What Did You Do When You Were In Government?

“What Did You Do When You Were In Government? – My Answer!

by Dr.Papa Kwesi Nduom

Introduction

Every now and then someone asks the question, “You were in Kufuor’s government so what did you do when you were there?” Sometimes the question is asked not in a judgmental way as the person is just curious or seeks information. At other times, the question comes when I suggest something can be done differently or I challenge something the NPP Administration did or the Mills Administration is doing. However it comes, whatever the motivation, it is a good question that deserves an answer and one I am happy to deal with.

But first, a background is necessary.

What Was I Doing Prior to Getting Involved in Government?

When the newly elected President John Agyekum Kufuor announced that he had nominated me fill to the portfolio of Minister of Economic Planning & Regional Cooperation, I was the Managing Partner of Deloitte & Touche West Africa Consulting and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Deloitte & Touche Africa Region. I was also an owner in Coconut Grove Hotels, Gold Coast Securities, TSS Limited, and others. At the time, I had projects in a number of countries including an important one in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire at the African Development Bank (ADB) working in a role as Advisor to the ADB’s Project AFRICA which involved business re-engineering and information systems implementation.

Inclusiveness

I believe in inclusiveness. An inclusive society is what Ghana needs and must become. The CPP fought to make Ghana one national state, with one destiny based on freedom and justice and not a federation. It is in furtherance of this that political parties are not allowed to be formed on religious and/or ethnic affiliation. Immediately after independence, many Ghanaians were given the opportunity to use their God-given talents. Many young professionals including Mr. J. H. Mensah who later became the Senior Minister in Kufuor’s Administration was made the Secretary to the Planning Commission that put together Nkrumah’s CPP Administration’s Seven Year Development Plan. Victor Owusu, Joe Appiah and others were with the CPP before joining the Busia-Danquah group. J. A. Kufuor served in the Rawlings PNDC Government as Secretary for Local Government. Rawlings had K. A. Arkaah of the Nkrumaist NCP as his Vice-President. Today, a number of people with ties to the CPP serve in the Mills Administration. But inclusiveness does not only mean serving in government. More importantly, it means providing equal opportunity to all Ghanaians without regard to political, ethnic or religious affiliation. That is why we must be concerned when every new government pushes out high level executives from their positions in the public service and state-owned enterprises due to perceptions about their political affiliation.

The nation loses when that happens.

Ghanaians need to embrace the idea that individuals from different political parties must work together for the benefit of all Ghanaians. If we do not, political parties will continue to be supermarkets for their party members alone as opposed to change agents for all Ghanaians.

People should understand that I did not join NPP and I did not go to work for NPP. I went to serve the people of Ghana in an NPP led administration in the true spirit of inclusiveness - using the best talent available to solve our problems. Let me explain. First, my party, the CPP, agreed on a written alliance with the NPP in the second round of the 2000 election. We traded for the support of certain principles with the NPP in return for our second round support. For example, we asked them to abolish the cash and carry system for health services.

After we gave them our support and NPP won, they approached our leadership to ask for people to become part of the transition team. I was seconded by the Party together with people like Professor Nii Noi Dowuona and others to serve in the transition team. I served on the Economy and Finance Team and I ended up writing the policy paper for that team. After this period, NPP asked CPP, led by Professor Al Hassan, for some of us to serve in the government.

This was taken to the CPP Central Committee and approved. That is why I accepted the offer to serve in the NPP administration together with Professor Hagan, who was our flag bearer in the 2000 elections. Kojo Armah became a District Chief Executive. Kwesi Armah and Hajia Adisa Munkaila became members of the Council of State.

I gained valuable experience that can be put to use by the CPP but first and foremost for the People of Ghana. All around the world political parties trade support to advance their vision for the country, this is a productive practice and should not be disparaged in Ghana. That is why the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are in a Coalition Government in the UK – something that would have been unthinkable not too long ago.

Grassroots Beginning in Government

I started my political career at the grassroots level as the elected member of the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem District Assembly for the Akotobinsin Electoral Area. I gained a lot from this experience. I started quarterly sessions with people at each electoral area to bring them closer to the Assembly and to listen to their issues and complaints so I could address them. This is where I formed my position that development will only happen in a consistent, timely way if the District Chief Executives and all Assembly Members are elected by the communities they serve and not appointed by the President.

I served as the Member of Parliament for the KEEA constituency from 2005 to 2009. I made education my priority area and started building modern libraries for each one of the 4 traditional areas. This project is still ongoing due to political difficulties with the District Assembly. I am now building one in Elmina to be completed in September this year completely from non-governmental sources. I was able to bring electricity to many communities and initiate road projects in my area. In Parliament, I was the one who made the statement that sparked the investigations into the Ghana @ 50 Celebrations and the use of funds voted by Parliament.

Public Service As A Minister of State

I participated in a number of positions in government. They include: ? Minister of Economic Planning & Regional Co-operation; ? Minister of Energy; ? Chairman, National Development Planning Commission; ? Member, Finance & Economy Committee of Cabinet (Economic Management Team); ? Chairman, Infrastructure Committee of Cabinet and; ? Minister, Public Sector Reform.

Ministry of Economic Planning & Regional Cooperation : February 2001 - April 2003

The Ministry of Economic Planning & Regional Cooperation from February 2001 to April 2003 was a highly productive and successful one. The Ministry popularized national and particularly governmental action on poverty through the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS). For the business community, the Ministry offered the hope that an integrated West Africa will lead to expansion of market and more profits.

In performing my duties, I provided leadership and encouraged everyone through the benefit of years of international experience gathered from association with a global professional services firm, the tough mental training and cultural grounding gained from growing up in Elmina, the deep patriotic foundation provided by an Nkrumahist family and a ‘can-do’ spirit embedded in me through long-term residence in the United States of America. Above all, what made the ministry an action-oriented one was the ability to recognize talent and motivate people to act positively. In this regard, I can be credited for encouraging a group of Ghanaian professionals, some based abroad, to work in the public sector for the benefit of Ghana.

The ideas generated by the new Ministry over a relatively short period of time achieved considerable results. They include the following: 1. National Economic Dialogue: The National Economic Dialogue (NED) was held in May, 2001 under the supervision of the Ministry of Economic Planning & Regional Cooperation/NDPC. The NED was designed as an agenda-setting broad consultation process for the national economy. The NED became institutionalized and a part of the national effort at transforming the Ghanaian economy. A number of projects and initiatives have been started because of the NED. 2. Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy: The Rawlings administration left an Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy. The Ministry shaped an ‘Agenda for Growth and Prosperity’ which became known as the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS). Without question, the GPRS has defined the priorities of government in the 4th Republic. It has put the needs of the poor in Ghana on the international and national agenda successfully. All development assistance to Ghana is now based on the GPRS. Even the much debated HIPC strategy came on the back of this medium term development framework. The three northern regions, central and eastern regions have been recognized as needing concentrated attention to reduce poverty through the GPRS. The GPRS promoted initiatives such as the Model Senior Secondary Schools that are now defining a new era of education infrastructure and instruction throughout the country. 3. Restructuring of the Domestic Debt: The case for restructuring the domestic debt through the issuance of medium and long term bonds to reduce the size was advanced during discussions on the 2001 budget. This led to the creation of the Bond Market project. Later, the case was made to use HIPC proceeds to reduce the debt. 4. Emergency Social Relief Fund: The Emergency Social Relief Fund (ESRP) was launched in July, 2001 at James Town as a measure to provide economic and social relief to the poor. It was to be a temporary measure until the GPRS was officially implemented. The ESRP has now been “mainstreamed” into the GPRS. While the initial efforts to provide support to fishermen, fishmongers, poultry farmers, food marketers and others still remain, other funds have now been put into place as a result of the advocacy generated through the ESRP and the GPRS including the MASLOC. Through the coordinated programme of poverty reduction, other pre-existing projects such as the Social Investment Fund (SIF) were given urgency in implementation. The SIF initiated and funded nearly 800 projects throughout the country. 5. National Identification System: The National Identification System (NIS) project was promoted by me as one of the priority projects resulting from the 2001 National Economic Dialogue. The NIS is a foundation building national project that will make it possible for Ghana to leave behind the cash-based economy, facilitate the expansion of credit in the system and bring about discipline in the issuance of identity cards for social security, driving, passports, etc. 6. National Vision: A new national vision, revised to accommodate present day realities was prepared by a rejuvenated National Development Planning Commission. A broad-based, national consensus-building process was used along with a number of volunteers who worked weekly to get the document prepared in time for Parliament as the President’s Coordinated Economic and Social Policies. It is this document that first raised the hope that Ghanaians will someday, sooner than later reach and exceed the $1000 per capita income mark. I made sure that the NDPC was no longer a dumping ground for military, police and civil service personnel out of favour with government. 7. ECOWAS and the Private Sector: The Ministry ensured the continuance of Ghana’s excellent track record in matters to do with West Africa and Africa in general. Under the tenure of the Ministry, Dr. Mohammed Chambas became Executive General of ECOWAS, President Kufuor became Chairman of ECOWAS and Ghana took its place as a trusted ally and friend for all of our neighbours (a goal actively promoted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Presidency). An achievement was the creation of a private sector desk to survey the needs of the private sector and the active advocacy for Ghanaian businesses with ECOWAS institutions. The ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme became more well-known in Ghana and has been linked to our economic programme as a means to meeting our job creation objectives. 8. Long-Term Savings Program: The long-term savings program linked to retirement is one of the favourite crusades of the Ministry. It is through this project that new Pension Law came into being. Today, Ghanaians can save additional tax-free money to secure a better future in their retirement years. I remain convinced that this program when fully implemented will generate hundreds of millions of cedis in long-term capital for the economy. 9. Enterprise Development Programme: This initiative to launch or support 40 micro and small scale enterprises in Ghana over a five year period in Ghana is an initiative being funded by the Government of Ghana and the African Development Foundation of the USA government. The initiative was implemented and has now been modified to suit current day policy objectives. 10. African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM): I championed the cause of Ghana within the NEPAD programme leading to Ghana gaining credibility as the first country to voluntarily accede to the African Peer Review Mechanism. I participated in the conference hosted by the Economic Commission of Africa which discussed the merging of the different proposals offered by Presidents Mbeki of South Africa, Obasanjo of Nigeria, Bouteflika of Algeria and Wade of Senegal to become the NEPAD. I was the one who stood up on the floor of the meeting of African Ministers of Economic Planning and Finance in Johannesburg, South Africa to volunteer Ghana to become the first country to be reviewed by its peers. This singular act propelled Ghana into a higher rank of African nations and continues to bring many benefits to the country.

Ministry of Energy: April 2003 - January 2005

An important test of progress in the world today is extent of energy – petroleum and electricity used per capita in any country. The higher the energy resource used, the more developed the country tends to be. My greatest contribution to the energy sector in my opinion was to give it a firm vision and quickly move to ensure that a road map is put into place for its implementation.

It is only abundant and relatively cheap energy that will provide the fuel to power the private sector engine. The point is that the public and private sectors in Ghana must pay particular attention to the energy sector if the Ghanaian economy is to grow to the extent that will allow the average Ghanaian to achieve an appreciable level of micro level prosperity. Mechanised agriculture requires fuel to work. ICT and any kind of advanced technology depend on sustained and reliable electricity and other energy resources. Industry needs appropriately cost effective fuel and power to be profitable. The internet revolution was developed on the back of abundant, cost-effective, reliable energy. The media cannot disseminate information effectively without power.

I led the Ministry of Energy to carefully craft the vision to overcome challenges, supply the domestic demand and lead Ghana to become a net exporter of power and fuel in five years. It is important to note that during my tenure, I worked well with the Electricity Corporation of Ghana and the ECG to prevent load shedding and blackouts in Ghana. It proved that with the right kind of leadership we can overcome what seem like routine unsolvable problems.

Power Sub-Sector Actions

The plan I left for Ghana to become a net exporter of power included projects that would ensure that we are self sufficient in power generation with significant excess power for export into the sub-region through the West African Power Pool initiative. ? The refurbishment of the 912 MW Akosombo generating station under the Retrofit Project would also increase the station’s capacity by an additional 108 MW. ? The Kpong GS retrofit project at a cost of USD$25 million would help improve system reliability. ? The VRA Aboadze thermal plant efficiency and availability improvement project. ? The expansion of the CMS Energy’s Aboadze thermal that would add a 110 MW steam component. With the steam component, cost of power generated would be considerably reduced as the plant would generate 33% more power using the same fuel. ? The installation and commission of the $130 million “Osagyefo” power barge project at Effasu-Mangyea in the Western Region initially using gas from Cote d’Ivoire. This would add 125 MW of power. ? A proposed Tema 330MW gas-fired plant. These projects were designed to ensure we become and remain self-sufficient in our power requirements for a very long time. They were planned to help us meet the development requirement of abundant power. In addition, I signed the MOU with Chinese officials leading to preliminary discussions on the Bui Dam project.

West African Gas Pipeline Project

The West African Gas Pipeline Project (WAGP) will help to reduce the cost of power generation from our thermal plants. It will significantly reduce the cost of fuel as it will replace light crude oil as primary fuel. The gas will be used by industry and become a catalyst for industrial development in Ghana. This is an ECOWAS endorsed and private/public sector sponsored project that is envisaged to transport by pipeline, natural gas from Nigeria for utilization in Benin, Togo and Ghana mainly for power generation and also for industrial use. It must be noted that beyond the lower cost fuel, several other benefits also accrue to Ghana.

This will include significant tax revenues from the pipeline’s operations; the opportunities for Ghana to generate additional power to serve the needs of our inland neighbours in particular under the West Africa Power Pool; and the establishment and development of formal commercial, legal and trade practices, procedures and associated legislation to support cross-border transactions.

I chaired the WAGP Council of Ministers to execute the project and financial documents associated with the project leading to the ceremonial ground breaking for the project to commence in November, 2004 at Aboadze.

Petroleum Sub-Sector Action

During my tenure, we were able to plan for a national petroleum strategic reserve to serve as a buffer in times of shortages. We were able to build up a stock level of three weeks with a value of US$ 18 million. Our goal to meet domestic needs and become a net exporter of petroleum products was to be met by actions including the following: ? The addition of a new topping unit to the existing facilities at TOR to increase capacity to over 60,000 barrels per stream day. ? The construction of up to 150,000 barrels per stream day capacity refinery by the private sector in the Western Region. This was promoted by the Ministry. Products from this refinery were to be earmarked for export. ? The installation of a Single Point Mooring (SPM) and Conventional Buoy Mooring (CBM) facilities offshore Tema to improve crude oil and finished products discharge and export operations. The state-owned Ghana Oil Company was strengthened to become a leading and profitable oil marketing company in Ghana.

The Ministry promoted cooperation between Ghana and Equatorial Guinea and led delegations to negotiate the supply of crude oil from Equatorial Guinea in exchange for petroleum products refined in Ghana at prices favourable to both countries.

This was to serve as the first in a series of arrangements of the exchange of crude oil for refined products that would put Ghana on the map as a petroleum products exporter.

Over the period, the Ministry of Energy completed the review of the petroleum exploration licensing legal and fiscal framework to enhance the competitiveness of Ghana’s hydrocarbon exploration efforts. Deep water West Africa had become the new frontier in the petroleum business. The Ministry of Energy worked actively to attract investors with the right technical and financial resources so that we may find the oil and gas that is available to us.

Ghana attracted world class petroleum companies to participate in exploration activities. Indeed, it is instructive to note that it was during my tenure as Energy Minister that the exploration agreement with Cosmos Energy was signed.

Ministry of Public Sector Reform: February 2005 – July 2007

To ensure a results-orientation at the Public Sector Reform Ministry stakeholders were engaged on several different occasions to help develop a work programme and determine priorities for reform. Consequently, a Comprehensive Public Sector Reform Work Programme was launched in March, 2006.

There is a desperate need for an effective public-private partnership to propel Ghana to new heights of growth and development. It is the expectation that the Ministry will champion this cause. This requires more efficient government machinery and a change in traditional public sector attitudes.

1. The Ministry instituted an annual public services week to highlight the roles, responsibilities and mandate of the public services and to put clearly in the public’s view, the conditions under which public servants work. Also, the purpose and objectives were to promote as well as forge a national partnership for an effective, efficient, transparent and accountable service delivery and to encourage greater cooperation and collaboration between public sector organizations. The aim was to promote public private partnership to enhance our development prospects.

2. The Ministry implemented Service Delivery Improvement in more than 20 agencies. The number was being increased to 68 (including some district assemblies). This was to encourage our public servants to understand the role that their public services play in society. A good example is the DVLA which under trying circumstances is continuously improving revenue and service to the public.

3. The public sector wage bill and related expenditures take about 60% of all government revenues (taxes). Pay Reform including rationalization of staff strength and productivity is an essential, high priority initiative. A new Comprehensive Pay Structure was been implemented to provide the foundation for pay reform. Through this, the administration has corrected in large measure the distortions and wrongful placements in public sector pay that has developed over several years. In the process, we embarked upon a national exercise to value all jobs in the public services to place them along a single spine as a first step in bringing equity into the way government pays its workers.

4. The Ministry’s efforts in collaboration with others resulted in the passing of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission bill by Parliament to give legal backing to the body that will maintain the new salary structure and be responsible for negotiations between government and its workers. This was achieved through a remarkable demonstration of team work between the Ministers of Finance, Manpower and Public Sector Reform. But it was the technical and enthusiastic leadership of the Ministry of Public Sector Reform that made it possible for government’s commitment gain concrete expression.

5. The Ministry acted in various ways in response to the call for better leadership in the public services – leadership that focuses on service delivery that is of high quality and that is timely. For the first time in years, the appointments of Chief Directors were confirmed in a manner that brought stability to the leadership rank of the Civil Service. Residential programmes were implemented for the leadership of the Civil Service (Chief Directors and Directors) at GIMPA to improve their knowledge, skill and attitude.

6. The Ministry worked to ensure the passage of the Subvented Agencies bill to become law to regulate the activities of the over 180 such agencies in Ghana. This is to control their impact on the Consolidated Fund and ensure their effectiveness and efficiency.

7. One important contribution made to the reform agenda in government and Ghanaian society is the relentless pursuit of financial resources and technical support to make the implementation good ideas possible. This took me to the United Kingdom, France, Italy, South Africa, the United States of America and other parts of the world and to many international conferences to promote Ghana’s public sector reform work programme.

Through personnel efforts and credibility in managing reforms in Ghana, I was able to attract significant funding the Ghana budget could not provide. Formal cooperation agreements are being implemented with the United Kingdom through DFID, the Republic of France, Italy, the UNDP, the Netherlands and Canada. Ghanaians have had the opportunity to study how the public services work in the USA, France, the UK, South Africa and elsewhere.

GIMPA and other public services training institutions have received significant attention and support to help improve the human capital available to the public sector.

Millennium Challenge Account

The Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) was proposed by President George Bush in 2002 as a new compact to channel development assistance to developing countries. The goal of the Millennium Challenge Account is “poverty reduction through growth”. Unlike other traditional development assistance programmes where the donor proposes how funds are used, countries selected under the Millennium Challenge Account allows developing countries like Ghana to take ownership and responsibility for funds provided by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

Countries are selected for the program based on three fundamental principles. Happily the principles coincided with the priority areas in the Ghana’s Growth & Poverty Reduction Strategy: ? Governing justly; ? Investing in people; and ? Encouraging economic freedom. As a result of the technical and managerial leadership I provided to the Ghana MCA Project Team, the Compact was signed on August 1, 2006 at an impressive ceremony at the State Department in Washington, DC and is worth $547,009,000. It is strong testimony to the mutual respect and great relationship between the government and people of Ghana on the one hand, and the government and the people of the United States of America on the other.

This great relationship goes back several years. Over forty years ago, President Dwight Eisenhower and our first President Kwame Nkrumah signed the agreement that made possible, the Volta River Project. It is this project that gave birth to the Akosombo Hydroelectric Dam that formed the basis for production of aluminium in Ghana.

The funds from the Compact between the Government of Ghana and the Millennium Challenge Corporation are being used to help reduce poverty by transforming our rural economy through the modernization of agriculture. The agriculture project will include the improvement of social infrastructure in three specific agricultural areas in Ghana: the Southern Horticultural Area, the Afram Basin and the Northern Agricultural Belt. Twenty-three (23) districts are included in the project. More than 1000 kilometers of feeder roads and trunk roads in the participating districts areas will be rehabilitated and improved.

Economic analysis shows that the proposed MCA program will have a strong impact on the economy. Apart from increasing the incomes of rural food crop farmers and their families, the net contribution to the economy annually is expected to be about $160 million in today’s prices. Employment will be created for over 700,000 people including farmers, farm-workers, employees and entrepreneurs in the supplying industries. In all more than two (2) million people will benefit directly from the Compact.

In terms of poverty, it is expected that the program will reduce the incidence of poverty by about 5 percentage points over the first ten years from the beginning of the programme. Over the first ten years, more that one million people will move out of poverty.

Through an Act of Parliament, the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) has been put in place to be responsible for the supervision, management and implementation of the Compact. MiDA has a Board of Directors and a Chief Executive who reports to the Board and be responsible for the day to day administration of the Authority and a team of Directors who will be responsible for the various units that make up the Authority. The entity will use the Public Private Partnership concept as a vehicle for development so that the end result will be the promotion of growth through the private sector.

As Chairman of the MiDA Board my role was to ensure that goals and objectives of the Ghana MCA program were met. This I did with enthusiasm, diligence and a sense of urgency.

I broke new grounds once again by initiating and hosting the first meeting of MCA eligible countries in Africa in Accra on June 11-12 2007 to promote country ownership and accountability. This I did to promote the idea that African countries will not gain much from the MCA initiative if they do not take control over the programs through their own transparent and diligent technical expertise and management.

I mooted the idea of second compacts for well-performing participating countries and it is gratifying that today, Ghana is preparing to submit proposals for a second compact.

Conclusion

I love inclusiveness. It is that which leads me to believe that “…a lot can be accomplished if we do not care who takes credit”. Ghana needs inclusiveness in all aspects of society not just in politics and government so that the best can do what needs to be done. We need it to ensure equal opportunity in the country.

I have learned a lot and gained valuable experience by participating in government. It is this experience that makes me know that we can do better with an inclusive team with a mission to bring the economy back home. We need activist leadership that works with a sense of urgency to solve our multiple problems.

Whatever I accomplished in government was not done by myself alone. I had to encourage the people who worked for me to give of their best under difficult circumstances. I worked for a President who gave me the opportunity to make a case for my initiatives. He did not always take my advice or support everything I put on the table. But he gave me the opportunity to experience what it takes to be in government. I know that given the chance, I can use my unique private sector and public service experience to make a huge difference in the development of the nation and the prosperity of the people.

PKN