Our problem is that we are quick to judge policies rather than their outcomes - Asiedu Nketiah

The National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, has said that it is time for the country to move to the point of assessing policies based on their outcomes, rather than on their intentions.

According to him, this is what he sees as a prevalent issue in Ghana's governance structure.

To him, oftentimes, governments, particularly the current one, resorts to passing judgements on the success of a policy based on the intention with which the policy was formed and not the outcome.

Speaking on Accra-based Joy News, the NDC national chairman pointed out that leaders in Ghana often emphasise the resources invested in various activities without providing a comprehensive evaluation of the results.

“Two challenges we have in this country are one, we turn to focus on policy intentions. We judge policies by our intentions rather than the outcomes of policies. It is only in Ghana that when leaders are asked what they are doing to solve a problem, then they begin to quote huge sums of money and state resources they have invested in that activity and not talk about the results of that policy,” he said.

Using the One District One Factory (1D1F) initiative by the government as an example, Asiedu Nketiah criticised the government's approach to industrialization.

He stated that the communicators of the government are quick to quote the amount of monies and resources used to start a project or policy but never the current state or outcome of the policy.

“Today, if you ask them what they are doing to generate employment, they quickly mention One District One Factory (1D1F). We have spent so much money in establishing over hundred factories across the country. So, that is sufficient to convince Ghanaians that they are doing a lot on industrialization. But go and look at their own budget and the growth of industry as reported in their budget has declined so badly in an environment when you claim to spending money to build industry

“It is because you want to put up industries, create employment, reduce our imports and so on, but all the things you intended under the 1D1F are getting worse apart from the monies you have put there, can we charge you for wasting resources?” he asked.

Johnson Asiedu Nketiah also called for a shift in focus from policy intentions to policy outcomes across various sectors.

“When you look at the fight against corruption, they will come out and say, we have financed anti corruption better than any other government, and we have pumped this amount of money, but what is the outcome? If you have pumped an amount of resources into something and the thing keeps getting worse, are you in good management, no, you are not.

“So, let us refocus on policy outcomes rather than policy intentions and the monies we waste in there,” he stated.

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