BUDGET MONITORING IN GHANA: WHAT LESSONS FOR NIGERIA?

by YAKUBU ZAKARIA

Programme Officer, Democracy and Good Governance / Economic Literacy; HBF Nigeria, Lagos

Introduction

In recent times, budget monitoring has become a key role of many NGOs and CSOs in developing countries seeking transparency and good governance in their countries. The reasons for monitoring budgets are not far fetched. Indeed, one of the essential ways of ensuring that the poor, and the vulnerable groups in society get a fair share of revenue allocation is through budget monitoring. Invariably, one of the effective ways of ensuring that specific sectors of the economy do not suffer neglect is to monitor the budget. Through innovative and constructive engagement on budget issues, NGOs and CSOs in developing countries can widen the budget debate outside the realm of selected government technocrats to the general public. The need to ensure transparency in governance therefore calls for an all-year monitoring of the budget by credible NGOs and CSO in society. It is sad to note however, that budgetary allocations in Africa are often subjected to gross abuses and have become avenues for self-enrichment by politicians. Nevertheless, the budget is an important tool for development because it is the single largest expenditure of the government, often constituting in most cases 45 % or more of all the procurements that take place within in a nation. This means that the budget is crucial tool for poverty alleviation and it is too important to be left in the hands of greedy politicians. It is necessary to mention that even a good budget when poorly implemented is still a recipe for underdevelopment. Conversely, effective monitoring is the only way of ensuring national progress.

In Ghana, the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), a leading local NGO, is at the forefront of budget monitoring in the country. In recognition of the importance of budget monitoring in national development, the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) created a research center for budget analysis and monitoring in the year 2001. The Budget Analysis Center is engaged in an all-year-round research on the national budget. The analytical approach is holistic with focus on macro and micro policy issues. Key questions often addressed include, what strategies are adopted to solve problems of financial deficits? To what extent is the budget consistent with poverty alleviation and wealth creation strategies? How does the budget seek to revamp the agriculture sector? How is the subject of HIV/AIDS pandemic addressed, etc?

Each year, after the presentation of the budget by the Finance Minister, a Post-Budget Public Forum is held by ISODEC to seek public opinion on specific areas in the annual budget before research on the budget commences. Given the diversity of sectors and topics covered by the budget, it is always imperative to adopt a multi-disciplinary approach in budget analysis. Not surprisingly, ISODEC sometimes seeks the expertise of Ghanaian researchers and specialists outside the organisation to handle specific topics on the budget. The document often contains suggestions to the government on weak areas of the budget that needs to be strengthened. Questions are also raised on new measures that may yield negative consequences to different social groups. In the 2001 publication, the issues addressed include, the massive budget deficit, policy conditions related to IMF debt relief; tax implications on the budget, human and social rights issues addressed in the budget. Similarly, the 2002 budget analysis addressed the problem of Poverty Reduction Strategy, the HIPC question and the sectoral composition of budget expenditure.

Usually, after the launch the publication, series of nation-wide workshops on budget monitoring are conducted at the regional and district levels. This is a painstaking exercise conducted annually that takes weeks and even months to carry out. I spite of the fact that there are many NGOs working on budget issues in Ghana, yet ISODEC has become a household name and an authority on government budget in view of the central role it plays on budget analysis. As such, individuals, including parliamentarian, and organizations seeking clarification on budget issues in Ghana often contact ISODEC. This is not to suggest that the government of Ghana is comfortable or supportive of ISODEC's role on budget monitoring. On the contrary, the government is often suspicious of ISODEC monitoring role of the budget despite championing the course of transparency. In spite of the often cold relationship between ISODEC and the government, there is nevertheless high regard by the government, of the organization on budget and other national matters. For now, the ultimate goal of ISODEC is to work towards producing credible alternative budget for the government of Ghana on an annual basis. In all of this, transparency has been the watch-word of ISODEC. Indeed, it is organisational transparency that makes publications on budget issues more credible.

Budget Monitoring in Nigeria

Like in Ghana, many local NGOs and CSOs in Nigeria are not left out of the budget-monitoring role. There are indeed more NGOs in Nigeria working on budgetary and transparency issues than in Ghana. Nevertheless, the approach is often narrow and local NGOs in Nigeria working on budget matter are confined to their small constituencies. In Nigeria, most of the budgetary analyses done by NGOs and CSOs are sectoral analysis. For instance, it is easy to see NGO in Nigeria working on the 'Budget and the Health Sector', 'Budget and Privatization', 'Budget and Agriculture', 'Budget Monitoring on Oil Revenue' etc. This is not to downplay the relevance of sectoral analytical approaches. Indeed, they are important, because they allow for in-depth analyses of specific sectors. Nevertheless, there is often a weakness of narrow specialization that makes it rather difficult Nigerian NGOs to receive credibility on budget issues.

Perhaps because of the widely held notion of lack of transparency among Nigerian politicians, NGOs working on the budget are often more confrontational than those in Ghana. This confrontational role by Nigerian NGOs on budget matters often creates an unhealthy rivalry and a gap between the NGOs and public officials. In addition, the various budgetary monitoring efforts by NGOs are left in specific locations and do not often get the attention of the general public and the government in particular. In view of the crucial role of the budget in national development it suggested, local NGOs in Nigeria should take budget-monitoring work more seriously.

Key Lessons from the ISODEC Approach

Although the budget monitoring and advocacy work initiated by ISODEC is very recent, with its first publication in 2001, there are still some crucial lessons to be learnt. Some the lessons are as follows:

• A key step in budget monitoring is to widening the debate as much as possible beyond the national assembly and selected radio talks to the public domain.

• There is often a need for public feedback on national budget before fruitful research on the budget is conducted.

• Embarking upon an educational exercise on the implications of certain sectors of the citizenry can lead to more public and grass-root participation of the budget debate.

• Public enlightenment on budget matters can galvanize NGO and CSO in Nigeria for advocacy work on the budget.

• NGOs and CSOs need to carry out a thorough, in-depth and holistic analysis of the budget in order to gain recognition for their effort.

• Budget analytical research must endeavour to provide policy options to the government.

• Allocating specific budgetary topics to experienced researchers outside the organization is sometimes necessary to ensure the credibility of publications by NGOs and CSOs.

• Above NGOs need to more transparent in order to have their publications on budget matters taken more seriously.

DOWNLOADS:

[Read / Download ISODEC Analysis of the Ghana Budget 2001]
[.pdf document 219 kB]

[Read / Download ISODEC Analysis of the Ghana Budget 2002]
[.pdf document 473 kB]