Dr Joe Abbey & Kwame Pianim clash over statistics

Two leading Ghanaian economists, Dr Joe Abbey and Mr Kwame Pianim last Monday engaged in an exchange of words over the performance of the Statistical Service of Ghana.

The bone of contention centred on what some experts perceived as in-accurate economic statistics churched out by the Statistical Service from time to time. The occasion was the launching of the Ghana Economic Review and Outlook 2002 compiled by the Centre for Policy Analysis (CEPA)

The Executive Director of CEPA Dr Joe Abbey who was the lead discussed on the economic outlook for the year 2002 made unsavoury remarks about the Statistical Service, accusing the service of giving out wrong figure about the performance of the economy.

He said although inflation is said to be going down, Ghanaians should be told what is actually driving it down. Citing the Statistical Service announcement that prices of certain commodities dropped April 2002 Dr Abbey said. We need to know what happened or what caused that”, adding “we need to make sure of the quality of the statistics we put out”.

Dr Abbey who was part of the Economic Planning team between 1983 and 1996 when Ghana implemented the Structural Adjustment and Economic Recovery Programmes said International Monetary Fund (IMF) has of late been complaining about the quality of Ghana’s statistics issued by the Statistical Service.

In a swift a reaction to Dr Abbey’s assertions, Kwame Pianim, one of the country’s top economic brains called for public support for the Statistical Service instead of the rush to crucify it. “Get worried when become cynical about statistics from the Statistical Service,” Pianim lamented. He said if statistics from the Service are inaccurate, it is not deliberate.

“We should help to improve the quality of data, we need to make the process sustainable and stop being cynical about Service”. Pianim who had Presidential ambition in 1996 said there is the need to make the process of data collection in the country sustainable and of a better quality.

In a reaction to a statement by Dr Abbey that the NPP enjoyed ‘Democracy dividend-‘ which reflected in debt payment deferment, grants and reduction of prices by Ghanaian traders Pianim said the economy is not an autopilot. In Pianim’s view the government could have mismanaged the entire ‘democracy dividend’ in which case nothing positive would have accrued to the economy within such a short time.

Dr Abbey who could not contain Pianim’s response fought back to the podium and emphasised his earlier point that what the IMF about statistics form Ghana was quite embarrassing. It is professionally incompetent for any statistician to give statistics lying outside of its range, he said. Dr Abbey apologised for his alleged cynicism but said it is the responsibility of any one who gives data to also interpret the data. He said the International Community has punished Ghana for given economy.

“Perhaps it is not just a matter of cynicism but also anger,” he said adding I am raising this issue for public debated, I am sorry”. An official of the statistical service Paul Ntim who sat through the exchanges admitted that the performance of the service is not up to expectation and urged government and other stakeholders provide the service with logistics to improve their data collection mechanism.

Economist S.K. Apea, formerly of Ghana Commercial Bank and the Institute of Economic Affair was of the opinion that the capacity of the workers of the Statistical Service has to be improved. “We have seen this problem for years, if it continues, it means we are not doing anything about It.”