Mr. Cudjoe argued that some of the existing ones are struggling and that government should have put measures in place to boost their capacities instead of bringing new ones on-board.

“There’s basic geographic information that tells you that even if you want to do these type of division, at least look for some agglomeration of activity. You assume that you have to create it before the activities come, no. The districts are barely $1.5 billion worth averagely. You need to build the capability of the existing ones,” he noted.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Qqm6uwDlfrJI5ujF8GoDH14TaSzwJKy6″]Franklin Cudjoe made the remark on Saturday on  Citi FM’s current affairs and news analysis programme, The Big Issue.

Government last Thursday, [March 15, 2018], simultaneously inaugurated all the 38 new districts including others that had been elevated to municipal status across the country.

The Local Government Minister, Hajia Alima Mahama, had explained earlier that most of the new districts were existing constituencies, but were only carved out from their mother assemblies to make them stand alone.

But Franklin Cudjoe insisted that if government had done feasibility studies on the revenue generation capabilities of the existing districts, “they [government] would have seen that there is no need to add more to it.”

“With proper information…we would have seen that we probably don’t need to do all of these. I was driving from Kumasi all the way to Tamale and I was amazed at the vast expanse of lands I was seeing lying idle. Then I asked myself, 38 new districts have been inaugurated, possibly some of these districts will fall within this vast expanse of lands. There will be human beings supervising vast waste lands. And we will be paying the person so they will be DCEs over nothing,” he remarked.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

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Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are finally experiencing an increase in growth after a significant decline in 2016. This was registered by The World Bank as one of the “worst decline[s] in more than two decades” (Leggelo-Padilla 2017). Thus, while the upward turn of events is encouraging, it is disappointing that some countries that had taken many steps forward, regressed during the decline, and are now in the rebound and recovery phase as a result. This example is a reminder that ‘growth’ and ‘development’ are concepts that are completely dependent on time, if they have to be sustainable. They are not one-off occurrences, but rather, processes that occur over a period, leaving both phenomenons vulnerable to fluctuations and setbacks caused by powerful socio-economic and political forces.

As Sub-Saharan African countries progress through this recovery phase, there is a need to critically examine the conditions; strategies, policies and programmes that are being put in place to promote growth, as well as identify the socio-economic issues that serve as major limitations to the process. Ghana, in particular, is an interesting case study; though the country experienced a decline in growth in 2016 like some of its peers, economic activity improved significantly in 2017 and is expected to increase further in 2018. While this growth looks promising, there are a number of questions that need to be addressed if the growth momentum is to be sustained over the long term – What indicators can be used to assess Ghana’s performance so far? What socio-economic issues serve as hindrances to Ghana’s pursuit of growth?  What are Ghana’s strengths and weaknesses compared to other countries? And what reforms are necessary to promote positive change?

This report attempts to address these questions using cross country comparisons and graphical representation of socio-economic indicators, and shall conclude with recommendations and a call to action for reform to take place in the problem areas that are roadblocks in Ghana’s pursuit of growth.

Background

The tale of Ghana’s growth and progress has not been commensurate with its relative political stability enjoyed over the last two decades. As exporters of cocoa, gold and oil, Ghana has enjoyed steady economic growth with few fluctuations up until 2012, when it began to experience a significant increase in public deficit, a weakening currency and high inflation. However, after experiencing a major decline in 2015 and 2016, Ghana’s economy has been on a rapid rise. This is evident in Figure 1.1, which shows Ghana leading with 8.3% in real GDP growth at market prices and in Fig 1.2 which exhibits how Ghana experienced a very high GDP annual growth rate in 2017.

Method

This report intends to i) identify and highlight the socio-economic issues that need to be addressed in Ghana to promote healthy growth and development ii) carry out cross-country comparisons using graphs displaying socio-economic indicators including the Human Freedom Index (HFI) and Human Development Index (HDI). These indices shall be taken from CATO’s Human Freedom Report and the UNDP’s Human Development Report respectively. A combination of these indices shall provide a foundation for analysis, highlighting Ghana’s strengths and weaknesses and allowing for discussion on recommendations and advocacy for reforms that will hopefully aid in streamlining the growth process.

Data and Analysis

The HFI is a unique indicator for assessing growth and development because it breaks away from the extremely traditional indicators and seeks to provide a more holistic and multidimensional perspective. It is made up of economic, personal and civil measures specifically including indicators ranging from ‘rule of law’ and ‘religion’ to ‘identity and relationship’. Out of 159 countries, Ghana ranked 65 in 2017, with a specific HFI of 7.10 out of 10. Figure 2.1 exhibits this, also displaying where Ghana stands in relation to other countries that are either at the same level, above or beneath Ghana in terms of growth and development. Ghana appears to be on a similar level with Botswana and somewhat with Kenya both of which scored 7.12 and 6.68 respectively. On opposite extremes, Nigeria ranks the lowest with 5.92 and Mauritius the highest with 7.88 points.

Figure 2.2, further portrays a breakdown of the HFI into personal and economic freedom (PF and EF) for each country in 2017. While an overall HFI of 7.10 for Ghana is decent, Fig 2.2 reveals a unique pattern. Compared to the other four countries, Ghana was the only country whose EF (6.5) was lower than its PF (7.7). This is an interesting observation which might suggest that while Ghana’s strengths lie in PF measures such as freedom of movement, low crime rates, religious freedom and access to information, some of Ghana’s weaknesses (which inhibit the growth process) can be found in its economic policies and strategy. 

For further comparison and analysis, four specific measures were randomly chosen under the EF indicator. Fig 2.3 (above) shows that in 2017 all 5 countries were weakest in the integrity of their legal systems and strongest in managing inflation and labour market labour regulations. However, Ghana which is represented by the orange bar appears to generally have low scores in all four measures. This explains its overall low EF score compared to the other four countries. A reason for this may be because of it’s recovery from high inflation and public deficits in 2016. Nevertheless, highlighting this information emphasizes the need for closer attention to be paid to these economic factors that serve as powerful stumbling blocks in Ghana’s growth pursuits.

While the HFI encompasses unique measures and has highlighted some of Ghana’s strengths and weaknesses, it still does not include certain social indicators such as education and health, both of which are necessary in assessing Ghana’s performance in its growth pursuits. Fortunately, the HDI accounts for these measures. Figure 3.1 therefore shows Ghana’s HDI in comparison to the same group of countries.

Fig 3.2 and 3.3 in particular, portray how some of Ghana’s weaknesses may also be found in the health and education sectors. Interestingly, there appears to be some correlation between government expenditure and health. Both Kenya and Botswana had slightly higher life expectancies (62 and 65 years respectively) than Ghana and Nigeria. These two countries also appear to have allocated more money to this sector (3.2 and 3.5% of GDP respectively) while Ghana and Nigeria allocated only 2.1% and 0.9% of GDP respectively, with Nigeria having the lowest life expectancy of only 53 years. Mauritius is an outlier for having a very high life expectancy of 75 years with their government allocating only 2.4% to the health sector.

Analysing the education indicators for the same countries in fig 3.3 is more complex because Botswana and Nigeria had missing data in this area. Regardless of this limitation, a similar correlation is observed with health. For instance, Ghana spent 6% of GDP on education and had a higher percentage of people who had some secondary education, compared to Kenya that spent 5% of GDP on education and had only 32% of people who had some secondary education. Interestingly, though Botswana has not had any available data on government expenditure on education in the past 8 years, trends between 2005 and 2009 show that Botswana typically allocated between 8 and 10% towards education^[1]. This might explain why Botswana’s percentage of people that have had some secondary education is highest out of all four countries. Furthermore, Mauritius remains an outlier showing a low percentage of government contribution to education but a higher percentage of people who have had some secondary education. This might also be because Mauritius “has long invested heavily in education and has achieved a high rate of literacy” (Frankel 2010:24) and therefore, can afford to allocate a lesser percentage in recent years.

Discussion

From the graphical analysis and cross-country comparison, Ghana’s weaknesses that have been highlighted through this assessment point to three important areas –  the legal system, economic strategy and policy and provision of key social services to boost growth and development.

Recommendations:

The legal system:

Fig 2.3 shows that, with the exception of Mauritius, all countries scored lowest in the integrity of their legal system in 2017. This is not surprising, especially for Ghana, as its legal system’s legitimacy has often been compromised while the institution has been weakened over the years. Moreover, following the 2015 corruption scandal uncovered by renowned journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, Ghanaians are slowly recovering and rebuilding their faith and trust in the legal system; trust that was long destroyed because of the inefficiency and corruption evinced in the past, which lingers today. While there were no major infractions on the system in 2017, Ghana’s low score of 4.2 could be attributed to the increased demand and caseload burden within the system, and its inability to simply keep up due to poor administration.^[2] Indeed, the legal system is an important part of a nation’s economy, for it enforces justice and order within a civilised society. As the President has agreed to reform this area and has revealed that Section 239 of Act 29 which states that:

“Upon any trial for an offence under section 237, a statement purporting to be signed by a person in the name of the President, Minister or Court, declaring that the accused was not at a stated time or period a messenger of or did not hold any office or authority under the President, Minister or Court, as the case may be, and a statement purporting to be signed by the Chairman of the Civil Service Council declaring that the accused was not a civil servant and a statement purporting to be signed in the name of any local or other statutory authority, declaring that he was not an officer of that authority shall, without further proof, be prima facie evidence of the matters so declared”[3].

 shall be amended to make corruption a felony instead of a misdemeanor^[4], the government is further being urged to also concentrate on improving the overall efficiency of the system. This shall consequently strengthen and promote the overall growth and development of the country.

Drawing from Lawyer Dr. Raymond Atugba’s ideas on reform in civil litigation in Ghana, it is important for Ghanaians to primarily embrace change. Citing examples from the UK and Australian legal systems, Atugba stresses on the fact that change is absolutely necessary and must be continuous, warning that indeed, “our love of the old ways may be our own downfall” (Atugba 2017:7). One area that is in desperate need for change in the legal system is the poor administration, the cause of great inefficiency. Recommendations for reform in this area include incorporating technology into the legal system and switching to a more reliable electronic system. While some talk was made of an electronic case management system (CSM), this has yet to be implemented. Reducing the reliance on old-fashioned bookkeeping will surely help in improving administration.

 Economic policy and strategy:

As aforementioned and shown in fig 1.1 and 1.2, Ghana’s growth in 2017 has been extremely positive with hopes of even greater growth in 2018, though this did not reflect as much in the EF indicator seeing as Botswana and Mauritius appeared to take the lead in this area. Nevertheless, the EF indicator stresses on economic freedom, and thus does not completely capture the actual growth that an indicator such as the “rate of GDP growth” might capture. Even as Ghana is predicted to do well this year with a GDP growth rate of 7%, it is important to continue adopting strategies and implementing policies that will support this growth. In 2017, government announced steps towards fiscal consolidation including reforming government expenditure habits and focusing on revenue generation through production and not only taxation^[5]. These steps are commendable. Government is encouraged to continue looking inwards for funding for infrastructure and development projects, as was demonstrated with the new maternity unit at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital which was established on funds raised within Ghana only. Indeed, the concept of looking inwards is dependent on the belief that “each country has a population that can contribute something, on varying levels, to the development of its country” (Usanga 2015). Botswana is a good example of this, having generated money internally to fund majority of its infrastructure. Additionally, to ensure that fiscal consolidation continues, the government is urged to implement reform as advocated by Imani in previous years (the Fiscal Responsibility Law); policies that shall ensure fiscal discipline and responsibility, further ensuring that public deficits will not serve as a hindrance in Ghana’s pursuit of growth.

Social Services:

Indeed, poor quality education and health services are two major roadblocks that Ghana faces in its pursuit of growth. Referred to as ‘bedrock services’ because of their importance to our foundation and human existence, education and health are two of the most important sectors within a nation. Quality education and health services ensure that a country’s human capital is strong and productive, further contributing to economic growth and social development. Compared to Ghana, both Kenya and Botswana had higher life expectancies in 2016 and allocated a higher percentage of their GDP to their health sectors. Ghana spent a lot more on the education sector however, and saw it pay of with a higher percentage of citizens who had gone through secondary schooling that same year. These observations therefore call for more funding to be allocated to these key services so that infrastructure within these sectors can improve in quality and begin to keep up with demand. This is necessary now more than ever especially in a time where opportunities have been created for people to attend secondary school for free. Indeed, this policy runs the risk of being counterproductive, that is, if quality of education is not improved. Overall, Ghana can also learn from Mauritius though it appeared to be an outlier from the data. Mauritius has long been known to heavily invest in their education and health sector so much that today, after the quality and foundation has been established, only a little amount of funding is needed to maintain it.

Conclusion

This report has explored the different socio-economic issues that affect Ghana’s performance in its growth pursuits. In analysing a range of socio-economic indicators taken from the HFI and HDI, it established that Ghana’s strengths lie in personal freedoms, all of which promote inclusivity and are important for social development. Some weaknesses however, were identified in the legal system and effective delivery of key social services. While steps have been taken towards improvement in these areas, they have not been enough to reflect in the indicators. The report concludes by calling on the government to critically examine these areas, consider significant reform or continue taking steps towards reform (where reform has already begun) especially in a time that Ghana is performing well economically, to ensure that growth and development can be sustainable over time.

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By Ms Siobhan Sam

Ms. Siobhan Sam is Ghanaian and an intern with IMANI. She majored in Economics and Sociology for her undergraduate studies and just completed her Master’s in Social Policy and Development in December 2017 at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

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Following the upsurge in armed robbery cases in Ghana, Ambrose Dery said government is in the process of acquiring some helicopters to help the police deal with the robbers.

He said government will  procure “about three helicopters… and they will be stationed in Accra with the police and they will help in the backups.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”vsw4DL32sF9yaPdTMyCLFnuSXwp6RM1C”]But speaking on Citi FM’s news analysis programme, The Big Issue on Saturday, Franklin Cudjoe advised the Minister to shelf such dreams and put the supposed GHc800 million budgetary allocation to the Police Service to better use.

He insists that despite the negligible allocation, the Police could still greatly improve their visibility on the streets to deter criminals.

“We’ve heard about some GHc800 million that will be given, the good thing would have been to find out where the GHc160 million allocated last year went. I can say that it’s useful but that is nothing because it is about 0.2% of the entire budget for the year 2018. The GHc800 million that will come, please we beg the Interior Minister; he should stop entertaining these dreams of helicopters,” Franklin Cudjoe added.

“The police service ought to be properly resourced but when they’ve been so resourced, they shouldn’t use it the way they want. They have to be visible on the streets,” he added.

GHc800m for police

President Akufo-Addo during the State of the Nation Address in February 2018, indicated that government will allocate some GH¢ 800million to the Ghana Police Service to ensure improvement in its operations.

He said the amount will be used for the procurement of modern policing equipment and gadgets including helicopters and drones to enhance the capacity of the service in dealing with crime in the country.

“The police, the prosecution services and the judiciary owe it to all of us to make us feel and be safe. I do not need to repeat that crime wears no political colours, and I am certain that message has gone down to all…The law enforcement agencies will crack down very hard on all those who would disturb the peace of our nation…We will give the Police the resources they need to do their job,” Akufo-Addo added.

‘Wave of robbery’

There appears to be a heightened wave of robbery attacks in the country in recent months with some of the worst cases reported in the last few weeks.

A number of incidents have involved brazen attacks by the robbers on individuals organisations in broad daylight.

A Lebanese was shot and killed at Tema Industrial Area this week with the assailants making away with GHS 200,000 he had withdrawn from a bank minutes earlier

‘We’re in control’

Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service has given indications that it is in control of the situation and will go every length to protect the citizenry.

Following the recent developments, the government, together with the various security agencies, announced new steps and directives to address the situation.

The measures include an order for forex bureaus and financial institutions to install CCTV cameras at their workplaces as well as improved police visibility in crime-prone areas.

The top hierarchy of Ghana Police Service has also been reshuffled by the IGP, David Asante-Apeatu with a number of notable changes including George Akuffo Dampare, Director General of Police Operations, being reassigned to head the Police Research and Planning Department.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post ‘Stop dreaming of helicopters for Police’ – IMANI to Interior Minister appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

“…If we are looking at the office of the government machinery for instance in the last 12 years, you would see consistently that it has been the most wasteful and actually the source of corruption as well. That is why we are saying that if you want to fight corruption, let’s start from the office of government machinery because they put up all these portfolio of agencies that are duplicatory and not needed,” he added.

[contextly_sidebar id=”20ea9K28krKpbe5mFWeBZSK249szWoiz”]Mr. Cudjoe made the remark on Citi FM’s news analysis programme The Big Issue on Saturday during discussions on the vetting of Mr. Amidu last Tuesday.

The vetting, which lasted more than seven hours saw members of Parliament’s Appointment Committee quiz Mr. Amidu his plans for the Special Prosecutor’s Office and how he intends to carry out his mandate of fighting corruption.

Although Mr. Cudjoe said he is not alleging corruption within the government machinery, he said there have been several instances of wastages in the system, thus warranting his call.

“I’m just saying that the root causes of corruption lie within the political establishments that we’ve created for ourselves. We’ve always said that there are…a lot of examples of how odious expenses are made all from government machinery for instance. Look at the instance of the Ministry for Special Development Initiatives trying to create a website for close to $200,000. These are not necessarily stealing, but it is attempted waste and somehow attempting to waste and actual stealing may be the same,” he said on.

‘Turn up heat on Procurement Ministry too’

The IMANI Africa boss also called for the establishment of a special department under the Special Prosecutor’s Office which will be in charge of interrogating the cost of projects that come to the Procurement Ministry and the Public Procurement Authority to ensure that such projects are value for money.

He suggested that a special commissioner could be appointed to head that department in order to assist the Special Prosecutor to protect the public purse.

“The office must have some commissioner of sorts who can do proper due diligence on projects and they should start with the Procurement Ministry and the Public Procurement Authority,” he added.

‘Be wary of political mafias’

A private lawyer, Dr. Rainer Akumperigya, who also spoke on The Big Issue, charged Mr. Amidu to brace himself to face stiff opposition from persons with political and economic interests within and outside government.

Dr. Akumperigya explained that Amidu’s task will be a tough one since Ghana’s democracy itself is built on what he termed as “corrupt proceeds.”

“Martin cannot be naïve to think that no one will interfere with his office. He will be tempted. If you look at it from 1992, our Constitutional and multiparty democracy system have been built on corrupt proceeds, most of the party activities especially during general elections, where you require massive resources, where do such resources come from? If we want to be sincere with ourselves the system itself has been based and financed by pieces of corruption. So he is an individual, he now has the singular opportunity; he’s done it in the past as an individual now he is a public officer. He has to fight this, but he has to be aware that all the political actors and economic interests that prevailed prior to his appointment still prevail,” the lawyer added.

Parliament to approve Amidu on Tuesday

Meanwhile, Parliament will consider the report of the Appointments Committee on the nomination of Martin Amidu as Special Prosecutor on Tuesday, February 20, 2018.

According to the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, they may either approve Amidu that same day or defer it to the following day.

–

By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

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IMANI Africa, which was recently named the most influential think tank in Ghana and 3rd most influential in Sub-Saharan Africa said Coleman joins the organization with over decades’ experience in Leadership, Human Resource and Organizational Development from the International development, profit, and public sector.

Ato Coleman has held senior leadership roles including Country Director, Plan International Sierra Leone; Senior Director of Operations for World Vision International for West and Central Africa where as deputy to the Regional Vice President, he provided oversight for Grants and Resources Mobilization, Humanitarian Emergency and Affairs Sponsorship, Project Management, Quality Assurance, Security, Gender, Advocacy Communications, Investment & Strategy Alignment and Implementation.

He also served as Regional Director of HR for World Vision, West and Central Africa; Regional HR & Organizational Development Partner for Plan International, West and Central Africa, Director of HR, Plan International Senegal, and HR Manager, Plan International Ghana. He previously worked with Western Telesystems (Westel-now Airtel) as Organizational Development Analyst as well as SGS Group of Companies as Personnel Officer and the World Bank Desk, International Economics Relations Division, Ministry of Finance, Ghana.

Ato Coleman holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Psychology from the University of Ghana, a Master of Philosophy degree in Public Administration from the University of Bergen, Norway and a Master of Science in Industrial Relations & HR from the London School of Economics, UK and a Certificate in HR Excellence from the Judge Business School, Cambridge University, UK.

He has published over 20 articles on Leadership, International Development and HR.

In 2016, he was awarded the International Non-Governmental Organization (INGO) leader of the year by the Sierra Leone Council of CEOs for the leadership and excellence he displayed during the Ebola crisis in that country.

He is an Adjunct lecturer in Human Resource Management, International MBA Program, International School of Management, Dakar, since 2007 and currently consults for a number of organizations within and outside Ghana and is Editor-In-Chief & Member of the Editorial Board of the Pentvars Business Journal, an international refereed publication of the Pentecost University College, Ghana.

A statement signed the IMANI Africa’s founding president, Franklin Cudjoe said, “IMANI came to the decision that Ato will be a worthy addition to our corp of Fellows whose relentless pursuit of excellence, public-spiritedness and insightful ideas for Ghana, can be tapped to further our progress as a nation.”

“IMANI (which means HOPE in Swahili), believes that Ghana is a reservoir of great intellect, which, too inadequately tapped, has not been allowed to impact on mainstream political activity, economic management and civil society leadership. This is the situation IMANI seeks to reverse, and the context in which we carefully select the likes of Ato to join us, by bringing their knowledge and experience, to help our community of thought leaders and practitioners speed up progress, reduce poverty and create wealth and a better life for Ghanaians and Africans,” it said.

As part of his fellowship, Ato is expected to give a public lecture on a subject reflective of his expertise in March 2018.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post IMANI Africa gets new fellow, Casely Ato Coleman appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

In 2007, the TTCSP developed and launched a global index of think tanks called Global Go To Think Tank Index, which serves as a framework for publishing the Global Go To Think Tank Index Reports annually. 

The Index and Reports are designed to identify and recognize centers of excellence in all the major areas of public policy research and in every region of the world. It is the result of an international survey of over 1,950 scholars, public and private donors, policymakers, and journalists who helped rank over 6,500 think tanks using a set of 18 criteria.

The rankings have in the past been co-launched with the Foreign Policy Magazine, the United Nations University, other top-rated Universities and think thanks.

Out of 90 think tanks ranked across the sub-region in the 2017 Report, IMANI came third whilst occupying the first position in Ghana.

Also, IMANI featured in 11 Ranking Categories, details of which are as follows:

Top Think Tank in the World (Non- US)

Position: 72 out of 142 globally

Top Think Tank in the World (US and Non-US)

Position: 111 out 173 globally

Top Think Tanks in Sub-Saharan Africa 

Position: 3 out of 90 across Sub-Saharan Africa

Top Domestic Economic Policy Think Tanks

Position: 59 out of 140 globally

Top Education Policy Think Tanks

Position: 57 out 61 globally

Best Think Tank Network

Position: 68 out 85 globally

Best Use of Social Media and Networks

Position: 51 out of 84 globally

Think Tank to Watch in 2018

Position: 17 out of 105 globally

Think Tanks with the Best Use of the Internet

Position: 38 out of 60 globally

Think Tanks with the Most Significant Impact on Public Policy

Position: 36 out 60 globally

Top Think Tanks with Annual Operating Budgets of:

Less Than $5 Million USD

Position: 8 out of 48 globally

With far less than $5M USD annual operating budget, IMANI employs a variety of tools including research, advocacy, media, events, and internet technology to challenge and influence public policies in ways that positively impact the larger populace.

In the last four years of the index, 2014-2017, IMANI has missed the first position on the sub-Saharan African ranking to South African, Kenyan, Senegalese and Batswana think tanks. This is how IMANI fared on the Sub-Saharan list in the last four years- 2014- (2^nd), 2015- (2^nd), 2016- (4^th), 2017- (3^rd). Since 2012, IMANI has been ranked the most influential think tank in Ghana.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to him, the action of the police is likely to attract negative media attention to the country.

[contextly_sidebar id=”HIidcXpKRkSp4uPtL0f8iKiycrQ8DHTD”]The 19 persons including Bernard Mornah, were arrested by the Nima Police on Saturday morning when they gathered as members of the Ghana-Togo Solidarity Movement to hold a peaceful march to draw the attention of local and international authorities to the political crisis in Togo.

According to the Police, they had earlier permitted Bernard Mornah and his group, to undertake the peace march, however, they informed him later to cancel it due to operational challenges, and intelligence that another group was trying to interrupt their activity.

But Mr. Mornah denied the claim, saying that he assured the police that the peaceful march required very little police presence and that the march could not be postponed because of the resources invested into its preparation.

Franklin Cudjoe, who commended Bernard Mornah and the group for the initiativem said he believes their action was “harmless” and did not warrant the police’s action.

“I’ve seen a circular Bernard has sent around for this particular program and I thought it was really harmless.  They have been trying to raise issues about international oppression and all that. I think these are commendable as far as these people are bringing attention to oppression from afar and in this case, so close to us [Togo]. I think the police overreacted. They could have just allowed them. The challenge is that this thing will hit he international wires,” Franklin Cudjoe remarked.

Meanwhile, Bernard Mornah, who was granted bail after hours of being kept behind police counter without explanation of his offense, has indicated that he will drag the police to court for violation of his human rights.

‘Stop illegal, oppressive arrests’

Ghanaian innovator and researcher with IMANI Africa, Bright Simmons, has challenged the police over its suggestion that it must approve all notices of non-commercial events before they can be held.

According to him, that position “is not the law of the land,” as the Police want to impose on citizens.

In a Facebook post concerning the arrest of the members of the movement, Bright Simons said, “This continued insistence by the Police that they must approve all notices given to them ahead of public, non-commercial, events IS NOT THE LAW OF THE LAND! If they believe they need this law, they should talk to their sector Minister to head to Parliament with the requisite draft bill….Can they stop this illegal, oppressive, behavior already!… They should discontinue all ongoing “investigations”/proceedings against the Kawukudi 19, apologize to them for the abuse of their rights, and show contrition publicly!”

What does the Public Order Act say?

The Public Order Act 1994 (ACT 491), from where the Police draws its authority in the holding of special of events indicates that, in attempt to stop a special events from occurring either because organizers refuse to comply with a request to postpone or relocate events, “police may apply to any judge or a chairman of a Tribunal for an order to prohibit the holding of the special event on the proposed date or at the proposed location.”

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By:citifmnline.com/Ghana

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The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, had prior to the launch of the system, showered it with a lot of accolades saying it surpasses the ones used in the United States and the United Kingdom.

But Franklin Cudjoe thinks otherwise.

[contextly_sidebar id=”wrKSa4KUlecIIqrGEHgvBEClwryu637S”]To him, some of the data-sets being used by the app had long existed. He also raised issues with the integrity of the app with regards to security.

A data-set is a collection of related sets of information, composed of separate elements, and can be manipulated as a unit by a computer.

“To think that these basic mistakes are coming on the back of an app that has obviously been touted as something novel, the point really is that, it isn’t particularly novel given that it’s using engines that already exist. It’s just a location sharing thing. To think that you can call it innovative when basically you can input anything to generate any type of address is for me just not on. And I think that the developers should have taken time to deal with these basic challenges. These are not technologically challenging challenges at all, they are too basic,” Franklin Cudjoe argued on Citi FM’s news analysis programme, The Big Issue on Saturday.

President Akufo-Addo last Wednesday launched the National Digital Property Addressing System, also known as the Ghana Post GPS in Accra, aimed at providing an effective means of addressing every location and place in the country, using an information technology application.

The app has been criticized by some experts in the technology space.

Franklin Cudjoe, who has been a major critic of the app, had claimed that it might have been copied from existing applications.

He clarified that “the part about copying was not to suggest that they did something illegal – the point is that, location address using satellites or maps are not necessarily that new.”

Address generation bit amateurish

The policy think tank boss also described the address generation part of the app as amateurish, and not well thought through.

“I’ve read quite a number of reviews by industry watchers, and some of the comments they’ve made are not necessarily helpful – to think that you could input just any data and generate an address in itself sounds amateurish. There are basic web portals where you input any kind of data it could reject it, especially when you are filling forms. And to hear that obviously, that it is something with this app is quite troubling,” he added.

Hosting of app problematic

IMANI Ghana’s president also complained about suggestions that the app is being hosted outside the borders of Ghana.

“People have also talked about the hosting of this app. Some are saying it’s being hosted by Amazon and data protection issues are being raised.”

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Digital address system amateurish, not new – Franklin Cudjoe appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Each IMANIFesto publication was followed by a formal press conference to discuss the findings of its work with political parties vying for elections, which resulted in these parties reforming their promises. Supplementing this initiative was near-constant attention in the national media and IMANI’s savvy use of social media, which stirred the public debate by reaching over 2 million Facebook users and nearly 1 million Twitter users from August to November of 2016.

This prompted many political party officials to take to those platforms to defend against challenges from the public. IMANI’s engagement of millions of Ghanaians has reminded the people of Ghana that the power to hold the government accountable is in their hands and transformed the 2016 Parliamentary Election into one based not on political promises but on policy issues. IMANIFesto’s success has even inspired other think tanks in West Africa to visit IMANI in hopes of replicating the project in their respective countries.

“IMANIFesto became a reference point that benchmarked political promises along quantifiable metrics that the common man could relate to and is now the blueprint for political communication along the lines of policy promises,” said Franklin Cudjoe, founding president and CEO of IMANI. “It is exciting to know that IMANIFesto will become the most potent tool to help narrow the gap between political wish lists and reality in Ghana and anywhere we export the idea to – primarily the rest of Africa and anywhere else politicians evade scrutiny.”

Demystifying Ghana’s Political Atmosphere

IMANI tried to rein in the rampant promise making of those campaigning for public office in Ghana by introducing a three-pronged quantitative assessment framework allowing Ghanaian citizens to determine the viability of each campaign promise made by political parties. Those three prongs were financial viability of each promise, its potential impact on private sector development, and overall policy implications of its implementation.

To support this initial framework IMANI published four major research reports as part of its campaign, each with an accompanying press event geared toward political candidates, parties, and members of the government. The three major radio stations of Citi FM, Joy FM, and Starr FM – in addition to the state-owned Ghana Broadcasting Corporation and the Daily Graphic – covered each press event. The most impactful report was 2016 IMANI Pre-election Report: Critical Analysis of the Political Promises in Ghana, which identified all campaign promises of Ghana’s six leading political parties and categorized them as quantifiable, semi-quantifiable, and non-quantifiable. Only 18 of the 247 promises analyzed in the report were deemed quantifiable, 43 were deemed semi-quantifiable, and 186 non-quantifiable; the vast majority of these political promises were proven to be empty and vague.

The findings of the report were announced at the report’s launch event, a true spectacle that was broadcasted live and attended by journalists, politicians, and other stakeholders, with the broadcast reaching millions. A media frenzy followed as the report’s findings made their way onto front-page headlines of Ghana’s top newspapers, forcing party leaders to address criticism of their parties’ platforms. One such promise that was sunk because of the report was the Convention People’s Party (CPP)’s pledge to establish exportation of African tropical almonds as the backbone of the country’s economy, promising that such a move would yield $300 billion in revenue. IMANI found that the value of the world’s current leading almond exporter earned only $4.5 billion – far less than $300 billion – which proved the endeavor to be unattainable and forced the CPP to abandon such a pledge.

Another example was when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) promised “one district, one factory,” a pledge to build one factory in each of Ghana’s 216 administrative districts. IMANI found that such a promise had no measurable indicators and argued that the only feasible way to accomplish such a task was through a public-private partnership model, but NPP doubled down in its official response to IMANI’s criticism, saying they would keep such a promise and accompanying plan for implementation. The NPP came to power after the most recent elections, and its roll-out of the “one district, one factory” initiative notably followed the public-private partnership model that IMANI had advocated for and not its originally proposed state-owned enterprise model.

The IMANIFesto project also tracked the political promises of the previous parliament and will continue to track the current NPP government to provide a tool for Ghanaian voters to hold their government accountable. The NPP made additional market-friendly promises to reduce the corporate tax rate, import duties, and the Value Added Tax; all of which, if implemented, would help raise Ghana’s level of economic freedom, and the pressure IMANI’s watchdog project exerts helps push those reforms further along.

“IMANI demonstrates the vital role that civil society organizations can play in making government leaders more accountable to citizens,” said Atlas Network CEO Brad Lips. “Its IMANIFesto Campaign finally forces politicians to reconcile their campaign rhetoric with the real-world trade-offs that face policymakers in office.”

Digital Grassroots

The IMANIFesto campaign was broad in its digital reach – over 4 million watched the broadcast of the report launch. IMANIFesto reached more than 2 million Facebook users and 1 million Twitter users from August and November 2016. And it had more than 20 direct media placements on radio, traditional, electronic, and state-run media outlets. A famous cartoonist even published a cartoon called “Manifesto Inspector” in the Daily Graphic, Ghana’s most read newspaper, depicting IMANI President Franklin Cudjoe scrutinizing the political promises from the leaders of major political parties.

The impact of the IMANIFesto project is undeniable. It provided a country easy-to-consume information about the issues of the election and the viability of the various political promises from each party and, according to Kenneth Ashigbey (editor-in-chief and managing director of the Daily Graphic), it functioned as “a barometer of legitimacy for the masses.” This allowed the 2016 election to transcend its usual partisan, religious, and tribal lines. IMANI’s work also forced party leaders to revise their party manifestos to increase their feasibility and thus their attractiveness to the electorate. IMANI is even working with think tanks in Nigeria to duplicate this work for Nigerian elections. The campaign on the whole had a dual effect: first, it educated an electorate that previously lacked access to information about the various campaign promises of political parties that preyed upon such a lack of access, and second, it induced those parties to revise their poorly formulated platforms or risk being punished by voters at the ballot box.

About the Templeton Freedom Award and the additional 2017 finalists:

Awarded since 2004, the Templeton Freedom Award is named for the late investor and philanthropist Sir John Templeton. The award annually honors his legacy by identifying and recognizing the most exceptional and innovative contributions to the understanding of free enterprise, and the public policies that encourage prosperity, innovation, and human fulfillment via free competition. The award is generously supported by Templeton Religion Trust and will be presented during Atlas Network’s Freedom Dinner on Nov. 8 in New York City at the historic Capitale. The winning organization will receive a $100,000 prize, and five additional finalists will receive $25,000 prizes.

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Source: atlasnetwork.org

The post IMANI named finalist for 2017 Templeton Freedom Award appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

When the Mahama government was reviving the Komenda Sugar factory in the Central Region, IMANI raised issues with the viability of the project.

[contextly_sidebar id=”XGWay0PmFOQvp935dTdJwcYFp05Bh4dx”]At the time, it warned that the $35 million earmarked for the project was not enough and will lead to commissioning challenges.

It also said that it will take not less than 1,000 hectares of land to produce enough sugar cane to make the project viable.

IMANI cautioned that the projections the factory will make an annual gross sales projections of $20 million dollars were not realistic, and that the investors were merely seeking to justify the under-capitalization of the business, by inflating the cash flow expectations.

About two weeks ago, the deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Robert Ahomka Lindsay said the Komenda Sugar Factory will idle longer than expected, as a myriad of challenges including the lack of raw materials have stalled full operations.

A recent Citi News report revealed that frustrated sugar cane producers have resorted to selling their produce to akpeteshie brewers.

Less than a year after its commissioning, the factory has been shut down, crushing the hopes of sugarcane growers in the region.

As the One-District-One-Factory commences, IMANI’s founding President, Franklin Cudjoe stressed that Akufo-Addo government could not afford to oversee another round of factory collapses.

“…whenever a government wants to get into the business of doing business, they’ve got to be mindful that, first of all, they are not applying their personal funds. They are applying the funds of the public and some amount of analysis is very much needed before we get on with debt.”

“So as the new government embarks on its one district, one factory, all we have said is they should look to the things that have happened to the previous factories, right from the Nkrumah days, up until now… and to fix those problems before we embark on such journeys.”

The Akufo-Addo government has indicated its intent to partner the private sector in its industrialisation project and Mr. Cudjoe expressed hope that “they will allow the private sector to have the managerial prowess to be able to determine the viability of the enterprises the One-District-One-Factory is supposed to span.”

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By: Eugenia Tenkorang/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Don’t start another round of collapsed factories – IMANI to gov’t appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.