Justice Nyigmah Bawole

Public Hearing or ‘Hearing Public’? An Evaluation of the Participation of Local Stakeholders in Environmental Impact Assessment of Ghana’s Jubilee Oil Fields

This article investigates the involvement of local stakeholders in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) processes of Ghana’s first off-shore oil fields (the Jubilee fields). Adopting key informants interviews and documentary reviews, the article argues that the public hearings and the other stakeholder engagement processes were cosmetic and rhetoric with the view to meeting legal requirements rather than a purposeful interest in eliciting inputs from local stakeholders. It further argues that the operators appear to lack the social legitimacy and social license that will make them acceptable in the project communities. A rigorous community engagement along with a commitment to actively involving local stakeholders in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes of the partners may enhance the image of the partners and improve their social legitimacy. Local government agencies should be capacitated to actively engage project organisers; and government must mitigate the impact of the oil projects through well-structured social support programmes.

Performance Appraisal or Praising Performance? The Culture of Rhetoric in Performance Management in Ghana Civil Service

This article examines the practice of performance appraisal as a critical element of administrative culture in the Ghana Civil Service (CS). It relies on three focus group discussions with senior civil servants to analyze the practice and its implications for performance of civil servants in Ghana. The article argues that: leadership seldom gives the needed attention to this administrative practice; the process lacks objectivity; it is fraught with superstition, spirituality, and fear; appraisers are rarely trained; and civil servants only become more interested in performance appraisals (PAs) during promotion-related interviews. The article therefore concludes that this process has become rhetoric rather than an important practice and that performance only gets praised rather than being appraised. The article recommends an overhaul of the PA system by integrating it into a holistic performance management program; integrating PA training into civil service mandatory training programs; and the revision and computerization of the PA system.

Localising and sustaining poverty reduction: experiences from Ghana

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to examine poverty and poverty reduction at the local level using the Hohoe Municipality and Sefwi‐Wiaso District, both in Ghana, as a case.Design/methodology/approach – The paper adopts a survey method, collecting data from 180 farmers on the various aspects of the topic to form the basis of the study. Questionnaires and focus group discussions were used as the data collection instruments.Findings – The study found that, although many poverty reduction initiatives have been undertaken in Ghana, their impact on the poor farming communities has been very minimal. The failure of these poverty reduction policies could be attributed to the non‐involvement of local people in the process of policy formation. It also revealed that the number of poor people and the degree of poverty might be higher than the details captured by official statistics and publications.Research limitations/implications – The paper is biased towards farmers. It did not consider other sectors of the Gha...

Is sustainable development achievable in Ghana? An analysis of Ghana’s development policy achievements and challenges

Since the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment in 1972 and the subsequent publication of the Brundtland report in 1987, Ghana has embarked upon the path of sustainable development (SD) through the development and implementation of policies deemed necessary to safeguard the environment and promote socio-economic development. Despite this commitment, the country is still characterised by poor environmental and human health, poverty, poor sanitation, low access to potable drinking water, energy, and high population growth. This paper uses sustainability frameworks to investigate the achievability of SD in Ghana. The key policies related to SD issues such as the environment, poverty reduction, health, water and sanitation, energy and population growth are analysed and the main achievements and challenges identified. The paper asserts that SD of Ghana could be a passing fad if issues confronting the country’s sustainability are not addressed. The paper provides policy recommendations and strategies that will enable policy-makers to effectively tackle the SD challenges in the country.

Unlocking the “Black Box” in the Talent Management Employee Performance Relationship: Evidence from Ghana

Purpose Combining insights from the social exchange and signalling theories, the purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to investigate the relationship between talent management (TM) practices and four dimensions of talented employees’ performance; and, second, to examine the mediating role of job satisfaction and affective commitment on this relationship in the Ghanaian banking context. Design/methodology/approach Structural equation modelling was used to survey data from 232 employees who are part of a talent pool in the Ghanaian banking sector. Findings The findings of this paper showed that TM practices increase positive talented employee performance of task, contextual and adaptive, whereas it reduces counterproductive behaviours. Second, talented employee work attitudes of job satisfaction and affective commitment partially mediate the relationship between TM practices and four dimensions of talented employees’ performance. Research limitations/implications This study used cross-sectional data; hence, conclusions regarding causality cannot be made. Practical implications Management and organisations implementing and intending to implement TM practices should implement and invest in TM practices that will trigger employee work attitudes to achieve full employee performance. Originality/value This paper advances the literature by exploring the relationship between TM practices and four dimensions of talented employees’ performance.

Stakeholder participation in community development projects: an analysis of the quadripartite model of the International Centre for Enterprise and Sustainable Development (ICED) in Ghana

The increasing importance of stakeholders in project design, implementation, and evaluation requires mechanisms to ensure their effective participation to enhance project success. As a national non-governmental organisation (NGO) engaged in the design and implementation of community development projects, International Centre for Enterprise and Sustainable Development (ICED) adopts a quadripartite project participation model (QPPM) that facilitates the participation of project stakeholders. This article analyzes the model and its implication for managing community development projects in Ghana. The article adopts an action research strategy relying on the experiential knowledge of the authors in the application of the model. The results of the analysis indicate that although stakeholder participation in community development projects can be very challenging, the application of the model reduces the tensions that often characterize stakeholder participation. The model helps to spread project responsibilities, obligations, and rights equitably amongst project stakeholders.

Pro-Poor Decentralization in Ghana: Exploring the Facilitators and the Limitations

While significant research exists on why decentralization should result in poverty reduction, how this actually happens and the limitations have received little empirical research attention. Such empirical evidence is important due to the widespread adoption of decentralization in many developing and transition countries, and the consequent expectation that decentralization should be pro-poor. With empirical evidence from ten selected districts in Ghana, this article provides fresh insights into the facilitators and the limitations of pro-poor decentralization. The evidence suggests that although decentralization holds many prospects for poverty reduction, there are major limitations on how this can happen. The article establishes that while participation and representation, transparency, and accountability remain important facilitating factors, the capacity of district assemblies, apathy of citizens, resource constraints, political interference, and the absence of collaborating nonstate actors, among other factors, have limited the effectiveness of decentralization in reducing poverty in Ghana. The overarching limitation is that decentralization, which is often designed largely with political goals, is expected to be pro-poor, perhaps, only as an afterthought.

Value-For-Money Audit for Accountability and Performance Management in Local Government in Ghana

ABSTRACT Public sector organizations, including local government (LG) entities, continue to resort to value for money (VFM) audit to enhance performance and accountability. Based on the analysis of the consolidated reports on the annual performance-based Functional Organizational Assessment Tool (FOAT)—VFM audit—in Ghana to determine the efficacy of VFM on performance, this article argues that VFM audits constitute a significant public management tool that could enhance LG performance. However, the FOAT reports, like most VFM audits, only provide quantitative evidence, which fails to capture the qualitative or other relevant explanatory factors behind the recorded performance improvement.

Downward accountability of NGOs in community project planning in Ghana

ABSTRACT This article examines the downward accountability of NGOs in community project planning in Ghana. It is based on primary data collected through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with NGO officials, local government officials and representatives, chiefs, women leaders, and other community members. The findings reveal that although community members were engaged in project planning processes in many respects, these engagements were limited to endorsing pre-prepared plans, decisions, and mundane aspects of the project. The engagements were largely tokenistic, rhetorical, and to garnish legitimacy, and lacked the key elements of empowerment which promoted downward accountability.

Testing the mediation effect of person–organisation fit on the relationship between talent management and talented employees’ attitudes

Previous studies suggested that talent management (TM) is positively related to employee work attitudes. However, a few studies have examined the mechanisms through which TM leads to employee work attitudes. The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating role of person-organisation (P-O) fit on the relationship between TM and employee’s job satisfaction, and organisational citizenship behaviours (OCBs).,Using a sample of 232 talented employees from the Ghanaian banking sector, a partial mediation model was outlined and tested using structural equation modelling.,The results showed that TM had positive relationship with P-O fit, job satisfaction and OCBs. The findings further show that P-O fit had positive relationship between job satisfaction and OCBs and partially mediated the relationship between TM and both job satisfaction, and OCBs.,This study used cross-sectional data; hence, conclusions regarding causality cannot be made. That is, the results must be interpreted as associations rather than causality.,Management should endeavour to use TM to help align talented employee’s competences, values and goals to those of their organisation.,This study contributed to the TM literature by providing a stronger and more plausible explanation of the relationship between TM and talented employees’ outcomes.