The Minister of State for Public Sector Reforms designate, Lydia Lamisi Akanvariba, has said she will leverage the use of technology to bring about transparency at the ministry, accountability and open participation by the citizens.
In addition, she said she would look towards strengthening the way people were recruited into the public sector, undertake training and capacity building in the sector and strengthen institutions.
“I will be looking at building or strengthening the public institutions. I will be looking at strengthening the way we hire people into the public sector and, therefore, we should have a national dialogue on how to hire and recruit into the public sector,” she said.
Ms Akanvariba, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Tempane Constituency in the Upper East Region, gave these assurances when she appeared before the Parliamentary Vetting Committee yesterday.
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Modernise
The minister designate also said her office would closely collaborate with the Ministry of Communication, whose mandate is to provide the needed infrastructure, to ensure that digital advancements benefit remote and urban communities across the country.
She said she would continue to build on the structures that were already existing at the sector ministry, go with government policy and ensure that areas that needed to be strengthened were strengthened to bring about efficiency.
Responding to the issue of the resistance to change, especially with regard to bureaucrats at the ministries, she said with the existence of bureaucracy in the public sector “if you want to have a change you should engage them because there are people who actually benefit … from the status quo”.
To bring about changes, she said, there was a need to orientate them as to why there was the need to bring about changes.
“You have to communicate clearly to them, you have to orientate them, you have to take them through capacity building so that they would understand the reason why you want change,” she emphasised.
Challenges
Asked about challenges she was likely to face on assuming office, Ms Akanvariba mentioned them to include limited resources, bureaucracy, corruption and lots of paperwork and said she would consider reducing paperwork.
On how she intended to buy into the 24-hour economy initiative, Ms Akanvariba said she would follow the President’s policy direction wherever it would be.
“If he is going to do the 24-hour economy it would do us good,” she said, “with that more people would, for instance, be employed in the security services to provide protection for businesses and the people”.
Infrastructure
To monitor the school feeding programme, Ms Akanvariba said she would introduce reforms, in response to a question from the MP from South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor.
“If we are able to provide the infrastructure that would help us to monitor the school feeding programme and other things, it would go a long way to bring accountability and transparency in the system,” she said.
On what she would do to improve upon productivity in the public sector without compromising the roles and appointments of the sector, in answer to a question posed by the MP for Jaman South, Col. Kwadwo Damoah (retd), the nominee said the public sector was a well-structured place so she would continue with what already existed and add a few areas.
Vision, role
Ms Akanvariba said her vision for the public sector was an efficient, modern and responsive public sector that would deliver on the government’s agenda and also meet the needs of the people.
Specifically, she said her role was to collaborate and lead, and that she would engage state and non-state actors, build capacity in the sector and encourage the use of new technology to have efficient and modern service.
