Importance of touching base with the grass roots

Ajoa Yeboah-Afari Opinion Jun - 28 - 2014 , 08:39

On Tuesday, the Ghana Union Traders Association (GUTA) embarked on a shops- closure in Accra and Kumasi to back their demand for governmental action on the foreigners illegally trading in retail business, as well as to register their concern about the impact on business of the rapid depreciation of the cedi.

When a body such as GUTA resorts to this kind of protest, which will affect not only the public, but also mean loss of earnings to them this week, evidently it says a lot about their level of discontent with the handling of the economy. I cannot claim any knowledge in economics, but clearly it also symbolises the general frustration with the economy.

Yet, the Ghanaian Times reported last Saturday, June 21, that the “Minister of Information and Media Relations, Mahama Ayariga, has debunked the opposition New Patriotic Party’s description of Ghana’s economy as one in serious crisis,”

Or, is GUTA not a component of the Ghanaian economy?

The Times continued: “(Mr Ayariga) accused the Minority legislators of circulating this false perception about the economy in the media for political gains.

“I think they just want to see if they can push down the throat of Ghanaians a perception that the economy is in crisis,” he said, insisting that “the economy is not in any crisis.”

According to the Bawku Central Member of Parliament, Ghana’s economy is only plagued with some minor challenges and “once in a while, there is some challenge in an economy and the beauty of leadership is to gradually work its way to solve that problem.”

The paper said the Minister was responding to allegations by the Minority in Parliament last week that the government is spending lavishly and investing in projects it cannot account for.

Addressing a press conference, the Minority spokesperson on Finance, Mr Anthony Akoto Osei, accused the government of irresponsibility in its expenditure and economic policy. He alleged, among other things, that the National Petroleum Authority was spending $63,000 a month as rent for its offices.

Mr Ayariga told CitiFm that “the government admits that there are some problems here and there but that is normal.” He acknowledged the non payment of statutory funds such as the GETFund, District Assembly Statutory fund and the National Health Insurance, but said “the fact that a particular statutory is in arrears is not evidence of crisis.”

Statutory funds being in arrears “is not an indication that the entire economy is in crisis.” He added that the economy was bigger than the statutory funds in arrears.

“The economy is not just what government does; the economy also is what the entire private sector does. Ghana’s economy is only evolving and can only get better,” the Minister stated.

His emphatic objection to the use of the word ‘crisis” prompted me to double-check the meaning of ‘crisis’:

- “A serious or dangerous situation which could cause great hardship or death” – BBC English Dictionary, which helpfully gives two examples of this definition: ‘Sudan is in the midst of a major economic crisis .... The economy is in crisis.’

- “Dangerous or worrying time, a situation or period in which things are very uncertain, difficult or painful, especially a time when action must be taken to avoid complete disaster or breakdown” – Encarta World English Dictionary.

The truth of the matter is that at present there is no escaping the deluge of distressing news about the economy and the consequence of the ‘no money’ syndrome.

For example, on Monday this week, the Daily Graphic reported that the Courts of Appeal in Kumasi, Cape Coast, Koforidua and Tamale have suspended sitting due to lack of funds.

The Judicial Secretary, Mr Justice Alex Opoku-Acheampong, told the paper that since October, 2013, the service has had to rely on its internally generated funds to operate and “it was in May, 2014 that the government released GH¢8.1million to cater for salaries and allowances for (the) workers.”

Then Radio Ghana quoted the Ghana Immigration Service as denying reports of an impending strike action by some of its officers, although it admitted that there were “some challenges with regard to payment of salaries to about 324 recruited officers”.

More alarming still, that same day, Radio Ghana also quoted the Bulk Oil Distribution Companies “as warning of imminent shortage of fuel in the coming weeks if (the) government fails to settle the 1.8 billion dollars owed them. .... The companies will continue to distribute fuel only if (the) government settles part of the debt owed them.”

Then there is also the well documented plight of contractors owed colossal sums by the government to the extent that some of them reportedly now shy away from government contracts.

Furthermore, Mr Ayariga’s comments come against the backdrop of continuing agitations by numerous bodies and groups over the non-payment of various entitlements by the Government.

If ‘economy’ means “the wealth and resources of a country” and how these are managed, with all these happenings, if the economy is not in “serious crisis”, how else should it be described?

As to his intimation that the private sector is doing well, even if the Government has “minor challenges”, evidently the GUTA action this week tells a different side of the story.

And were the “minor challenges”, enough reason for the recent three-day National Economic Forum at Senchi to find solutions?

The evidence all around is that, as popular parlance diplomatically sums up in Akan: “ennko yie; neema nnko yie (it’s not going well; things are not going well.”)

If the economy is not in serious crisis, does it then mean that the Government is just callous, that there is money to settle its obligations but it just won’t’?

The expectation of a Minister of Information surely is that he is the one person who understands the importance of ensuring that the governed don’t lose confidence in the government.

Insisting that things are not as bad as the NPP is saying doesn’t help the Government or President John Mahama. The reason is simple: from their personal circumstances people don’t need anybody to convince them about the true state of the economy because hardship is an everyday reality for them.

So, who exactly is Mr Ayariga’s salt-in-the-wound propaganda meant to convince?

Doubtlessly, people would like to be assured that the Government admits that the situation is dire, but it has the policies and the expertise to bring relief to all sooner than later.

However, if Mr Ayariga genuinely disputes the general assessment of the economy, one way of finding out is for him to touch base with the grass roots: he can visit a market; or park his official car for just a few hours and take a tro-tro to work and listen to his fellow passengers; or, better still, just talk to a random selection of taxi drivers.

I guarantee the Minister that taxi drivers in particular would have a lot to tell him about whose perception about the economy is the false one.

(ajoayeboahafari@yahoo.com)