Public Agenda (Accra)
Basiru Adam
5 September 2008
For Ghana's public policies to succeed, attention must be paid to how responsive they are to the legitimate interests of the different groups affected by them, the Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Analysis (CEPA), Dr. Joseph Abbey has said.
And if that were to happen, then all stakeholders including the three arms of government, the media and civil society groups need to be "alert and carefully monitor policy formulation and implementation in order to safeguard their interests "
Until responsiveness becomes an integral part of the policy formulation process, Dr. Abbey argued, its impact in actual practice would continue to be "intermittent, uneven and opportunistic." "This means the design, objectives, options, impact etc must all be appraised on the extent to which the policy is responsive to all affected groups."
He said modern democratic government is expected to deal with all citizens equitably and provide equitable access to public services. "There is a strong and close link between the concepts of governance and public policymaking."
Dr. Abbey was looking at the role of research institutions in policy analysis at a public lecture organised by the department of Economics of the University of Ghana, Legon. The topic for the lecture was Ghana's Economic Development: Strategies for the way forward."
The astute policy analyst noted that there is usually a divide between policy in theory and what actually pertains in practice in the country, a reason the capacities of research institutions must be built so they can translate theory into practice.
To illustrate how weak policies tend to be in Africa, Dr. Abbey referred to a study done on African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, which indicated that governments in these countries usually "lack the capacity to design, implement and monitor development policies and to deliver programs."
Worse still, much of the literature these countries use originate from western countries which otherwise have "political pluralism and strong institutionalization of interest groups," that foster compliance with various aspects of governance.
Closing in on Ghana, Dr. Abbey said although the role of the civil service under the 1993 Civil Service Law of Ghana is to assist government in the formulation and implementation of policies "there are very few policy analysts in the civil service and sector ministries - a factor echoed by Ghana Vision 2020."
Referring to an article by Prof. Joseph Ayee, Dr. Abbey said the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), which was established to enhance policy analysis, has not been up to the task. "He (Prof. Ayee) noted that NDPC has admitted its inability to marshal data especially with respect to development indicators, development targets, and estimated cost of programs."
Meanwhile, the work of private institutions like the Centre for Democratic Deverlopment (CDD), the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and the Centre for Policy Analysis (CEPA) in policy analysis has often contradicted that of government.
As such Dr. Abbey advised that as developing countries become multi-party democracies, the political process must be opened up to incorporate the inputs of all stakeholders, including civil society.
Other speakers included Prof. Miranda Greenstreet, a member of the National Governing Council of the Africa Peer Review Mechanism and Mr. Joseph Henry Mensah, the Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission.
Prof. Greenstreet wondered why Ghana has not taken advantage of the political stability it enjoys to position itself as a knowledge hub in the West Africa sub-region.
She equally wondered why Ghanaian companies cannot expand and enter other markets but always had to be taken over by foreign concerns.
On his part, Mr. J.H Mensah said the role of the public sector has to change in various aspects if Ghana is to move forward in its quest for development.
He touched on a number of areas including education and energy, saying that Ghana has no energy policy. "Some people think we have one. I don't see it." "If we are not careful we will continue with structural deficits that will become like a permanent sore on our legs."
On the oil find, Mr. J.H Mensah said he is yet to see what concrete plans the country has on how it is going to invest the revenue to be accrued from the find. He said people have focused on the need for transparency and the judicious use of the oil revenue to the neglect of specifically what the money must be used for.
If we are not careful, he warned, the money would come only for us to be "scratching our heads" on what or how to use it.
He was also concerned with the image Ghanaians portray to the outside world of their country. He said a lot Ghanaians, especially the media, engaged in "the wrong use of the truth' by portraying the country in a very negative light to the rest of the world.
He therefore called on Ghanaians to change their mindset towards their country and "accentuate the positive." "We should not wear poverty as a badge of honour," he stressed to the amusement of his audience.
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