Public Agenda (Accra)
Michael Boadi
25 July 2008
opinion
When President J. A. Kufuor took office in 2001 his main goals were to heal the wounds of the nation, bring some measure of sanity into the management of the economy and bring honour and dignity to the presidency of the country. Without sounding judgmental one can safely say that, by the time President Kufuor leaves office he would have paid his dues.
He inherited a man many close associate say he is gifted not only with a sixth sense, but also an extra pair of nostrils, for survival.
A man who in his last eight years in office, managed an uncanny diplomatic balance between cuddling Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha and speaking on behalf of Libyan leader Muamar Gaddafi, and received US President Bill Clinton and the Queen of England.
On the economy, President Kufuor inherited a GDP growth of 3.7% (at year 2000 levels), rate of inflation - 40%, overall budget deficit of GDP- 8.5% and balance of payment deficit of $194.7m (source 2001 budget statement)
Who will be succeeding President Kufuor?
Listening to the campaign messages of all the presidential hopefuls from all the political parties one gets the sense that there is a general admission that some achievements have been made by the current administration for which each one of them would want to build upon. "A better man for a better Ghana", "the best man for Ghana", " ade wo fie oye" etc.
But the successor of President Kufuor has some tough choices to make. President Kufuor will be leaving office with the price of crude oil still soaring. By the close of June 2006 crude oil import amounted to $ 827.98m. Crude oil import increased to $924.10m by the same period in 2007. (Source GNA). The situation in 2008 is even more alarming. Already the government is said to have spent $1.26billion between January to June this year. (Source Daily Graphic Tuesday, 22nd June 2008). Decisions between subsidizing the ex-pomp prices of fuel and allowing the market to determine their prices would have to be made based on one's own political orientation or ideology and campaign promises.
In terms of job creation, it is very difficult to put any accurate figure on the number of jobs that have been created and the number of jobs that have been lost under the presidency of Kufuor. The NYEP is touted as a brilliant initiative aimed at dealing with the ever increasing youth unemployment. However opponents of the Kufuor's administration think otherwise and already proposals for its gradual abolishment are on the table.
On decentralization, President Kufuor will be leaving behind a number of fine legislations aimed at improving local governance ( Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663), Local Government Service Act, 2003 (Act 656), Internal Audit Agency Act, 2003 (Act 658), Financial Administration Act, 2003 (Act 654) etc) but very little action on them to show commitment to local participation in governance. In 2006 for instance there was a big jump in government spending from 20.6% of GDP in 2005 to 25.9% of GDP however less than one percent (0.9%) of GDP was spent on the administration of the District Assemblies. (Source GNA). With the passage of the Local Government Service Act, 2003, Act 656 the next president would have to perform its functions through the District Assemblies.
Considering the current economic trends one can not be sure if the three month foreign reserves that the Kufuor administration has managed to save will still be there by the time the next President assumes office. As per the 2007 budget statement, the country's gross international reserves went up to US$1,782.69 million which was enough to provide cover for 3.3 months of imports of goods and services. (Source: 2007 Budget highlights)
There seem to be one contentious issue that the next President after President Kufuor would have to deal with. And that is, which national asset will he have to divest to balance or support his budget in times of need. Ex-President Rawlings' administration sold Ashanti Goldfields to support the national budget and now President Kufuor is selling 70% share in Ghana Telecom also to support the budget.
The next President should set himself apart from his predecessors. He should be a true Ghanaian by believing in Ghanaians. Ghana Telecom has been under two management contracts, Telecom Malaysia and Telenor. The end results were all nothing to write home about. Speed Wing (Rex Lezard) also failed Ghana Airways under a similar management contract arrangement. At Ghana water, Aqua Vitens Rand is struggling to no avail. The question that most Ghanaians are asking our governments both the past and present is why are we selling our national assets? Is it for money, management competence or technology? The experience of State Insurance Corporation and Ghana Commercial Bank are there to defuse the cashflow argument. Both entities were over subscribed when placed on the Ghana stock exchange and now with their new capital injection they are doing very well.
The management argument is challenged by calling for the same condition of service for both the Ghanaian and expatriate personnel. Then one can make an informed comparison. VRA and the likes with good condition of service are doing well because of the higher motivation to deliver.
Technology is bought on the shelves. Any well resourced entity can buy the state of art technology and use.
Hmmmm, I must end here but not until I warn the next President if he will ever find the job interesting then he would have to find a balance between the number of foreign trips he will make and the benefits those trips will accrue to the country.
This time his performance will not be measured against Ex-President Rawlings' taxi turning, castle identification hair cut or selfless defense of colleagues records but against President Kufuor's hotel waawaa, globe trotting and relatively prudent economic management administration.
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