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.
