The President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana (ICAG), Professor Kwame Boasiako Omane-Antwi, has called for discipline in the management of the economy to prevent it from plunging into another crisis after the expiry of the three-year International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
He said since independence Ghana had sought IMF’s support on a number of occasions to revive the dwindling economy, but the problem kept recurring.
Prof. Omane-Antwi, who is also the Board Chairman of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), spoke on the topic, “Economic Development Under the IMF Bailout - the Role of the Professional Manager.”
“I am hopeful that Ghana’s economy will not go into coma again after the expiry of the IMF programme, if discipline is introduced in the way we do things,” he said.
Delivering a lecture at the 2015 annual national management conference of the Ghana Institute of Management (GIM) in Accra last Thursday, Prof. Omane-Antwi said the country’s economic challenges were mostly self-inflicted for which reason the cure should come from within the country rather than external agents.
In a diagnosis of the economic challenges facing the country, Prof. Omane-Antwi mentioned integrity and discipline as key solutions to tackling the problems and added that “these are not rocket science that requires international support”.
Getting into specifics, he submitted that “responsible action to ensure fiscal discipline, lower inflation, transparency, accountability, stopping budget overruns, stemming corruption and ensuring value for money for government expenditure” were key attributes to building a strong economy.
The professor listed huge government wage bill, depreciation of the cedi, budget deficit, corruption and mismanagement of national resources as some of the factors that had worked against the economic progress of the country.
The problem, he said, could not be put squarely on the doorsteps of politicians alone but also other people in high positions including professional managers.
Taking a peep into history, Prof. Omane-Antwi said under Kwame Nkrumah, Kofi Busia, Jerry Rawlings, John Kufuor, John Mills and currently John Mahama, the country flirted with the IMF.
"But in the previous engagements, Ghana's economy, after recovery, went into coma again barely in average of three years after the end of the intervention, particularly after the end of national elections," he said.
He said never again should the nation resort to the IMF to salvage the economy, noting, however, that it was heartwarming that the Fund, after its recent review of the Ghana programme, commended the government for its performance so far.
Prof. Omane-Antwi encouraged professional managers to up their game in the discharge of their duties to help change the fortunes of the country. He pointed out that governance was the business of all and not politicians alone.
Prof. Omane-Antwi said the country needed to redefine its political ideology to meet the exigencies of the time.
He said, for instance, that the current two terms of office for the President was not helping the country as incumbent governments only worked for re-election.
He suggested a one-term presidency with a seven-year mandate so that the incumbent government would not be preoccupied with ways and means to seek re-election but instead pursue a development agenda to leave a lasting legacy.
Again, he attacked the governance system where governments prosecute development agenda based on political manifestos.
The manifestos, he said, were mere intentions, opinions and motives of political parties, and suggested a long-term national development programme from which governments would pick their short-term development programmes for implementation.
In appreciation of his contribution to the development of professional management practice in the country, Prof. Omane-Antwi was honoured with a fellowship of the GIM.
The President of GIM, Mr Kwame Antwi-Boasiako, urged the members, as professional managers, to let their presence be felt in all aspects of national development.
The Managing Director of GCGL, Mr Ken Ashigbey, who chaired the programme, urged the media to hold leadership accountable.
He said living by the virtues of integrity, discipline and responsibility was a sure way managers of the economy and the people at large could chart a path of progress for the country.
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