Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas
Government has been urged to improve delivery on its manifesto promises in order to meet the aspirations of citizens.
Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas, African Union (AU) High Representative for Silencing the Guns, who made the call at a forum jointly organised by the African Center for Governance and Economic Management (ACGEM) and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Accra, said stakeholders, especially government, would do better if it improves on delivering promises made.
He said, “We must simply improve delivery on our plans, programmes, projects, and manifesto promises.”
“There is the urgent need to prioritise and improve on costing projects and manifestos, determining how the funding will be raised, benchmarking implementation, monitoring and evaluation on a regular basis across the delivery value chain,” he added.
According to him, making these areas a priority would not only help government deliver its plans but would also go a long way to hold the “feet of political leaders at national and constituency levels to fulfil and implement their manifesto promises.”
He also joined calls from other economists from the African continent to caution African leaders not to consider aid from donor countries as a development strategy, but should rather engage in pragmatic strategies to finance productive infrastructure and create jobs.
“Priority should be given to market access for manufactured goods in Africa under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCFTA) and the Equal Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS),” he stated.
According to him, Ghana is estimated to be losing $3 billion to illicit financial flows every year, while Africa loses not less than $60 billion annually as far back as 2010.
The illicit financial flows, he stated, could be avoided and the money used for other development projects.
He cited Ghana as one of the countries that could avoid going to the International Monetary Fund(IMF) to borrow if a number of these illicit financial flows are blocked.
Prof. Atsu Aryee, a political scientist and chairperson for the event, for his part called on institutions to introduce performance contract as one of the key strategies to help improve productivity.
He said performance management contract, which has been used by many schools to achieve results, could also be used to achieve results in governance, while calling on government to communicate effectively and build trust with the citizens to help avoid situations where electorates sometimes ask ruling governments to make appointments that may not necessarily be in their interest.
The event, held under the theme “From Elections to Governance in Ghana: Managing for Results” also brought together international development experts, chief executives of some state institutions, heads of civil society organisations (CSOs), Mr. Goosie Tanoh, Presidential Advisor for 24-hour Economy and other dignitaries.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah