A tracking system as conceived by government and championed by the then information minister Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah is definitely a super brilliant idea. CitiNewsRoom captioned it as a tool designed to promote transparency and accountability in the implementation of infrastructure projects throughout the country. Who dares decry such a transparency, accountability and awareness initiative? That is a giant stroke on the tally chart of good governance.
After suffering the rigour of peer review and analysis, and the brouhaha surrounding “genuine mistakes” of capturing projects the government didn’t own, it is clear our new Performance Tracker 2.0 is yet another great idea fraught with the usual policy implementation gremlins that takes the shine away from most of the policy initiatives of this government. The Free SHS, PFJ, 1D1F, 1V1D, YEA, etc. are testament to this observation. It begs the suspicion that this government has a penchant for beautifully crafted initiatives and sloganeering that play to the gallery without the political will and honesty to perform for the benefit of Ghanaians.
Standing on the podium of the launch, Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah indicated that the performance tracker had a whooping 13k projects at various levels of completion. He then emphasized that all of these projects were duly validated. Thirteen thousand? Where are they? None in the Ashanti region? If there are, why couldn’t the regional minister mention two of these? By the way, a bird in flight just chirped that Dr. M. Bawumia on Sefa Kayi’s show once said the Delivery Tracker 1.0 had 18k projects. Now the Delivery Tracker 2.0 has 13k. Food for our thoughts.
I dare say the performance tracker is densely populated by minuscule projects such as toilet facilities, speed ramps, pedestrian crossings, stand-alone electric transformers, and rework of minor civil works. Observers have also noted the attempt to lay claim to projects attributed to the erstwhile NDC government, as well as forcefully adopting philanthropy (NGO) projects, including PTA projects in schools. In light of the fact that this government will struggle to point out 300 major projects, how 67 major projects from Pres. Mahama’s administration gained admission onto the platform and passed validation tests is anyone’s guess. One would shudder at the thought of an independent audit of these 13k projects to determine what they are, and when there were initiated.
The performance tracker 2.0, as is, serves better as a party propaganda machine for election 2024 than a national asset usable by successive governments. By intent, purpose and design, this tracker should have been launched by the NPP party Chairman, Mr. Stephen Ntim. Orienting it as serving national interest is both inaccurate and misleading. We have yet another case of wasting scarce state resources on short-life-span party-centred agenda that do not go beyond a political term.
Do we need a performance tracker? Yes! What did we expect from such good governance initiative? In addition to what has been achieved (kudos to the project team), such a purpose-built tracking system should be audit-inclined, and furnished with performance metrics and scorecard. The tracking system should also provide critical project assessment parameters such as a brief narrative of project business case and pre-contract award processes, the assigned contractor, start and end dates, key challenges, as well as project cost. Finally, the tracker should have capabilities for feedback from public Ghana. People familiar with the localities of these projects should be able to confirm or otherwise with file upload for evidence. Successive governments should aim to deliver robust tracking systems to generate awareness of regime projects, offer transparency and accountability of taxpayers’ funds.
ZEKPAH, DAVID.
Executive Director,
The 1957 Group.