Prof Adei to go on a ‘one man aluta’ to halt galamsey

Outspoken Ghanaian economist, Professor Stephen Adei, have served notice he will embark on a “one man aluta” to compel the government to, as a matter of urgency, halt the growing phenomenon of illegal mining, popularly referred to as galamsey.

He says his campaign starts from January 7, 2017 when Ghana completes the process of electing a President to steer the affairs of the nation.

“Whoever wins, if they are not going to do anything about galamsey and the level of environmental degradation, you’ll see Stephen Adei on a one man aluta,” he told a gathering in Kumasi.

The 17 thousand illegal miners in the country are causing havoc with impunity “because there are ‘big’ men behind them” who have invested in big machinery for the operations.

There are also fears of an imminent depletion of forest and water resources as the miners employ all kinds of equipment to uproot trees and dig the ground deep in search of gold.

In the Western region, the Upper Wassaw Forest Reserve has hundreds of illegal miners destroying about 12 hectares of the forest reserve; trees have been razed indiscriminately, water bodies destroyed and deep pits left uncovered.

Two water treatment plants in the Ashanti region are currently producing below capacity as illegal miners encroach on lands within the catchment of the Barekese and Owabi dams.

Cocoa industry experts have also warned the spate of illegal mining activities could cutback Ghana’s cocoa production targets if immediate steps are not taken to address the menace.

Cocoa farmers at Keniago and other communities in the Amansie West District of Ashanti are already giving up on farming as illegal mining operations take over fertile lands in the area.

Prof. Stephen Adei therefore wants the menace halted immediately before illegal miners hold the country hostage.

“We have to make life uncomfortable for whoever is responsible… because the level of environmental degradation in Ghana is so much that we risk poisoning the land, animals and human beings,” he stated.

Environmental sustainability has been identified among best practices to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

By Kofi Adu Domfeh

Ghana‘s problem is more of planning than implementation

Project planning and implementation should be mutually reinforcing for development to thrive in Ghana, says Nyaaba-Aweeba Azongo, a development planner.

There should not be any dichotomy between planning and implementation, he said.

Mr. Azongo has bemoaned the persisting culture of contracting experts to lead the planning phase of national projects, yet allow others to proceed with implementation without engaging the planners.

He says such practice allows the architect of these plans to escape accountability, adding that the “poverty of implementation” results in the non-attainment of expected impacts of plans.

“The architects of the plans would often exit the documentation phase of the plan and when it comes to the ground engineering aspect of the plan, they leave it to others who have very little knowledge about the documentation in terms of the content and the direction of implementation,” observed the planner.

Ghana prides in devising excellent plans and policies to drive socio-economic development but often fails in implementing such plans.

Mr. Azongo believes plans should not be determined by the quality of documentation but implementation outcomes.

“Development is a product of planning,” he noted. “Ultimately, we’ll have to rely on our planning regime to be able to generate the kind of development we all wish to see”.

Mr. Azongo therefore advocates that the architects of plans for government projects need to be part of the implementation team to achieve better outcomes.

The planning-implementation duality has only succeeded in creating an escape route for professional laxity, making documentation phase of planning an exit- route comfort industry, he observed.

As consultant to Suame Magazine Industrial Development Organization (SMIDO), Mr. Azongo planned an initiative to secur a 1000acre land and a Gh₵10million private funding arrangement to implement the first phase of the SMIDO industrial complex project.

The project is a transformational resettlement scheme for artisans of Suame Magazine contained in SMIDO’s Policy Blueprint designed by the consultant in 2007.

The Suame Magazine Industrial Development fund (SMID Fund) has been launched to drive funding for the project.

Mr. Azongo has emphasized that there can only be a case of a good plan or bad plan and not the split-sided barometer Ghana has been constantly fed with. 

 

He posited that “if preparing a plan is seen as rocket-science professional enterprise, then matching it on the ground cannot just be said to be the responsibility of others without its architect as the leading marksman to facilitate the process towards its realization”.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Economist says 2013 budget presents hope for private sector

There is a window of hope for the private sector in the 2013 Budget Statement, says Deodat Adenutsi, an Economist with the Central University College.

The government’s fiscal policy statement presented by the Finance Minister, Seth Terkper focused on fiscal discipline to stabilize the economy, infrastructure development and growth acceleration.

Mr. Adenutsi says “there will be an immediate mixed reaction when it comes to the prospects for the private sector but in the long run I think there is a glimmer of hope for them to be excited about opportunities within the budget”, he said.

According to him, there should be a re-engineering of the private sector with government’s spending on infrastructure development in critical sectors of the economy to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

“There should be major spending allocated to critical areas within the energy sector as far as our power crisis is concerned and in the long run I expect that the private sector takes advantage of some of these critical infrastructure to invest into activities that would create jobs in the system”, Mr. Adenutsi.

Prior to the presentation of the budget, the Economist had anticipated government will not immediately be interested in reducing the country’s fiscal deficit, which currently stands at 9 percent.

Finance Minister, Seth Terkper said Ghana, as a developing country, must still borrow to expand its infrastructure but noted the government will shift its focus to the quality of loans it acquires.

He is hoping the deficit will stay between 6 and 9 percent within the year.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh