Political Scientist and Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana department of Political Science, Dr Aggrey Darko has condemned the practice where government functionaries enroll into academic programmes upon their appointment.
In an interview with Citi News Dr. Aggrey Darko said apart from capacity building programmes required for job efficiency, government functionaries should not be allowed to enroll into full academic programmes.
He passed these comments while responding to government’s directive to Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to defer their courses of study.
Dr. Aggrey Darko noted, apart from capacity building training required for job efficiency, functionaries should not be allowed to enroll in other academic programmes.
He questioned if the trend of MMDCEs pursuing academic courses was symptomatic of the trend of appointing under-qualified individuals into the positions.
“Are we sure the people we have appointed indeed have the requisite qualifications to be able to deal with the challenges of the day or we are going to appoint people who will use official time to go to school?”
“If that happens, is it that we have been diligent in our appointment or we have just appointed people on the basis of political loyalty?” he asked.
Dr Darko acknowledged the need for capacity building on the part of MMDCES but advised government to scrutinize the programmes MMDCEs may be pursuing in the event of a need for further training.
He further stated the directive from government is a move in the right direction as it will enable the MMDCEs to focus on their jobs.
“The call will be in the right direction so that these people will concentrate in their core business…”
A number of these MMDCEs have often been accused of shirking their official duties because of their academic engagements.
It is however unclear whether their pursuit of higher education is affecting their work with the government.
A number of the officials usually enroll in institutions like the Local Government Institute and the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).
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By Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana