Congratulations to President John Mahama and the NDC party for their lost in wonder performance at the recent presidential and parliamentary elections. You have a third time president (Mahama 3.0), the first female vice president, and super majority in parliament. Grand. Mr President, I believe that as the only person who has sworn Ghana’s presidential oath three times you mean business this time around. Failure will be unforgivable and will shatter the half dead trust of Ghanaians in the governance system. Failure is therefore not an option for you. We all know the dire state of Ghana’s economy and the conditions of the Ghanaian people. Indeed, this is an opportunity for you not to fail but leave a large imprint in the lives and memories of Ghanaians. Nietzsche, a great thinker, once said ‘it is out of the deepest depth that the highest must come to its height’. You might want to see Judges 16:30 and 2 Corinthians 12:9 for extra boost.
Outcome, impact, and legacy must be the metrics for all your government’s actions and policies. Yes, legacy. ‘What is a legacy? It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see’ (Hamilton Musical). I know you already have your priorities and are working on your programme of action with your team. You and your team would want to pay attention to the words of J.K Galbraith, the American diplomat, that politics is not the art of the possible and it consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable; and that of the UK politician, Dennis Healy, that there are two kinds of politicians: those who do what they think is right and those who do what is popular. I hope you choose what is right however unpalatable. Ghana needs a strong, courageous, and disciplined leader to claim its mantle as the Black Star of the world (correction: not Africa).
Be mindful of the ‘astroturf’ mentality that has possessed the Ghanaian mind – the penchant for overinflated things with shiny surfaces/appearances without the critical core and deep rooted foundation to make them last. E.g. parliamentarians are more engrossed in the theatrics of vetting ministers but less concerned about scrutinising the work of ministers and public officials (when do we see ministers and public official invited by parliament committees for scrutiny, etc?). A digitisation drive, or whatever they called it, without an underlying seamless public digital infrastructure and expansion of the energy capacity to accommodate the big physical infrastructure (e.g. servers etc.) needed for a truly effective digital revolution. As lucidly described by the erudite Bright Simons, the Ghanaian elite has been ‘enchanted by the state’.
As a fellow busy body, I have listed below snippets of my wish list for you and your government. There will be many such wishes and demands from all over, but I trust you will be able to distinguish between the noise and the signal.
ECONOMIC AND GOVERNANCE DELIVERY
I read that Ato Forson, likely finance minister, said he will establish a value for money office to scrutinise all projects. Good thinking. I would suggest he goes beyond value for money assessments/audits and establish a bigger agency/office (independent and nonpartisan, of course) with three divisions that consider these three things:
1. Oversight and scrutiny of the use of taxpayer funds i.e. taxes and levies collected for specific purposes e.g. roads, NHIS, GETfund, COVID, E-levy, to ensure that such funds are allocated/directed to their intended purposes. We often hear of how these funds are transferred to the accounts of the ministry of finance and used for other purposes. This would be similar to the US Government Accountability Office. Evidence shows that transparency through scrutiny and oversight of tax payer funds leads to efficient use of funds, enhances trust among the populace, and improves tax compliance, as people see that the funds are used for their intended economic and social goals (see Gobena & Van Dijike 2016 & 2017, Jimenez P & Iyer G 2016, Capasso S et al 2021).
2. Value for money assessments/audits of all major government initiatives/projects/programmes. Something similar to the US Congressional Budget Office and UK’s National Audit Office (NAO) but with a focus on pre mortem instead of the postmortem assessments/audits of the NAO.
3. Analysis forecasting and reporting on fiscal policies and public finances – fiscal responsibility. Roles and structures for this function varies from country to country. Check the network of EU independent fiscal institutions https://www.euifis.eu for more information.
Ghana Statistical Service – strengthen the capacity of the Ghana statistical service to fulfil its mandate, particularly relating to its regulatory functions (monitoring and oversight of official statistics), to ensure the validity, reliability and relevance of official statistics.
I believe that doing these will promote good governance and sound economic management and in turn secure the trust of both citizens and external partners, particularly donors and creditors who cite opaqueness of economic management as reason for the high-risk rating and high cost of borrowing for African institutions and governments.
Strategy and Delivery Units – create strategy and delivery units in the presidency under the supervision of a high ranking official (e.g. a presidential adviser who attends and participates in cabinet meetings). The strategy unit will handle policy formulation, analysis (including pre-mortem analysis), and communications while the delivery unit handles implementation, challenge, evaluation and make things happen (guided by the triumvirate metrics – outcome, impact, legacy). These units should be staffed by the brightest minds, including young graduates, you can find in the country. Tony Blair’s UK government had such an outfit, and the US presidency has the Office of Management and Budget, with a much broader remit.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT – LET MY VOTE COUNT
Strengthen local democracy and accountability through the election of district chief executives (DCEs). This shouldn’t incur any big additional cost, as organisation of such elections could be added to that of the assembly members election (and held on same day, as done for the presidential and parliamentary elections). Although, I have been a strong advocate of the partisan kind of electing DCEs, I am now a bit agnostic. Partisan or nonpartisan shouldn’t be a deal breaker albeit the argument for a partisan one is convincing i.e.
– assembly member election is nonpartisan on paper, but we all know the political affiliations of assembly members. Political parties glaringly campaign for their candidates during such elections. Even in the assembly chambers members are known by their party affiliations and they tend to oppose DCE nominees not supported by their parties. I have been an ex officio member of a district assembly (Asante Mampong Municipal, Sekyere West at the time) representing the National Youth Council. I was doing my post sixth form national service and was acting as the district coordinator, courtesy of my boss, Amankwa Frimpong, who was mostly away in Kumasi. At the time an overwhelming majority of assembly members were affiliated to the NPP (Mampong is an NPP stronghold) and the approval of the DCE was Sisyphean.
– partisan elections will allow smaller parties that can’t compete at the national have a fair chance at the local level. This kills the ‘winner takes all’ epidemic and allows smaller parties that win at the local level to build their brand and reputation for the national level. It diversifies leadership and governance thinking, provides a platform for testing of different kinds of development agendas/programmes and brings genuine competition to governance.
– provides grounds for grooming and training future national leaders in the art and act of leadership. Serve successfully at the local level as a DCE and you can use it as an effective reference for higher level national positions.
– political parties will ensure that they have competent people as candidates for DCE positions and that such people perform well, as any poor and incompetent administration will not inure to their benefit at the national level.
All said, whilst election of DCEs is necessary, it’s not sufficient in itself. It has to come with a new framework for local government that includes: funding and revenue allocation formula; decentralisation of core government functions/offices/structures; accountability, scrutiny and oversight structures including periodic assessments/inspections of performance and standards.
DIRT, STENCH GO AWAY – WE WANNA BREATHE AGAIN
Accra is filthy, Kumasi is filthy, Takoradi is filthy and I hear the once beautiful Sunyani is also filthy. This is a major public health issue. Why do we have weeds, that can compete with Dodowa Forest, in the middle of major roads and pavements? One wonders what these metropolitan executives do. Buzzstop boys, a group of young men and women who have taken it upon themselves to clean Accra are doing great work. They need to be supported. A suggestion is for Buzzstop boys to turn their organisation into a social enterprise and be given sanitation contracts by metropolitan and district assemblies. They will be able to get more young people on board, purchase the right equipments and pay themselves well. They deserve it. Others would be enticed to go into such businesses and create healthy competition and breathing environment for all who dare to breathe. The ministries of health, local government, environment, and tourism would have to pull up their braces and solve this very ugly problem.
QUALITY EDUCATION AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES – EVERYBODY WANT TO BE SOMEBODY
First, kudos to the Akufo Addo government for implementing the ‘free’ senior high school (SHS) programme. Some say it was reckless. Others say it was courageous. Whichever side you stand his will to power through – Nietzsche – with the system is admirable. Though desirable, conditions are seldom perfect. I must say that the lack of proper planning including an inbuilt reviewing mechanism that would have served as early warning system (in the absence of a pilot programme) and brought stakeholders to resolve issues was a huge let down. The second term of the Akufo Addo government, 4 years after the implementation, could have been used to review and right the tethering issues. However, the posture and behaviour of the government, particularly the past education minister, was appalling, to say the least. The minister was not only mediocre but indifferent to the emerging problems. He was more hot air than substance.
All said, I have been a strong advocate of an education system that is of high quality and promote equal opportunities for all citizens. I have always thought that a sound means tested system would be a gateway for achieving such goals. See my previous writings. However, we have not yet been able to devise such a system. Therefore, any attempts to truncate the current ‘free’ SHS system would undermine equal opportunities for the majority of Ghanaian children. We all know that most of the high performing senior high schools tend to be the boarding ones, often of the legacy kind, and are unevenly spread across the country. And that Ghanaian boarding schools are avenues for building social capital and also bridge tribal/ethnic differences. Making only day schools or the non-boarding bit of SHS ‘free’ would lead to a two tier senior secondary school system: one for those privileged who can afford boarding and the benefits it comes with (including social capital) and the other for the ‘mmobrowas’ banished to day schools/day students. This will widen the already growing social inequality and threaten the foundation of a stable and prosperous Ghana. Some say there is no country in the world that offer free boarding school (I don’t know since I haven’t done any research into this) but we need to ask ourselves some soul searching questions. Do such countries have their high performing ones accessible to the few because of their location and connections? Do such countries have state boarding schools? Do they have similar ethnic and socio-cultural nomenclature? Are our legacy school, that happens to also be our best performing schools, easily accessible to children from all corners of the country (from Lambussie through Nkwanta South to Jomoro)? These are hard questions that should guide the proposed national SHS review conference. Quality and equity shouldn’t be mutually exclusive.
A new approach that encourages science education (STEM) at the secondary and tertiary levels including better trained and incentivised teachers should be considered. Any wonder why China’s development outpaced India’s contrary, to the now defunct believe that they would develop at equal pace? China championed universal access to primary and secondary education including vocational education and had higher proportion of science and technology university graduates. Whilst Chinese students chose science and engineering degrees at university, Indian (like their British colonised Ghanaian counterparts) followed the humanities and social sciences (including business administration or law) pathway. This drove China’s quick and seamlessly transition from an agrarian economy to a manufacturing and industrial one. E.g. from the 1980s to 2010s science and engineering degrees accounted for 80% (in the 1980s) to 40% (2010s) of degrees awarded in China. In India it was 5% (in the 1980s) and 20% (2010s). I blame (need to blame someone) the science teachers I encountered at secondary school for cutting short my science expedition. Recently I have become an ardent advocate of science and technology education, ever since I discovered the work and writings of the brilliant Richard Feynman.
SEARCHING FOR SPOCK – SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND INNOVATION STRATEGY
I still strongly believe that Ghana needs a robust science, technology and innovation strategy and a framework for achieving it. See my previous writings. All the successful countries have something akin to this and they put a huge drive to realise this ambition. E.g. the US (National Science and Technology Council, Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, Energy, Infrastructure, National Science Foundation, National Institute of Health); UK (Advanced Research and Invention Agency, UK Research and Innovation); China (National Natural Science Foundation of China, Central Science and Technology Commission. South East Asians are doing same. The Middle Eastern countries including Qater, UAE, and Saudi Arabia have in recent times launched policies/strategies for science, technology and innovation and big research centres that focus on health, food security, energy, and artificial intelligence. Luckily, Ghana has the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) with a broad focus including food security, water resources, environment and information technology; Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research with a focus on health; and universities with big science and engineering focus including KNUST, University of Ghana, University of Energy, Academy University, and Technical universities. These institutions have not lived up to their expectations. A forceful national strategy is needed to breathe new air into them and drive them to realise the renewed ambition. They need a reset.
Energy and Renewables
We all agree that Ghana needs to expand its energy generation capacity, and that climate change is a real threat. We can explore sound sources of energy for industrial growth while at the same time dealing with the climate emergency. Depending on the ‘so called’ climate financing or rather handouts from donors would be insufficient. The US state of Texas uses more electricity than the whole of sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa). Average monthly electricity consumption in Texas is 1,094 kilowatt hours (kWh) while per capita electricity consumption in sub-Saharan Africa (excl. South Africa) is 180 kWh. Ghana has been slow in expanding its energy capacity. Installed capacity remains at 5GW. Bangladesh increased capacity from 17GW in 2017 to 28GW in 2024.
Ghana needs to promote and facilitate the use of solar energy, particularly for residential and office buildings. Government should consider an incentive scheme that will increase access. i.e. encourage and support people to acquire the needed equipments and accessories to install and use solar energy in their homes and offices. Norway’s incentive model for accelerating take up of electric vehicles is a good source of learning. Even though the Ghanaian government can’t afford to be as charitable as its Norwegian counterpart.
Of the $50 billion funding announced by China at last year’s Africa-China summit $10 billion is supposed to go to Chinese businesses in Africa. I suggest the government should explore how to partner with Chinese firms, who are the world leaders in all things related to solar energy, to access this financing facility. Chinese firms can establish solar energy equipment factories, as gateway to a growing African market, and also partner Ghanaian universities so that they can transfer their technology, in time, to Ghanaian firms.
WESTERN REGION CRIES OUT
As an unofficial spokesperson for the western region this is my list of key priorities for the government to rejuvenate western region. A revitalised western region undoubtedly turbo charges Ghana’s development because of its history, resources, and geography.
1. Western Railway Line – repair and bring back into service the western railway line, from Takoradi to Kumasi. This line connected people in major towns in western, western north, and Asante, and facilitated trade. Growing up in Takoradi we travelled to Kumasi either with STC or by train. There were two train services to Kumasi: the express (6am to 1pm, same duration as the STC) and sleeper (9pm to 6am). As a child who often visited Kumasi during the school holidays the sleeper gave me the chance to polish my geography and interact with people along the different stations. Memories of boisterous towns along the route – Tarkwa, Oppon Valley, Huni Valley, Prestea, Dunkwa, Bekwai, Obuasi. Restoring the railways will ease the burden of transport for businesses and ordinary people along the route and increase commercial activities. Also, the raw minerals currently transported by the mining firms to the Takoradi port via road would revert to using the railway. This will lessen the burden and attrition of the worthiness of the road network. Members of Parliament from the Western region must work collaboratively with colleagues from Western North and Asante to make this a reality.
2. Road Network – western region could easily win the trophy as region with the most deplorable roads. Complete all roads projects already started including the PTC mini interchange. The Accra to Takoradi to Elubo road, as part of the West Africa highway initiative, should be a priority. The Accra – Takoradi needs to be a dual carriageway motorway. The loss of lives on that road is unforgivable. Members of Parliament from the Western, Western North and Central regions must come together and push for this long overdue road project. By the way, why is the cost of building roads in Ghana astronomical compared to other countries. India commissioned a 700km Mumbai-Nagpur pure concrete (like the old Tema motorway) 6 lanes expressway at the cost of $9 billion in late 2024. It took less than 6 years to complete and included 33 major bridges, 274 minor bridges, 6 tunnels, and 65 flyovers. 700km 6 lane concrete expressway is like having dual lane motorway from Takoradi through Accra to Sunyani plus single lane concrete motorway from Sunyani to Paga. The 27.7km road redevelopment encompassing the Accra – Tema Motorway, the George Bush Highway, and a link from Nsawam Road to the N1 is supposed to cost $660 million (the 19.5km Accra-Tema motor way reconstruction alone cost $350 million). This would mean that a 700km concrete road in Ghana without the bridges and flyovers conservatively cost $16.6 billion? Can you believe this (Okudzeto Ablakwa voice)?
3. Takoradi Harbour – needs a reboot to make it a real competitor to its younger counterpart (Tema). I acknowledged that improvements have been made to the port but more is needed. With good transport links (road and railways) to Accra and Kumasi and a deliberate regime of lower tariffs/duties the harbour would be attractive to businesses from Kumasi and and beyond and those from the Sahel regions (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger). Members of Parliament from Western region would need to bring on board colleagues from Western North, Central, Asante and regions beyond Asante to make this a government priority.
4. Medical school – first complete the agenda 111 hospitals at Mpohor and Ahanta West, and the delayed redevelopment of Effia Nkwanta regional hospital into teaching hospital. Concurrently, a medical school should be considered under the auspices of University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa, with Effia Nkwanta as the teaching hospital.
5. Science and Technology University – turn Takoradi Technical University into a science and technology university with a focus on natural and applied sciences, engineering, and computer sciences, like Caltech and MIT, to compete with KNUST, which is gradually losing its focus. Its lower level courses could be transferred to an expanded Takoradi Technical Institute (TTI). Note that Takoradi had the first secondary technical school (GSTS) and the first polytechnic (now Takoradi Technical University). Takoradi also has a technical institute (TTI est. 1982). A science and technology university would be fitting for the city that pioneered science and technical education and give Ghana an advantage on the continent in science and innovation – challenge Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa. Shanghai and Shenzhen, China, are attractions for global research and development because of their huge pool of science and engineering graduates.
6. Complete the Takoradi Market – the uncompleted project has made live unbearable for traders and residents. The pavements and roads have been hijacked by traders who have limited trading places. This has exacerbated the sanitation problem in the metropolis – filth everywhere, all at once.
All these will create jobs, rejuvenate the western region and its neighbouring regions and propel Ghana’s reset to prosperity.
LET ME TRUST YOU – GOVERNANCE AND SECURITY
Realign and streamline state and public agencies – to remove duplicatory functions and reduce government expenditure. Some of the agencies could be merged to make them sharper and vigorous. Nigerian undertook similar exercise in 2012 (Oronsaye report) and recommended scrapping or merging of half of its agencies. The current government is likely to implement the proposals. Some of the recommendations in the Oronsaye report are confusing so Ghana would need to be mindful not to merge or scrape agencies just for saving money but consider the purposes of the agencies and how they could be made more focused and responsive.
Public office conduct and scrutiny – strengthen accountability and oversight of public officials’ conduct. Contemptuous behaviours by public officers contributed to the disastrous performance of the NPP at the recent presidential and parliamentary elections. The Bryan Acheampong – SSNIT hotels saga and the wanton acquisition of state properties at rock bottom prices laid bare the big holes in the rules regulating conduct of public officers. Is the conduct of public officers’ bill even fit for purpose? Was it assented to by the past president, Nana Akufo Addo? Is Okudzeto Ablakwa’s protection of state assets private members’ bill fit for purpose or is there a need to amendments to give it a Dracula tooth? Parliament can have its own independent commissioner for standards and the presidency can also have an independent adviser on ministerial standards. But in line with streamlining agencies CHRAJ’s remit could be expanded to include oversight of conduct and standards for public office holders including parliamentarians and ministers.
The practice of having ministers and members of parliament on the boards of state agencies and enterprises must stop. How effective will they be able to fulfil their oversight and scrutiny functions when they are part of the decision making processes of these entities? We know corruption and conflict of interest is Ghana is not new. Prof K A Busia reported the prevalence of bribery and corruption in the Asante Confederacy Council (other traditional councils can’t be exempted) in his inquiries in 1942. He noted ‘when there was a constitutional dispute both parties gave bribes to chief, registrars, secretaries, linguists or spokespersons, and others connected to the council to enlist their support’ K.A Busia (1951): the position of the chief in the modern political system of Ashanti. This practice was not uncommon in European royal courts in ages past, but they did something about it to uphold the integrity of public office.
Operation Recover All Assets (ORAL) – whatever new bureaucracy it metamorphoses into it has to at least ensure that all stolen or state lands and properties sold at discounted prices are retrieved. This is the dominant view from my little survey of follow concerned busy bodies in the Dome Kwabenya enclave of Accra. They want the lands and properties taken back into state custody from the politicians and their cohorts who have turned into interplanetary criminals. On the generous side, they want those who have acquired state lands/properties to be made to pay market prices for such properties/lands at the time they were acquired or the properties/lands taken back into state custody upon failure to pay the market prices. Funds generated from the ‘market selling’ prices could be used to compensate original owners of the land, build affordable houses and other needed social amenities. An inventory of state properties and lands including those disposed off and the beneficiaries of the disposals is needed to make the work of ORAL effective otherwise it would be turned into the usual cacophonous cymbal favoured by politicians. This inventory, once put together, should be published and made accessible to the public.
Safety and security – the indiscipline in the system including increase in armed robbery, land guards, vigilantism, noise pollution including false alarms and blackmail through so called prophesies, and destruction of public must be urgently addressed. A disciplined and focused police and intelligence system is needed. A ‘broken windows’ mentality and approach by the police would be appropriate. This means that the police would have to cleanse itself of petty bribery and corruption including the tormenting of hard-pressed drivers for ‘subsistence’ money. The Galamsey epidemic, where some operators have created their own mini-infantries, combined with the terrorist activities in neighbouring countries should occupy the top in-tray of the security honchos. What is happening in once peaceful Ecuador (where drug gangs influenced the higher echelons of power including top judicial officers and the country’s vice president) and to a lesser extent Chile, should be a good learning tome for Ghana’s security managers. A safer Ghana would mean resident needn’t spend the little money they have on building high walls with security apparatus around their houses, hire gun/machete wielding land guards to protect their lands, or worry about blackmail from self proclaimed men of God who hawk their prophesies on the public square.
Criminal Cases Review Commission – the recent hullabaloo about the quickly withdrawn list of persons pardoned by the past president, Nana Akufo Addo, the unending stories about people wrongly languishing in prison and on remand, and the growing distrust in the judiciary and police show that Ghana would need an independent criminal cases review commission that investigates and responds to miscarriages of justice. Ghana can learn from UK, New Zealand, and Canada.