[ 2014-10-23 ]

Economist, govt, shred Afrobarometer report
An economist at the University of Cape Coast and
government have raised serious reservations about
the true representation of Ghana’s economic
situation as revealed by the latest Afrobarometer
report.

Dr John Gatsi of the University of Cape Coast
suggested on Joy FM’s Top Story, Wednesday, that
the report is incoherent.

The research was conducted from May to June this
year in the heat of the country’s downturn and
at a time when there was a general consensus that
the economy was challenged.

“It is very important to have a research of this
kind at least for people to express how they feel
about the economy, but there are some few issues
that I think need more clarifications… if you
conduct this kind of research, during the time
that everybody including the president has agreed
that there is serious economy difficulty then one
would wonder whether it is a true reflection of
what people really want to say,” he analysed.

Under such circumstance, the researchers should
have gone the extra mile to find out if the people
identified with the interventions government
claimed it has put in place to address the
challenges, he recommended.

A research of such nature, the respondents’
background or the level of understanding of the
issues at stake is also vital, Dr. Gatsi
submitted.

He also identified some mismatches in the answers
provided by the respondents, which the researchers
used to conclude that the country is going in the
wrong direction.

“I do not know the indicators that they used to
give that conclusion, because if you look at
macro-economic indicators such as the economy, 72%
says it is very bad, but when you come to what is
very important for Ghanaians only 18% are talking
about economic management, and only 12% are
talking about electricity.

Further shredding the report, Deputy Minister of
Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu questioned the
representativeness of the 2,400 respondents when
the country’s population is a little over 25
million.

Though he said government “values feedback and
respects the views of Ghanaians”, he was quick
to rebuff claims that the country is moving in the
wrong direction.

He observed that “nearly a third of the
respondents” were sampled from two regions –
Ashanti and Eastern -, the strongholds of the
opposition.

Mr. Kwakye Ofosu also insisted that it was “not
accurate” to pass such a verdict about the
economy because the challenges which persisted
when the survey was conducted do not exist now.

“If you look at the period within which the
survey was conducted, May to June, that was the
period we were having difficulties with the
exchange rate, the cedi has taken a nosedive
against major international trading currencies.

“Since then, the cedi has made a remarkable
(recovery). And over the last month or so has
gained nearly 20% in its value, so surely the
factors that would have informed the responses
that came do not exist currently, therefore a
different response would be elicited if such a
survey was conducted [today].”

Source - MyjoyOnline

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