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Local Government and Decentralisation in Ghana
Developments since the publication of the First Edition of this book in 2010 have compelled the revision and publication of this Second Edition.
In 2011, the Fifth Government of the Fourth Republic launched a new ‘National Decentralisation Policy Framework’ (NDPF 1) and an accompanying National Decentralisation Action Plan’ (NDAP 1). The Local Government Service was operationalised in the same year, resulting in the migration of over 30,000 civil servants from the Civil Service to the Local Government Service.
Prior to these, the Local Government Departments of District Assemblies) (Commencement) Instrument, 2009, L.1. 1961, had been enacted, allowing for the conversion of the de concentrated Departments at the district level into devolved Departments of the District Assemblies. The Local Government (Urban, Zonal and Town Councils and Unit Committees) (Establishment) Instrument, L.1. 1967, was enacted in 2010. The long-awaited Composite Budget was introduced in 2012.
With the expiry of the NDPF 1/NDAP I in 2014, a new NDPF 11/NDAP 11 was launched in 2015 for the period 2015-2019.
A new Local Government (Sub-Metropolitan District Councils of Metropolitan Assemblies (SMDCs)) (Establishment, Composition and Functions) Instrument, 2015. 11. 2223, was enacted to provide for uniform composition and functions for the SMDCs in all the six Metropolitan Assemblies.
A National Development Planning (System) Regulations, 2016, enacted to support the National Development Planning and Act, 1994, 148. A Land Use and Spatial Planning Act, 2016, Act 925, was passed to establish a Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority and to devolve the Department of Country Planning to the MMDAs.
The disparate laws on local government were consolidated into one Local Governance Act, 2016, Act 936. A new Sports Act 2016, Act 934 and a new decentralised National Youth Authority Act 939 were also enacted.
It is these reforms that the Second Edition of the book has sought to capture, in addition to some elaborations on some of the theoretical underpinnings of local government and decentralisation in Ghana. The sections of Acton Civil Society Organisations and Non-State Actors and Women in Local Governance have been improved. Some aspects of the proposals of the Constitutional Review Commission on local government and decentralisation have been used. Some textual changes have also been made.
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A Rose Among Thorns
Born on 17th September 1952 in Sakyikrom near Nsawam in Ghana’s Eastern Region, Dr. (Mrs.) Felicia Boateng Danquah (nee Akotua) is the third of five children born to her parents, Mr. Jonas Akotua and Mrs. Clara Akotua.
Due to her father’s regular transfers arising out of his employment with the Ghana Health Service, she was educated in different parts of the country, including Walewale and Bolgatanga, before entering the Komenda Teacher Training College (as it was then), where she trained as a teacher. She worked for some time with the Ghana Education Service as a teacher before going into business full-time.
A devoted Christian and Vice President of Jofel Catering Services in Kumasi, Dr. (Mrs) Danquah is married to Lt. Gen. J B Danquah, Ghana’s Chief of Defence Staff from 2005 to 2009 and President of Jofel. The couple have six children.
The year 2022 serves as a confluence of an important trilogy in Dr (Mrs.) Danquah’s life − her 70th birthday anniversary, the 50th anniversary of her marriage and the 40th anniversary of Jofel, one of the most iconic institutional names in Kumasi and an undoubted leader in the catering and hospitality business in the city and beyond.
In this fascinating, yet simple, easy-to-read publication to mark these important landmarks in her life, the author recalls her early childhood experiences and family, particularly her mother Clara, who she adores, and shares the story of Jofel and its evolution to what it is today.
She also shares her perspectives on the values she treasures that she believes have helped her enormously in her Christian faith, her marriage and family, and in building an award-winning business with the support of her family, among others.
A Rose Among Thorns speaks to the challenges of life that most of us can identify with and seek inspiration from in the knowledge that our lives can flourish like the rose even among the thorns of life with God as our helper and beacon.
₵150.00A Rose Among Thorns
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Failing To Win: Hard-Earned Lessons from a Purpose-Driven Startup
In 2009, Canadian entrepreneur Mike Quinn packed his backpack and moved to Lusaka, Zambia on a mission to find African entrepreneurs building scalable, high-impact businesses. There he stumbled across two South African brothers who had founded a business to help unbanked smallholder farmers receive mobile payments in a market where cash was king. After convincing his retired parents to mortgage their house and lend him $100,000, Mike joined as a co-founder of Zoona and became CEO for nine of the next ten years.
With his partners, Mike built a network of more than 3,000 entrepreneur agents across Zambia and Malawi that enabled millions of unbanked consumers to send and receive $2.5-billion in money transfers and remittances. Headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa, Zoona raised over $35-million of venture investment and operated on the leading edge of Africa’s emerging fintech ecosystem.
Mike’s remarkable story gives a rare and honest glimpse into the workings of a pioneering African startup through the lens of a purpose-driven entrepreneur who went “all in”. Zoona faced tremendous adversity along the way: currency crises, investment round collapses, ruthless pushback from the major mobile network operators, and a continuous internal struggle to discover and execute a growth strategy that matched the company’s billion-dollar ambition. It was by failing to win that Mike learned what entrepreneurship is all about, and it was what motivated him to double down and try again.
“This raw, honest account is a must-read for anyone thinking about starting a company and for every entrepreneur who feels alone in the journey.” — Elizabeth Yin, Co-Founder & General Partner of Hustle Fund
“Startups are hard. Most people understand this. However, most people don’t understand why. Mike’s story is a rare glimpse into how challenges present themselves — and ultimately how to overcome.” — Matt Flannery, Co-Founder of Kiva & Branch
“In a rare look behind the scenes, Mike shares a vivid picture of the other side of leadership we don’t talk about enough. As he aptly describes ‘founding, failing and winning’, this book highlights the risk of taking that all-important first step, embracing failure and ensuring you learn the transformative lessons critical to success as an entrepreneurial leader.” — Fred Swaniker, Founder of African Leadership Group
“This story is a gift for entrepreneurs and indeed anyone wanting to learn about the first generation of African fintechs that paved the way for future companies to thrive.” — Katlego Maphai, Co-Founder & CEO of Yoco
“Mike’s humility, resilience and depth of knowledge of how to build a pan-African business are unique, and his testimony of experience is an important short history of the fintech boom on the continent.” — Elizabeth Rossiello, Founder & CEO of AZA
“Failing To Win is a captivating account of an incredibly talented and unusually forthright entrepreneur who built an ambitious purpose-led company that started in Zambia. At Oxford I have taught the Zoona case study to countless MBA students to show how fundamental principles of entrepreneurship can be meaningfully applied in a novel context. It just takes courageous and smart individuals who are not afraid of failing (in order) to win.” — Thomas Hellmann, DP World Professor of Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Oxford’s Saïd Business School
“Innovation has gone global, and is transforming people’s lives around the world. But startups are risky. Sometimes they scale and sometimes they fail. In Failing To Win, Mike shares insightful lessons from his journey at Zoona about what it takes to operate with integrity, impact and inspiration in the new Frontier of Innovation.” — Alex Lazarow, Author of Out-Innovate: How global entrepreneurs – from Delhi to Detroit – are rewriting the rules of Silicon Valley
₵145.00 – ₵160.00Failing To Win: Hard-Earned Lessons from a Purpose-Driven Startup
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Decentralisation Reforms in Ghana: The Experiences of the Fifth and Sixth Governments of the Fourth Republic
What were the decentralisation reforms? What did they consist of? What were their origins? Who authorised them? What were their outcomes? What Impact have they had on the local governance and decentralisation landscape In Ghana?
The answer to the first question is that they were new initiatives and innovations designed to accelerate the pace of and improve upon decentralisation implementation in Ghana.
The answer to the second question is that they consisted of a National Decentralisation Policy Framework and a National Decentralisation Action Plan I (2010-2014) and II (2015-2019), an Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Decentralisation (IMCC), an expansion in the number of districts, a consolidated Local Governance Act, a re-branding of the Office of the Head of Local Government Service, the operationalisation of the Local Government Service and the introduction of a system of Inter-Service/Inter-Sectoral Collaboration and Cooperation. It also covered the enactment of National Development Planning (System) Regulations and a Land Use and Spatial Planning Act, the introduction of a Regional Integrated Budget System (RIBS) and blueprints for an Inter-Governmental Fiscal Framework (IGFF) and an Inter-Governmental Fiscal Transfer (IGFT) system.
The answer to the third question is that the reforms were traceable to the 2008 manifesto of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the party which won the Presidential and Parliamentary elections of 2008 and 2012 and therefore formed the Fifth and Sixth Governments of the Fourth Republic.
The answer to the fourth question is that the reforms were authorised by Presidents John Evans Atta Mills and John Dramani Mahama who successively were Presidents of the Fifth and Sixth Governments of the Fourth Republic.
The answer to the fifth question about outcomes is the new structures, procedures and processes for decentralisation implementation, the improved quality of human resources in the local government sector, and the more efficient systems of checks and balances in the sector.
The answer to the sixth question lies in the District Assemblies (MMDAs), the better service delivery by the Metropolitan, Municipal and of service delivery, the renewed interest in local governance by the citizenry and the claro Si rate reforms such as the elections of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDC Wand making the MMDAs partisan.
These and answers to other questions posed by the reforms are answered in this book by the two people who should know, namely, the authors Professor Kwamena Ahwoi and Dr Callistus Mahama.
Professor Kwamena Ahwoi is the longest-serving Minister of Local Government and Rural Development in Ghana (1988-2000). He was the Chairman of the High Level Strategic Task Force that produced the Decentralisation Policy Frameworks and Action Plans, He chaired the Legislative Review Task Force that resulted in the enactment of the Local Governance Act, 2016, Act 936 and was consultant to both the Ministry of Local Government and the IMCC during the period.
Dr. Callistus Mahama was a member of the High Level Strategic Task Force, a member of the Legislative Review Task Force, the Executive Coordinator of the IMCC and the Head of the Local Government Service during the period.
The two authors therefore write from a position of knowledge and experience and this is reflected in the contents of the book.
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Africa in Search of Prosperity
Africa is a major player in global economic engineering. It is also a great development partner, a vital player in the economies of Asian nations who are eager to explore long awaited market possibilities that it presents by forging alliances with hi-growth emerging economies in Africa.
This new economic order is shifting the developmental narratives as Africa’s rich potential market has become more attractive with a population of nearly one billion.
The author of this book is a long time transnational business executive. Although he indicates a level of despair at times, he is quite hopeful of Africa’s prospects. His lived experience as an economist and policy advisor to Presidents, is reflected in these essays that address developmental issues from the colonial economy with those of the new states.
In this, the author uses the experience of Ghana as an example and a site for an analytical perspective. He examines and writes about the issues of natural resource exploration, the oil economy, human skills and also looks at the vital factors of education, religion and the attendant attitudes to development.
₵200.00Africa in Search of Prosperity
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Banking Management and Operations
Banking books commonly focus on the management of the bank and its financial statement. Such books are specialized reading for students of bank management or administration.
This book, ‘Banking Management and Operations ‘, do not ‘teach’ banking; it rather elicits some of the weaknesses and challenges in banking management and practices that relate to their day-to-day transformation. It, therefore, suggests sacred considerations for added efficiency by tightening the loose screws in operations and management practices. It looks at the need for customer protection, satisfaction, and customer confidence which have become more crucial. This is critical in 21st-century business practices which sometimes assume that high fliers, profit rankers, spectacular achievers; or words, attitudes, and actions of Management and Personnel are conducted with honesty and goodness.
Let us remember that for every credibility gap, there is a gullibility filled with miscreants hovering around them.
The book provides simple professional tools to integrate specific functional thoughts in banking operations and management in one shell. It also forewarns practitioners, students, and consumers that banking business threats are like growing viruses in all forms, in the face of rising financial crime waves, cybercrime, money laundering and terrorist activities.
The two critical functions, management and banking operations have been selected to run through the book. They clearly identify with each chapter and show how their interplay can make things happen in order to meet strategic objectives or reasonably protect stakeholders.
The chapters cover a collection of banking concepts, relevant strategic management information requirements and related job functions that fit into bank specific enterprise risk management.
Clearly, identified and appropriate ICT application platforms products and services within banking legal framework and conventions are offered. The value propositions answer the question:
‘How do we protect customers’ monies and provide satisfying services to them.’
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The Consultant
**Available from 23 June, 2022
Consider this book the ultimate ‘How To’ compilation on a work area which has become extremely popular and lucrative in recent years — Consulting. The content of this book reflects the Author’s personal and professional consulting experience spanning over forty years, on work that has taken him to various African countries, the United Kingdom, the USA and Singapore.
This book’s primary objective is to share the experience of a seasoned professional to promote Consulting as a vocation. It can truly be described as a manual and a set of guidelines for all Consultants. It particularly targets aspiring and young practicing individuals in the field.
The Author, Dr. Joseph E. Bannerman, describes his work journey so far with his firm, Plan Consult, as exciting , full of dynamic encounters with a host of professionals from different backgrounds, government ministries, departments and organisations within both the public and private sector. His work has resulted in new and reviewed policies of various national sectors to the greater advantage of the beneficiaries of his expertise, of which he is most proud.
The structure of this book adopts a ‘Project Planning Approach’ which the author calls ‘The Consulting Cycle’ and reinforces its credentials as one’s go-to ‘How To’ directional guide on Consulting. The arrangement of the chapters reflect the rich life experiences of the Author and follows his journey step by step to organically take the reader through advancing progressively in their consulting career.
₵250.00The Consultant
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How to Raise Capital for your Start-up Business
The most important skill for every aspiring entrepreneur to develop is to be able to raise capital for your start-up business.
The book serves as a complementary knowledge in building this very important skill which will ultimately help to grow start-ups to big companies that will contribute to economic development.
This book also serves as a motivational book for this generation of both the young and old to continue to believe in their dreams of building start-up businesses, and apply this handy knowledge to raise capital.
The seven chapters book is built around the word CAPITAL for readers to easily recall the contents and apply them in the process of raising capital for start-ups.
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A Memoir of a Pragmatic Ghanaian Diplomat
A Memoir of a Pragmatic Ghanaian Diplomat has fulfilled one of the author’s dreams since joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Accra, in October 1974.
The book gives brief historical analyses of the Ga Adangme ethnic group of Ghana and Ghana as a former colony under British rule, 1844-1957. It traces the author’s early years and schooling, his undergraduate and post-graduate studies at the University of Ghana, Legon (1982-86 & 1989-90), as well as his studies at the University of Sierra-Leone (IPAM), Freetown (1992) and the China Foreign Affairs University, Beijing (2010).
The book touches on the author’s diplomatic career in Japan, the Russian Federation, the Czech Republic, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Great Socialist Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, where he served in various capacities, the last position being Minister, in Tripoli. It also depicts the author’s private life as a Chorister and Member of the Ghana Red Cross Society.
The book further deals with the author’s assignments as Deputy Director of Passports, Deputy Director of State Protocol Office and his attachment to the office of His Excellency Alhaji Aliu Mahama (of blessed memory), former Vice-President of the Republic of Ghana. The book chronicles other duties the author performed at the Foreign Ministry, Accra, namely, in Administration, Finance and Accounts, Inspectorate and Audit, Americas, Europe, Africa & Regional Integration, International Organisations and Conferences, Information and Linguistics, as well as Middle East and Asia Bureaux.
The book reviews risks, uncertainties and pressures in the Diplomatic Service and how to deal with them. It chronicles the rights, responsibilities and obligations of Diplomats, as well as the essence of doing things befitting the status of Diplomats.
In the penultimate chapter, the author makes a proposal for the establishment of a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Practical Training Institute in Acera to deal exclusively with practical diplomacy, diplomatic orientation and preparation of ambassadors-designate and officers for postings to Ghana Missions abroad, to ensure effectiveness, efficiency, professionalism and sense of curiosity in diplomatic assignments abroad and at home.
The author retired from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration in February 2011, having worked for almost 36 years – his last post in Accra being Director of the Middle East and Asia Bureau of the Foreign Ministry.
The author was married to Mrs. Dorothy Nana Ama Allotey (of blessed memory) and has four children: David, Mavis, Deborah and Ruth. Mr. Allotey’s book, Ghana’s Foreign Policy in Comparison with That of Japan and Russia Since 1960 is a good textbook for students of International Relations and Diplomacy and all who desire to understand the intricate workings of foreign policy and their effects on our daily lives.
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Knowledge Management and Network for Capacity Development: A Focus on Institute of Directors Ghana (Hardcover)
The book examines how directors in Ghana share tacit knowledge and experiences on the board. The rationale is that there is the tendency for boards In Ghana to lose tacit knowledge, experiences, skills and particularly up to date knowledge required to inform their decision making due to lack of practical knowledge management system for directors’ capacity development. The focus is to examine how the Institute of Directors Ghana (IODG) can manage knowledge with the view to tackling challenges leading to losing tacit knowledge, experiences, and skills of boards in Ghana.
The objective is to influence boards of organizations in Ghana to recognize and initiate knowledge management practices, as well as adopt policies that support the application of practical knowledge management systems and interpersonal networks for directors’ capacity development in Ghana.
The results revealed the existence of records of minutes of meetings indicating a latent existence of knowledge management system within organizations but not formalized as a knowledge management system. Also, significantly missing was technology for knowledge transformation.
The book recommends knowledge management systems backed by technology for acquiring and sharing directors’ knowledge for successful knowledge transformation.
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Courting Greatness: Non-negotiable Elements in the Dowry From Small Beginnings to Remarkable Heights
COURTING GREATNESS provides practical guidelines on how to optimize your potential.
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Igba-Boi: Repositioning the Igbo Apprenticeship System (Hardcover)
Igba-boi: Repositioning the Igbo Apprenticeship System highlights the entrepreneurial exploits of the Igbos of south-eastern Nigeria. Despite the globalisation-accentuated influence of western business culture, the Igbos have sustained their indigenous business system undergirded by an ingenious apprenticeship system, Igba-boi.
This apprenticeship system has existed in the Igboland for decades as an important heritage, embedded in cultural norms and values passed down for generations. The authors argue that the unique framework and rules of operation of this viable socioeconomic empowerment model will, if well-positioned, make significant contributions to the advancement of the boi/Nwa-boi (apprentice), the Oga (Master), the community (Ndi-Igbo) and the achievement of the country’s overall developmental goals.
Case studies of prominent and successful Igbo people in business feature in the book to illuminate our understanding of the system:
• President and Chairman, Coscharis Group – Application of Design Thinking to Igba-boi Business Model leading to extraordinary business success
• Chairman, E. Sunny Vespa International – Disruption of Motorcycle Engine Technology, key lessons and success story
• Chairman and Chief Executive, Chisco Group – Building an Empire on Integrity & Authenticity
• Chairman, Legacy Motors – Apprenticeship, Ndi-Igbos and ASPAMDA Market, Lagos
A timely, easy-to-read, valuable resource and reference text for scholars, practitioners and regulators interested in institutionalising a sustainable business model in Africa based on a tested indigenous apprenticeship system.
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A Developing Country’s Health System Challenges: Addressing Ghana’s ‘NO BED SYNDROME’
I am a Ghanaian trained doctor currently working in the United Kingdom’s National Health Service. My experience as a health service provider, medical practitioner in the private and public health sectors, and as a patient in Ghana has exposed me to various challenges faced in health care provision in a developing country like Ghana.
There have been high-profile cases of patients losing their lives because they haven’t been able to get emergency beds in Ghana. This phenomenon in Ghana has been called the ‘no bed syndrome.
Developing countries have more challenges with health financing, human resources, health infrastructure, information technology, emergency systems, public health, and patient empowerment.This Healthcare management and leadership book has taken four years to write and largely comprises my reflections on various challenges confronting Ghana’s health sector vis a vis my experiences in the United Kingdom.
This Health book seeks to proffer solutions to Ghana’s health system challenges and directly tackles the aged long problem of ‘no bed syndrome’ in Ghana.₵70.00 -
Gateway to a Criminal Justice System
Abron S. Touré, received a BA in Philosophy from Brandeis University in 1973, a BS Chemical Engineering Northeastern University in 1983, and MS in Administration from Boston University in 1991. He now resides in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he works as an author and real estate consultant.
I would to thank Dr. Kenneth Kipnis retired professor of philosophy University of Hawaii for his help and support and for introducing me to the subject of Plea Bargaining as an ethical concern. Would also like to thank my two dear friends, Alexander Aikens, JD retired banker and part-time Professor at Brandeis for his continued moral support. Special thanks to Ralph Martin, JD, former District Attorney Middlesex County Massachusetts, and Executive Vice President of Northeastern University for his explanations and expertise on the subject. Their comments helped me stay focused and cannot be understated. Finally, my sincere gratitude to the creative skills that went into making the artwork for the book jacket. Such skill and genius must not go unrecognized. Unfortunately, the name of the individual is Unknown!
Further, be mindful, when reading the text, much of the story is carried in the footnotes.
— The Author
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