Government won’t retrench public sector workers - Prez Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama says it is not true that the government will retrench personnel in the public service as part of the International Monetary Fund conditions.

Additionally, he said there was no truth in allegations that the government had also been debarred by the IMF from employing new personnel in the public service.

Addressing the eighth conference of chief directors of the public service, chief executives and chairpersons of governing boards and councils of state institutions in Koforidua yesterday, the President said: "we will continue to employ only the numbers and skills needed."

About 150 people are participating in the three-day conference with the theme: "Leading and managing the dynamics of change through the professionalisation of the public service"

There are rumours that some government workers will be retrenched as a result of the $918 million support being offered the country by the IMF.

Leadership

President Mahama charged the leadership of the country's public service to work towards dispelling a long-held notion that the sector was synonymous with inefficiency.

"We must break that myth that the public service is synonymous with inefficiency and oversee the running of government institutions as if they belong to us", the President stated.

That situation, according to him, had led to a low level of professionalism in the sector despite the huge investment being made in the training of personnel.

"Nobody is supervising anybody. We are afraid to attract tags so we don't supervise", he said.

The President said it was time the service made away with the outmoded way it had been running its affairs and set for itself measurable standards with Ghanaians in mind.

"Members of the public are not irritants. They are the reason for our existence and it is because of them that we are called public servants. We must begin to think outside the box and see how we can serve the public better", President Mahama said.

He observed that some personnel unduly delayed their service to citizens in order to extort money from them. "That is wrong and it must stop," he stressed and urged the leaders to reduce what he described as the "overburdened bureaucracy” associated with service delivery.

Boards/chief executives clash

President Mahama described as unfortunate, the misunderstanding of the role of board members.

"Board members are not meant to manage institutions and as such are not supposed to have offices in those institutions".

The Chairman of the Public Services Commission (PSC), Mrs Bridget Katriku, stated that there was an urgent need for the leadership of the public service to wake up to their responsibilities and change their leadership style.

"The truth is that some of us, as leaders, are failing our country in many ways”, she said.

She also expressed regret that many of the public service institutions had chosen to ignore the PSC's call for the implementation of the new performance management  policy.