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Abandoned projects: Ghana’s monument to neglect (Part 1)
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Monuments of all types abound in Ghana. We have the slave castles, forts, national parks, and all kinds of important relics that remind us of our history, arts, culture, and other aspects of our national life. Good stuff. Besides, they earn us some money.
I refer here to monuments like the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum, the slave castles and forts, the Kakum National Park with its canopy walkway which is one of just three such eco-tourism attractions in Africa, our beach resorts, waterfalls, and many more, not leaving out the recently refurbished Ghana National Museum in Accra.
But these are not my concern in this article. I am thinking about another kind of monument which has earned Ghana as much notoriety as those listed above have earned us fame. The monuments I have in mind evoke a sense of anger, disappointment, and even shame. Collectively, I designate them as a monument to neglect.
These include infrastructural projects that have been abandoned mid-construction, left in ruins, at the mercy of the elements, and begging for attention. They have become white elephants, so to speak.
They come in all shapes and forms – construction projects including housing schemes, educational and health facilities, factories, sports amenities, roads, and highways. Very lofty and laudable projects one may say.
They are announced with pomp and pageantry. Chiefs of the project areas and other dignitaries, including ambassadors of sponsoring countries grace the occasion, and political speeches are made about who is doing better than who.
The date of completion is boldly announced, expectations are raised, and work begins in earnest. But before long, the projects are abandoned midway through construction. For what purpose are they started at all? To tickle our fancy? If they are more trouble than they are worth, why start them in the first place?
I still do not get it. I do not know why we sign contracts for specific projects, sink substantial sums of money into them only to leave them to go waste without any scruples. Why? How could we be so cruel as to dissipate funds we borrow for such projects in such wanton manner?
If it were your own money, would you waste it like that? Even the prodigal son who wasted his share of his father’s estate, realised his mistake, and picked up the pieces. Not so with Ghana. From Nkrumah’s time, any change of Ghana has led to abandonment of on-going projects. Even incumbents abandon their own projects.
Upon reflection, I think I know the reason. It is a deadly combination of criminal negligence, apathy, ignorance, and insensitivity on the part of the managers of our scarce resources conspired to turn otherwise valuable and enviable projects into useless structures.
We do not get any use from them, neither can we siphon our investment and direct it to other profitable ventures. Our money is just squandered and that is it. No qualms about that. Really? Yes, if anyone cared, heads would have rolled all this while to serve as a deterrent to the callous perpetrators of such nefarious crimes against the state. Saboteurs! That is what they are.
Needless to say, projects that are started and never completed, devour a huge chunk of our scarce national resources. Some analysts believe that such abandoned projects consume as much as a tenth of Ghana’s capital expenditure and then are left to go to waste.
Other experts are not so charitable. They reckon that abandoned projects account for as much as a fourth, or even a third of Ghana’s capital outlay, only to reap losses because any potential gain evaporates into thin air due to the uselessness of the enterprise.
Whatever the percentage, one thing is without controversy. We are losing scarce resources and we do not seem to have any clear strategy to stop the drain. Some examples of such dissipative expenditure on abandoned projects will serve to place the magnitude of this fiscal waste in the right perspective.
The multi-million-dollar Saglemi Affordable Housing Project at Prampram, initiated by the previous administration of the NDC now in opposition, readily comes to mind.
The project sits on a 300-acre land and comprises a 5,000-unit residential facility to accommodate middle and low-income earners within Accra and its enviros and reduce the housing deficit in the metropolis.
When the NDC left office in 2016, the first phase of the project which consisted of 180 blocks with 1,500 residential units, had been completed at the cost of $200 million.
But due to allegations of financial impropriety in procurement and inconsistencies in contract documents handed over by the previous administration, the ruling NPP led government has left the contract in abeyance.
Besides, no allocation of the completed flats has been made, and the people for whom the project was undertaken, are the worse for it.
In fact, a recent documentary on the project depicted a sad story of deterioration of parts of the project. Glass windows and other amenities like fixtures in the kitchens and bathrooms had been damaged and the lawn overgrown.
Greatness has been showered on us by Providence, but we do not seem to believe in ourselves. We have been endowed with everything it takes to be among the greatest nations on the planet. Dr. Nkrumah proved it with gigantic infrastructural projects to put Ghana up among the stars.
That gave Ghana the confidence to boast about being unprecedented leaders in so many fields. After him, we have continued to lead the way, but we are only trailblazing in reverse. Nkrumah’s slogan: “Forward ever, backward never,” has been turned on its head.
The American author and publisher, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name, Mark Twain, says:“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do…Explore, Dream, Discover.”
Ziad K. Abdelnour, a Lebanese-American investment banker, financier, author, and activist famously said: “Words are useless without action. Stop fantasising and just DO it. Be a game changer or get played like an idiot.” In other words, deeds, not words.
The empty platitudes and political rhetoric must give way to concrete programmes to produce positive change for Ghanaians to reach the sky where they really belong, where eagles tread.
To reach the mountain top is a long and arduous journey. But how we climb the mountain is more important than reaching the top. It will take time but if we plan well, we would not start a project without much reflection and abandon it at great cost to the nation.
Thirty-eight-year-old successful American entrepreneur, Ryan Allis who started his own digital company, Allis Computing at age 11, shows us the way, if only we would be humble enough to borrow a leaf from his proven principles.
He says: “Have the end in mind and every day make sure you’re working towards it.”
To be continued.
Contact: teepeejubilee@yahoo.co.uk
By Tony Prempeh
There is a culture that permeates all aspects of leadership in the advanced countries which I believe has contributed to the success in all aspects of their national lives. Citizens strive to excel so that they will not find themselves in a situation where they would have failed, to necessitate a decision to resign.
Countries where failure is frowned upon, it pushes the citizens to strive for success. In our part of the world, failure and mediocrity has become an accepted norm and therefore, there is no shame in failing in a particular position of leadership.
A head of an organisation mismanages the place and he does not see the need for him to resign. The appointing authority does not also see the need to sack him and so the merry go round continues.
It becomes friends and family as usual and if care is not taken, the rest of the world will leave us far, far behind.
The practice of resignation in parts of the world for failure in some parts of the world has to be institutionalised in our country too. It encourages the principle of accountability which is good for any organisation, sector of an economy or a country.
It promotes good governance, a necessary ingredient in the growth of the economy of any country.
When this practice becomes a culture, every individual, privileged to hold a position of trust, gives his or her full attention to the job assigned him or her, to ensure that objectives are achieved.
This trickles down to every individual down the chain of command and there are no rooms for errors.
That is how efficient systems are built over time and this is the difference between advanced nations and third world countries.
Where systems are designed such that people take responsibility for things that go wrong under their supervision or ultimate responsibility, there is evidence of development.
There are a few people that I admire in Ghana as far as this culture of resignation based on principled stance. One of them is the late Mrs Emma Mitchell. She was a cabinet member but chose to resign after the confrontation between late President Jerry Rawlings and late Vice President Kow Akaah.
She was not prepared to be part of a cabinet which was lying to the general public that Rawlings did not assault Akaah.
She was of the conviction that telling the truth is more honourable than telling lies and that if she was bound by confidentiality oaths to tell a lie, then she would resign and she did exactly that.
That is how we build a culture of truth and accountability. We have people in positions who have not lived up to expectation but are still holding on to their positions not prepared to let go of it.
This is a clear case of display of selfishness, trying to be a Boss instead of a Servant to serve the people, which leadership is all about.
The ineffectiveness of some leaders, often result in waste of resources which could have been channeled to other sectors of the economy which could have been more productive. A culture of voluntary resignation must be advocated for by all stakeholders, especially the CSOs, traditional leaders and the clergy.
This is the only way the needed growth in every sector of our national life would manifest.
Presidents, Prime Ministers, heads of reputable organisations have voluntarily resigned by taking ultimate responsibility and it is about time, we started seeing it manifest in our country.
The people in charge of our sports especially our soccer, can initiate this long desired culture and resign in view of the embarrassment witnessed from the defeat of the Black Stars by Gambia. God bless.
BY LAUD KISS-MENSAH
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THE QUR’AN FORBIDS RELIGIOUS PROVOCATION
There is a remarkable verse in the Qur’an which every Muslim preacher should memorise.
Allah says:
“And do not insult those they invoke besides Allah, lest they insult Allah in hostility without knowledge.” (Qur’an 6:108).
Think about this carefully.
Allah knows that the unbelievers worship false gods.
Yet Allah tells Muslims: Do not insult their objects of worship.
Why?
Because your speech may provoke an even greater offence.
This establishes a profound principle:
A Muslim must not fight religious provocation with religious provocation.
If someone insults what we hold sacred, we do not respond by insulting what they hold sacred.
If someone attacks Islam, we defend Islam with knowledge.
If someone misrepresents Muhammad (pbuh), we explain who is Muhammad to him.
If someone lies about Islam, we answer with truth and knowledge.
We do not allow another person’s bad behaviour to dictate our own morality.
LOOK AT MUHAMMAD (PBUH) — HE WAS INSULTED BEFORE WE WERE
Servant of Allah,
Sometimes we speak as though the Prophet (pbuh) lived in a world where everyone respected him.
No.
He was mocked and insulted. Quran 37:36, Quran 15:6
He was called a liar, magician, and a mad man. Quran 51:52, Quran 17:47
He was ridiculed. Quran 6:10
His followers were tortured, and some were killed. Quran 85:8-10
He himself was persecuted, leading to his migration to Madina.
Yet he remained the Messenger of Allah.
Allah said:
“Indeed, we know that your heart is distressed by what they say.” (Qur’an 15:97)
Allah acknowledged the Prophet’s pain.
Islam does not say that insults do not hurt. They hurt.
But the question is: What do you do with the pain?
THE DAY OF TA’IF: WHEN THE PROPHET (PBUH) COULD HAVE CHOSEN
REVENGE
One of the most powerful examples is the journey of the Prophet (pbuh) to Ta’if.
He went seeking support for his message.
Instead, the people rejected him and incited their children and others against him.
He was chased.
He was insulted.
He was struck with stones until his feet bled.
He was physically and emotionally exhausted.
Then the Angel of the Mountains came to him.
The two angels offered to crush the people of Ta’if between the mountains.
The Prophet (pbuh) could have said: “Do it.”
But he did not.
Instead, he hoped that Allah would bring from their descendants people who would worship Him.
This account is recorded in the authentic hadith literature, including Sahih Muslim (Muslim, 1795).
What a lesson!
The Prophet (pbuh) had suffered injustice.
But he did not turn his pain into indiscriminate revenge.
He saw beyond the offender.
He saw the possibility of tomorrow.
And this is one of the greatest characteristics of prophetic leadership:
The Prophet (pbuh) did not merely ask, “What punishment does this person deserve?”
He also asked, in effect: “What can this person become?”
THE PROPHET IN MADINAH: LEADER OF A DIVERSE SOCIETY
When Muhammad (pbuh) migrated to Madinah, he did not enter an empty city.
Madinah contained different communities, including Muslims and Jews, and there were also Christians who interacted with the Muslim community.
The Prophet became the political and communal leader of Madinah.
The Sahifah (A Covenant) of Madinah, preserved in the early sīrah (Prophet’s biography) tradition, established arrangements concerning mutual obligations, security, justice and relations among the communities of the city.
This is important:
The Prophet did not build Madinah by teaching Muslims to hate everyone who was not Muslim.
He built a society governed by covenant, responsibility and justice.
Allah says:
“Allah does not forbid you from being kind and just to those who have neither fought you because of your religion nor driven you from your homes. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly.” (Qur’an 60:8)
This is not weakness.
This is Islam.
THE PROPHET DEALT WITH JEWS IN MADINAH
‘A’ishah (Wife of the Prophet) narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) bought food from a Jewish man on credit and gave him his iron armour as collateral.
“The Prophet purchased food from a Jew on credit and mortgaged his iron armour to him.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 2068)
Think about it.
This was Muhammad.
The Messenger of Allah.
Yet he conducted lawful commercial dealings with a Jewish citizen.
He did not say: “He is not a Muslim, therefore I cannot deal with him.”
No.
Islam gave him a relationship governed by justice and trust.
Jabir رضيهللاعنه narrated:
“A funeral procession passed before us and the Prophet (pbuh) stood up, and we stood with him. We said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, it is the funeral of a Jew.’ He said: ‘When you see a funeral procession, stand.’” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 1311)
Another narration records his response: “Is it not a soul?” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 1312–1313)
What kind of heart did Muhammad (pbuh) possess?
A heart that recognised human dignity even in death.
THE PROPHET AND THE CHRISTIANS OF NAJRAN
The Prophet also received the Christian delegation of Najran.
They disagreed with him theologically.
Yet when they requested a trustworthy person, he did not choose someone because of hatred.
He selected Abu ‘Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah.
The Prophet said:
“I shall send with you a man who is truly trustworthy.”
He then appointed Abu ‘Ubaydah.
This is authentically reported in Sahih al-Bukhari 4380–4381.
Notice something profound:
The Prophet could disagree with people without becoming dishonest toward them.
That is the standard we need today.
The author is the chief Imam of Katamanso Municipal and Certified Counsellor and Governance Expert.
