Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars Lost. Electoral Supply Chain Management Reforms Needed—Prof. Boateng Advocates

President John Mahama, and Nana-Addo-Dankwa-Akufo-Addo must be congratulated for their nobility in the face of the unfortunate crisis caused by a comparatively ineffective electoral supply chain management system. Yes, as summarily articulated by theleaders of the two main political parties, the peaceful triumph was for Ghana and not any political party or individual.

However, let us not ignore the fact that this whole avoidable saga has cost the country hundreds of millions of dollars in lost production, goodwill and local/foreign direct investment which will take several years to potentially recoup. The cost on the Ghanaian psyche is also immeasurable.

Whilst all like-minded and patriotic citizens commend the political parties for their calmness in the wake and aftermath of the Supreme Court' ruling, the truth still remains that Ghana's electoral supply chain urgently needs major overhauling to avoid another potential crisis in 2016 and beyond.

For transparency, it was good for the authorities to agree to have the entire proceedings live broadcasted. Those of us who followed the drama in the courtroom saw amongst others, the farcical demonstration of lack of electoral supply chain management understanding by the duly authorized representatives from the Electoral commission.

Open minded and progressive thinkers will agree that the Supreme Court ruling in no way absolves the Electoral commission of their relatively poor display(under cross examination) of understanding of their fiduciary responsibility vis-à-vis service quality, electoral logistics, procurement and supply chain management.

Despite Transparency International's negative report in July 2013 about Ghana's worsening corruption, especially amongst public institutions; we are still seen as one of the most democratically stable countries in the emerging world. However in the last four elections tensions among the masses have continued to rise to unacceptable levels. This clearly indicates that the electorate is not fully satisfied with the services coming from the
Electoral Commission.

In the light of the 29th August 2013 ruling, the next election will definitely provide even much more tougher test for both the Electoral Commission and our relatively young democracy. If we are to especially use the 2004, 2008 and 2012 elections as the benchmark for what could potentially happen in 2016 then there is genuine cause for concern.

To avoid another costly and potentially damaging electoral supply chain embarrassment, it is sincerely hoped that the decision makers from all sides of the political spectrum will agree and immediately initiate and institute major electoral supply chain reforms that will be able to withstand the pressures that will be coming from an increasingly sophisticated and demanding electorate especially in 2016. One of the immediate recommendations is the hiring of supply chain experts at the highest level into the Electoral Commission to increase their value chain understanding and service delivery effectiveness.

If there are no concrete supply chain driven actions, our beloved country may not be so lucky next time around.