Using ‘Numbers’ To Justify Performance: Is Ghana’s Politics Really People-Centered

Politicians and their communicators, the world over; have become so fixated and obsessed with numbers to the extent that, nobody seems to give a hoot about whether these numbers reflect the well-being of the man on the street. Ideally, successful economic indicators or numbers, are supposed to reflect how transformative and sustainable lives and livelihoods are becoming. Instead, ‘numbers-twisting and fixation’ have become avenues for ‘sexing up’ government performance indices, even if they do not reflect what prevails on the ground.

While we are so indulged with numbers; it is important to recall that, even in places where the ‘numbers argument’ meant everything, policy makers are beginning to revise their thesis on the ‘position’ such argumentshold in their contemporary development discourse. What is the ‘positiveness’ in a GDP that is high, but skewed towards ten percent of the total population? Thomas Picketty; a renowned economic scholar, for instance acknowledges that, despite the gain in global wealth; inequalities-whether vertical or horizontal, are assuming proportions that should be of grave concern to the international community. It is therefore not developmentally progressive, to think that, churning out numbers for the sake of it, is enough to give a better picture of ‘what is actually happening to the people’.

Whose development?
Any development process that keeps its people ‘marking time’ for years, or in some instances worse off, is never a human-centred development process. Politicians and their allies, tend to have a ‘phoney’ way of making numbers look finer and more impressionable than the meaning they make in people’s lives. And yet, have activists who would come out to support every claim that has been put out there for ‘politically correct’ and personal reasons. They would defend every government policy, even if it means sacrificing their integrity and hard-earned reputation.

What is the ‘sense’ in touting economic indicators as progressive, when they indeed,do not reflect the aspirations of the people whose development challenges they seek to address? Governments are quick to put numbers out there that show poverty, and its related challenges are declining markedly. However, what these numbers don’t tell us is that, standards of living-in comparative terms are declining compared to the 1960s and 70s. Despite the changing social dynamics, and the incremental pressures that are exerted on available resources, there are governments in other parts of the world that are doing very well.They have managed to make meaningful and efficient use of the resources at their disposal so well to the extent that, the lives and livelihoods of their people are beginning to fall into desired perspectives. At worse, some of these countries have progressed solely on their human resources, without the natural and other mineral resources available to most governments in Africa.

Can same be said about countries like Ghana and Nigeria whose land masses are endowed with numerous natural and mineral resources? South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand had their independence almost at the same time Ghana and Nigeria gained theirs. How have these countries managed to transform their economies so fast to the extent that, our people would be eagerly willing to ‘trade places’ with the nationals of these countries? It means something has gone wrong somewhere. Though I cannot scientifically vouch for any economic performance indicators that come from these countries, it is common knowledge that these countries are doing comparatively better than we are doing. Even in the face of their development challenges.

The irony here is even that, while we are so obsessed with numbers and how they relate to our development trajectories, the infrastructures to make these findings ‘scientific’ are sometimes riddled with ‘numerous’ statistical challenges. It is not uncommon (in our part of the world) to see two independent state institutions come out with different figures regarding a study they have carried out, irrespective of the correctness or otherwise of the margins of error. In such a situation, do these figures mean anything to the well-being of the [wo]man on the street? Absolutely not!! Regardless of these shortcomings, politicians and their commentators would run commentaries on these figures until someone out there contests them, to explain how these figures were arrived at. Until then, everything that is said by political activists is considered factual and gospel.

The implications of misleading ‘figures-quoting’

While it may be easy, and politically expedient to regurgitate numbers with the intent of misleading the electorate, it is important to recognise that, it is these same figures government and state institutions would use to enter into business and investment partnerships. Could you imagine what the reaction of an investment partner would look like, when [s]he realises that, all the economic indicators provided by state institutions are unreliable? Have we fathomed the economic and other cost these acts may bring upon our state institutions?

Sometimes, for political reasons we throw numbers around, forgetting that we need these numbers to enter into business or trade agreements with multilateral institutions like the IMF and the World Bank. While it is a common knowledge that ‘playing with figures’ can guarantee success at the polls in our part of the world, the electorate is becoming experienced and wiser by the day. I am looking forward to the day when random ‘numbers-quoting’ loses its relevance; and instead, pave the way for ‘real indicators’ to gain the needed prominence in the Ghanaian political and economic discourse. Until then, ‘stupid numbers for political correctness’ would continueto reign.

Inusah Mohammed Awall
Twitter: @Wagoooni