Findings by a poll conducted by the Institute of Liberty and Policy Innovation (ILAPI), a public research think-tank, indicates that the government has wasted a staggering 73 billion cedis on its programmes and key decisions.

According to the group, the amount covers a range of programmes, decisions and policies, including presidential travels, Saglemi Housing Project, National Cathedral, establishment of the Office of the Special Prosecutor, government appointees, Planting for Food and Jobs, fighting galamsey etc., which are all areas that Ghanaians perceive as government waste of taxes.

The group made the revelation at the launch of a research report by the institute, dubbed “Government Wasteful Spending: Crumbs of Government Waste Report, 2022.”

“On average, the Government wastes GHc0.70 out of every GHC1.00 received as revenue. This denotes that 70 percent of every GHC1.00 of taxpayers’ contributions goes into wasteful spending,” the findings said.

The report also mentioned that a key factor that contributed to the wastage of public funds was the lack of transparent and accountable procurement processes, which included inefficient bidding systems, inadequate oversight mechanisms and instances of corruption, leading to inflated contract prices.

Additionally, the presence of redundant or obsolete government programmes and agencies, which often duplicated functions, resulted in inefficient resource allocation and unnecessary administrative costs. Insufficient evaluation of project feasibility, unrealistic cost estimates and poor monitoring of expenditures often amounted to cost overruns and improper allocation of resources.

Touching on the duplication of institutions performing the same function, Executive Director for ILAPI, Peter Bismark Kwofie said that, for instance, the office of the Attorney General was allocated funds to fight corruption. In the same vein, CHRAJ and the Office of the Special Prosecutor, which were also mandated to fight the canker, were allocated funds.

The perception poll was conducted across the country between August and November 2022 with 2000 respondents on its website, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp pages through random sampling.

Mr Kwofie averred that the poll provided primary information on the perception of Ghanaians about how their taxes were being utilised to solve problems and enhance economic prosperity.

Its Conceptual Review, Definition and Methodology were prepared by ILAPI’s Executive Director, Peter Bismark Kwofie. Poll and Data Analysis were conducted by Stephen Dansu and a public policy contribution was made by Dr Mohammed Jamal of the Koforidua Technical University.

Mr Kwofie believes that the amount would be more if the research had been conducted over a longer period.

“If we had conducted the research sector by sector and we had done it on almost all the government flagship programmes from 2014 up to date, we would be receiving more than 73 billion Ghana cedis as waste,” he noted.

Touching on other revelations in the poll, Mr Kwofie indicated that 92 per cent of respondents were of the view that the government was wasting taxes; this, he noted, influenced the citizens’ degree of trust in the government.

He said, “statistically, 90.5 percent of Ghanaians have lost trust in the Government due to corruption and a lack of accountability and transparency in the implementation and execution of policies and programmes.”

Providing recommendations on how to mitigate wasteful spending and gain citizens’ trust, the Report suggested that strengthening of budgetary processes and introducing effective oversight mechanisms in promoting a culture of fiscal responsibility within the government financial architectures.

It went on to suggest fiscal covenant responsibility laws and rules, which would regulate government spending to enhance transparency and accountability. Additionally, ILAPI suggested a comprehensive review of government programmes to identify redundancies and inefficiencies. It explained that eliminating or merging redundant entities or institutions can result in cost savings and improved service delivery.