Franklin Cudjoe Outlines Questions that Should Have Been Asked Ministers for Agric, Education and Roads During Vetting
Franklin Cudjoe, President of the policy think tank IMANI Ghana, in a series of tweets, has outlined critical questions that, in his view, were overlooked by Parliament’s Appointments Committee during its vetting of the Ministers of Agriculture, Education, and Roads.
The new appointees – Eric Opoku (Agriculture), Haruna Iddrisu (Education), and Governs Kwame Agbodza (Roads and Highways) – were approved by Parliament on Wednesday, January 22, 2025. However, Mr. Cudjoe argues that the vetting process failed to probe their policy readiness on key issues, particularly those tied to their respective ministries.
Policy Oversights in Agriculture
Among the critical gaps identified were questions about the proposed Farmer Service Centers, the future of Agricultural Mechanisation Centers (AMSECs), and strategies for combating challenges in cocoa production. Mr. Cudjoe also flagged concerns about fertilizer subsidy smuggling and the lack of clarity on plans for combating agricultural pests and diseases.
“How does the government plan to ensure financial sustainability for COCOBOD while meeting its quasi-fiscal commitments?” he asked, referring to the cocoa board’s obligations to fund fertilizers and rural infrastructure projects.
Challenges in Education Policy
On education, Mr. Cudjoe questioned the viability of the zero-tuition policy for first-year university students, particularly regarding its financial implications. He also raised concerns about the government’s pledge to extend free senior high school (FSHS) education to private schools and the proposed reforms to legal education.
“How will the government balance ambitious education policies with the constraints of the national budget, particularly in light of Ghana’s declining GDP allocation to education?” he wrote.
Road Sector Financing Under Scrutiny
In the roads sector, Mr. Cudjoe highlighted the lack of questions surrounding private sector participation in infrastructure financing and the future of public-private partnerships (PPP).
He also raised concerns about ensuring equitable access for local and smaller contractors in the industry.
Read Below the Full List of Questions Tweeted by Mr Cudjoe:
Critical questions that were not asked of the Agriculture, Education and Roads ministers during their vetting. They were shared with some committee members by the way. 😀
- Critical questions that were not asked during the vetting of the Agriculture Minister.
- In your party’s manifesto, which as Minister you are expected to implement, you propose to establish Farmer Service Centers in each district. I presume that you were a key advisor in planning this policy. How much did you budget for each of these service centers in your model, and what services and facilities shall be available in each location?
2. Is there a plan then to displace the existing Agricultural Mechanisation Centers (AMSECs) launched in 2007 and expanded by the previous government across various districts? Do you know how many districts have those facilities already?
- If the plan is to keep the Amsecs, then how specifically would they be improved to operate within or alongside the farmer service centers?
- Please describe the current interplay between the National Seeds Council and the National Biosafety Authority and explain how as Minister you intend to approach the vexed issue of GMO seeds in Ghana. What is your personal position on how those two agencies should relate and how through their interactions the safety and food security issues posed by GMO seeds can be addressed?
- In your manifesto for the 2024 elections, you promised to continue the previous government’s policy of developing greenhouses through the Yeredua program. This presupposes that you evaluated the successes and challenges of that program, perhaps the large-scale one at Dahwenya and others. Kindly share what you discovered during your evaluation with this committee. What successes will you build on and how will you address the challenges identified.
- You mention in your manifesto the use of massive subsidies for fertilisers to increase crop yields in Ghana. I presume therefore that you are aware that fertiliser subsidies, including the distribution of free fertiliser, were central to the Planting for Food & Jobs. A major challenge identified, however, was the smuggling and diversion of free fertiliser and other inputs. Given the very large land borders across the country, relying on the security services to block smuggling wasn’t effective. What new ideas will you be bringing to the table to address the smuggling problem?
- I’m sure you have studied the various disease and pest outbreaks in the Agricultural sector this country has been grappling with in recent times. Anthrax, fall armyworm, Cape St Paul disease, etc. In your view, what are the five biggest pest and disease problems facing the agricultural sector, why, and what different approach are you bringing that hasn’t been tried before?
- The outgoing government supported various on-lending programs whereby international organisations like the International Fund for Agricultural Development) (IFAD) and Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) provide matching funds that are passed through financial institutions to farmer cooperatives to benefit farmers. The challenge is that the financial institutions are often reluctant to match these funds limiting the success of this approach. What fresh new ideas do you plan to bring on board to change the behaviour of the financial institutions?
- What do you plan to change about the current operational model of the Ghana Commodities Exchange to improve its capacity to play the role envisaged for it in reducing post-harvest losses?
- Looking at the complexity of challenges we have across the Agricultural value chain in Ghana, what specific thing have you done in your professional life do you reckon makes you best equipped to fix these challenges.
- Climate insurance is one of the proposals that have come up in response to the ongoing challenges the changing weather patterns are posing to agriculture in this country. What is your understanding of the reason why so far we haven’t seen any significant uptake of this type of insurance in Ghana, and what policies would you be proposing to Cabinet to promote it in Ghana?
- Avian influenza and Newcastle disease are two major impediments likely to be faced by your government’s policy emphasis on poultry. Do you agree? Walk this committee through the specific contexts of these two challenges and how you propose to deal with them apart from the measures outlined in the previous government’s plan which culminated in the Animal Health Bill.
- Do you support the African Union’s Maputo Declaration? If so, what is the remaining gap that Ghana needs to close to be compliant with its recommendations and how will you persuade the Cabinet to align?
(*Correct Answer: Ghana currently allocates less than 2% of the national budget to Agric. To comply with the Maputo Declaration, 10% would have to be allocated.*)
- For several decades, most cocoa farmers’ output has remained below 500kg per hectare, making it difficult for farmers to experience significant revenue growth during periods of higher prices. As the Minister for Agriculture-designate, can you share with us three (3) key solutions for improving cocoa productivity bearing in mind the rising cost of farming.
- Ghana has committed to phasing out some quasi-fiscal activities of COCOBOD, such as financing fertilizer and cocoa roads in the IMF ECF Programme. In the NDCs manifesto, your government promised to assign a portion of cocoa revenues as health insurance for farmers, operationalize cocoa farmers’ pension schemes, re-introduce a free fertilizer programme, and continue building basic school blocks in cocoa growing areas. As the Minister for Agriculture-designate, can you share with us a clear plan for meeting these quasi-fiscal functions without compromising COCOBOD’s financial sustainability?
- Your government has promised to increase cocoa prices in line with world market prices regularly. Considering the low cocoa production trends and the potential risk of meeting past forward sales contracts in new cocoa farming seasons, how do you plan to regularly adjust cocoa prices to meet world market prices without creating financing pressures for COCOBOD?
- In the IMF ECF Review, COCOBOD intends to replace the international syndicated loan approach with LBC’s self-financing and local bank financing strategies. As the Minister for Agriculture, how differently would you approach cocoa financing in Ghana?
- In the NDC manifesto, your government has promised to introduce a Government Agriculture Insurance Subsidy Programme, a Networked Farmer-Collateral Registry and Insurance Collateral System, and resource GIRSAL to mitigate lending risk and provide insurance cover. Can you briefly explain how different these programmes are from each other and how differently would they transform agricultural financing in Ghana?
- Considering all the challenges faced by the Komenda Sugar Factory, how differently would you advise the president in the establishment of the Salaga Sugar Factory promised in your manifesto?
- For several decades, most cocoa farmers’ output has remained below 500kg per hectare, making it difficult for farmers to experience significant revenue growth during periods of higher prices. As the Minister for Agriculture-designate, can you share with us three (3) key solutions for improving cocoa productivity bearing in mind the rising cost of farming?
- Critical questions that were not asked during the vetting of the Education Minister.
- A major plank of the education policy outlined in your manifesto is the zero first-year tuition fee proposal. How many students do you expect to benefit from this policy?
- What is the expected increase in enrollment at public universities as a result of this policy?
- How much would you propose to the Finance Minister to allocate for fresh infrastructure on campuses in anticipation of this increase in enrollment?
- Given that fees differ significantly based on whether a person is a regular student or a full fee-paying student as we understand it, for students whose grades do not reach a certain cutoff point, there is an option to enroll as a full fee-paying student at higher tuition fee levels. Is the government’s plan to pay these higher levels of fees on behalf of such students?
- If so, what costing have you done, and what is the expected variation of costs between this class of students and the regular students?
- Given the wide variation of costs among programs and institutions, walk us through how the government plans to determine how much per student it will remit to each public tertiary institution and the method through which it will set these amounts.
- The Technical Universities Administrators Association has mounted a long campaign to be migrated to the public universities’ salary structure and be paid the same benefits as enjoyed by the legacy public universities. This, as you know, is one of the hangovers from the transition of polytechnics to universities, which was a policy pushed by your party during its previous term of office. What is your understanding of this demand, and what are your views about their demands?
- What framework do you plan to adopt in determining which districts’ next benefit from the model STEM school policy adopted by the past government?
- What different ideas are you bringing on board in the design of the model STEM junior high schools?
- What specific curriculum reforms do you have in mind, and how will these reforms change the current formats of instruction in the classroom, especially at the basic level?
- What is your proposal for the minimum budget per child in the School Feeding Program? How much would you be proposing to Cabinet as the amount that should be spent per child to ensure a balanced diet?
- There has been intermittent closure of schools in Bawku as a result of protracted conflict affecting educational outcomes in that part of the country. What ideas are you bringing to the table to redress this unfortunate discrimination being suffered by children there through no fault of theirs?
- The public scholarship system in Ghana has long been plagued by concerns about nepotism and lack of meritocracy. Please outline the steps you shall be taking in the first 120 days should this committee approve you to permanently address the perennial concerns about the system.
- What is your vision for reforming legal education in Ghana?
- Do you support the proposal to devolve basic education management, supervision, and funding fully to the district assemblies, and if so, over which timeframe and with what financing model?
- Ghana’s expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP has fallen below the global average of 4.2% since 2016, but the education budget represents about 14% of total government expenditure. Your government has promised to undertake enormous reforms in the education sector including “Establishing public university in every region”, “No Academic Fees for First Years” and “Free Tertiary Education for Persons Living with Disability”. As the Minister for Education-designate, can you share a clear strategy of your party for financing public education in the next four years?
- The recent Human Development Index report indicates that Ghanaian children spend almost 6 years without real learning. This has resulted in relatively low numeracy and reading skills among most Ghanaian children. Your party promised in their manifesto to introduce a “Bright Beginnings Initiative” to reform childhood education. As the Minister for Education-designate, can you share with us the clear strategy for this initiative and how this initiative ensures that education expenditure is linked with real learning outcomes?
- The NDC promised in their manifesto to extend the FSHS policy to cover private schools. Your party has also promised to establish a dedicated fund for the FSHS programme. As the Minister for Education-designate, how different would this fund be from the current utilization of the ABFA for FSHS? Also, can you share with us the president’s clear financing strategy for including private schools and how this contributes to abolishing the double track system as promised in your manifesto?
- The NDC has promised to de-collateralize GETFUND and restore it to its original mandate. Considering the projected debt servicing in 2025 of the Daakye Bonds, which is backed by GETFUND receivables, can you share a clear strategy for meeting the debt obligations ofDaakye Bonds after de-collateralizing it? As Minister for Education-designate, how differently would you approach the Daakye Bonds in your education financing strategy?
- Critical questions that were not asked of the Roads and Highways Minister during vetting
- How do you plan to enhance private sector participation in road infrastructure financing, given the current low levels of private investment in Ghana’s infrastructure projects?
- What steps will be taken to improve the capacity to prepare bankable road projects and streamline the procurement process for public-private partnership (PPP) projects?
3. The previous government commenced a process to engage private partners to build roads and toll them to recover their investment in order to minimise the financial burden on the state. What is the nominee’s personal policy preference regarding this approach? For those efforts that were already initiated in this direction, will the nominee advise Cabinet to continue?
- There are currently 233 contractors duly vetted and classified by the Ministry for which the nominee has been nominated according to such criteria as financial capacity and technical track record. To your mind, how can the classification system be used to ensure meritocracy but at the same time fairness? How do we ensure that there is an entry point for rural-based, women-led, and youth-led companies to also get the opportunity to enter the industry without sacrificing quality and value for money?
