Appoint Clowns. Get a Circus

By Kwame Sowu One of the biggest obstacles to Ghana’s economic and social development is not a shortage of ideas, policies or even resources. It is the chronic appointment of incompetent people to positions that demand competence, leadership and results. Take our Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives. For decades, many have presided over communities that remain filthy, poorly planned, environmentally deplorable and barely liveable.

Roads are neglected, drains remain choked, sanitation is appalling, public spaces are abandoned and basic urban management appears to be an alien concept. Yet, somehow, we keep changing governments without changing the conditions in which people live. What exactly do some of these appointees do? Beyond occupying offices, attending meetings, making political appearances and distributing photographs of themselves, what measurable difference have they made to the communities entrusted to them?

We must confront an uncomfortable truth: political loyalty is not a qualification for administrative competence. Being a party activist, campaign financier or familiar face in the corridors of political power does not automatically make anyone capable of managing a district, municipality or metropolis. A government can have the most brilliant manifesto, the most ambitious development agenda and the most eloquent presidential speeches.

But if the people entrusted with implementation lack imagination, discipline, initiative and basic managerial competence, the outcome is predictable: grand promises, mediocre execution and another four years of excuses. Development is not delivered by manifestos. It is delivered by people who know what they are doing. We must stop treating public appointments as political compensation packages.

Critical positions must be occupied by people who can think, organise, innovate, mobilise resources and deliver measurable outcomes. Ghana does not need more ceremonial officeholders. It needs problem-solvers. If we keep appointing people who cannot transform their immediate surroundings, we should stop pretending they will transform a nation.