Minister of Railways Development, John Peter Amewu
The Civil and Local Government Staff Association, Ghana (CLOGSAG) says it is not enthused about the recent comment attributed to the Minister of Railways Development, John Peter Amewu, to the effect that all civil servants are sacked when a government is voted out.
CLOGSAG said the comments are simply a violation of the 1992 Constitution and it will be good for Mr Amewu to educate himself on the difference between civil servants and public servants.
“Mr. Peter John Amewu was full of himself when he was proposing an ‘utopian government’ where all workers in the civil service are sacked because there is a change in a democratic dispensation,” Executive Secretary of CLOGSAG Isaac Bampoe-Addo said in a rejoinder to the news report on the Minister.
“If this is the policy he deems good, a well discerning civil servant would question it and point out its deficiencies.”
Find the rejoinder below:
REJOINDER
RE: I WISH ALL CIVIL SERVANTS ARE SACKED IMMEDIATELY GOVERNMENTS ARE VOTED OUT- AMEWU (ARTICLE 1289329)
In an article on the GhanaWeb dated 18th June, 2021, the Hon. John Peter Amewu, the Minister for Railways Development is reported to have made certain derogatory remarks about civil servants and by extension the Civil Service.
By the report, the Minister noted as follows:that “civil servants fail to implement the vision of Government; that “regardless, they remain untouched while governments are changed; that “Mr. Amewu would prefer the dismissal of all civil servants for the effective operation of a new government who would have a new set of civil servants”.
For the avoidance of the doubt, the Article quoted him as saying
“I come to government, I come out with good policies….unfortunately, the people voted me out of power because they think my policy is not good. Unfortunately, the people who are supposed to implement remain there. They must also go so that we stop this nonsense of allowing people who work in the system destroy the system and the blame is put on a politician. We can’t allow that to continue”.
It is normal for a person who poses a silly question to expect nothing less than a silly answer. Civil servants, as we are, we would not describe a system as nonsense or categorize all civil servants as destroying the system.
Mr. Peter John Amewu was full of himself when he was proposing an “utopian government” where all workers in the civil service are sacked because there is a change in a democratic dispensation. If this is the policy he deems good, a well discerning civil servant would question it and point out its deficiencies.
The Minister who had headed two ministries in the past four years, did not seem to know the difference between the public servant and the civil servant. Workers at the Railways are not civil servants but could be public servants. It would be necessary to distinguish between the civil service and the public service by referring to Article 190 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana. Broad generalization of all public servants as civil servants is quite erroneous.
The assertion by Mr. John Peter Amewu that as a politician he comes to government with good policies that are not implemented by civil servants being the reason for a politician to be voted out of power is quite preposterous.
The Minister cannot consider himself as the only repository of knowledge else when he left the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the ministry would have collapsed.
Could he sincerely say, that as the Minister for Energy, he would have succeeded without using the civil servants in the ministry?
Mr. Peter Amewu should tell the world his educational and professional background as well as experience in Lands and Natural Resources, Energy and Railways Development. Is it not the civil servant that guided him in his vetting in Parliament? Shame.
He should realize that politicians do not necessarily need any educational or professional qualifications. Neither do they need any experience on the job.
For politicians of his type, all they do is to distribute essential commodities and money to their constituents to influence their voting pattern.
The dynamics of governance show that it is a continuum and not an event. To say, the least, his proposal for every government to select its own civil servants indicates that governance is an event.
Is it even easy to pick engineers, architects, human resource managers and accountants with many years of experience like picking oranges and mangoes?
It is not fair to be simplistic in saying that the downfall of politicians could be ascribed to non-implementation of their policies by civil servants. What about politicians who alienate themselves from members from their constituencies or fail to fulfil their promises?
The Minister should be aware that the politician is a creation of the 1992 Constitution so is the civil servant. A careful analysis of his utterances depicts violation of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
The development of a nation is not only a function of politicians and civil servants. Apart from the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary, the media is often referred to as the fourth estate. The traditional rulers and religious bodies play a role in facilitating growth and development of a country.
The Civil and Local Government Staff Association, Ghana (CLOGSAG) is not enthused about the low opinion of civil servant professed by Mr. John Peter Amewu.
It is significant to remind ourselves of the famous quotation by the Late Nathan Anan Quao …which reads:
“it takes the perfection of civil servants to move the country forward and not politicians”.
The Association would continue to be a catalyst in achieving this noble objective.
At this time of our national development, it is better to create an enabling environment that would bring the Government and Workers together than to make statements that would destroy the harmonious labour relations existing between them.
Meanwhile, CLOGSAG would wish to assure its members that it would not stand aloof for any politician to truncate their service.
Continue with your good deeds and God will shower its blessings on you.
Long Live Ghana!
Long Live CLOGSAG!!.
signed
ISAAC BAMPOE ADDO
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY