Accra Thursday 5th May 2022 - The Governing Board for the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has been sworn in with call to promote the effective use of statistics and stimulate research activities.
They were also to provide guidance to the Government Statistician and the government in the areas of official statistics to guide Ghana’s growth and development.
A Deputy Minister of Finance, Hon. Dr. John Ampontuah Kumah who gave this charge, at the inaugural ceremony of the seven-member board for the GSS said, the country depended strongly on statistical service, to generate timely data to report on the Sustainable Development Goals and African Union Agenda 2063.
He commended GSS for embarking upon the Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey (AHIES), that would soon provide the country with data on quarterly Labour Force, Quarterly Multidimensional Poverty and Vulnerability Status.
The Deputy Minister expressed appreciation to the immediate past Board for their wonderful guidance that had culminated in the conduct of the first digital census in Ghana.
“We were impressed with the release of the Provisional Results within 44 days of completing field data collection. Now we are guided by the most current data in doing analysis in the Ministry”. He said.
Ghana, he noted, was fast recovering from the impact of COVID-19 per quarterly and annual GDP growth rates released by the Statistical Service and assured that “Government would continue to lead the staff to provide high quality statistics to guide the country’s growth and development as outlined in the Coordinated Programme for Economic and Social Development Policies”.
He also revealed that a significant amount of money was spent on the 2021 Population and Housing Census and pleaded with them to make the best use of the remaining resources, as other efforts to financially strengthen the Service could be considered.
The Governing Board of the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) was established in accordance with Section 5 (2) of the Statistical Service Act, 2019: Act 1003 which mandates the President of the Republic, in consultation with the Council of State to appoint members of the governing board of GSS.
Dr. John Ampontuah Kumah, therefore entreated the governing board to work towards expanding the establishment post, of the Service by ensuring experienced Senior officers lead the production of statistics and supervise the preparation of a suited Scheme of Service.
Others included guiding the conduct of all the censuses and surveys outlined in the harmonizing and improving statistics in West Africa Project for the next three years, facilitating work within the National Statistical System and initiating the process for the drafting of the Legislative Instrument for the Statistical Service Act, 2019: Act 1003.
This Board, he noted, was relatively small and comprised of individuals with professional and diverse experience in statistics production and human resource management, and he admitted that those two important abilities were required in the transformation agenda initiated by the previous Board.
In her remarks, Dr. Grace Bediako, Chairperson of the Governing Board, assured that the assembled team with vast experience and an impressive track record would seek to further improve the service's image.
She expressed gratitude to the President of the Republic for his trust in the governing Board and emphasized their intention to collaborate with relevant government entities to give reliable statistics that would serve as a guide for the Government in its policy decision-making processes.
The seven-member Board has Dr. Grace Bediako as the Chairperson, the members are, Prof Samuel Kobinan Annim, Ms. Ashiokai Akrong, Dr. Evans Aggry-Darko, Dr. Josephine Dzahene-Quarshie, Mr. Philip Abradu-Otoo and Prof Robert Darko Osei. END