Accra, Ghana, June 1, 2019//-Professor John Gatsi, an economist of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) has expressed worry about the recent discontinuation of key national projects, policies and programmes in Ghana without justification.
This practice according to him is not governance practice and must be stopped in the country.
Prof Gatsi made the call at the 3rd Revolutionary Lecture Series organized as part of activities to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the June 4 Uprising.
He identified the worrying trend with the country’s political and economic governance culture in which national infrastructural projects and programmes initiated by various political regimes are abandoned by their successors without justification.
Prof Gatsi explained that since most of the many abandoned projects were financed by loans, the practice encourages gaining value for money and anticipated improvements in the socio-economic conditions of the people.
He said paying loans on abandoned projects is not good governance, stressing that the framers of the 1992 constitution, conscious of Good Governance Principles and Standards, included in Articles 34 and 35 (7) of the constitution to guide the National Character and all political regimes.
The lecture themed “Developing a National Character for Sustainable Good Governance” had Prof. John Aheto as its main speaker with supporting discussants from academia and public service.
Remedies
Prof. Gatsi suggested two important remedies to dealing with this major political and socioeconomic problem that negatively affect dividends from good governance.
He called for the development of Article 35(7) into an Act of Parliament, part of which would require newly elected governments to, within their first nine months in office submit to Parliament for approval a comprehensive report and justification on projects, policies and programmes it wishes to discontinue for debate and approval or disapproval.
This Prof Gatsi said would greatly contribute to fairness, transparency, responsibility, discipline and accountability in the running of the affairs of the country.
He also suggested that the new Act shall also require the creation of a publicly accessible National Contract and Projects Management Register with key features of contracts, projects such as amounts, location, execution time, date of commencement and level of execution, all to deepen good governance.
Prof. Gatsi admonished government and political parties about the constitution’s economic management objectives, which is to…maximize the rate of economic development; secure maximum welfare Ghanaians; secure maximum freedom of Ghanaians; secure maximum happiness of all persons in Ghana; ensure sound employment for Ghanaians; ensure access to reasonable livelihood of all Ghanaians; and provide assistance to the needy.
He further reminded political parties and government that macroeconomic indicators such as GDP, inflation and exchange rate are important but are not the standards set out in Article 36:1 as the dividend for good economic governance.
Prof Gatsi who is the head of Department of Finance at the UCC Business School used the occasion to advised citizens, especially the youth, to demand greater accountability on matters relating to good governance.
African Eye Report
