Indeed, the launch of the citizen’s charter by the Minister for Public Sector Reform, Mr. Samuel Owusu Agyei, for four public sector agencies namely Rent Control Department, Passport Office, Birth and Death Registry and Public Records and Archives Administration Department (PRAAD) is commendable and worth sustaining.

As Ghana strives to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and also being touted as the gateway to Africa, it is important to put structures in place to ensure that the attainment of the MDGs comes to reality.

The citizen’s charter is an agreement between an organisation and the public through which trust and confidence in public service will be sustained. It is an effort to inculcate a culture of excellence in service delivery of public sector agencies, based on the core values of quality of service, productivity, innovation, transparency, discipline, accountability and professionalism.

It is, intended to move the customers from the periphery of organisations’ concerns to the centre. To ensure that the public sector is able to deliver its outputs or services efficiently and effectively to the satisfaction of its customers or clients in a timely manner.

Barley a month ago, Financial Services Charter was also launched for five public service sector institutions to ensure good service delivery to the public.

Now, the hustle and fictitious ways of acquiring Ghanaian passport would be a thing of the past. There is going to be an introduction of a Bio- Metric passport this year which will conform to ECOWAS standard. When introduced, a passport would be issued to applicants within 10 days and security measures would also be ensured to avoid any criminal act.

It is also an encouragement that all children below the age of one year will be registered free of charge at any of the offices of the Birth and Death Registry Department.

There is a school of thought in this country that we bite more than we can chew. It is for this reason that Mr. Francis Poku, former Minister of National Security, assured the public that there was an indication that the charter would be sustained and meet the expected target.

He said a committee had been formed to monitor the affairs of the charter and would go round throughout the year to monitor and ensure that the right things are done.

“Together we stand divided we fall. Let us unite as one people irrespective of one’s political affiliation and help develop the nation,” the former Security Minister emphasised.

The Chief Advisor to the President, Mrs. Mary Chinery Hesse, impressed upon the Heads of the four Agencies who signed the Charter to live to the expectation of their promises.

She directed them to state categorically to the audience, especially the media, the time limits for the delivery of the various services enshrined in their respective charters.

She warned that those Agencies which would fail to meet the stipulated deadlines for services deliveries would be sanctioned.

Source: ISD (Zakari Musah)

• Email this page
• Printer friendly version