Northern Ghana 'poor' despite NGOs presence
Ghana's northern region is known for
the concentration of NGOs located there. But despite this strong presence of
aid organizations, the region continues to be plagued with endemic poverty.
All the NGOs that come to northern
Ghana come with one perceived mission: to serve the people and help them fight
poverty. But despite this, poverty is on the increase. Sociologist Alhaji
Mohammed Saani is critical of NGO activities, describing them as "giving someone something with your left
hand and taking it back with your right hand." Many residents are now
doubtful about accepting NGO projects in their communities.
Asana Mohammed owns a beauty hair
salon in Ghana's northern capital, Tamale. She told DW that for her, as for
many other small business owners around Tamale, it was not an easy task to set
up her own business. "I was moving from house to house and the schools to
plait hair. I went everywhere in my community just to get customers. That's how
I started," Mohammed said.
Northern Ghana is host to more than
half of Ghana's nongovernmental organizations. All of them have a common vision
of helping communities tackle topical problems including poverty by assisting
locals in starting economically viable and sustainable projects. But according
to hair stylist Mohammed, none of those NGOs came to her aid. "I have
never been helped by any organization. I struggled to start this business,"
Mohammed said. She said it was her parents who contributed and helped her.
"We only hear that the NGOs help
people but you hardly ever see it."
Role of NGOs questioned
Mohammed Ali Ibrahim, 42, is a bee
keeper in Tamale. The way NGOs operate sometimes raises more questions than
answers. "If for example you and I decide we are going to run a particular
program or business or a project and then 80 percent goes into paying staff and
running the machines and running what have you…and somewhere less than 20
percent goes into the core business, the business makes no sense," Ali
Ibrahim said.
On the outskirts of Tamale where
traffic makes its way into the city from the south, dozens of signposts
belonging to various NGOs are displayed to welcome people into the northern
capital
Though considered Ghana's
breadbasket, northern Ghana remains largely poor
Many of these NGOs have been around
for more than a decade, but there's little impact to be seen on the ground,
Saani told DW. "The resources that are received from donors could have
been used in other ways with more tangible results to show that poverty had
been significantly reduced. Maybe too much money goes into administration,
rather than to those projects meant for poverty alleviation."
Need for transparency
Many communities in Ghana have lost
trust in NGOs because of a general failure to meet expectations and achieve
results. Hafsat Sey Sumani, head of programs at NORSAC, an organization that
advocates for the basic rights of women, youth and marginalized groups, has
defended his organization but said that more needs to be done.
"We [NORSAC] openly discuss with our
stakeholders how much we have received for a project," Sey Sumani told DW.
"Once it has been openly discussed, this is the budget, this is what we
are supposed to work with, and then we move along with whatever we have agreed
on."
For sociologist Saani, the issue of
NGOs operating without transparency or accountability is one of the reasons why
there has been an erosion of trust.
"Once the money has been given on our
behalf, we have the responsibility to ask questions. How is it being spent to
our benefit? Be open, be transparent."
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