The findings of the study was presented in the form of a strategic plan for ministry to stakeholders at a validation meeting Tuesday at the West African Regional Communications Infrastructure (Warcip) building on Kairaba Avenue. It was conducted by Emanic Consulting and presented by Mr Dominic Mendy, a former finance minister.
The study found that “the erosion of institutional memory is not suitable for effective planning and institutional evolution.” This trend has also made it impossible to sustain gains that have been registered under the tenure of each of those top officials.
“These are institutional challenges; there is no effective senior management team (SMT) at the ministry. The ministry, even though it sits on the board of each of the satellite institutions such as Gamtel, Gamcel, GRTS, Gambia Printing and Publishing Corporation and Gampost, has no control over them,” Mr Mendy told the stakeholders.
He cited an example in which his said consulting job even took longer than it is supposed to, simply because the ministry despite writing to these institutions to meet with the consultants, did not receive a positive response from them. “Letters issued to satellite institutions to discuss with us issues that are strategic to them did not yield any positive response. They did not show any willingness to share any information with us even though this consultation process is critical to the planning,” Mr Mendy explained, arguing that “until we start planning, we have not begun predetermining our future.”
He made reference to US president, Barack Obama’s famous quote when he addressed the Ghana’s parliament that “Africa doesn’t need strong men but strong institutions.”
The Emanic Consulting study provided “gaps and challenges” confronting the effective operation of the ministry, as well as its strengths and opportunities. It rounded up with a series of recommendations, each of which received a critical feedback and debate during the validation process.
He argued: “Take for example, there is no information available at the Ministry of Information and Communication Infrastructure about strategic or business plans of any of the satellite institutions under it even though they existed. No one at the ministry could provide any information about these. So whose plans are they implementing [when it is the ministry that is the overall executive head of their institutions]? “
He also found that Gampost, even though an institution under the ministry, was not even captured in the 2010-2014 strategic plan that just expired, and that over two-thirds of the outlined goals and objectives of the said business plan “were not implementable” over the stated period.
By Sanna Camara
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