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Dr Callistus Mahama, the Head of the Local Government Secretariat, has announced that a Performance Management System to evaluate and monitor the works of local government staff twice every year has been designed.

     He said elaborate indicators had also been developed to also monitor the daily activities of the staff at the respective districts to ensure efficiency to enable the local government entity to contribute its best towards the country’s development.

     Dr Mahama revealed this on Friday when he addressed the second batch of students at the opening ceremony of the certificate programme for continuing students of the Institute of Local Government Studies in Accra.

     Expressing happiness about the concept, he challenged, participants not to give people the opportunity to look down on them and rather develop themselves with the opportunity given as they were capable of building their capacities.

     “Don’t give people the opportunity to look down on you, develop yourselves as you are capable and have the capacities”

     “You must accept it as a personal philosophy to develop yourselves,” he said.

     Dr Mahama described claims that the districts had no capacity as baseless and encouraged participants to use the knowledge they would acquire from the programme to develop their various districts and communities as well.

     He, therefore, called for extensive trainings for personnel outside the mainstream classes as it would help the excellence goal of the local government service to be met.

     On the objectives of the programme, Dr Abdulai Darimani, the Acting Director, ILGS, noted that the certificate programme seeks to respond to the professional requirements of operational staff of the service with emphasis on the blend between theory and practice, leading to skills enhancement through experience sharing, individual initiative and research work.

     He added that, it would bring into focus the structure and process of the certificate programme relative to the general continuous professional development course of the local government service.

     Dr Darimani also explained that the programme would offer the needed practical skills that would be very supportive to participants’ daily activities.

     He urged participants to let the training, knowledge and shared ideas that would be acquired after the session to reflect in their day to day responsibilities at the district levels.

      Explaining the selection criteria to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Mr Simon Bokor, Dean, Management Development and Training said the 46 local government staff participants were from the ten regions of the country but with priority given to people from the remote parts of the country.

     He said the promotion of service delivery, as well as the improvement of service and standards of the local government secretariat in all the ten regions of the country motivated their choice of selection.

   Mr Bokor noted that participants would be taken through theories of Governance and Local Governance, Human Resource Development and Financial Management, all in the context of local government administration.

     Mr Emmanuel Eshun, a participant from the Upper Denkyira West District Assembly and the course leader told the GNA that the programme is educative and would help broaden their knowledge in executing their jobs.

      He lauded ILGS and the Local Government Secretariat for a vibrant partnership that would enhance understanding of the local government system and its functions.

      Certificates would be awarded to all participants after the programme.