Fides Media Living the Faith
By Mmaduabuchi Onwumelu
In line with Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s directive to transform the Anambra State Local Government System to greater heights, the board of Anambra State Local Government Service Commission, Awka, has expressed its determination to reposition the Local Government System positively by introducing electronic attendance monitoring register that will help to check truancy and absenteeism to work.
The chairman of the Commission, Barr Vin Ifeanyi Ezeaka, stated this in his office in Awka, during an interactive meeting with the Transition Committee Chairmen of the twenty one local governments in the state.
The Commission boss, noted that the interactive meeting with the Transition Committee chairmen was purposely to collaborate and interact with them on their challenges and how to proffer solutions on the way forward.
Barr Ezeaka encouraged the Transition chairmen to assist the Commission revamp the Anambra State Local Government System for improved productivity by going to work always. He also urged them to adhere strictly to due process while discharging their duties and promised to ensure that workers were adequately motivated, appealing also to the transition chairmen to desist from what it termed the usurpation of the workers schedules by compensating their political friends.
The chairman who also revealed that the Board would soon embark on a strict monitoring tour of the 21 local local governments to fish out ghost workers, stated that any staff found wanting in attendance and discharge of his duties would be disciplined accordingly.
In their separate speeches, the transition committee chairmen of Ayamelum, Hon Livinus Onyeme, and Njikoka Local Government, Hon
Clement Aguiyi, commended the Commission’s Board for the meeting, adding that it was a welcome development.
While pledging their readiness to collaborate with the Board to achieve its set objectives, they urged the Commission to particularly pay attention to payment of salaries to ghost workers in the local government system by the Joint Account and Allocation Committee (JAAC).
The transition chairmen also called for urgent attention of the government to improved working conditions of workers in the council areas, as well as bring back the Primary Health Care System to the local government for improved health care delivery.
In a vote of thanks, the member 1 of the Commission, Hon Azubuike Okoye, thanked the transition chairmen and advised them to try as much as possible to minimize conflicts in their various local governments and promised that the Commission would soon do proper verification exercise of the local government staff for better results.
He equally noted that the Board was working towards bringing back the lost glory of the local government system by reinvigorating the payroll system for adequate control of the ghost workers and effective service delivery in the Local Government Service Commission.