The Minister of State-designate for Public Sector Reforms, Lydia Lamisi Akanvariba, has pledged to enhance digital platforms established under the previous administration while advocating for urgent reforms in public sector recruitment processes.
Speaking during her vetting by the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Monday, February 24, Madam Akanvariba emphasised her commitment to digitalisation as a means of modernising and streamlining public sector operations.
“I do believe digitalisation is the way to go. Some work has been done on the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System, and the current payment system, but that is not enough,” she stated.
She further pledged to strengthen existing platforms such as the Ghana.GOV portal, the Ghana Revenue Authority’s payment system, and the Paperless Port initiative to improve efficiency and accountability.
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“I’m here to strengthen what has started already. I’m here to strengthen all the digital platforms. You know there are offices or departments for example – Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, they don’t even have enough computers. They don’t have workable computers that you can just transfer from one file to the other. It’s my responsibility to continue from where you [Akufo-Addo’s administration] started and make the public sector efficient, modern and robust.”
Call for national dialogue on public sector recruitment
Beyond digitalisation, Akanvariba called for a national dialogue to deliberate on the recruitment process within the public sector, citing concerns over transparency and efficiency in hiring practices across government institutions.
“I will be looking at training or capacity building in the public sector and I will be looking at building and strengthening public institutions and the way we hire people into the public sector and we should therefore have a national dialogue on how we hire and recruit into the public sector,” she said.
According to her, the current recruitment system requires urgent review to ensure that hiring practices are fair, merit-based, and transparent. She stressed that inefficiencies in recruitment directly impact service delivery and governance, adding that public sector reforms must be prioritised to support national development.
Addressing bureaucratic challenges
Akanvariba also underscored the need to tackle bureaucratic bottlenecks that hinder efficiency within the public sector. She noted that implementing reforms would require engaging public servants to gain their support for necessary transformations.
“I have learned and I have been through the public sector for about 27 years and I know that there are some in the public sector who say [Me baa ha aky3 or MBA] to wit ‘I’ve been there for a very long time.’ They believe that you should do things as they want you to and these are bureaucracy. You should be able to communicate your goals and the reason why you want to bring the change,” she said.
To address these challenges, she reiterated her intention to leverage technology and innovative solutions to improve service delivery and increase accountability in government operations.
As she awaits parliamentary approval, stakeholders will be keenly watching to see how her proposed reforms will be implemented to modernise Ghana’s public sector and drive national development.
