Early this month, I received a letter from an organisation styling itself as the “Ghana Ministers of State Excellence Honours.” The letter informed me that I had been adjudged “Best CEO of the Year” and invited me to receive the award at an event scheduled to take place at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel.
Ordinarily, recognition for public service should be a matter of humility, gratitude and sober reflection.
No serious public officer should be indifferent to appreciation where such appreciation is grounded in transparent assessment, demonstrable performance, public impact and institutional credibility. However, public recognition must never be reduced to a transaction in which the recipient first pays for the honour before being celebrated.
In this particular case, I did not know which year the award covered. I did not know the criteria used for the assessment. I did not know the composition of the assessment panel. I did not know the indicators against which performance was measured. I did not know who the other contenders were. I did not know whether any independent verification had been conducted. Above all, I did not consider myself the “Best CEO,” because in public service there is always much more work to be done, many more lives to touch, and many more institutional reforms to pursue.
Out of caution, I advised my staff to contact the organisers and seek clarity. It was only then that we discovered that attendance at the event to receive the supposed honour was tied to payment.
The options communicated were either a sponsorship package of GH¢50,000 or the purchase of a dinner table of eight at GH¢25,000.
In other words, the path to public recognition appeared to have been tied to financial contribution.
Source :www.kumasimail.com
