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Politics

The Irritation That Is the Flagstaff House!

Nana Ama Agyemang Asante
Last updated: 2013/11/05 at 3:57 PM
Nana Ama Agyemang Asante
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Photo: Flagstaff House (Credit: Google)

We must commend the folks at the Presidency for finding new and improved ways of upsetting Ghanaians.

Right after the GRA/Subah revelations, a presidential staffer told Ghanaians worried about the increased level of corruption within the public service to relax since President Mahama “has been working quietly (in the background) towards managing what clearly is a challenge facing our country.”

The week before that, a minister told those outraged by the increase in utility tariffs to shut up and use candles.Last month, a senior member of government had advised Ghanaians worried about the state of affairs to fetch their passports and leave if they can’t cope.

It seems they have resolved to find new ways of inflicting pain on taxpayers too.  Last week we discovered the Presidency employs over 600 people, some with ludicrous titles indicating they are at the job just for the pay. (Hint: Job for the boys) And just when you think they have run out of ideas, they prove why the Flagstaff House is the place where smart people go to become dumb.

Mr. Vincent Kuagbenu, the former National Service Coordinator was, on Monday, appointed as a presidential staffer whose job will be “to coordinate the rationalization and re-registration of Government vehicles.”  Yes! “… a presidential aide attached to the Office of the Chief of Staff and would work in close collaboration with the Administrator General of the Presidential Estates Unit.”

I’m not kidding and they are not – the grand announcement said “the rationalization and re-registration of Government vehicles was announced in the State of the Nation Address by President John Dramani Mahama in February this year. The exercise which is currently underway is expected to gather steam this month with the assignment of new registration plates to the affected vehicles.”

Mr. Kuagbenu’s position shouldn’t surprise anyone since there were people working at the Presidency as Corporate/ Stakeholder Relations and Citizen Development Officers.  I thought those were the most useless positions ever created by some lazy civil servant but Mr. Kuagbenu’s new position takes the biscuit. Both the job and the title suggest a lack of imagination and thinking that one expects from people working at the Presidency.

The registration and the management of all government vehicles should not result in the creation of a new desk but clearly defined roles for the presidential Estates Unit run by the Civil Service, the State Protocol Unit and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA).

At his previous job, Mr. Kuagbenu introduced some innovative ways for graduates to serve the country. The national service farms were expanded and the produce sold to government secondary schools and local communities at affordable prices.  And to some extent, he ended the ‘selective posting’ system where personnel were sent to the best places because their parents could pull some strings.  Surely there are better ways to utilize such a man to the benefit of the nation.

I don’t think Ghanaians have anything for Mr. Kuagbenu -not after that proposal to make graduates work as traffic wardens. But we all agree that a government complaining about a huge wage bill and non-productive public sector shouldn’t create positions where people will be paid for no work done.

And if this one of those jobs created due to pressure from party members on the president, then it is time for the president to reform the public sector and properly decentralize so he doesn’t have to appoint everyone.

 

 

 

 

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TAGGED: corruption, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority, Flagstaff House, Ghana, Graduates, National Service Scheme, President Mahama, Public Sector, Vincent Kuagbenu, Wage bill

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Nana Ama Agyemang Asante November 5, 2013 November 5, 2013
By Nana Ama Agyemang Asante
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This is Nana Ama Agyemang Asante or @justnanaama on Twitter (yes, it is still Twitter to me.) You might remember me from co-hosting on Citi CBS. I created this blog to reflect on life in Ghana. Then, I got on radio, and this blog became my safe space to say the “unsayable” with my chest—without the risk of endless meetings (just kidding… or maybe not). Anyway, radio is on hold for now—turns out thinking and writing about Ghanaian politics is just as exhausting as living through it. As for my podcast, Unfiltered? Taking a breather, because multitasking is a myth. I’m currently working on the Ghana Women Expert Project. Oh, and I’m also studying religion, which means I am immersed in a world of questions Sunday School teachers refused to answer and sermons that annoyed me. I will however, be popping by to post some of my unfiltered thoughts on everything from life in Ghana to reflections on religion and religious communities
Previous Article Open Letter to Ghanaian MPs: Citizens Need Police Protection Too!
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4 Comments
  • sethouone says:
    November 6, 2013 at 8:22 am

    beautiful, you should be applauded. But am 100% sure there are people at the presidency who prevent him even from reading what is going on.

    Reply
  • concerned says:
    November 6, 2013 at 4:02 pm

    Ghanaians should just shut up and reap the fruits of what they sowed. They chose to emphasize a so-called peace over justice and now who are they crying to. “if you build your storey building with saliva, remember it is dew that will bring it down for you.” We ain’t seen nothing yet. By the time this aimless administration chops 3 years, our grave yards will expand dramatically.

    Reply
  • Dufie says:
    November 6, 2013 at 7:52 pm

    Great piece but hmmmm, am so confused all of this is happening in Mahama’s Government

    Reply
  • Alfonzo says:
    July 6, 2014 at 8:49 pm

    I see a lot of interesting articles on your website.
    You have to spend a lot of time writing, i know how to save
    you a lot of work, there is a tool that creates unique, google friendly posts
    in couple of minutes, just type in google – laranita’s free content source

    Reply

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