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Inside FEB 16, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 2/15/18 8:05 PM Page 7 15TH FEBRUARY 2018 FRIDAY CURRENCY PARIS CODE BUYING SELLING US Dollar USDGHS 4.3600 4.5100 RATES Pound Sterling GBPGHS 6.1000 6.2500 Euro GBPGHS 5.3900 5.5600 10 DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2018 WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH CDD’s maiden report on implementation of IPEP THE GHANA Centre for Domestic Development (CDD-Ghana) has initiated a project to track the implementation of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government’s flagship Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP). According to CDD, the IPEP dubbed the one million one constituency programme predicated on the government’s economic vision that systematically decentralising infrastructure development would spur economic growth, create jobs, and reduce poverty, and would see government allocate US$ 1million for each of the 275 constituencies annually. Prof H. K. Prempeh, Executive Director, CDD-Ghana, explained that IPEP does not depart too far from several other development initiatives over the years. He said experience from past and current development projects of such nature showed that IPEP management record was extremely poor, owing to the very nature of their stakeholder consultation processes, planning, design, and implementation as they are often mismanaged, unaccountable, and lack transparency. “To protect IPEP from a false start, ensure transparency and accountability of its implementation, and strengthen the framework and performance of institutions set up to govern the programme, as well as ensure an efficient and good corporate management of public funds allocated to 1PEP, CDD-Ghana is implementing the project ‘IPEP Tracker’ to monitor implementation. Prof Prempeh highlighted the key findings and gave some recommendations to the projects as follows; •Prof. H.K. Prempeh, (R) Executive Director, CDD-Ghana with other discussants Activities of the 10-member regional ad-hoc committees: In general, majority of informants said they heard about the inauguration of the regional ad-hoc committees. However, we observed that, many were either unaware or had very little knowledge and/or involvement in the activities undertaken by the committees. CDD observed also that the composition of the committees was dominated by partisans of NPP than technocrats, and information about the membership and how they were selected was limited to only a few people (Regional Minister and Regional and Constituency NPP Party Executives). Further, majority of district/constituency level stakeholders (particularly district coordinators, planning officers, decentralized department heads and CSOs/Media) reported that, they were not aware or not much involved in the communitylevel stakeholder consultations undertaken by the committees. This strikes a sense of a disorganized and inadequate stakeholder consultation processes by the committees. Validation and reporting of district/constituency infrastructure needs assessment The group also observed very limited knowledge among key informants about the criteria the Committees used for selecting and prioritizing infrastructure needs. Knowledge of the criteria was concentrated within the circle of a few stakeholders (ad-hoc committee members, regional ministers, and district chief executives). Further, we observed a limited or no validation of the committees’ assessments, and their completed reports were made available only to the regional ministers. In the light of the findings, the following recommendations are offered to help improve the politics, governance and institutional management of the IPEP policy intervention. Policy recommendation The following are CDD conclusions based on their analysis of the institutional and policy context for the implementation of IPEP and findings from our monitoring of the work of the 10-member regional ad-hoc committees. The lack of a coordinated policy framework spelling out the IPEP policy intervention and the restriction of information to only a selected few political actors has the potential to create an institutionalized information asymmetry for the principal actors required to successfully implement the program. This has the potential to distort the necessary enabling power relations as well as the prevailing transparency and accountability structures. Already there is evidence that it has created tension between key bureaucrats and politicians at the regional and district levels. It is not clear if these actions are borne out of deliberate policy, expediency or implementation choices. This will not bode well for the success of IPEP The prospect for partisan political capture of the IPEP program particularly at the regional and district/constituency level by political party actors and their bureaucratic supporters is high. The instinct for political capture appears to originate from two sources. First, there is a strong believe that these flagship projects like IPEP is a manifesto promise which must be guarded by the party to ensure its success. It flows from this orientation a belief that bureaucrats are not directly invested in the party’s objectives and therefore cannot be trusted to deliver success. The second source is that party faithful see IPEP as a reward for their hard work and therefore controlling the process will be to ensure material dividends Politics, governance and institutional fit There is an urgent need to ensure that, the DAs are not used as a political party vehicle to dispense patronage to individual party financiers, communities and organizations in a manner that distracts it from its mandate and sets it up to fail There is need to define clearly the mandate/role of the DAs. Clarifying the role of the DAs is useful for interinstitutional settlement (i.e., who does what?) at the regional and district levels with actors/institutions who have similar responsibilities in the provision and management of public infrastructure at the local level Create institutional relationship formally by strengthening linkages and partnership between the Development Authorities and the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Regional Coordinating Councils (RCCs) and the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs). This relationship has to be properly defined and institutionalized within appropriate legal instruments or policy Integration within sector planning and national development vision Government should endeavor to align the IPEP policy focus, as well as interventions that are new or that are undergoing re-evaluation with key national, regional, district and sector policies, programmes and priorities Resource allocation, transparency and accountability As part of efforts to increase transparency and accountability, there should be strict adherence to the Public Financial Management Act. This will ensure that the allocation, disbursement and usage of the funds will be done effectively and efficiently Effective information dissemination about IPEP and the work package of the DAs to the public would aid in demanding greater scrutiny of its budget and accountability through a systematic monitoring and evaluation of the IPEP policy outcomes. The restriction of relevant information on IPEP to only a selected few is a key enabler/promoter of corruption and self-dealing Project management and implementation Focus on implementation at pace and scale to aggregate value: the project interventions under IPEP when implemented in the timely manner and scale needed can have greater impact on the local economy in a meaningful time frame Ensure proper value for money through transparent procurement processes and in the award of contracts for projects listed under the IPEP intervention Establish stronger accountability mechanism that ensures citizens oversight in the implementation of all the development interventions under the IPEP policy at the regional and district/constituency levels Institute regular performance reviews of the Development Authorities: developing a framework to assess the outcomes of the investments under each development authority will be essential to the successful outcome of the policy focus of poverty reduction through improved social and human development under the IPEP Improve the communication of IPEP’s success stories, impact and spending to stakeholders and the wider public in order to be more accountable
Inside FEB 16, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 2/15/18 8:05 PM Page 8 WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2018 11 Politics “There are greater things to be achieved in every new year, and each and everyone must prepare themselves to be great, not by words of the mouth, but by a lot of sacrifices.” — Michael Bassey Johnson Ghana retires @60 GHANA IS now 60 and attained its own retirement age on March 6, 2017. She would have received a letter indicating she was to retire about six months ago and would have gone through Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) processes to begin the working out of Ghana's Pension. We are by this assuming that Ghana@60 worked for the Civil Service or Public Service or for a dutifully respectful private company that paid its employees contributions. If Ghana@60 was self-employed and did not make contributions for pension then it will be assumed she has saved enough to look after herself or still has a profitable business that will continue to look after her. Anecdotal evidence points to the fact that many persons who have served their country diligently for between 35 and 40 years and therefore eligible for full pension have obtained sums of money that cannot look after them for more than a week. For some others, it can only serve them for a few days. Social Security and National Insurance Trust All that period however, they diligently paid into Social Security and National Insurance Trust their contributions or it was the responsibility of their employer in most instances the Ghana government to do that. How faithfully that was done will forever be one of the internal wranglings between SSNIT and Government but that is not the basis of this article. One is even assuming that some way somehow, Ghana@60 managed to acquire land and struggled over the better part of 20 years to put up a three- bedroom house still not fully completed to taste but habitable. The struggle had not only been in looking for money but also dealing with itinerant artisans who inflate prices at will and buy cheaper products but at the same prices as good and durable materials. If Ghana@60 was still in rentable accommodation then the situation will be worse. The amount of money paid to pensioners is so pathetic. Anywhere else the Government who decides on how much to pay workers, the salaries, on which pensions are calculated will take responsibility and make an effort to address the poverty among pensioners. Yet through a liberal, free market driven economy, Government has taken the decision, not to influence prices of goods and services and leave pensioners to be hanged out dry. A double whammy against the Ghanaian pensioner. There has been no study assessing how much it costs for any Ghanaian adult to live in Ghana but a back of the envelope calculation for a single adult will require GH¢20.00 per day just for basic upkeep, food and water only. It does not include rent, clothing, paying for utilities, cost of healthcare and even the most basic social activity. Minimum daily wage How is it that the Tripartite Committee of Government, Employers and Workers represented by the Trades Union Congress can agree on the minimum daily wage of GH¢8.00 equivalent to GH¢1.00 per hour for the eight-hour day. A Ghanaian works under the blazing hot sun for an hour and can only buy a small ball of kenkey with the earned wage. What happened to a living wage? Ghanaian workers are made to suffer throughout their lives and yet this sacrifice is not universal. Others have made it their prerogative to feed fat on the national cake and get away with it. The National Service Scheme scam is all but forgotten. The national cake or pie which represents the Ghanaian economy is not being grown with any degree of seriousness to ensure that everyone gets enough to keep body and soul together. Life after pension Many Ghanaian pensioners do not survive more than five •Prof. Agyeman Badu Akosa, author years post-retirement. Many are dead from poverty and misery and this includes middle class persons, yet elsewhere pensioners have become the new group to be wooed. Most of them through flexible home mortgages are able to acquire their homes early in their careers and finish paying for the house before they are 55 or 60 years old. By the time they retire Backyard farming or gardening of organically grown vegetables is a good start, rearing chickens for eggs and poultry meat, ducks, turkey and keeping small ruminants of goats and sheep, and free range pigs can create an integrated farm. The goats, sheep, pigs and poultry manure will help to fertilise the soil for the organically grown vegetables. they would have finished educating their children who are ready to leave the house to start their own lives. The parents downsize their home from a three or four-bedroom to a two-bedroom house when their children fly the nest and invest the remainder of the equity from which they can get another income in addition to their work and state pensions. They have spare cash and many live a content life. Sadly this cannot be said of the Ghanaian worker. Welcome to mother Ghana on your sixtieth birthday. How long you will survive depends on what new strategies are put in place for your benefit? Ghanaian senior citizen Who speaks for the Ghanaian senior citizen? Being invited to a lunch on Independence Day is not enough. Pensioners in Ghana must have a loud single voice to articulate their concerns but most especially each must adopt a hobby which can be translated into a business to earn extra money post-retirement. Many have taken this up to their eternal happiness. Many can also jump into the fray. Backyard farming or gardening of organically grown vegetables is a good start, rearing chickens for eggs and poultry meat, ducks, turkey and keeping small ruminants of goats and sheep, and free range pigs can create an integrated farm. The goats, sheep, pigs and poultry manure will help to fertilise the soil for the organically grown vegetables. What is troubling is that lawmakers, parliamentarians in Ghana and the political appointees, do not pay SSNIT contributions and yet are the ones who together with the Board of SSNIT decide on how much pensioners must be paid. SSNIT pays its staff very well but are unable to invest pension funds in such a way as to create an equalisation with the cost of living in Ghana. Why should politicians not contribute to the nation's pension fund? Celebrations of Ghana's diamond jubilee must attempt to answer.
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