Dr. Agumenu criticises Ghana’s leadership, calling for structured project governance to address economic and infrastructural setbacks.
Dr. Donald Agumenu, a project management and leadership expert has taken a swipe at Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, describing him as a disaster of failed leadership.
Dr. Agumenu, who is a member of the US-based Project Management Global Advisory Council and a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (UK) said Vice President Bawumia as leader of Ghana’s economic management team has glaring projects and policy failures stirring him in the face, a situation that has thrown the entire economy out of gear.
Reacting strongly to the myriad of white elephant, delayed and failed projects dotted along the length and breadth of Ghana for the eight years under his watch, Dr. Agumenu observed that the leadership demands and expectations were missing and nothing to write home about.
“Look at the Tema Motorway overpass project to link East Legon to Spintex Road. It has taken over 7 years and the project is yet to be completed. Recently, the main Accra-Tema Motorway expansion project has been undertaken haphazardly. The contractor was at site grading portions only to disappear after two months. What kind of people are we? Where is the contractor and what is the problem?
According to Dr. Agumenu, the Accra-Kumasi road project with key expansion works along the Pokuase-Amasaman stretch “has been on for some years, one portion graded, another broken, the next day changes at other ends and a lot of unconnected actions without proper environmental impact assessment. What is the timeline for that project execution and what is the cost after variations?
The project management expert also recalled the case of a sod-cutting ceremony by Dr. Bawumia in the Takoradi metropolis in 2020 of a so-called three-tier interchange project.
“The Vice President announced that the Takoradi interchange project was part of SinoHydro gamut of funded projects in Ghana and would take 30 months (2.5 years) to complete. It has been four years, and that project has not been completed. We are now hearing that the contractor has packed equipment and left. What has been left in its wake in Takoradi is the destruction of markets, individual shops and existing road infrastructure with gullies which the people hitherto used for their movements and livelihoods. How can we be this reckless and insensitive to our citizens who voted for us to change their lives for the better,” he asked.
He also noted that the haphazard planning and execution of projects in the cases of expansion works on the Accra-Winneba stretch and the Sofoline Interchange project in Kumasi have become death traps for the people, a situation the project management expert observed is an indictment on the Vice President’s leadership.
One thing that has been clear according to Dr. Agumenu is the Vice President’s penchant for elevating cacophonous rhetoric to the neglect of proper steps to tackle project implementation and evaluation, a development he said has not only brought uncontrollable complexities to the Ghanaian government but has equally disorganised the economic flow and paralised fiscal and business architecture of the country.
“Somebody with this track record must be rejected at the polls come December 7,” he asserted saying that the NDC candidate President Mahama has competitive edge as regards experience to tackle economic challenges, projects and programme implementation.
He added, “I was surprised about his quest for debating with President Mahama. The question is what exactly? He should rather be thinking about debating with his internal leadership and his failed promises. No need to debase the situation further.”
Dr. Agumenu also dovetailed into global affairs, calling on leadership in Africa to wake up and be counted in the quest for solutions to our continent and its people.
“The World Order is not only disintegrating but at war with itself and lacks the leadership to navigate modern complexities to achieving durable peace. Geopolitical complexities are creating a new shift and shaping international policies unprecedentedly as Africa is sandwiched between the West, the Eastern Bloc and the Global South.
I consider the upcoming American Election, Israel- Iran conflict, Russian- Ukraine war and the volcanic China- Taiwan inflammatory rhetoric as key factors that will shape global politics and potentially create a new world order. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kamala Harris becomes President of the United States in the event of a Donald Trump victory next week if she is consistent. However, the dynamics in Ghana may not favour Bawumia after President Mahama’s second term. I dare say no amount of consistency can change the monumental leadership failure of Bawumia as the leader of the economic management team.”
According to Dr. Agumenu, Bawumia’s failure as a leader is reinforced by the latest impasse between Ghana’s Parliament and the Supreme Court as the Vice President is lost completely in charting paths for cool heads to prevail for government business to take centre stage.
He pointed out that “Ghana is gradually gravitating towards constitutional complexities and possible security crises. Care must be taken to avert the collapse of the occupational authority of the legislative arm of government within the strictures of the law especially as the country approaches one of its most crucial elections in the history of the Republic.”
Dr. Agumenu has therefore called for government projects and programmes to be done in a more structured, effective and efficient way where project objectives, scope, costs, timelines and outputs are well defined.
He further observed that effective project management requires the consideration of various elements, including work breakdown structure, identified activities, criteria for continuing into subsequent phases, cycles and operation as well as maintenance.
The project management expert pointed out that by paying attention to these elements, project managers and leaders can ensure that their projects are successful and deliver the desired outcomes.
Socio-economic and infrastructure projects, Dr. Agumenu said, require careful consideration of stakeholder engagement, resource allocation, political environment, sustainability, critical control measures as well as monitoring and evaluation when developing alternative courses of action. He said by taking the aforementioned factors into account, decision-makers can ensure that the project is successful and achieves its objectives.
To limit the regular occurrence of delayed as well as failed projects which have straddled all political dispensations in Ghana, Dr. Agumenu has suggested the setting up of a Projects Governance Board in the office of the President to anchor project management standards for efficiency and economic development.