Minister inaugurates new MDPI office complex

The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR), Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah, has urged the Management Development and Productivity Institute (MDPI) to roll out innovative programmes to build a strong human resource base, relevant to support the country's development process.

To achieve that, the minister said, the institute should start within by building a strong human resource base to help it to prosecute its mandate of providing management training and development services to enhance productivity across all the sectors of the economy.

“You have a clear mandate that has been set out several years ago. You are responsible for management training and development; management consultancy and advisory services; management policy research, as well as productivity studies and performance techniques and you must live up to this mandate,” he stressed.

The minister said that at the opening of a new office complex for MDPI in Accra yesterday.

The MDPI building

The one-storey edifice, which is located near North Ridge, is a rented facility with an option to buy it outright after two years of use.

It was acquired at GH¢900,000 on a rent-to-buy basis, with 75 per cent of the amount as deposit for the eventual purchase of the facility.

Ms Efam Dovi (right), Board Member, MDPI, being assisted by Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah (2nd right) and Mr Kweku Odame-Takyi (left), to cut the tape to inaugurate the new office. Picture: GABRIEL AHIABOR

The building has offices for the various departments such as Human Resource, Procurement, Accounts, Transport as well as Security and Training. It also has a stores department, library and a canteen.

Remain focused

While urging the MDPI to innovate to be relevant, Mr Baffour Awuah underscored the need for the institute to remain focused on its core mandate and not be motivated by monetary gains to move outside its domain.

He said the acquisition of a new office complex was not an end in itself but that there was the need for particular attention to be turned towards human capital development.

“It is not just a question of getting a new place to operate from, but this is a new branding that we are giving MDPI; so new branding also comes with a new responsibility,” Mr Baffour Awuah stressed.

The minister urged the MDPI management to strive to grow the institute into a world-class institution that would be capable of competing at any level.

Milestone

For his part, the Director-General of MDPI, Mr Kweku Odame-Takyi, said the opening of the new office building was a major milestone in the march towards a robust institute.

He said one of the major challenges facing the institute was a permanent building and with that challenge almost over, the MDPI would be well positioned to deliver on its mandate.

Mr Odame-Takyi said the institute was rolling out a programme to improve productivity at the workplace, focusing on attitudinal change and proper maintenance culture.

Background

MDPI is a subvented agency under the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR).

The institute was established on October 26,1967 under a joint Ghana government; United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) Project.

Legislative Instrument (LI) 1077 of July 1, 1976 incorporated the MDPI to replace the then National Productivity Centre (NPC), which had been established in June 1964, as part of the then Planning Commission.

The UNDP and ILO informally handed over the institute to the government in 1977, when the joint sponsorship ended.

The MDPI was set up to primarily achieve three objectives, one of which was to embark on practical aspects of training and problem solving, with a view to building up managerial capacity and promoting increased productivity.

The other objectives are to offer consultancy services to improve organisational efficiency and effectiveness and also conduct macro and micro economic studies, enquiries and research to determine suitable management techniques and practices to improve and develop the standard of management in all aspects.