Over many years now, there has been a deep-seated concern among Ghanaians, expressed by sustained debate, over the abandonment of projects initiated by various governments by successor governments.
Party A puts forth its manifesto in an election and after winning the election, commences a project in its manifesto, which it is unable to complete during its tenure.
Party B comes into office and abandons the project started by Party A either because it is not consistent with its priorities, manifesto commitments and plans upon which power was won, or because the issues of money and budget do not put such a project on the priority list of the new government.
There is also the lesser motive for abandonment in the sense that completing a project initiated by and identified with another political party may not allow the new government to claim any political credit.
The countryside is dotted with such projects. They constitute sunken funds or dead-weight capital that yield no obvious benefits to Ghana in their current state. There is an urgent need to bring this going-round-in-circles to an immediate halt.
While I cannot claim to be a repository of all the ideas for its final solution, I hope I will be tolerated to weigh in my two-pesewas worth of ideas.
Assets list
The first is to create a National Abandoned Assets List, by law. Every District and Metropolitan Assembly must be required to identify government assets, from electricity cables and poles to earth-moving equipment such as graders and bulldozers in its jurisdiction.
They are to compile a profile and the intended purpose(s) of each of the assets identified under the supervision of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.