Ghanaian Government Listens to Think Tanks After All

Not often do ruling governments in Africa get praised for listening to voices of

reason on important national issues. Contrition on the part of most African and

particularly Ghanaian politicians is a rare commodity indeed. So, for the ruling

Ghanaian government to have mustered courage to withdraw from Parliament, a draft

loan agreement on the largest state-sponsored housing project in the history of

Ghana (worth US $10 billion), even for all its gaping flaws deserves attention and

applause.

We do hope however, that when the amended draft is reintroduced in Parliament, it

will reflect our initial concerns first expressed in the articles below and

summarised as follows;

a. Should the state be directly involved in providing houses to Ghanaians?

b. Shouldn’t the state facilitate loan acquisition for private sector building

contractors?

c. Why should we sink US$ 10 billion into a housing project when we have general

infrastructure deficits requiring US$2 billion annually to fix?

We at are IMANI are very pleased that through our pre-emptive analyses and public

outcry on several media platforms, later to be supported by like-minded think tanks

such as DI, we provided ‘fodder’ for our Parliamentarians to critically examine the

draft loan agreement on the housing project.

We will continue to urge the ruling government and governments-in-waiting to pay

attention to reasonable voices of critique on all national issues (petroleum revenue

management included) as they strive to provide leadership for all.

Franklin Cudjoe,

Executive Director, IMANI.