Some state agencies need massive overhaul. They have suffered years of neglect by successive governments even as they continue to render vital services.
Two of such agencies are the Births Registry and the Department of Parks and Gardens.
Of the two the former used to be remembered only when the matter of foreign trips cropped up and passports were required. In recent times the demand for the national identification cards otherwise called Ghanacard one of which conditions is the possession of a birth certificate has underscored the importance of the registry.
Considering the role the registry plays in the gathering of vital data required in national development there is justifiable reason to describe the state of this agency as despicable.
With no attractive headquarters worthy of the importance of the registry management has had to make do with the structure which looks very much like a warehouse for the contractor engaged in the construction of the nearby state buildings.
It is gladdening to learn that plans are afoot to relocate the department to a place befitting a department of the status of the registry. That is not all. It will be retooled with the modern IT gadgets to discharge its mandate more efficiently. It is exciting that a decentralization of its operations is being considered.
The modernization project ties in with the digitisaion agenda of the government.
The long neglect by successive governments is mind-boggling especially when the role of the registry cannot be marginalized.
The Ghana Passport and the Ghanacard both critical citizenship security documents require as the base a birth certificate issued by this registry.
Appropriate software abound that would ensure that the transformation goal is achieved bereft of hassle.
The digitization project is steeped in countless advantages we must avail ourselves of. In births registration for instance it can ensure a leapfrog we can only imagine. The turnaround period for processing what in previous times was like eternity can be dealt with within the twinkle of an eye as it were.
We can smell an overhauled Births Registry no longer located in a container-like structure with modern state-of-the-art gadgets to correspond more so as a Births and Deaths Act 2020 (Act 1027) has been promulgated and now awaiting regulation by Parliament to operationalise it.
The Department of Parks And Gardens is another endangered agency. It used to be associated with the beautiful ornamental plants lining the medians of the national capital.
Today the department is akin to the dried green grass on the medians so referred to because not only is it no longer tendering the ornamental plants on our ceremonial streets the sale of decorative plants has been taken over by private persons on roadsides.
The good news is that this department too is going to be revamped with the necessary resources to bounce back.
Very soon we shall begin to see the beautiful exotic flowering plants lining our medians once more. Then the authorities will start sanctioning pedestrians who trample upon these plants.