Civil Service is backbone of Mahama’s 24-hour economy

The Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, has underscored the crucial role of the civil service in ensuring the long-term success of the government’s flagship 24-Hour Economy Agenda.

Speaking at the 24H+ Strategic Integration Workshop at the Bank of Ghana in Accra, Julius Debrah said the ambitious programme, central to President John Mahama’s vision of a national reset, requires whole-of-government delivery anchored by the civil service.

“The 24-Hour Agenda, by design, is long-term. It seeks to re-engineer how our economy functions, from production and services to regulation and monitoring,” he stated. “Such a long-horizon reform cannot rely solely on the passion of political leadership, nor be sustained without the civil service anchoring its continuity.”

He stressed that while political leadership changes with elections, the civil service acts as the “institutional memory” of government, preserving systems and knowledge that guarantee stability and consistency.

Citing international examples, Julius Debrah noted that countries such as Singapore, South Korea, and Malaysia achieved economic transformation largely because their civil services consistently implemented political visions across decades.

“Ghana cannot be different,” he added. “The civil service must be the steady hand that keeps the 24-Hour Agenda on course, even as governments change and new priorities emerge.”