Sometimes the most important conversations do not happen in boardrooms or conferences.
They happen at the dinner table.
A few evenings ago, my wife and I were watching the news. The Minister for Roads and Highways was visiting road construction sites, inspecting the quality of work and checking the progress of projects across the country.
As we watched, I turned to her and asked a simple question.
“Why does a whole Minister have to inspect roads? Aren’t there engineers and civil servants employed to do exactly this?”
That question led us into a much deeper conversation, not just about roads, but about the quality of Ghana’s public service, the recurring floods in our cities, illegal buildings on waterways, and the growing feeling that too many public institutions only work when political leaders are physically present.
Our discussion soon moved beyond roads. We realised we were really talking about systems.
When Leaders Become Inspectors
I have great respect for Ministers who take the time to visit project sites. Leadership requires visibility, and citizens want to know that those entrusted with public office care about results.
At the same time, I found myself wondering whether this is the best use of a Minister’s time.
A Minister should be setting policy, providing strategic direction, removing bottlenecks and ensuring accountability across an entire sector.
A Minister should not have to confirm whether concrete has been mixed correctly, whether drainage has been properly constructed, or whether a contractor is following engineering specifications.
That is why we have engineers.
That is why we have project managers.
That is why we have regional and district officers.
That is why we have an entire public service.
When a Minister repeatedly finds himself performing functions that should ordinarily be carried out by technical officers, perhaps the issue is not the Minister.
Perhaps the issue is the system.
Where Are the Professionals?
This question kept coming back to me.
Where are the engineers?
Where are the inspectors?
Where are the quantity surveyors?
Where are the clerks of works?
Where are the technical officers whose responsibility it is to monitor quality every single day?
This is not to suggest they do not exist.
Many highly qualified and committed professionals serve Ghana with integrity every day.
Some of the brightest engineers, planners and administrators I know work in the public service.
So why does it often feel as though the system depends on political office holders to ensure that basic standards are maintained?
That is the question we should be asking.
The Floods Tell the Same Story
Our conversation soon shifted to another issue that has troubled Ghana for decades.
Flooding.
Every rainy season, we witness the same heartbreaking scenes.
Homes destroyed.
Lives lost.
Businesses submerged.
Roads rendered impassable.
Almost immediately, familiar questions begin to surface.
Who allowed buildings to be constructed on waterways?
Who approved developments in wetlands?
Who failed to enforce planning regulations?
Those questions have been asked for years.
Yet every year, the problem returns.
Again, I found myself asking whether this is really a flooding problem.
Or is it another public service problem?
Rules Mean Nothing Without Enforcement
Ghana does not lack laws.
We have planning regulations.
We have environmental protection laws.
We have building codes.
We have institutions responsible for physical planning, land administration, environmental management and local governance.
The challenge is rarely the absence of rules.
The challenge is applying them consistently.
When permits are issued for developments that should never have been approved, something has already gone wrong.
When illegal structures remain untouched for years until disaster strikes, something has already gone wrong.
When enforcement depends on public outrage rather than routine professional practice, something has already gone wrong.
Is It Capacity or Something Deeper?
As my wife and I continued talking, another question emerged.
Is this simply a capacity problem?
Do our institutions genuinely lack enough qualified professionals?
Or are there deeper issues at play?
Is it political interference?
Is it weak accountability?
Is it corruption?
Is it conflicts of interest?
Is it fear of challenging powerful individuals?
Is it poor incentives?
Or has mediocrity gradually become normal?
The answer is probably not one thing.
Several factors appear to reinforce one another, creating a system where good people often struggle to do good work.
That is what makes systems problems so difficult to solve.
Public Service Is More Than Employment
One thing I have learnt over the years is that public service is not simply about having a government job.
It is about stewardship.
It is about recognising that every decision affects millions of people you may never meet.
A road that is poorly supervised today may cause accidents tomorrow.
A drainage system that is poorly designed today may destroy homes next year.
An illegal permit issued today may contribute to lives being lost during the next heavy rainfall.
Public service is therefore not merely administrative work.
It is a public trust.
We Need Strong Institutions, Not Constant Supervision
One of Ghana’s greatest strengths is the quality of its people.
We have talented engineers.
Excellent planners.
Competent architects.
Dedicated environmental officers.
Committed civil servants.
The real challenge is creating institutions where these professionals are empowered to do their work without unnecessary interference.
Professional judgement should matter.
Technical advice should be respected.
Standards should be enforced regardless of who the contractor is or who made the phone call.
A strong public service should not require a Minister to constantly verify whether people are doing the jobs they were employed to do.
Perhaps We Are Asking the Wrong Question
Many people ask why roads deteriorate so quickly.
Why floods keep occurring.
Why public infrastructure often fails.
These are important questions.
Perhaps there is an even better one.
How do we build a public service where excellence becomes routine rather than exceptional?
How do we create institutions where accountability is embedded in the system instead of depending on the personality of a Minister?
How do we build a culture where civil servants are empowered to act professionally, even when doing so may be politically inconvenient?
Those are the questions that deserve our attention.
The Road Ahead
Our conversation ended with a simple but powerful reflection.
The issue is not whether the Minister should inspect roads.
Sometimes leaders need to be present.
The bigger question is why the system appears to need the Minister in order to function effectively.
That is the conversation Ghana needs to have.
Roads are not built with asphalt and concrete alone.
They are built with integrity.
Floods are not caused only by heavy rain.
They are also the result of failures in planning, enforcement and accountability.
Ultimately, the quality of our roads, our cities and our public services will never rise above the quality of the institutions responsible for delivering them.
If we want a different Ghana, we must invest not only in infrastructure but also in the professionalism, integrity and systems that make good infrastructure possible.
Perhaps that is where real transformation begins.
