A total of 71 statistical officers attached to the Local Government Service (LGS) have been trained in Ho.

Drawn from the Greater Accra, Volta and the Oti Regions, the officers, among who were new recruits, sharpened data handling skills over a three-day period at the hill-perched Skyplus Hotel.

The nationwide training is in collaboration with the Ghana Statistical Service and the Department of Economics of the University of Cape Coast is also being held simultaneously in Tamale, Ho, Ejisu, and Elmina.

Mr. Oppong Mensah, Chief Director of the LGS, opening the Ho training on Monday, said the government, as part of efforts to attain relevant and reliable data, had assigned statistical officers to all Local Assemblies.

He said the essence was felt most recently during the national population census, as they exhibited a "high level of knowledge and professionalism" as trainers, supervisors and members of the district census committees, and added that challenges with delivery were being identified and addressed with the training initiative.

The Chief Director who delivered the speech on the behalf of Ing. Ato Arthur, Head of the Service, urged beneficiaries to use the opportunity to rev up passion for their work and to deliver expertly at the local governance level.

"I will urge you to make yourselves relevant by demonstrating to the MMDCEs and MMDCDs how you can compile accurate data for a respective Assembly and its concomitant enhanced internally generated revenue. This can be done through collaboration and with the Planning, Finance, Budget, and IT Units of the Assembly.

"We must as a team for our collective effort to be rewarded with improved financial resources for the Assembly to execute its policies and programs," he said.

Mr. Mensah encouraged the officers to help develop tools and programs to facilitate the loaded data management task, assuring that the Service would continue to provide the needed resources, and award commitment, and passion.

Mr. Prosper Afenyo, acting Chief Director of the Volta Regional Coordinating Council, welcomed facilitators and beneficiaries to the program, saying the government continued to pursue its digitization and development layouts, and expected key human resources to be up to standard in skills and abilities.

He also asked that participants considered the training opportunities with a focus on reorganizing information management in the spirit of national growth and development.

The training focused heavily on data analysis reporting, and also on the effective use of modern data management tools and software.