Franklin Cudjoe writes to Prez Mahama

Culled From Graphic GH
The Founding President of Imani Ghana, Mr Franklin Cudjoe, has written to President John Dramani Mahama, sharing an idea on how political accountability at the executive arm of government could be strengthened.

The letter (in which Mr Cudjoe wished President John Mahama a happy New Year) recommended the strengthening of cabinet and the coordination of technical capacities in the civil service for the effective execution of government projects.

Idea for president

Titled “An idea for President Mahama in 2014,” the letter said the ideas had been discussed in a series of articles on effective project execution written by Mr Cudjoe and some of his colleagues in the past years.

Referring to the current system, Mr Cudjoe said political accountability resided in the executive “and that was not enough.”

That was because the founder of Imani and his colleagues conceded that for most strategic projects, the requisite expertise might be spread across multiple ministries, departments and agencies.

Administrator General

Mr Cudjoe said the Cabinet Office could be strengthened and given powers that would allow it to coordinate expertise across the civil service.

“We have centres of expertise that could be asked to help the government create a kind of ‘administrator general’ role in the cabinet to vet all proposed projects.”

“There is an urgent need for an administrator or assessor–general for all government projects,” he said.

He explained that the person or persons appointed for such a role would conduct risk analysis on all government projects.

“The presidency should not become the strategic hub for policy planning from a financial and technical point of view,” Mr Cudjoe suggested.

Three names pop up

For the effective implementation of the suggestions, Mr Cudjoe said “it goes without saying that such a move can only succeed if it follows a strengthening of the Cabinet Office to ensure coordination across the technical, financial and political accountability functions of the executive.”

Mr Cudjoe said, “there are only three persons I see in the current government that can perform such a task,” and named Mr Martin Amidu, Dr Benjamin Kunbuor and Dr Tony Aidoo as the persons who could execute the job.

He, however, stated that should the three people “be asked, they must be supported with the right kind of resources, mental (thinkers), cash and, crucially, the power to sanction renegades.”