Dr Bob Offei Manteaw, Co-Founder and Director for Learning Affairs Africa (LAA), has lauded Government’s decision to set specific targets for all Ministers of State.
The targets and performance will be monitored and evaluated by the Ministry in-charge of Monitoring and Evaluation headed by Dr Anthony Osei Akoto.
Dr Manteaw has therefore urged government to publish targets set for the Ministers to ensure openness, trust and accountability.
Dr Manteaw who made the remarks in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said: “This is indeed a good governance approach to ensuring that ministers know exactly what they should be focusing on in their respective ministries.”
He however called on the government to go a step further by making those specific targets and performance known to the citizenry.
Dr Manteaw, who is also a Lead Advisor, Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction for African Resilience Collaborative, said government may have its own reasons to keeping those targets out of the public domain, adding: “But it should be a matter of public interest that targets are published to ensure openness and accountability.”
He noted that most governments including the previous government set targets for ministers but it was largely kept in wraps and only known to the Members of the Executive.
According to him, the public were denied useful knowledge of what the President had asked of his ministers and how they were pursuing those goals.
He said there were a lot of expectations from the government, which necessitated that things were done differently.
“The Ghanaian public is keen and interested in knowing what the key targets and performance of the ministers are in the pursuit of those targets.
“It is critical and important for the public to know these targets to get a sense of what is important to the government.
“I am of the view that if the government is indeed serious about ensuring efficiency through monitoring and evaluation, then setting targets and making those targets public should be seen as an added incentive and motivation for ministers and government appointees to perform,” he said.
Dr Manteaw said the targets sets for the ministers would have a multiplying effect on officers in all the ministries and their agencies.
He said each officer would work in tandem to facilitate the achievement of the broader targets of the ministry.
Dr Manteaw elsewhere targets defined the work of ministers’ right from the beginning were published on government websites as public information.
He said Ghana could possibly learn this practice by giving appointed ministers special letters that spells out the government’s overall vision and how the ministries’ targets will contribute to the broader vision.
"I am of the view that these targets should be boldly displayed in all Ministries to create a sense of awareness and direction.
“The Government is certainly doing something right; however, it needs to make this process complete by involving the public. The targets must be owned by the people and that is why it is important that they know what is expected of each minister and his or her ministry”.
Dr Manteaw said: "If there is real commitment to the process of monitoring and evaluation in government, the Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation might possibly become the most powerful and most feared Minister in the government.
"Feared not in a negative way, but in a way that puts his colleague ministers in check and this can only be good for Ghana’s democracy".
Source: GNA
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I would be delighted if Nana is able to change the face of politics so that those noise makers would run away from politics. Just as ministers and others are vetted they must be given a target to achieve and appraisal must be done every quarterly to track performance and make changes if need. we hope to see the target of each sector publish so the people would also monitor. but this must be spread to all government agencies and ministry from the minister to the messenger then we would be able to see those who delay government and public services. I pray that in the future exgratia would be tied to performance and achievements in government otherwise politicians and other people would just come and misuse or steal our monies and get fat pay also at the end of the day. God help Ghana.
Good one!Ghana is working again.God bless NANA/BAWUMIA leadership to succeed, God bless Ghana.
Every Ghanaian voter knows the government is on course except ndc who are hungry in opposition for just 3 months. My question is, who does the ndc executives and their loser former president and his appointees think is going to vote for them to come back and lo*t? The people are seeing signs of good governance in just 3 months of change and the people feel comfortable and are in a comfortable lead ahead of the ndc,so, where is the mess Bature is talking about? Or is it only the ndc that see what the rest of the country don't see? Then they are deceiving themselves to think so. It will help them to realize and come to terms that the good people of Ghana are discerning and have known what is good for them and wouldn't vote anyhow,anyway for anybody for hardship and suffering. They Know John Mahama very well and they voted massively to humiliate him to send him to opposition so what makes ndc think bringing mahama back will do their magic? I tell ndc if even their voodoo and juju are pridicting victory for them in 2020 they are just for the money and ndc will lose potoooooo come 2020. Ndc debts are being paid even those you own to teachers and nurses,the NHIS and a lot more including N-Gas the farmers are going to be taking good care and everything is going according to how and what Ghanaians expect so what is your message for coming back? What did you do to come back to finish? The 45 community day SHS you are setting fire on them or the Accra Dubai?ndc is not coming anytime soon so stop dreaming,Delta force saga is not justification for you to come back when we all saw what azorka boys did at Talensi and the Kofi Portuphy AK47,we all remember Naaba Collins Dauda's brother who confessed in killed everyday because of ndc but nobody laid hands on him,he killed but went free nobody touched him but ndc want to crucify Delta force who didn't assault nobody ,who had no weapons with them and who didn't kill nobody. Kwadwo Kenyaso Nkwanta south DCE was killed by ndc thugs and up till now no arrest,ndc why do you curse your own selves by plucking others speck from their eyes when you have a log in yours? Ndc will never taste power till after 40 years. Ndc yaamutu !!!!!!!!!