Government to Establish One-Stop Shop for Public Services Delivery

Accra: Madam Lydia Lamisi Akanvarigba, Minister for Public Sector Reform, has announced plans to develop a one-stop shop framework to enhance efficiency and accessibility in public service delivery. She disclosed this during courtesy visits to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in Accra on Wednesday.According to Ghana News Agency, the visits aimed to familiarise her with ongoing institutional reforms and explore alignment with the National Public Sector Reform Strategy (2025-2029), currently being finalised. Madam Akanvarigba said the proposed model, inspired by systems in Ethiopia and Uganda, would enable citizens to access services such as birth registration, national identification, and passport acquisition in a single location.'We realise that most public services - the National Identification Authority, Births and Deaths Registry, and Passport Office - are at different places. We should have a framework that allows a person to get a birth ce rtificate, a national ID, and a passport in one building and within hours, not days,' she said.Madam Akanvarigba said that the initiative could be implemented through Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) to foster innovation and shared responsibility. 'Our main aim is effective and efficient delivery of public services. In that way, there will be more transparency and accountability in whatever we do. If this framework works, it will also make the government's 24-hour economy policy very easy,' she explained.The Minister said that her office was championing reforms to enhance transparency and accountability, in line with the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and the President's directive for all appointees to declare their assets. She also revealed that the Ministry was leading the development of a Comprehensive Gender Strategy for the Public Sector, aligned with the Affirmative Action Bill, to promote inclusion and gender equality. 'We want to get the Legislative Instrument passed and operationalised,' she added.Madam Akanvarigba commended SSNIT's efforts to digitise contributions and payments for pensioners without bank accounts and praised its telehealth initiative for delivering healthcare services via digital platforms. 'Telehealth is where they are going to provide health services to people through normal digital platform communication. It's an innovation that will go a long way to help their service delivery,' she stated.Mr Kwesi Afreh Biney, Director-General of SSNIT, said the Trust was pursuing co-location strategies with banks and district assemblies to improve service accessibility in remote areas. 'We're not just limiting ourselves to banks. Even district assemblies can serve as points of contact where we station our staff to serve contributors,' he said.Mr Anthony Sarpong, Commissioner-General of GRA, outlined reforms aimed at transforming the Authority into a technology-driven, customer-focused revenue institution. He said GRA was piloting Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools at the ports to su pport goods classification and valuation, reducing manual intervention and enhancing transparency. Additionally, he said an Advanced Cargo Information System (ACI) would allow GRA to access detailed shipment data 24 hours before vessels depart for Ghana, helping prevent manipulation of cargo manifests in transit.