Ahmed Ibrahim, Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy, and Religious Affairs, has called for urgent reforms in the supervision of government-funded projects, arguing that poor monitoring is the root cause of Ghana’s growing number of abandoned developments.
Speaking on State of Affairs with Joshua Kodjo Mensah, the Minister revealed that Ghana currently has over 2,000 uncompleted projects, with the Coastal Development Authority (CODA) alone accounting for more than 700.
According to Ibrahim, many projects are left unfinished due to the lack of direct oversight from relevant authorities. He noted that development agencies, which should be ensuring project completion, are not under the direct supervision of his ministry, making accountability difficult.
“The poor and abandoned projects that we have are because of non-performance… If I tell you the state of projects under the development authorities, you will cry,” he stated.
The Minister highlighted that GETFund, which is responsible for funding educational infrastructure, struggles with monitoring projects in remote areas because its headquarters is in Accra.
“GETFund awards a contract in Zebilla, but they cannot be going there regularly to monitor,” he explained, adding that a lack of consistent supervision leads to stalled and poorly executed projects.
To address this issue, Ibrahim proposed that Members of Parliament (MPs) should take on a more active role in monitoring all GETFund projects in their constituencies, not just those they initiate.
He argued that this approach would improve accountability and ensure projects are completed on time. “Let every MP be monitoring all the GETFund projects in their constituency and make sure they are properly done,” he said.
However, Ibrahim also pointed to financial constraints as a key challenge in ensuring effective supervision. He revealed that only $150,000 is allocated annually for monitoring projects across the country, an amount that translates to roughly $12,500 per month.
He stressed that this budget is insufficient to cover transportation, fuel, and multiple site visits needed for thorough inspections. “You need to go not once, not twice… You go, inspect, come back, and report,” he explained.
