Satement: Another Major NPP Policy Breakthrough In Housing

Typical of the NDC, rather than interrogate the core elements of NPP policy in the housing sector as comprehensively laid out by Nana Addo in a dialogue with GREDA on Monday 22nd October 2012, they have sought to misrepresent the core object and purpose of the presentation in the usual propaganda manner.

Happily, Ghanaians are now used to the NDC trick of ridiculing policies put forth by the NPP whilst busily trying to copy them. The NDC says anything ‘free’ is not good and that NPP will soon promise ‘free air’. Yet they shamelessly tout doubtful deliveries of free uniforms, free laptops and free exercise books and are now saying they want to drive the crippled ‘Yutong’ bus slowly through the ditch to free SHS.

The NPP, under Nana Addo, plans to radically reform the legal, institutional and financial structures for housing delivery in Ghana. At the base is the recognition that a functional and effective housing sub-sector has potential to contribute directly and indirectly over 5% of GDP in jobs, incomes and taxes. At the GSS September 2012 GDP estimate of GHS 71b, that is over GHS 3.5b per annum in varied areas like design, research, material import and local manufacture (cement, iron rods, paint, roofing, wood, water, sand, nails), site works and utilities, labourers, equipment, financial services, marketing, etc.

To drive this GDP multiplier, Nana Addo proposes that the current Ministry of Works focuses on policy and oversight whilst a Housing Agency is created to design and implement a broad range of schemes aimed at facilitating strong collaboration between public agencies, land owners, finance institutions, building firms and material suppliers. This collaboration is expected to deliver 100,000 units a year of appropriate housing for self-ownership, rental, and social subsidies. An NPP government is NOT going to build 100,000 houses a year by itself.

The crux of the matter is that Nana Addo expects the far reaching financial, material and tax proposals to stimulate a massive interest in delivering 100,000 units a year either through the private sector taking advantage of the incentives or public private partnerships where government shares the risk.

A major innovation that is indeed unprecedented is the plan to allow pension and SSNIT deposits to be accessed by beneficiaries to be used as upfront contributions towards mortgages. Will a SSNIT scheme that appears less than satisfactory deliver better value as an equity guarantor? Will the problem of suspicious contributor account management already rearing its head at the NPRA not be diminished? What could the GHS 2trillion IMANI reckons is missing or mismanaged not have done if properly directed into providing homes and ancillary services to contributors? Significantly, a functional mortgage market has a major multiplier effect on the long term local capital market as housing depositor funds drive borrowing for public infrastructure, medium to long term business loans and competitively priced government securities.

Finally, people matter and kayayei matter. Nana Addo’s proactive response to the question of perennial homelessness endemic to vulnerable, marginalised groups, especially those struggling to eke out illusive fortunes on urban streets, is to ask the public conscience to support them. So by means of public private partnerships underpinned with juicy incentives, social housing in the form of hostels is to be promoted and provided for the use of kayayei and like groups in dire need of public recognition and support.

Rather than engage on the desirability and feasibility of such social housing schemes, the professed NDC social democrats are rather screaming ‘impossible’. But it’s not surprising. As initially acknowledged, the champagne socialists of the NDC will always ridicule good governance ideas whilst struggling in the dark to modify and assume ownership of the concepts.

No wonder H.E Vice-President Amissah-Arthur is reported to have said in UDS that free SHS is good but alien to NPP because the NPP is business oriented. For his information, the people’s welfare is the only business of government and the NPP has in a serious business-like manner delivered NHIS, School feeding, Capitation grant, Metro Mass Bussing, LEAP, NYEP and other such critical interventions which have eased poverty in Ghana. Under Nana Addo, the NPP is poised to deliver free SHS, transform the economy for the benefit of the people and revamp the NHIS, which the professed social democratic NDC initially resisted and is now busily collapsing. If that is NDC logic, why is the President professing private sector credentials, notably at the IEA encounter?

Incidentally, Vice-President Amissah-Arthur is a key and longstanding member of the (P)NDC which over several years implemented the non-socialist Washington Consensus hook, line and sinker, selling public businesses, collapsing many jobs and bequeathing a rice and sugar importing economy to Ghana. At the height of the bitter social deprivation brought on by the harsh non-socialist policies, then Deputy Finance Minister Amissah-Arthur helped to introduce a program to mitigate the social cost of adjustment (PAMSCAD). Needless to say, it failed miserably.

Yaw Buaben Asamoa Dep Dir Communications, NPP 0209371755