News Highlights

Delegation from Ghana looks at Mankato government

Graduate student Sam Quartey helped make a delegation from Ghana feel at home as they visited Mankato.

2006-04-09
By Dan Linehan, Free Press Staff Writer [published in The Free Press, Mankato, MN, 11/23/2005]

MANKATO — The trio of Ghanaians laughed in unison as they heard the city's policy on sexual harassment in the workplace.

"It's a novelty," said Janet Fofie, who — along with fellow officials Kwame Adorbor and Woeli Kemevor from the western African nation — sat in on a few presentations to learn how about how the Mankato government operates and how it provides city services.

Fofie didn't necessarily think the harassment policy itself was funny.

"We never thought it could happen," she said.

Some of their questions were specific — is there a city policy for people with HIV and AIDS?

And some were general — how does the city review the performance of its employees?

The trip was sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, said coordinator Louis Picard, a professor from the University of Pittsburgh.

Picard said he chose Mankato partly because it was close to both the Twin Cities, where they spent the last few days of their 10-day trip, and to St. Peter. Picard said he lived in Mankato for a few years, too.

Local Ghanaian Sam Quartey met the delegation and said it made him feel like home. He also said that Ghana has spent about 13 years as a democracy and is going through a lot of reform.

"They're beginning to understand democracy in the right sense of the word," said Quartey, a graduate student at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Adorbor, who is in Ghana's Ministry of Public Sector Reform, said he didn't expect the level of commitment displayed by civil servants.

"Customers are dear to their heart," he said. "That surprised me so much."

He said he would bring back to Ghana an idea of how the United States is run at all three levels of government.

The delegation was especially interested in how the city ties performance evaluations to pay. They said that wasn't the case at state and federal levels, where administrators lavished praise on their employees regardless of the quality of their work.

They were also impressed with the city's presentations, which were presented on Microsoft's PowerPoint software.

"It shows that you're progressive," Fofie said. "You're way ahead of the game."

Interim Mayor Mike Laven called that an "incredible compliment." "It shows how we're willing to reach a greater level of professionalism," he said.

Adorbor said good-bye with the familiar refrain of Minnesota visitors — the weather wasn't so bad.

"Back in Ghana, we were told that the weather here would not be friendly at all," he said.

Fofie, Adorbor and Kemevor fly back to Ghana today.

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