Over 1500 officials benefit from KOICA Scholarship Programme

Nana Ato Arthur (inset) addressing guests at the event

The Head of Local Government Service, Nana Ato Arthur has commended the Korean government support for Ghana to ensure efficiency in the public sector.

According to him, over 1500 Ghanaian public officials had been trained under the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), contributing immensely to the growth of the country.

He said this at the recently held KOICA Alumni Association, Ghana (KAAG) seminar in Accra under the theme, ‘KOICA-Ghana Partnership: Impact of the KOICA Scholarship Programme on Public Service Delivery.’

The seminar was aimed at providing the platform for the alumni to share their experiences and lessons that could be translated into public service delivery in Ghana.

 “It is crucial to build on the foundation laid by the KOICA Alumni. We need an integrated approach that leverage new skills and ideas. Our goal is to establish a cycle of learning and innovation that supports sustainable local development,” he stated.

This, he said, would be a starting point for a stronger collaboration between international education programmes and local governance.

“Let us ensure that every lesson learnt through the programme directly contributes to building a better Ghana. We commend KOICA for the continuous support in building capacity for public officials particularly the civil and public service staff,” he stressed.

However, he said the integration of these skills had not been without challenges since issues such as limited resources, resistant to change and the need for continuous training had sometimes slowed progress.

On his part, KOICA Ghana Country Director, Mr Dong Hyun Lee congratulated the alumni for the dedication to self-improvement as well as the development of Ghana.

He said equipping public officials with the needed skills to improve service was essential to the development of every country.

“Let us continue to seek for new ways to improve service delivery and support the growth of our respective countries,” he added.

The occasion also saw presentations from alumni Mr David Essuman Mensah and Mr Victor Kofi on the topic, ‘Reforming Ghana’s Public Sector; the Korean Way-Lessons from Korea’ and ‘Using Taxation for development economics-lessons from Korea in the field of work,’ respectively.

By Michael D. Abayateye