KINDNESS IS NOT A DEBT YOU PAY, BUT AN INVESTMENT YOU MAKE

Today, I have two stories for you. Both of them are true. Here's the first one:

Maxwell Morrison was well and truly screwed. He was standing in a courtroom in Bangkok, waiting for his sentence. The offence was drug trafficking, and if found guilty, the sentence would be life in one of the most horrific prisons in the world. The problem was that Maxwell was innocent. The drugs had been found stashed in a musical instrument he had agreed to carry through the checkpoint for a woman who had appeared to have her hands full with a baby, two young children and a whole lot of hand luggage. Of course, the moment the sniffer dogs singled him out for special attention, the woman and her children evaporated into thin air.

He had tried to explain this to the judge in his super-fast-track case, which had so far lasted less than 45 minutes, but the prosecution had countered by pointing out that it would take a very stupid person indeed to be suckered into carrying anything through a security checkpoint for a stranger - especially in this modern post-9/11 world. They had also pointed out that back home in Nottingham, Maxwell was a police officer. A security expert, who could never be as naïve as he was now pretending to be. Maxwell's only counter-argument to that had been, "Appearances can be deceptive". The Judge had given him the strangest look when he said that.

No, things were certainly not going well for him in this case. His only witness had been a British passenger who had seemed a bit drunk during her testimony. She admitted she had seen the woman hand the instrument to Maxwell, but added that they appeared to be travelling together. Again, Maxwell's defence was, "Appearances can be deceptive".

He remembered with irony the first time he had actually heard the expression "Appearances can be deceptive". It was in the eighties. He was a teenager going through a punk rock phase. He wore nothing but black, had multiple body piercings and was always playing with a scary-looking flip-knife. All the kids in school were afraid of him and steered well clear. One afternoon when he was enjoying some peace and quiet behind the boat shed, listening to Grateful Dead on his walkman, he heard a commotion. Three kids were bullying a foreign student. They were about to throw the little kid into the river, and the poor boy kept crying, "Please! Please, I can't swim!"

Maxwell intervened. At first, the three bullies wanted to fight it out, but Maxwell was a good three inches taller than the tallest of them. Plus, he had his knife, and he made them believe he was happy to use it. So they dropped the little foreign boy and went off to find a new victim. Maxwell asked the relieved kid if he was alright. The boy adjusted his glasses, looked at Maxwell for a long moment and said, "Appearances can be deceptive".

"Why do you say that?" Maxwell asked.

"Well, everybody thinks you're scary. Some kids even said you stabbed a teacher once. You're the last person I'd have expected to come to my aid. But thank you for doing so. I would have drowned if you hadn't. In Thailand where I come from, you owe the person who saves your life an eternal debt which you spend the rest of your life paying back. My name is Tran Pack, and I will never forget what you did for me." With that, he shook Maxwell's hand and ran off.

Back in the Bangkok courtroom, Maxwell allowed himself a wry smile as he recalled that childhood episode. Thirty years after he saved a Thai kid's life, he was now a 45-year old policeman, about to spend the rest of his own life in a Thai prison, all because appearances can be deceptive. He snapped out of his reflections as the judge banged his gavel three times. It was time for the verdict.

 

And that's where I'll end the first story. Here's the second story.

Judge Tran Pack could not believe his eyes when Maxwell Morrison walked into his courtroom. Thirty two years had not done much to change his appearance, so Tran recognised him at once. He listened patiently for 45 minutes and then banged his gavel three times before giving the verdict. "Mr Morrison, appearances can indeed be deceptive. Not guilty. You're free to go."

And that is the end of the second story.

I know I don't need to say much more about the lessons from these two stories. As you live your lives, please take every opportunity to do something unforgettable for someone who can't pay you back today. They'll pay you back tomorrow with interest.

Kindness is not a debt you pay, but an investment you make.

My name is Kofi Anokye, a development enthusiast, and now, let’s go out there and show exactly what we’re made of!

 

CHILD MARRIAGE: A LOOMING GLOBAL DANGER, AN ISSUE TOO LONG IGNORED IN GHANA

The upsurge of child marriage is of grave concern in Ghana. This age-old practice is rife in various communities across the length and breadth of the country. Child marriage inhibits girls' educational development, employability and subsequently influences their view of the world. The act takes the form of abduction, elopement and betrothal of these young girls who are mostly sold for a bride price.

In the matter of child marriage and its associated disadvantages to the girl child development, there have been global efforts to reduce to the barest minimum the canker of the phenomenon. In line with this, the first and third targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) four and five respectively states: “by 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes; eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilations”.

Ghana's 1998 Children's Act (Act 560) and the 1992 Constitution of Ghana clearly prohibit any person from forcing a child to be betrothed or be the subject of a dowry transaction or to be married. However, the war against child or early marriage cannot be won when girls do not understand the consequences that come along with it. The focus must be on making girls understand that their future success is not in being wives; instead, it's in their skills and intellectual development.

The UNFPA's theory of change for Ghana suggests that for girls to fully enjoy their childhood free from the risk of marriage, they are to experience healthier, safer and more empowered life transitions while in control of their own destiny, including making choices and decisions about their education, relationship formation or marriage and childbearing. It suggests that there must be an acceleration of action to address child marriage in Ghana by enhancing investments in and support for married and unmarried girls alike, making visible the corresponding benefits of this assistance; engaging key actors, including young people, as agents of change in catalysing shifts towards what positive gender norms; increasing political support, resources, policies and frameworks promoting positive change and improving data and evidence base.

In order for Ghana to realize this vision, there are some critical questions to be considered. How well informed are the citizenry in both rural and urban areas on human rights issues and the consequences of committing such abuses? Have we empowered our numerous institutions that are responsible for protecting the girl-child in our country? Many of the abuses that are committed and swept under the carpet are not because we do not have institutions that can protect the rights of the victims and punish the culprits, it is because these institutions do not have enough resources to follow these issues. All these start and end with how adequately our institutions are resourced from national to the district levels to ensure that the triple phenomenon of dropping out of school and child marriage, which hinder the progress of the girl, is brought to an end.

To end child marriage also requires the engagement of the media as significant partners in shaping societal perception and social norms. The media’s increased advocacy on the factors fuelling the practice, the subsequent challenges and the benefits of ending the practice is very important, and must be encouraged. There should be consistent sensitization programs on the need to abstain from such vices and empower parents, as well as guardians with the acquisition of knowledge in order to invest their resources in their girl children. When these girls and communities are encouraged to know that there is a better alternative to becoming brides or marrying girls, this nation only loses the triple phenomenon that hinder the successful skill and intellectual development of the girl child.

From time to time, we keep dealing with the consequences of the problems that confront us, yet we seem to lose sight of the root cause of the problems.

My name is Kofi Anokye, a development enthusiast, and I will not allow fantasies wishful thinking and bedtime stories to be the bedrock on which our economy is being rebuilt but take a cold look at agendas and factual records and act decisively and swiftly to build a better Ghana.

“THINK TANKS” OR “TRASH CANS”? A DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE STATE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS IN GHANA

1. Introduction

A Civil Society Organisation (CSO) is a recognized institution whose mission is to influence public policy and opinion on specific areas of specialization through independent research and communication of findings, media relations and contact with stakeholders of public policy. Generally, CSOs are considered as public-policy research analysis and engagement organizations that generate policy-oriented research, analysis, and advice on domestic and international issues, which enable policymakers and the public to make informed decisions about public policy issues. Arguably, CSOs have become very influential due to the belief that governments alone are incapable of making proper and well-informed decisions on national issues due to the enormous volume of information they receive and time constraints they face. Basically, CSOs aim to influence public policy through constructive research and media briefing, critiquing and offering alternative views. 

2. CSOs in Ghana

The growth and operations of CSOs in Ghana have become prominent within the past three decades. The change in the political climate from 1992 is a major contributing factor to this phenomenon. In the period between 1957 and 1992, the political environment was, to a large extent, characterised by authoritarian predilection, which did not allow dissent or public discourse on what government decided to do, even in periods of democratic experiments. There was little emphasis on permitting widespread popular participation in policy-making. Upon adopting democratic system of governance, good governance was accordingly developed as a system that would permit societal groups to permeate the decision-making process of the state. This led to an increasing attempt to enhance societal participation and engagement in the policy process, which is of primary interest to CSOs.

The oldest CSO in Ghana is the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), which was established in 1989. Over the years, many more CSOs have emerged. The prominent ones actively operating in Ghana include the IEA, Center for Democratic Development (CDD), Africa Center for Energy Policy (ACEP), Legal Resources Centre, IMANI Ghana, Institute for Policy Alternatives (IPA), WACAM, Human Rights Advocacy Centre (HRAC), Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) among others. Arguably, these CSOs are contributing in diverse ways to the democratic development of Ghana. In their attempt to influence public policy and government accountability, they adopt the following modi operandi: research publications, seminars, conferences, workshops, round-table discussions, and the use of media and advocacy. 

3. The State of CSOs in Ghana

This section provides an assessment of CSOs in Ghana from the perspective of Ghanaians through the following five (5) lenses: research publications, human resource capacity, leadership, stakeholder engagement and credibility.

(i) Research output

An enquiry into civil society organizations’ ability to produce good quality research revealed that CSOs in Ghana are able to identify critical national issues and mobilize highly skilled researchers for the task, especially when funds are available. It is contested that good quality research undertaken by CSOs make their views authoritative and respected. For instance, ACEP speaks to energy issues from informed research findings. However, further enquiry into the social acceptability of CSOs’ publications showed that research findings by CSOs seem too technical for people. Although this weakness is debatable, it is important CSOs communicate in simple and precise terms in trying to influence public policy and government accountability.

(ii) Human resource capacity

The calibre of personnel working in CSOs in Ghana is not different from the prevailing staffing situation in the global south. In terms of staffing, the strength of these CSOs is their ability to attract experts and professionals for their research activities. However, a worrying trend is that CSOs in Ghana relies so much on external researchers. In other words, they have limited experts in-house. It is a well-known fact that many CSOs in Ghana do not have staff with advocacy expertise and this explains their inability to exert much influence in bringing about policy changes. Without the necessary capacity, civil society organisations are likely to be used only as guise to building legitimacy for government policies rather than inviting new thinking and options in the policy making processes.

(iii) Leadership

The qualities of executive directors of CSOs are major contributing factors to the organisations’ high performance. An executive director shows the way and gets things done. However, the issue about what would be the state of prominent CSOs in the absence of their executive directors becomes critical. This raises concern about succession planning and its ramifications.  There appears to be a lack of clear strategy for succession in case key staff such as executive directors of CSOs are not available. Closely linked to this problem is the issue of undefined career path. Thus, it is unclear how a staff progresses in a civil society organization in Ghana. Additionally, it is reported that these CSOs are unable to retain high calibre personnel and high staff turnover weakens the organizational strength in terms of human resource capacity. 

(iv) Stakeholder engagement

Another strength of civil society organizations in Ghana relates to their ability to create multi-stakeholder discussions. Arguably, due to their neutrality, CSOs have what is popularly called “convening power”. This explains why stakeholders honour invitations from civil society organizations for dialogues. In other words, stakeholders feel comfortable attending workshops and meetings organised by CSOs in the sense that these platforms serve as “rallying point” to learn, unlearn and relearn for stakeholders.

In spite of the engagement, there is asymmetry of power in the state-CSO relationship. The situation is attributed to the fact that the interaction between the two is not institutionalized and therefore lacks formal rules to regulate the partnership. The absence of guiding principles means that government does not feel obliged to share information or include CSOs in policy dialogues. Going forward, a working framework that will recognize CSOs as equal partners, and include them in all processes from the conception of ideas to implementation and monitoring is therefore required for an effective civil society engagement in policy processes.

(v) Credibility

The credibility of a CSO is largely explained by its neutrality in all sectors. However, there are mixed opinions. A section of well-meaning Ghanaians is of the view that sometimes CSOs do not understand or miss the real issues in policy discussions and end up making a mountain out of a molehill. In addition, it is contested by others that some CSOs in Ghana have ‘cordial’ relationship with government and therefore are unable to put necessary pressure on government to take policy actions. Like many around the globe, CSOs in Ghana must endeavour to strengthen their credibility to the public.  

Another worrying situation is that CSOs in Ghana face funding challenges. Unlike countries such as China where government funds CSOs to undertake research to aid policy decisions, CSOs in Ghana hardly get government sponsorship. Thus, CSOs in Ghana rely extensively on external sources (donors) for funding. These funds come from organisations based in the developed world and it is very tempting. In Akan, there is an adage that “it is poverty that makes the poor person sell his or her wisdom to the rich”. To wit: if you are poor, you are easily influenced or deceived. In this light, CSOs in Ghana are tagged with credibility issues, especially when their research findings do not favour certain sections of the public.

4. Conclusion

In conclusion, civil society organisations in Ghana still remain shallow, limited to information sharing and consultation rather than joint decision making or policy direction, initiation and control.

My name is Kofi Anokye, a development enthusiast, and by the time I leave this world, it must be better than I found it.

UNLOCKING THE POTENTIALS OF MMDAs TO HARNESS THE BENEFITS OF AfCFTA: A 5-POINT STRATEGY FOR GHANA

Background:

The Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement presents an enormous opportunity for Ghanaian businesses to connect to the regional market and be deeply integrated into the African single market. Ghana’s exports to Africa increased from US$1.37 billion in 2018 to US$1.4 billion in 2019, accounting for 2% of the total imports into the Africa region. As part of efforts to leverage on the opportunity of the AfCFTA, Ghana’s exports to African countries over the next 10years is expected to triple from current levels of US$1.4 billion to US$5.0 billion by the year 2030.

Presently, the Micro, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (MSMEs) account for more than 70% of industrial activities in Ghana. These MSMEs will therefore play an important role in the national objective to expand and deepen intra-Africa trade with particular support from Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs). Ghana has initiated processes including national-level conversations and strategy formulation to harness the opportunities AfCFTA offers and how Ghanaian manufacturing companies and exporters could take full advantage to reach the larger African market.

Local Authorities stand to benefit from the cascading effect of the free trade agreement. However, the benefits could only be realized when local authorities provide the needed information and support to local businesses and investors.

 

Repositioning MMDAs:

This section outlines areas that MMDAs need to consider in order to help local businesses take advantage of the AfCFTA. These processes, which also contributes to revitalizing local economic development, would help position local authorities to drive development of the local economy on the back of the AfCFTA.

1. Analysis of Existing Trade Patterns and Infrastructure

In order to maximize the full potential of the AfCFTA, MMDAs in Ghana must identify and focus on industries and goods with relatively low production costs and high market demand, compared to their trading partners.

2. Business Profile of the District

The business profile of the assembly provides an opportunity to document the essential information needed for investors with interest to undertake manufacturing activities in the district as well as local businesses that are seeking to explore opportunity to export their products to other countries. MMDAs should prepare business profile for their jurisdiction.

3. Markets and Accessibility

In terms of access to markets, the focus of MMDAs support programme should be to help MSMEs gain initial market access to individual markets, either for exporting, sourcing (importing) or local operations. This would include gathering and providing general market intelligence information, specific market analysis, the organization of trade fairs in collaboration with GEPA, GEA, Ghana Trade Fair Company and formation of effective business networks within the district.

Given that MSMEs lack the necessary manpower and financial resources and have restricted information channels to gather market information, MMDAs must work with key stakeholders such as GEPA, GEA, GSA, FDA to keep MSMEs updated on changing market trends both domestically and regionally, and provide an export-capable business infrastructure and provide a platform for free online business matching service.

The BAC and BRC units of MMDAs must be strengthened to work closely with GEPA, Shippers Authority and other institutions to provide export information, procedures and documentation.

4. Special Economic Zones

The MMDAs should be in the position to direct SMEs on how to acquire a single factory zone status in order to minimize the cost of production and make SMEs competitive in the regional market.

A single factory zone is a company that has acquired a free zone statue with the primary aim of producing for export. A single factory zone is required to export at least 70% of its total production, but in an event that the products are sent to the local market, such goods will be considered as imports and therefore taxable.

5. Trade Facilitation

The MMDAs must recognize that certain trade barriers at the local level, including physical barriers (border and transport issues) could affect business operations of SMEs, particularly, those who are into production of goods as well as provision of services for export to the wider African market.

MMDAs must work with relevant stakeholders including the Ghana Shippers Authority, Ghana Police Service, GRA-Customs to address these physical barriers so as to provide a sound business operating environment for SMEs within the districts.

 

Credits:

(i)             National Development Planning Commission

(ii)           United Nations Development Programme

FIT FOR PURPOSE? A REVIEW OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) IN GHANA

Pause for a moment and reflect on the following: How does Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative affect intended beneficiaries and from which lessons could be learnt, adapted and replicated? These questions partially occupied my mind and as I pondered over them, I looked for answers around me, and I found many. This piece expounds on the mirage and reality dichotomy of CSR in Ghana. 

With businesses focusing on making profits, CSR has not been a popular concern among companies until recently. The concept of CSR can be seen in the business environment as a mechanism for making contribution to sustainable development. This mechanism revolves around showing empathy to people that need it, running an environmentally sustainable business and providing financial and moral support to society.

Notwithstanding government’s continual efforts towards providing the basic needs of Ghanaians, it is still not devoid of pressure from other sectors of the economy. As a result, companies step in to pay their quota towards development of the nation. As a fact, a school of thought asserts that companies with CSR initiatives play an important role as agent of change whose immense contribution to improved living standards cannot be over-emphasised.

However, in the face of the huge revenue generated by companies that are into mining, banking, telecommunication, oil and gas and so forth, there is a growing concern amongst cross section of Ghanaians, including incessant pressure from civil society groups on the need for companies to adopt effective CSR policies and commit more resources to the sustainable development of communities in which they operate and the country as a whole.

It must be emphasized that CSR initiatives in Ghana are worth noting. A large number of community development efforts by Corporate Ghana are focused on economic empowerment, human resource development, infrastructure provision, natural resources management, cultural heritage promotion, sports development and so forth. To mention a few, some extractive and telecommunication companies in the country have invested in a variety of projects under education, health, gender mainstreaming, water and sanitation, ICT, economic empowerment and sports, all in the name of CSR.   

While it is obvious to predict the expected benefits and impacts of these CSR projects in terms of school enrollment, security, computer literacy, potable water, livelihood empowerment, social inclusion, skills development, health care delivery and employment; a deep question emerges.

Are the intended beneficiaries experiencing these benefits and impacts as expected?

In seeking answers to the question, the ANOKS Research Team conducted a study in all the regions of Ghana focusing on communities with CSR physical projects.

Interestingly, providers of these projects and their intended beneficiaries are not on the same page as responses differ from each other. Our findings indicated that the providers and intended beneficiaries sounded positive and negative respectively. An enquiry into the negative responses revealed that community participation is partially regarded as a necessary ingredient for project implementation success. In most of the cases recorded, community members were only informed about the CSR projects during commissioning stages. A sad observation made from the field surveys was that some of the completed CSR projects have been abandoned by the intended beneficiaries.

This implies that it is possible for corporate bodies to make enormous social investments, in the name of CSR, without contributing to sustainable development. The crux of the above contention is addressed to companies with CSR initiatives. Do these companies consider the social acceptability, user satisfaction, durability and sustainability of projects before and after their implementation?

The Way Forward

In the quest to propose an appropriate measure to promote effective CSR for leveraging sustainable development in communities and Ghana at large, there is the need to consider the following:

Companies with CSR initiatives should ensure popular participation in project implementation. Best practices have it that people who are affected by particular development projects should be involved as much as possible in all stages of the implementation to ensure that detailed information on social condition and needs of the people is obtained. Popular participation helps to encourage a sense of involvement and commitment to the project by the people.

One of the cardinal points in development communication strategy is to make the beneficiaries of any development agenda part of the identification and consequent solutions to a development challenge. Participatory development should not be an imposition; it should be collaborative – beneficiaries and agents working together for success.

My name is Kofi Anokye, a development enthusiast, and by the time I leave this world, it must be better than I found it.

AFTER CHILDBIRTH, WHAT NEXT?

By: Patience Anokye, Head of Medical Research Team

Of all the things most women desire in the world, child-bearing is a priority because only that proves their womanhood especially in Africa.

Having a child, however, is just one part of the story: ensuring the full growth of the newborn baby and helping the mother to regain her energy when both are discharged from hospital is where most new mothers get problems.

According to best practices, a lactating mother needs to eat nourishing meals with a lot of body-building foods as well as fruits and green vegetables that contain essential minerals such as iron and vitamins.

This is to build up her strength in order to be fit and also to help produce breast milk for the baby. Foods rich in iron will help to replace the blood lost during labour. Mothers who do not eat well balanced diet after delivery lose body weight and become lean over a period of prolonged lactation.

Apart from the nutrition aspect, best practices say after delivery, mothers must regularly wash their female organ with lukewarm water with edible salt added to it and must also sit on warm water. This would help prevent an offensive odour and general discharge.

Mothers who have just had a baby need sufficient sleep and rest to help keep up a good supply of breast milk. Studies have shown that it is not good for a lactating mother to lift heavy things and engage in tedious work until her womb and birth passage return to their normal state.

Moreover, it takes six or more weeks before new mothers overstretched muscles return to normal. Hence, they need postnatal exercises to help their muscles and ligaments regain their natural strength.

Nevertheless, care of the new born is also crucial. Midwives and health workers maintain that breast milk is the ideal food for the newly born baby. Breast feeding should be started the same day the baby is born.

Experience in most countries have shown that most babies thrive well and show adequate growth in the first four to six months of life on their mothers' milk.

The various nutrients in mothers' breast milk are balanced for optimum growth of the baby and also contain several substances which act in combination as defense mechanism against infection.

Nevertheless, it is also essential to keep the breast and nipples clean. For example, mothers should keep their nails clean and short and must not touch their nipples with unwashed hands or wipe them with anything like a handkerchief. This is to prevent germs from entering the baby's mouth.

Infection is one of the dangers to babies so hand-washing before handling babies and after changing napkins as well as feeding are essential.

Babies' napkins and plastic pants need to be changed as soon as they are soiled and be washed daily to avoid an unpleasant odour. When wet napkins are left on babies for too long especially under plastic pants, they could cause sore buttocks (sore buttocks begin as a reddened area).

It is good to use bibs for babies. If worn at feeding times, they keep babies' dress neat, but plastic bibs are not advisable because they can blow over to cover babies face and let them suffocate. Although an expectant mother takes pride in her baby's dresses, it is important for her to consider warmth, comfort, style and fabrics when selecting clothes for her baby.

For example, babies must be kept warm without causing undue perspiration, irritation of their skin or clothes which hinder their movement.

Babies clothing should also not interfere with their desire to wriggle and kick; because health workers are of the view that movements of babies stimulate the circulation of blood, absorption of food as well as developing the muscles in readiness for sitting, standing and walking.

Furthermore, care should be taken when handling, dressing or bathing babies. Since new born babies have weak spines, necks and muscles, mothers must always support the heads and spine of their babies properly. Most mothers unfasten the back of the dresses of young babies while they hold them in a sitting posture. Experts maintain that it is advisable to turn babies over and lay them face down on the lap when dressing them.

The care of babies' skin is equally important. Because the texture of babies' skin are so fine, they are easily irritated, and it is better to use good and quality baby soaps, creams and powders for them to prevent irritation of their skin.

Apart from all the care that needs to be given babies in the house it is also very important for mothers to seek medical advice from the nearest hospitals on the type of foods to give the babies as they grow.

Mothers should also send their babies to medical centres for the treatment and dressing of their cords and for immunization against diseases.

My name is Patience Anokye, a health practitioner, and by the time I leave this world, it must be better than I found it.

 

REDUCING INTERCITY BUS TRAVELS IN GHANA: AN IMPLICATION FOR A ROBUST TRANSPORT POLICY

Transport is a fundamental part of every nation’s economy, allowing people to travel to and from work, and ensuring that goods and services are effectively delivered. Intercity bus service thus plays a critical role in transporting residents, especially people who do not have cars, cannot drive, or choose not to drive.

On the other hand, it has also been argued by some transport economists that intercity transit can have various costs, many of which tend to be overlooked or undervalued (Armstrong-Wright, 1993; Litman, 2016). For instance, Litman argues that traffic congestion, pollution imposed on non-users and accident risk imposed by transit vehicles are usually caused by intercity bus travels. Transport infrastructure of many nations are now coming under significant and multiple pressures due to urbanization, rising global populations and environmental challenges. It is estimated that about 3 million people move into cities every week and that soon there will be nearly 2 billion cars in use in the world, placing pressure on already stretched transport infrastructures.

In Ghana, cities perform several higher order functions; hence people commute to these cities daily to engage in all forms of activities. As a result, large volumes of intercity buses use the National highways (N routes) daily. However, the increasing number of buses on these corridors (N routes) can be seen to have several disadvantages. These shortcomings are made manifest through long queues and waiting time at bus terminals, long journey time, high bus fares, road accidents, traffic congestion, deterioration of road surface, rising maintenance cost of vehicles, high fuel consumption and adverse environmental effects (including CO₂ emissions).

In spite of the foregoing challenges, it appears very little has been done to tackle the shortcomings in a comprehensive manner. Mulligan (2014) has stated that the efforts are usually concerned with expanding road infrastructure. This has often come at the expense of public transport services and severely congested roads have been the result.

An alternative solution worth considering is the role of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in reducing intercity bus travel. Empirical studies conducted by ANOKS Research have confirmed that many intercity bus travel purposes could be reduced through the use of ICT. Shrivastava (2012) alludes to this assertion by stating that ICT could play a vital role in bringing the vision for convenient, joined up, multi-modal sustainable mobility to reality. For instance, ICT can facilitate travel demand reduction through video-conferencing and telepresence systems, net meetings, voice over internet protocol systems such as Skype and Hotmail messenger which now include video facilities, facilities to enable home or remote working (including work hubs), shopping ordered from and delivered to homes, and even via synthetic environments.

ICT should therefore be seen as an enabling tool within a wider transport policy framework designed to create sustainable travel behaviours. There should therefore be an evolution of a more ICT oriented and comprehensive approach adopted to formulate transport policies generally aimed at solving urban transport problems.

My name is Kofi Anokye, a development enthusiast, and by the time I leave this world, it must be better than I found it. Brains, not natural resources, develop a nation!

THE NON-USE OF FOOTBRIDGES IN AFRICA: MOVING THE DEBATE FROM PROBLEMS TO SOLUTIONS

INTRODUCTION:

One of the most salient aspects of Africa is its unfortunate traffic situation and the reasons are numerous and diverse (Sabet, 2013). According to Asian Development Bank (2011), accompanying the increase in Africa’s population has been a rise in the number of vehicles on the road. Unfortunately, transport infrastructure has failed to keep up with this dramatic growth; and perhaps more importantly, the existing infrastructure is often poorly planned or introduced after development occurs. The rapid increase in the number of motor vehicles on highways has created a major social problem - the loss of lives through road accidents. The appalling human misery and the serious economic loss caused by road accidents along highways demand the attention and calls for a solution to the problem. 

 

Road accidents claim many lives every year and most of these accidents involve pedestrians. This finding is supported by Sabet (2013) that in low to middle income countries in particular, pedestrians and cyclists account for the major proportion of road traffic injuries. The effect of the high number of pedestrian injuries in low to middle income countries includes not only the physical consequences of disablement and death, but also carries a psychosocial burden of trauma for both the victims and their families (Peden et al., 2004). Moreover, the economic impact on a broader societal level clearly identifies pedestrian injury as a serious public health concern and intervention in this area as a major challenge.

These road accidents can be lessened by providing pedestrian crossing facilities coupled with strict enforcement to ensure that the facilities are put into use in addition to creating public awareness through civic education. In this regard, a contributing factor in facilitating the flow of pedestrian movement is creating over/underpass. Pedestrian bridges (footbridges) can address real or perceived safety issues and can represent one of the most important elements of a community’s non-motorized transportation network (Manjanja, 2013).

According to Hasan and Napiah (2014), accidents between pedestrians and vehicles were studied in terms of minimizing conflict between these two modes while maintaining the continuous free motor traffic flow and the safety environment for pedestrians who are the most vulnerable road users. Therefore, the classic approach to pedestrian safety improvements is the separation from vehicles either by space or time. A way to achieve that is by grade separation built either above or below the street level. Accordingly, such physical changes to the environment can significantly decrease the rate of pedestrian-vehicle crashes (Retting et al., 2003).

Pedestrian bridges are provided at locations where high vehicle speeds and heavy traffic volumes take place, where there are hazardous pedestrian crossing conditions like in areas where there are few or no gaps in the traffic stream, conflicts between motorists and pedestrians and in locations where large numbers of school children cross busy streets. The construction of footbridges at hazardous road locations is gradually increasing in Africa. In countries such as Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania, governments have provided a considerable number of footbridges on various major highways so as to ensure safe crossing of pedestrians and to reduce existing pedestrians and vehicular conflicts.

SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS:

In the words of Hasan and Napiah (2014), footbridge is one of the safest pedestrian crossing facilities, yet most often pedestrian do not use it, and prefer to cross the road on the surface. International research in low to middle income countries have shown that pedestrian safety interventions are underutilised. Despite the high number of pedestrian deaths and the construction of a number of footbridges in African countries such as Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania, pedestrians in these countries still opt to risk their lives in crossing the roads (Ojo et al., 2022; Hassan et al., 2020). 

It is indicated by Zegeer (2002) that if a pedestrian can find more direct route and same or less time to cross at street level, the usage of the footbridge will be decreased, and the risk probability will be increased. Manjanja (2013) has explained that the non-use of footbridges is among the major reasons for mishaps on the city streets. And yet despite the severity of the problem, traffic laws go largely unenforced, creating an environment whereby drivers and pedestrians can act without concern for legal consequences. 

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS FROM CASE STUDIES:

     This section looks at key findings on footbridge facility in some selected African countries including Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana and South Africa.

     (1) The new approaches of urban and transportation planning are being aimed to facilitate pedestrian movement and improve the quality of spaces denoted specifically to pedestrians recently. 

     (2) Footbridges are popular but often ineffective. The footbridge as a facility is to separate pedestrian from motor vehicle traffic. Though theoretically true, but in practice this rarely occurs for several reasons such as:  

     (i) Bridges are so expensive, and cannot be built at most locations where pedestrians may prefer to cross.

     (ii) Many pedestrians will not walk extra distance in their trip, and because of the accessible ramps which will increase the distance, they will cross at grade level. 

     (3) Despite the high number of fatalities, despite the obvious risks, and despite conclusive evidence of the problem, pedestrians might not take even simple steps that are fully within their control to improve their safety. 

     (4) The structural design of the footbridge has a great effect on the usage of it; therefore, it should comply with the recommended standards designs. The main factors hindering the effective usage of the facility include security, time constraints, tiredness, dizziness, inadequate facilities to support disabled, aged people and the sick. 

     (5) Some pedestrians preferred signalized crossing to bridges and underpasses and that was mainly because of the ascending and descending movements required on these facilities and the effort involved in climbing a grade which is resulted from the vertical dimension of the stairs slope. 

      (6) In Kenya, there has been fencing along sides of the street or in the median for several hundred feet on either side of the grade-separated crossing to raise the efficiency of the usage. The existence of the fence on both sides of the street plays an important role in preventing pedestrians from jaywalking, especially if it is built in continually shape with no spaces, and for long and convenient distance. 

     (7) Studies contend that the decision to use a pedestrian bridge is not so much the product of risk  assessments or probabilities, but of simple habit. From this perspective, those that have used a  footbridge in the past are more likely to use it in the future and those who cross the street dangerously in today are more likely to do the same tomorrow.  As such, past behaviour will be the best predictor of footbridge use. 

     (8) Footbridges are generally made to provide pedestrians a safe route to cross roads. However, the occurrences of accidents and jaywalking in Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana and South Africa prove that footbridges are underutilized by pedestrians in these countries.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS:

     Based on the findings of the study, the following solutions have been provided to enhance and sustain footbridge usage by pedestrians. 

     (1) Adopt user-friendly designs for the benefit of all persons (pedestrians). Thus, footbridges should be user friendly. The criteria for user friendliness are:

• The design of footbridges should be modified to accommodate the disabled, aged people, the sick and cycle traffic.
•  Footbridges should be free from all commercial and other activities.
• All footbridges should be free of any billboard or ads of any form.
• Good access to footbridges is a must. Good access means convenient approach to the footbridges without any encumbrance. For example, an appropriate location for a footbridge should be near a bus stop. Location consideration should be a priority.
• Footbridges should be aesthetically beautiful and well maintained.
• Footbridges should have security lighting for pedestrians.
• There should be police patrol during the night especially for the covered footbridges. 

      (2) Fencing the road dividers and the footpath are the effective method to direct the pedestrians towards the footbridges. Fencing the road dividers and awareness campaigns for the pedestrians and vehicles operators should be promoted to ensure safe road crossing.

     (3) Public education and awareness campaign for use of footbridges should be organized. Education and public relation program must be conveyed to people so that they are aware of current law enforcement on footbridge uses.

     (4) Pedestrian safety measures must take cognisance of the local context of perceived and real crime, poverty and increased urbanisation and adopt a multidimensional approach. The focus on educational interventions must widen to include engineering measures that recognise pedestrians as significant road users.

     (5) City authorities must pay attention on building footbridges that not only serve the real needs but encourage the use by pedestrians. Feasibility studies should focus on pedestrians’ behavioural characteristics and attitudes in order to determine the right, safe and efficient footbridge designs and locations.

CONCLUSION:

The study concludes that much remains to be done on footbridges in their construction technology so as to attract more pedestrians and cyclists to use the facility effectively. The study envisages that the use rate is likely to improve if safety benefits and convenience of using the footbridge without considerable time loss are clearly visible to pedestrians. On the other hand, the challenge of getting pedestrians to use footbridges will fail when there is absence of sustained planning, improved infrastructure, enforcement and educational efforts.

 

REFERENCES:

Asian Development Bank (2011). Sector assessment: Transport. Country Partnership Strategy: Bangladesh 2011-2015. Asian Development Bank.

Hasan, R. A., and Napiah, M. B. (2014). The Effect of Structure and Street Characteristics on the Footbridge Usage. Journal of Applied Science and Agriculture, 9(21) Special 2014, Pages: 52-59.

Hasan, R., Oviedo-Trespalacios, O., Napiah, M. (2020). An intercept study of footbridge users and non-users in Malaysia. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 73, 66–79. doi:10.1016/j.trf.2020.05.011. 

Manjanja, R.A. (2013). Non-Usage of Pedestrian Footbridges in Kenya: The Case of Uthiru Pedestrian Footbridge on Waiyaki Way. School of Engineering of University of Nairobi.

Ojo, T. K., Appiah, A. B., Obiri-Yeboah, A., Adebanji, A. O., Donkor, P., Mock, C. (2020). An intercept survey of the use and non-use of footbridges in Ghana. Case Studies on Transport Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cstp.2022.05.016.

Peden M., McGee, K., and Sharma, G. (2002). The injury chart book: A graphical overview of the global burden of injuries. Geneva, World Health Organization.

Retting, R.A., S.A. Ferguson, and A.T. Mccartt (2003). A review of evidence-based traffic engineering measures designed to reduce pedestrian-motor vehicle crashes. American Journal of Public Health, 93: 1456-1463.

Sabet, D.M. (2013). Fear Is Not Enough: Testing the impact of risk on pedestrian behaviour in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Center for Enterprise Society.

Zegeer, C. S. (2002). Pedestrian Facilities Users Guide: Providing Safety and Mibility-Publication No. FHWA-RD-01-102. New York, U.S. Department of Transport, Federal Highway Administration.