In a move heralded as a significant step towards fostering transparency and accountability, the government on Wednesday, April 10 launched the Performance Tracker.
The platform, unveiled at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) by the Minister for Works and Housing, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, aims to bridge the gap between public perception and the reality of infrastructure development projects across the nation.
Speaking at the official launch, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah, emphasized the importance of the Performance Tracker in showcasing the government's commitment to effective governance.
"The performance tracker is a database that showcases the performances of the government of Ghana and it is going to show you the various projects that have been executed across the country," Minister Oppong Nkrumah stated.
With over 13,000 projects currently hosted on the platform, spanning across 267 districts and 28 ministries, the Performance Tracker serves as a reliable mechanism for monitoring the progress and impact of infrastructure initiatives. Minister Oppong Nkrumah highlighted its comprehensive nature, encompassing a wide array of projects, including infrastructure and service delivery initiatives validated across all sixteen regions of the country.
"This database has two interfaces; a website and an application. Today the mobile phone is very powerful too and sometimes even beyond what your desktop can do," Minister Oppong Nkrumah added, underlining the accessibility and user-friendly features of the Performance Tracker.
The Minister further noted that the Performance Tracker represents an upgraded version of the previously introduced Delivery Tracker by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in 2020. "As of June 2023, there are over 13,000 projects across the 261 districts, across the 16 regions, across the 28 ministries that have been validated and updated on this platform," he elaborated.
He emphasized the government's ongoing commitment to continuously update the Performance Tracker, with various ministries and agencies contributing data beyond the June 2023 timeframe.
Present at the launch event were the Minister for Information-designate, Fatimatu Abubakar, Senior Advisor at the Office of the Vice President, Professor Kwaku Appiah-Adu, AG Director of the Information Services, Dr. Nafisatu Mahama, Chief Directors of various Ministries, Heads of Agencies and Departments as well as other well known dignitaries.
On her part, Minister for Information-designate, Fatimatu Abubakar recalled how data sourcing on government projects across Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in all 16 regions was difficult. She said with the coming into force of the Performance Tracker, sourcing data on government projects is made easy. She encouraged Ghanaians to make use of the tracker in order to participate in the governance process.
Presenting the work that went into the development of the tracker, Prof. Appiah-Adu underscored the rigorous validation process that we t into developing the platform, including geo-tagging and photographing projects to ensure transparency.
He said the tracker will help the government and the governed be on the same page with regards to projects that are being undertaken by government and they in turn to benefit.