ABSTRACT
The management of any business entity, be it for profit or non-profit, is deemed the most perilous faction of a firm’s survival in whatever market it operates. Both private and public agencies have the same challenge of making sure the firm’s success rests on a reliable team of experts who is capable of arresting challenges thrown at the agency as well as helping to levitate the company in the face of competition. The issue of political interference however stares in the faces of various agencies around the world and its impact is experiential in the general output of these companies. In light of this, the study was embarked on to investigate the exact impact political interferences have on the administration and operation of public agencies in Ghana— with the Youth Employment Agency serving as a focus. The study employed the quantitative, together with the qualitative methods, to collect data from 20 respondents who are all employees of the Youth Employment Agency. The research brought to the fore elements that prove the presence of political interference in the agency and these include recruitment processes, procurement processes, transfer policies, and regulations. The findings further showed a guillotining effect on various aspects of the agency’s operations, such as a constant reduction in productivity, reduced work quality, loss of national resources and policy modules derailing from implementation courses. Thus, the study recommends that the agency implements periodic appraisal exercises to check effectiveness of officials. It also recommends the need for documented checks in the system to protect officials from being influenced by figures of authority. The employment of private audit firms should be necessitated strictly to keep the agency in check and lastly, the study recommends the legislative arm of government enact even more strict laws, spelling out specific autonomous operations to cover all public agencies from external influences. Keywords: NYEP, YEA, SOEs, Unemployment, Interference
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
An essential determinant for the survival and the constant growth of any entity, be it from the private or public sector, is the maintenance of high-quality products and/or services being rendered. Every firm in existence, whether for profit making or a non-profit entity is built on some sort of continuous guidelines which can be referred to as mission statements. These statements seek to relate input of the firm with the delivery to its customers or the general public. With the issue of customer satisfaction and retention being viewed as a prime concept, organisations around the world deem it a priority to apply series of management principles which will aid in the attainment of set organisational goals in order to remain in business. Decision- making processes for these organisations are very critical to the wellbeing of the entity and for that matter given the utmost attention. With reference to Herbert’s (2001) focus on administrative decision making, he concluded that decision-making is the core of administration; in that, the language of theory of administration should be derived from the logic and psychology of human preference. Decision-making processes in any private organisation or firm significantly affects the quality of service delivery to customers or the general public. This, however, has not been the case for our counterparts in the public sector as most institutions in this sector are basically not influenced by the quality of services rendered. This has been a social canker for a long time; probably because the public sector organisations are normally not seen to be faced with the threat of competition by agencies or organisations providing similar services to the public.
