Dr Osae
Local governance expert at the Institute of Local Government Studies, Dr. Eric Oduro Osae, has called for the awakening of the masses to hold politicians responsible and make them accountable for every little resource entrusted into their hands.
“We need to hold our politicians accountable for management of resources and vote them out if they fail, thus, governments are not the owners of resources but trustees, we as a people must benefit immensely from the trusteeship, government’s inability to do that has widened the poverty and inequality gap further.
“Despite some progress in economic growth over the past two decades, recent trends suggest that the rich are capturing a greater share of benefits of growth per statistics available.
Speaking at a panel discussion at the launch of Inequality Research report by OXFAM, SEND-Ghana, and the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GNCC) in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Dr. Osae questioned how leaders had not managed the abundant resources bestowed on us to our benefit.
For instance, the report by OXFAM, SEND-Ghana, and the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition in collaboration with UNICEF reveals Ghana’s Gini coefficient (a measure of inequality) grew by 3.3 per cent points between 1992 and 2013.
It further stated that 60 per cent of Ghanaians had a 35 per cent share of total national income in 1998, but has declined to 30 per cent in 2012.
According to Dr Osae “the politician has taken the citizenry for a ride simply because we have as a people, been too relaxed in our demands hence we should ask questions about the budget at the national and district levels.
“Ghanaians ought to benefit from the policies successive governments have implemented, rather we only see the few rich and poor majority beneath the poverty ladder,” he lamented.
The wealthiest 10 per cent of Ghanaians now share 32 per cent of the nation’s total consumption, more than is consumed by the bottom 60 per cent of the population combined while the very poorest 10 per cent of the population is consumed only two per cent.
However, Dr Eugene Owusu, Special Adviser to the President on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) commended the research work and the government would in earnest collaborate with civil society organisations to carry out the recommendations. –atinkaonline.com
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