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Special Study—Ghana Joint Evaluation of the Road Subsector Program, 1996–2000
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In February 1996 the Ghanaian Ministry of Roads and Transport (MRT) formulated a road subsector strategy. Its principal objective was to clear the backlog of maintenance on a sustainable, long-term basis. This initiative was supported by the donor community,4 and at the 1999 Ghana Donors Conference the Terms of Reference were approved and a steering committee formed to oversee an evaluation of the program.
The objectives of the evaluation were to assess the achievements of the program, with a particular focus on sustainability; to identify key issues, constraints, problems, strengths, weaknesses, and successes; and to formulate lessons learned to improve future interventions in the subsector. An important aspect of the initiative was the fact that this was a joint, multiparty evaluation between the donor community and the MRT.
The road subsector program was only partly realized and was assessed as too ambitious for both the funding capacity of the government of Ghana and the donors, as well as the absorption capacity of MRT and other agencies involved. Future donor interventions would remain crucial for the program’s sustainability; whereas maintenance activities could continue to be funded from road fund income, new development would require financing from external sources. The need for further training interventions remained high.
Nevertheless, a sound financial basis for maintenance and rehabilitation works was established through the Ghana road fund, which has developed into the main provider for such funds and became operational in September 1997. Between 1997 and 1999 the number of kilometers of road in poor condition was halved. Furthermore, the private sector undertook a large proportion of the road works, and participation targets were met (except for financing). Some progress was also made toward decentralizing, downsizing, and rationalizing the road authorities.
The evaluation found that environmental and safety issues should receive greater attention and disbursement procedures to contractors needed to be streamlined, especially through shortening payment approval procedures. Greater priority was also recommended for the axle load control problem.
In a 2005 follow-up study it was reported that the implementation of the road sector program continued to be slow. The report identified that future road programs may be jeopardized if they cannot clearly indicate their contribution to national development objectives such as poverty reduction through a well-functioning monitoring and evaluation system. This could lead to a funding reduction because of perceptions by donors contributing to the Multi-Donor Budget Support System. Moreover, the need for further institutional capacity building and human resources development remained high. The retrenchment program did not materialize. Staff reductions are based on attrition, so the pace of change is protracted. The inability to launch the retrenchment program leaves the subsector and notably the Ghana Highway Authority with a staff composition unfit for the job and a salary burden that restricts the organization in attracting appropriate staff. The need for training remains high.
The experiment with greater donor cooperation was only partially successful. Donors have a varying set of priorities that, although broadly in line with Ghanaian societal needs, are not "owned" by the government of Ghana. Problems also stemmed from different donor procedures for implementation, monitoring, accounting, and reporting. The willingness to harmonize these approaches deserves further exploration, but this is clearly a serious constraint that needs to be worked through.
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