We must think outside the box to fix the country — Osafo-Maafo

We must think outside the box for solutions to the many problems facing the citizenry, the Senior Presidential Advisor, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, has said.

He said the worsening unemployment situation in the country posed a security threat and, therefore, stressed that any public sector reform must consider “outside the box” strategies to resolve the challenges.

Mr Osafo-Maafo was speaking at a national stakeholder dialogue series in Cape Coast in the Central Region yesterday. The three-day meeting which was on the theme: “Taking stock and identifying emerging issues to shape Ghana’s new public sector reform strategy, 2025-2030,” formed phase one of the series.

Participants will take stock of progress made from the last strategy, identify the bottlenecks that impeded its achievements and provide suggestions for a new strategy.

Measures

Mr Osafo-Maafo also called for practical steps to enhance the agricultural sector by implementing strategies that would make it attractive and profitable for the youth. He said that there must be a change in direction in the over-reliance of certain commodities, while encouraging the cultivation of vegetables and flowers, and the creation of land banks.

Tackling unemployment

On unemployment, Mr Osafo-Maafo called for a stronger public-private sector interface to promote jobs and growth in the economy. He said it was obvious that various strategies towards reforms in the public sector by successive governments had not achieved the needed results, particularly in leveraging the potential of the private sector to create jobs through efficient service delivery.

Mr Osafo-Maafo said this might be because such reforms had not been able to align with key sectors of the economy. “Successive governments have, over the years, undertaken reforms to improve public sector performance.

These reforms have provided an opportunity for the assessment of the relevance of the ideas, visions and commitments needed to leverage the public sector as a catalyst for growth and development.

“However, modest reforms in the public sector have not led to improvement in job creation and wealth maximisation,” he said. The Senior Presidential Advisor also urged residents to be active participants in local governance in their respective communities.

Commitment

The Head of Civil Service, Dr Evans Aggrey-Darkoh, said his outfit was committed to institutionalising reforms as a conscious effort to improving quality of service. He said the service was also strengthening its regulatory frameworks, including the modernisation and improvement of working conditions to promote quality and efficiency.

For his part, the Head of Local Government Service, Dr Nana Ato Arthur, said the service was working on a rewards and sanctions system to enhance quality service delivery at the local government level.