GHANA FROM THE INSIDE

MY Perspectives from the Real Ghana as i traveled extensively in Central Region This will be the first of many blogs I will be entering while I will be on the field. Well if u are lost ; I am conducting a monitoring and evaluation as a member of a team engaged by the Ghana statistical services (GSS) together with the institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) to conduct a baseline survey of districts that will benefit from the Millennium Challenge Account . After a difficult and mostly disorganized training program preceding a waiting period of about a month we finally set of at 1:28pm from Accra on 31 March 2008 towards Winneba in the Central Region. We arrived at Winneba around 4pm. After a meeting with the District Coordinating Director who seemed preoccupied with other things he directed us to The Army Guest House to arrange for lodging. Unfortunately for us we were told the place was fully booked for weeks. We went round a couple of hotels looking for accommodation and it became apparent that the District has a very bad record in paying its bills. For this reason no hotel was willing to give us accommodation without upfront payment. We finally got an average looking guest house where we were paired two in a room. The lady among us was given a room on her own (for obvious reasons). On the first day 2 of the team members had not fully joined us. One of them lived in the region where we were working, so he chose to commute to the survey base for the first couple of days. The other called and arranged to join us on the second day. On the second day we earnestly proceeded to start preliminary work. With the assistance of the Resident District Statistician we went ahead and identified all the Enumeration Areas (EA) that contained our respondents as well as the selected households .Winneba contained 8 being a sizeable town. This exercise proved to be quiet challenging given the nature of planning and address system in the town. During the evening the hotel manager told us that the district authorities had only arranged for only 5 days of stay we were expected to check out on the 5th day. After some long enquiries we found the identity of the various assembly members for the respective electoral areas. The assemblymen are important for 2 reasons • As part of due process and protocol they are the point of reference for all the work in the chosen community or EA. • Thety are the main respondents to the community questionnaires. On the 3rd day the two group members who had not joined us turned up; compounding our already precarious accommodation problems. Work started promptly around 7:00am. The various interviewers were sent to their respective EAs to familiarize themselves with their respondents and possibly complete the 1st cycle for the chosen 5 respondents. Meanwhile myself together with the supervisor and the driver proceeded to find accommodation. First we decided to opt for free accommodation with the assistance of the assemblymen .Being the "real men and women on the ground” we had strong conviction they will be in a better place to help. We were even pleased to hear that the assembly member for electoral area who happened to be the presiding member for the Awutu-Effutu-Senya Districts was willing to help us.The Hon Alexander Markin (who seemed ubiquitous with his highly visible billboards erected everywhere there was space in town) we were told was currently in Accra and that he will be in winneba that very evening . We were given the impression that he will assist us as soon as he gets to know about us and our mission . We acquired his contact details and promptly got in touch with him. He promised to "sort us out" as soon as he got into town.We later gathered that the presiding member was coming to oversee the conduct of a second round of elections for the confirmation of of the New Municipal Chief Executive for the newly created municipality of Winneba .(The Ewutu-Effutu -Senya district had been split into 2 and the results left Winneba as a municipality ) Apparently the man nominated by th President of the Republic had failed to get enough votes needed for him to be confirmed.The grassroots people alleged that the new MCE was arrogant even though most of them do not question his ability to perform. This necessity the re-election . We finally saw the presiding member only for a brief moment and all our hope was dashed when he shrugged us off. 15 May Following our earlierConducted protocols at Senya - Beraku and Awutu Bereku we went ahead to meet with the various community leaders including Assemblymen and Chiefs. We first stopped at Senya the hometown of the late former Vice President Kow Nkensen Arkaa. It is a mainly fishing community with an estimated population of about 18,000.The town is a semi-urban area with paved roads police station ,post office,a secondary school etc.A colonial fort and a huge mansion on the seashore are the main prominent structure in the town. We met the King of the town,a towering bulky man who has dignity written in his demeanor.He revealed that he is the Presiding Member for the newly created Awutu -Senya district .He was very welcoming and seemed eager to assist.He assured us he together with his assemblymen and unit committee members will secure accommodation for the interviewers who will stay in the community and facilitate the work. 16th May We dropped the team members off at their various stations :Alex at Aberful,Rashid at Bontrase ,Awotwe at Senya - Beraku and Josephine at Awutu Bereku. On Monday 19th May we visited a 72 year old feisty woman in the Winneba township to look for accommodation .The interesting aspect of the meeting was how from nowhere she managed to bring the Chieftancy issue that had dogged the town for years into the conversation. The level of her knowledge and passion suggested she was an interested party. 5/22/08 I have seen deprived schools in my lifetime but nothing prepared me for the absolutely shocking condition of the Awutu -Bereku AME Zion Primary and JHS.The school is housed in a flimsy wooden structure ,without a concrete floor ,window, doors or p 5/23/08 We took our GPS reading and school questionnaire from the AME Zion J.H.S. The condition of the school is simply abject. Situated in a flood- prone zone ,it sorrounded by a lagoon and stinks of rotten bog. The head gave a sorrowful rendition of the myriad problems that the school faces including the fact that classes have to be ended whenever clouds gather and rain threatens. He also complained about the working condition of teachers in general and how pupils who passed through the school go on to earn certificates as community health nurses and get paid 2 to 3 times more than himself.He remostrated on how the gap in salary of teachers and nurses which used to be at par has suddenly widened over last decade .