Dr Grace Bediako and Dr Philomina Nyarko
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) was on Wednesday thrown into a state of confusion when the substantive Government Statistician, Dr. Grace Bediako, bounced back from her five-month forced annual leave.
In January 2012, the Board of the GSS asked Dr. Bediako to proceed on leave for ?poor delivery?. She was promptly replaced by the current Government Statistician, Dr. Philomena Nyarko, whose appointment raised a lot of controversy within both the GSS and the general public because of the manner in which the Mills government jumped her over her superiors.
DAILY GUIDE?s visit to the GSS on Wednesday clearly revealed a heightened state of confusion as staff scurried around in bewilderment. Dr. Bediako was spotted in an office with an almost tearful composure as a makeshift office was being cleaned and dusted for her.
According to a cross-section of staff at the GSS, nobody expected Dr. Bediako to resume work, especially after the strange circumstances under which she was asked to proceed on leave. She was asked to proceed on leave against her will, reliable sources told DAILY GUIDE.
Nobody at the GSS appeared to be aware of Dr. Bediako?s resumption. Even her personal secretary was not exactly sure if her boss was indeed resuming work or was merely passing through the workplace.
David Kombat, Director of Publicity at the GSS, admitted that he was not aware of Dr. Bediako?s resumption. ?I don?t even know when she is supposed to resume,? he told DAILY GUIDE in a telephone conversation after it had not met him at the office.
However, DAILY GUIDE can confirm that she has actually reported for work. Indeed, an emergency board meeting was convened on Wednesday to determine the fate of the two government statisticians. As at press time yesterday, the board was still deliberating on the situation.
Shortly after she was edged out of office in January, the Chairman of the GSS board, Prof. Francis Dodoo, issued a press statement seeking to explain why Dr. Bediako was asked to proceed on leave.
According to him, a group of international partners comprising the World Bank, EU, and the United Kingdom international aid agency, DFID, concluded that she was not effectively managing a US$7 million National Statistical System (NSS) fund through a Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) entrusted with her.
In the statement, Prof. Dodoo explained that with Dr. Bediako?s stewardship, the country at the time risked losing the US$ 7 million fund due to lack of performance by the embattled government statistician. ?They referred to the lack of follow-up on actions through the entire organization, lack of delegation to staff and staff frustration with this, weak motivation and commitment of staff, disengagement of directors leading key assignments, etc. Essentially, the partners were explicit in their concern about the degree of centralized management and the lack of effective delegation, and particularly how these were inhibiting all (MDTF) activities,? Prof. Dodoo stated.
Conversely, the GSS board realized that Dr. Nyarko was more efficient in managing a parallel activity at the GSS called the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS). ?The international partners praised the delivery of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), which had the deputy government statistician, Dr. Nyarko, at its helm,? he stated.
By inference, the board chairman indicated that this was the overriding reason why Dr. Bediako was forced out to pave way for Dr. Nyarko?s appointment.
Meanwhile, by their action, the next in line in the hierarchy of the GSS at the time, Opoku Manu Asare, who was the first deputy government statistician, was sidestepped.
Information gathered by DAILY GUIDE indicates that contrary to earlier explanations by Prof. Dodoo and the GSS board, the foreign partners who were supposedly unhappy with Dr. Bediako?s performance were the ones insisting on her reinstatement, hence her resumption.
This sharply contrasts with the earlier position where the board said it was forced to take a ?decisive action? to save the nation from losing the funding coming from its foreign partners.
It is believed that the Acting Government Statistician, Dr. Nyarko, was pushed into the position because she was viewed by the Mills government to be more malleable than Dr. Bediako.
By Raphael Adeniran
