Ghana is not broke, we’re just spending wrong – ACEP boss tells journalists

Ghana has the money to build world-class roads, hospitals, and schools — but the problem, according to Benjamin Boakye, Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), is that the nation is bleeding resources through waste, inefficiency, and misplaced priorities.

He says if public funds were properly tracked and invested where they matter most, the country could raise billions within a few years and deliver real transformation.

Speaking at the close of a two-day ACEP Media Fellowship for selected journalists, Mr. Boakye called on the media to become relentless watchdogs, insisting that without aggressive accountability, politicians will continue to spend on fanfare while citizens die for lack of basic medical care.

Despite an annual budget of about GH₵50 billion, he noted that basic medical equipment costing under $10 million remains absent in health facilities, forcing the country to send blood samples abroad. Meanwhile, millions are spent instantly on ceremonies and fanfare.

“Governments will prioritize anything, but what impacts you? That’s the problem,” he said. “If there’s a need for fanfare today, they will find the money immediately. But to save lives with equipment, we hesitate.”

Mr. Boakye painted a grim picture of wasted public resources — unsafe school buildings, poorly built offices, and substandard projects executed without proper materials, all under official supervision.

“You see schools where pupils are barred from upper floors because they could collapse. This is public money — and public danger,” he stressed.

He urged journalists to take up the “hard job” of monitoring, exposing, and questioning governance lapses, describing it as a national duty to prevent inefficiency and save lives.

“This is not about charity from politicians. The taxes we pay should deliver value. If we fail to demand it, the cycle of poor service delivery will continue, and people will keep dying unnecessarily,” he warned.

The fellowship, organized by ACEP, was designed to build journalists’ capacity to track public spending, investigate resource management, and amplify citizen demands for accountability.

Source: Ivy Priscilla Setordjie

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