DESPITE efforts by the Public Records and Archives Administration Department (PRAAD) at ensuring proper record keeping, some public institutions are undermining the effort, Felix Nyarko Ampong, acting Director of PRAAD, has said.
Speaking to the Times, he said the department had trained record staff for all Ministries, Departments and Agencies but “their bosses are frustrating them in carrying out their responsibilities.”.
He said some public officials did not recognise the record staff and preferred to keep public records in their drawers instead of making them available at the registry for safe keeping and retrieval but some public officers kept them in their drawers, “as if they were personal property”.
Mr Ampong was contacted by the Times to respond to concerns over improper records keeping in some sections of the public sector.
The concern gained attention recently when the presidential commission into Ghana at 50 activities reprimanded some public officers for deficiency in their documentations at its public sitting last Tuesday.
Mr Ampong claimed that some public office holders, for reasons best known to them keep official records in their drawers.
“How do we keep track and retrieve these public documents when they are needed and the public officer keeping them is not available”, he asked.
Mr Ampong said the tendency by some public, officers to keep public documents as their personal documents smacked of suspicion and corruption and embezzlement.
Proper public record keeping, he said, was the nerve centre for the efficient operation of government machinery noting that what pertained in some MDAs was a recipe for disaster.
Mr Ampong said public office holders were accountable for their stewardship and must live up to that responsibility” else they would suffer the consequence even though they might not have done anything untoward.
Without giving figures, Mr Ampong speculated that government had been losing millions of cedis as a result of poor record keeping.
He said the country had inherited good record keeping manuals from the colonial officers but regretted that the manuals were not being strictly adhered to.
Referring to the Ghana at 50 probe, Mr Ampong said the officers concerned were only interested in collecting and disbursing the moneys but not concerned with record keeping.
“If people had adhered to strict record keeping procedures, all this embarrassment would have been avoided,” he said.
On Tuesday, the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Ghana @ 50 suspended its sitting because some public officers appearing before it fumbled with their documentation.
This prompted the chairman, Mr Justice Isaac Duose, to caution public officers not to personalise public documentations.
PRAAD is a state institution under the Office of the President with the mandate of ensuring proper record management in all government institutions.
Speaking to the Times, he said the department had trained record staff for all Ministries, Departments and Agencies but “their bosses are frustrating them in carrying out their responsibilities.”.
He said some public officials did not recognise the record staff and preferred to keep public records in their drawers instead of making them available at the registry for safe keeping and retrieval but some public officers kept them in their drawers, “as if they were personal property”.
Mr Ampong was contacted by the Times to respond to concerns over improper records keeping in some sections of the public sector.
The concern gained attention recently when the presidential commission into Ghana at 50 activities reprimanded some public officers for deficiency in their documentations at its public sitting last Tuesday.
Mr Ampong claimed that some public office holders, for reasons best known to them keep official records in their drawers.
“How do we keep track and retrieve these public documents when they are needed and the public officer keeping them is not available”, he asked.
Mr Ampong said the tendency by some public, officers to keep public documents as their personal documents smacked of suspicion and corruption and embezzlement.
Proper public record keeping, he said, was the nerve centre for the efficient operation of government machinery noting that what pertained in some MDAs was a recipe for disaster.
Mr Ampong said public office holders were accountable for their stewardship and must live up to that responsibility” else they would suffer the consequence even though they might not have done anything untoward.
Without giving figures, Mr Ampong speculated that government had been losing millions of cedis as a result of poor record keeping.
He said the country had inherited good record keeping manuals from the colonial officers but regretted that the manuals were not being strictly adhered to.
Referring to the Ghana at 50 probe, Mr Ampong said the officers concerned were only interested in collecting and disbursing the moneys but not concerned with record keeping.
“If people had adhered to strict record keeping procedures, all this embarrassment would have been avoided,” he said.
On Tuesday, the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Ghana @ 50 suspended its sitting because some public officers appearing before it fumbled with their documentation.
This prompted the chairman, Mr Justice Isaac Duose, to caution public officers not to personalise public documentations.
PRAAD is a state institution under the Office of the President with the mandate of ensuring proper record management in all government institutions.
