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In This Issue...Links to the News:
March 11, 2016
Ministry to begin
implementation of Subvented Agencies Law in January
Accra, Nov. 20, GNA - The Ministry of Public Sector Reforms
said on Monday that it would in January 2007 begin in
earnest to implement the Subvented Agencies (SAs) Law, which
seeks to wholly or partially commercialize or even close
down some State institutions on Government support.
Speaking at a forum called to inform stakeholders about the
practical consequences and implications of the Law, Dr Paa
Kwesi Nduom, Minister of Public Sector Reform, said the
Ministry would go all out to ensure the success of the
programme because it now had the full backing of the Law.
Under the Law, the Government would classify the
institutions into four categories. These are those to be
closed down, those for whom Government would discontinue the
provision of subvention, those that would benefit from
partial subvention and those that are to be fully
commercialised.
Dr Nduom said the move had become necessary to re-orientate
the public services to a result-oriented one and also to
reduce the financial burden on the Government while
resources were made available to other sectors.
He said similar programmes initiated in the past had failed
because of the long gap between diagnostic
reviews/reengineering plans and implementation of proposed
action plans, leading to delays and loss of reform momentum.
To ensure the success of the programme, Dr Nduom said there
was the need for the SAs to become reform driven by
initiating and sustaining interest while the Boards,
Management and staff of the institutions must determine
their commitment and capacity to implement reforms.
Dr Nduom said to ensure that benefits gained from the reform
were not dissipated by the uncontrolled and uncoordinated
establishment of the SAs, Parliamentary approval would be
needed to create new subvented agencies.
He said the relationship between the ministries and
subvented agencies needed to be streamlined to ensure a
clear process of performance reporting, guarantee
accountability and value for money.
Similarly, an agency that will be removed and set up
separately from the Civil Service shall be required to enter
into performance contracts made between the Chief Executive
of the Agency and the Ministry under which it operated.
Professor Stephen Adei, Director of Ghana Institute of
Management and Public Administration (GIMPA); said the
Government’s support was key to the success of the reform at
every stage of the process.
He said it was important not to start reforms in any
institution unless it received the full commitment of the
leadership and asked that the role of external consultants
be limited in the process as much as possible.
GNA
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