I’ve spent the better part of over 4 hours reading the draft GYEEDA report and can’t help but weep for my beloved country Ghana. Damn!!! I am so pissed off today. GHC950 million (US$448 million) or over 1.38% of our 2012 GDP or approximately the value of Ghana’s Total Crude Oil Liftings for 2012 expensed in just 4yrs without any proper financial checks and balances or value for money assessment. Note that about 47 percent of this amount was expensed in 2012, an election year.
So why does the government punish my mum, girlfriend, grandmum, mum, kayayei, truck pushers and businesses to pay more taxes (reference to the recent 5% stabilization levy and import taxes) when it’ll only end up in the tainted hands of a few cronies and their pay masters for little or no work done? There’s way too much power concentrated at the top of our governance system. Parliament has been rendered virtually incompetent and has become an unwilling ally to the largesse of government.
In 2007, I partook in the field evaluation exercise as a researcher for the donor-funded and better executed Rural Enterprises Programme (REP) in the Kwahu North and Fanteakwa Districts. The assessment outcomes were clear in terms of identifying beneficiaries, their training requirements, and linkages to the rural economy with regard to the creation of business development services through the District Opportunities Industrialization Centres (OICs). Why did we not build upon REP and models with clear governance and accounting frameworks but instead created this MONEY SUCKING MONSTER called GYEEDA?
GYEEDA Report Available at: http://datablog.peacefmonline.com/pages/blog/32/read.php
REP report links:
- http://thinkafricapress.com/ghana/rep-model-rural-development-africa-ifad
- http://www.ifad.org/evaluation/public_html/eksyst/doc/prj/region/pa/ghana/gh_38s.htm
- http://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Project-and-Operations/Ghana%20-%20Rural%20Enterprises%20Programme%20III%20(REP%20III)%20%20-%20Appraisal%20Report.pdf