The mirage of a Middle Income Nation

The cab driver looked unusually agitated. 'Master, what is happening in this country?' he quizzed. His question took me by surprise. Initially, I thought the question bordered on the petroleum price hike which had filled the rumour mill of late.

But, the cab driver apparently had his mind on something more fundamental to the economy of this nation and the well- being of the Ghanaian.'They say Ghana is now on equal footing with Korea. I heard it on the news the other day, and I have been waiting for an explanation all along. My brother, who is a student at Legon, told me last week that they now call Ghana Middle Income,' he said

'When I asked that why a country that is now equal to Korea is having serious problems with cholera, a friend said, Japan and other countries have earthquake and Tsunami. Our own version is cholera, and that they all kill human beings,' the cab driver explained in his own way.

I tried to explain the meaning of Middle Income, and told the cab driver that though cholera and earthquakes kill, cholera could be prevented by cleaning our gutters and making sure that the water we drink is not polluted. Earthquakes and Tsunami are natural occurrences over which we mortals have very little or no control at all.

At that stage, the driver said he heard on radio, the previous day, that the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, had questioned our Middle Income Status in the midst of cholera and water shortages.

When the cab driver put me down at the office and turned to go away, he waved enthusiastically at me and said: 'This matter is too difficult for my head. I hope one day I would understand it. I still cannot see how Ghana could be equal to Korea, when we import cars and other things from Korea.'

It is difficult to get citizens of this nation to appreciate the country's new status as a Middle Income Nation, when the economy is on its knees, and cholera is devastating the land.

When teachers abandoned the classroom and took to the streets, it was because their migration on to the Single Spine Salary Structure promised by the government had gone horribly wrong. It cannot be a mark of a Middle Income nation that the simple mathematical projection of wages and allowances could go so horribly wrong.

It tells much about the new concept of projecting national aspiration, in which make-beliefs seem to take centre stage. On November 6, 2010, Joy-Online reported thus: 'Latest figures released by Ghana's Statistical Service indicate that Ghana's economy stands at GH¢44 billion - 60 percent more than earlier estimated.

'The country, per this new figure, is deemed to have attained Middle Income Status.' The publication quoted Government Statistician Dr. Grace Bediako, who told Joy Business, 'The new figure confirms the suspicion that the economy has been grossly undervalued for the past five years.'

She was quoted to have said that the re-basing was in line with international practice, and had been made possible, due to additional data gathered. 'The figures show we are now in a lower Middle Income.'

The publication went on to state that per the new records, Ghana's Gross Domestic Product for 2009 is said to be 6.6 percent instead of the 5.9 percent earlier announced. The growth rate for 2008 shot up to 8.4 percent, instead of 7.2 percent.

The new figures suggest that Ghana has the largest per capita in West Africa, but 21st in Africa. But, Imani Ghana, a policy think tank, was worried about the timing of the statement and its impact on the economy.

Franklin Cudjoe, Imani's Executive Director, said the new figures could have negative repercussions on the country's debt serving portfolio, explaining that donor partners would no longer be obliged to support the country's economy.

'Clearly, I do not think this is the way we should do things economically. I don't think just waking up and announcing that you're Middle Income would make you so, especially, in our kind of economy, when data quality is a serious issue. You just don't wake up to announce suddenly, that you are there,' he said.

On the internet, there were quite a number of doubting Thomases. One browser left this message: 'The party in power is known for its expertise in juggling figures. I am not surprised at all. It will continue using the magic wand that Moses and Aaron used in performing wonders centuries ago.'

Another wrote: 'This is laughable… Just like Okudzeto-Ablakwa's 1.6 million jobs created.'

President John Evans Atta Mills did not appear to make much meaning from the new economic indicators during his Sessional Address to Parliament, last month.

'Madam Speaker' echoed the President in Parliament House, 'following the re-basing of the economic indices of our nation, we are now at least, in theory, a Middle Income economy. I use the phrase in theory advisedly, because, when we compare the levels of development in other Middle Income countries, it would seem we have a lot of catching up to do.'

Last week, Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing Alban Bagbin effectively kicked the idea of this country's Middle Income Status to touch. At a World Water Day event in Kumasi, the Minister wondered why a Middle Income Nation was still grappling with cholera outbreaks, and facing serious challenges in the provision of water.

He told a bewildered nation that 97 percent of his ministry's budget was shouldered by donor nations. In effect, only three percent of the water budget in this country is paid for by Ghanaians.

A nation that cannot even provide water for its citizens cannot be said to have made any headway in its development efforts.

That is not the only reason why our Middle Income status cannot hang on any thread. The way and manner in which the 2010 Population Census was handled by the Statistical Service, headed by the same Dr. Grace Bediako, does not speak well of our development. In spite of the figures released indicating that the population of Ghana has reached the 24 million mark, there are many Ghanaians out there who were never captured in the exercise.

It is not as if I am unaware that in an exercise of this nature, there is room for those who could not be captured, and that an estimate is made in the final tally, for such people. The 2010 Population and Housing Census faced many problems from the onset.

The enumerators began complaining of shortages of basic materials like questionnaire forms from the onset.  A number of them were not paid their basic allowances, making them lose interest in what they were doing.  It is very likely that as many as 15 percent of Ghanaians might have missed the exercise.

The economy is nothing to write home about, in spite of the roof-top advertisements of this administration building a Better Ghana.  Last week, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Kwabena Dufuor told Ghanaians that payment of contractual obligations in this country was outstanding for at least one calendar year. In spite of this admonition, the Government of President John Evans Atta Mills is continuing with business as usual.

At the time the announcement was still doing time on air, President John Evans Atta Mills was breaking the ground to signify new a construction project on the road linking Amasaman with Ablekuma in Ga Rural. According to the Head of State, the commitment to construct the new road was an indication of the government's determination to ensure equity distribution of development throughout the country. Critics, though, see the project as being in tandem with political campaigning than the fair distribution of development projects.

As you read this piece, work has stalled on key road constructions throughout the country.  The Accra-Kumasi Road, undoubtedly, the busiest road network in the country, has not seen much, by way of progress, since President Atta Mills moved to the Castle two years and a quarter ago.

The cost of living has hit the roof since the government announced a 30 percent hike in petroleum products in January this year.  The new Minimum Wage of GH¢3.73 announced barely a month ago, cannot buy breakfast for the wage earner and his family.

The smiles are long faded off the faces of Ghanaians as the economic noose squeezes around the necks of the people. Two years into the law professor's reign, there is very little to smile about the economy. The Middle Income Status is fast becoming a mirage!

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