ghana as the special Guest with an Awards Ceremony at the Alisa Hotels, North Ridge on 29th July, 2022 in Accra.
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