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By Lord Fiifi Quayle

For decades, the story of our national development has been punctuated by two frustrating refrains: the ghost of abandoned projects and the scandal of end-year spending sprees. We have all seen them, the hospital blocks without roofs, the roads that end abruptly in the bush, the dusty tractors purchased in a hurry every December. It has often felt like a tragic cycle, where good intentions and scarce resources are sacrificed at the altar of poor planning and fiscal indiscipline.

This cycle, however, may finally be breaking. From the corridors of the Ministry of Finance, a quiet revolution is underway, one that promises to reshape how every cedi of our public money is spent. It is built on two powerful, yet simple, ideas: you cannot start what you cannot afford, andyou cannot budget for what does not fit the national plan.

The first, and most potent, weapon in this new arsenal is the Commitment Authorization, or the Commitment Certificate. Imagine this: an MDA has its project beautifully captured in the annual budget. In the past, this was an automatic green light to call for tenders and sign contracts. No longer. Today, they must go, cap in hand, to the Finance Ministry to receive a physical certificate before they can even begin to engage a contractor.

This is a masterstroke. Why? It gives the Finance Minister real-time control over the government’s fiscal pulse. It prevents a scenario where ten different MDAs simultaneously commit to ten mega projects, suddenly realizing we have the budgetary approval but not the actual cash, forcing us into expensive debt or creating a cascade of stalled projects. More importantly, it allows the Ministry to insist, “Finish the hospital you started last year before we authorize you to break ground on a new office block.” This single policy, if enforced without fear or favour, could be the death knell for the abandoned projects that litter our nation.

The second crucial reform is the push to enshrine the Inclusivity Certificate into law. Currently a compliance tool, this requires every MDA to get a certificate from the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) confirming that their proposed project is aligned with the national development plan before it can even be budgeted for.

Think of it as a strategic filter. It answers the simple question: “Does this project help us become the country we say we want to be?” It stops a Ministry from budgeting for a marble floored headquarters when the national plan prioritizes rural clinics and farm to market roads. If there’s no certificate, the project is unceremoniously struck out during budget preparation. By making this a law, we move it from a suggestion that can be bent by political influence to an immutable rule of public finance. It forces all of us to row in the same strategic direction.

Now, consider the corrosive culture of end-year waste. We are all familiar with the December rush: the frantic, often panicked, spending because MDAs fear that unspent funds will lead to reduced allocations the following year. This “use-it-or-lose-it” insanity has been the single biggest driver of procurement corruption and waste. We buy overpriced stationery, award contracts for unnecessary supplies, all in a mad dash to empty our accounts.

The beautiful synergy of the two certificates is that they surgically remove this tumour. The Finance Ministry, through the Commitment Authorization, can simply refuse to issue certificates for last-minute, frivolous spending. And since the Inclusivity Certificate ensures that only planned, strategic projects are in the budget, it becomes much harder for an MDA to invent a dubious project to soak up excess cash. The message is clear: it is better to return unspent money for national savings or reallocation than to waste it on a phantom purchase.

Of course, scepticism is healthy. Will there be the political will to deny a powerful Minister their pet project? Could the Commitment Certificate become a new bureaucratic bottleneck? These are real risks. But for the first time in a long time, we have a coherent framework for discipline, not just rhetoric.

These policies represent a monumental shift from reactive spending to proactive, strategic investment. They are not just accounting rules; they are the bedrock of the modern, prosperous Ghana we aspire to build. It is a promise of a future where our projects are completed, our budgets are credible, and our resources are channelled into transformative development, not down the drain of waste. Let us support this fiscal discipline, hold our leaders accountable to it, and finally break free from the cycles of the past. The dawn of a new fiscal era is here; let us ensure it does not set.

GHANA IS WORKING AGAIN