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Ing. Dr. Nana Ato Arthur assumed the high office as Head of the Local Government Service in April, 2017 after being appointed by the President on the advice of the Local Government Service Council and in consultation with the Public Services Commission.
With a vast experience in local governance administration and decentralization, Dr. Arthur brought on board rich and well cultured capabilities both on the local and international fronts as well as exposures from other related fields.
His innovative ideas, dynamism and diligence have led to progress of the Service for the five year he has been in office.
In line with the Service’s motto of Decentralization, Democracy and Development, Dr. Arthur promoted programmes in support of the operations of the Service, and the delivery of improved services by subnational governments which have positively impacted the lives of citizens at the local levels; as he has always maintained that, effective decentralization can only be achieved when the right policies are implemented.
The programmes pursued hinged on key pillars with cascading effects on the overall performance leading to the achievement of the Service’s mandate.
Consistent with the concept of “management by action,” Dr. Arthur has paid working visits to all 16 Regional Co-ordinating Councils and over 150 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) across the country.
The focus of his visits is to engage and directly interact with staff, appreciate the conditions and challenges under which they work and to motivate them in line with the performance of their duties. Dr. Arthur’s approach in this regard is more comprehensive and elaborate compared to similar ones embarked on by some of his predecessors.
Effective stakeholder engagement Dr. Arthur believes is critical for consensus building and evolution of a robust Local Government Service.
One critical issue Dr. Arthur observed was the fact that, a number of officers in the Service have acquired additional qualifications but this had not impacted on their career progression.
The Head of Service upon consultations with the relevant stakeholders took the bull by the horn and dealt with the administrative bottlenecks leading to the upgrading and conversion of 1,636 staff from sub-professional grades to professional level grades.
Leveraging on ICT to foster and strengthen revenue and records management; and the gathering of critical data for informed decision making in the Service was one of the key policies Dr. Arthur sought to enhance.
He championed the introduction of the biometric clocking system at all levels of the Service to curb the prevalence of lateness and as a measure to improve productivity of staff.
The clocking system has ensured punctuality especially at the OHLGS where officers report and check out of the office in line with requirements on working hours.
Capacity building is another area that is being vigorously tackled under Dr. Arthur’s administration. Over 7,845 staff majority of whom hitherto have not benefited from any form of capacity building programme have all been trained.
This has positively impacted the skills and competencies of staff across the various job classes and occupational groups thereby improving service delivery.
The introduction of the scheme-based training in collaboration with the Institute of Local Government Service (ILGS) has also been a major leap in the capacity building area.
The training is structured to equip and sharpen the professional knowledge, skills, and attitudes of staff for improved job performance and organizational effectiveness.
Bridging the human resource gap is another area that Dr. Arthur has conscientiously worked on. In the quest to transform the Service into a world class organization, Dr. Arthur has within the last five years ensured the recruitment of over 10,000 new staff to shore up the staff strength of the Service.
During his tenure, the Service has strengthened integration of established departments to ensure the effective discharge of the roles of the MMDAs in line with the provisions of the Local Governance Act 2016 (Act 936) and Department of District Assemblies Commencement Instrument (LI 1961).
Additionally, he led the review of the existing Performance Management System (PMS) which has ensured improved performance of the Service especially in the area of performance contracts.
Dr. Arthur’s sterling leadership efforts has been critical in securing funding for the construction of an ultra-modern office block for the Office of the Head of the Local Government Service (OHLGS). Works on the office block is about 75% complete and is scheduled to be completed and handed over for use in June, 2022.
The edifice would among others provide ample working spaces for staff, ease congestion in offices as well as promote a safe and sound working environment for the conduct of work.
Dr. Arthur’s efforts and leadership has contributed to the progress of the Local Government Service through the deployment of time-tested systems, procedures, and processes as well as the engagement and development of human capacity in support of local level service delivery.
Writers address: Joseph.ankamah@lgs.gov.gh
