Mahama must "walk the talk"... - Tony Aidoo

Barely two days after President Mahama issued a directive for all government bungalows to be connected to prepaid meters, Dr. Tony Aidoo says the directive can only be effective if it is monitored to the latter.

The Head of Policy Monitoring Evaluation and Oversight Unit at the Presidency believes that the directive is in the right direction describing it as “the much needed austerity measures and prudent management of government resources.”

Dr. Tony Aidoo said though metering government bungalows will help government to eradicate loop holes in electricity supply and payment, strengthening the monitoring unit at the presidency will make the directive a reality.

“Issuing the directive is one thing, enforcing the directive is another thing. Does the government have the capacity to enforce this directive to the expected effect? Most often, it doesn’t matter who is issuing the directive. Whether it’s from the presidency itself or from a governmental head, you find out that it is ignored with impunity… If you don’t have an effective monitoring unit, it becomes difficult”, he bewailed.

Speaking on Radio Gold’s current affairs programme Alhaji and Alhaji with Alhassan Suhuyini Saturday, Dr. Aidoo further stated that metering government bungalows alone cannot correct the rot in the public sector.

He said it is imperative to eradicate ghost names on the government payroll and reprimand corrupt public officials, as well as ensuring that persons due for retirement leave to enable the country get the utmost output.

“What we have over the years has been institutional biases because of the lackadaisical nature by which public workers behave…I would urge the president to walk the talk and ensure that the directive is followed to the latter”, he said.