A charge ministers can’t ignore

The charge given to the second batch of ministers who received their instruments of office after they had been sworn in by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo last Tuesday is worth re-echoing.

His call to the newly sworn-in ministers to serve the people with humility couldn’t have come at a better time.

“You are now high-public officials, which means that you are now leaders in the public service. It is a call that must be honoured with honesty, sincerity and humility,” the President had told the ministers.

Indeed, the ministers were also reminded that Ghanaians want a government that would protect the public purse and ensure value for money and that was why the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was voted massively into power.

The President’s advice to the ministers is not new — whenever people are put into public office, they are told not to be oblivious of the reason they have been put in such positions: to serve the people.

Yet the officials who have taken office in no time either forget or conveniently set aside the fact that they were put in authority to serve the people.

They rather lord it over the people, thereby incurring the displeasure of the very people they have been appointed to serve.

Some become arrogant the minute they are put in the high office of minister, speaking anyhow to members of the public, showing disrespect to other leaders and elders of the community.

Others give no consideration to other road users by blaring their sirens in motorcades when there is little traffic, as if they are more important than the other road users, and this angers the people.

Some also use their positions to illegally amass wealth, or even if they do so legally, flaunt their wealth, to the annoyance of the people.

There have been many instances when ministers invited to grace public functions intentionally report very late, thereby making the public, including other dignitaries, wait for them for hours.

People in governance are expected to exhibit modesty and the spirit of servanthood in order to be able to perform their functions effectively, and that is why it is said that those who would like to live in affluence have no business being in public service.

As the name implies, public service means service to the people whose taxes pay those put in those offices, and this is why the laws of the land require public officials to declare their assets before they assume office and after.

No wonder the President again reminded his appointees about the need to declare their assets.

We will be watching all the ministers who have been appointed by the President and when we see that they are going overboard, we will raise our voice on behalf of the public.

The Daily Graphic urges the ministers to make a difference by exhibiting the humility that goes with their offices, as the President stated in no uncertain terms.

We will all applaud the ministers who work hard to selflessly serve the people but condemn any act by a minister that  seeks to denigrate any member of the public.

We say congratulations to all the ministers. We pledge to work with them, so that they succeed in serving all of us.