“Look Before You Leap”: Lessons from Urban Water Sector Reforms in Ghana

Zaato, Joshua Jebuntie

doi:10.1177/0021909614541077

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…The government took over the management of GWCL at that time. The Aqua Vitens Rand Limited experience was robbed of weak due diligence, poor planning and poor contract negotiation (Zaato, 2015). The Aqua Vitens Rand Limited experience made the World Bank, one of the big financiers to emphasise profitability, cost efficiency goals, privatisation and full cost recovery for urban water supply projects (Amenga-Etego and Grusky, 2005; Addo, 2020).…”

Section: Literature Review 21 Management Of Urban Water Supplymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Developing a framework for effective institutional management of Ghana's urban water supply

Aigbavboa,

Addo,

Ebekozien

et al. 2023

IJBPA

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PurposeA viable framework has been proven to reduce operational and institutional inefficiencies in the urban water supply sector. The absence of drivers necessary to develop a framework may have hindered institutional development and effective Ghanaian urban water supply management. Thus, the research aims to identify the drivers and develop a framework for effectively managing the urban water supply in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachThe study utilised a qualitative research design approach and analysed collected data to proffer answers to the research questions. The research sampled 19 participants, and saturation was achieved.FindingsFindings identified drivers for developing Ghana's urban water supply framework. They categorised them into the availability of water supply resources, the level of professionalism of the personnel, the provision of accessible quality water, the efficient management system of water supply, prudent financial management, ethics for managing water supply and the culture of managing water supply. These pertinent constructs form components of Ghana's urban water sector framework.Originality/valueBesides supporting transformation and sustainability to develop a framework for managing Ghana's urban water supply sector, policymakers may utilise the developed model to evaluate public urban water supply compliance with Ghana's water sector performance.

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Section: Literature Review 21 Management Of Urban Water Supplymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is one of the gaps the study will fill. In Ghana, Zaato (2015) studied surrounding contract termination issues. Several studies focused on issues enhancing contract termination (Atarah, 2015; Hirvi and Whitfield, 2015; Suleiman and Khakee, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing a framework for effective institutional management of Ghana's urban water supply

Aigbavboa,

Addo,

Ebekozien

et al. 2023

IJBPA

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Transparency here, "refers to the availability of relevant information in adequate portions and in easily accessible forms to concerned stakeholders so that they can make informed decisions" (Zaato, 2014, p.692). Even the World Bank projects, the annual evaluation, and the Transaction Advisors reports were shrouded in secrecy by the agent (the government) (Zaato, 2014). Mvulirwenande et al (2019) argue that there were ineffective dialogue and communication between the principal (citizens) and the agent (government), especially during the contractual agreement.…”

Section: Implication For Policy and Accountabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Anatomy of the Privatization of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in Ghana: Implication for Policy and Accountability

Danso

2019

JPAG

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With the administrative and operational functions of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) becoming increasingly complex and sophisticated among developing countries by the 1980s, privatization was recommended by the IMF/World Bank as a remedy to these institutional deficiencies . This is contingent on the neoclassical debate that private ownership rather than public ownership of management and operations of SOEs results in prudent policy process and accountability. Therefore, this study sought to assess the validity of this assertion by employing the Principal-Agent theory in assessing the level of accountability between the citizens (principal) and the government (agent) during private ownership of service delivery. As a qualitative study, this paper adopts unobtrusive content analysis of an empirical study of the privatization of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL). The government (agent) under the Principal-Agent theory is to ensure that the private operator, Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL) respects the terms of divestiture, while upholding the principles of accountability. However, the findings of the study suggest that the failure of government (agent) to uphold core accountability mechanisms such as transparency, accessibility to information, sense of ownership, responsiveness, and conformity to established monitoring and evaluation measures, contributed to the inability to achieve key performance targets, leading to the unsuccessful policy outcome of the privatization contract. This paper, therefore, argues that the failure to adopt accountability mechanisms in the divestiture of SOEs will inevitably compromise administrative policy outcomes.

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“…GOG (2015) asserted that two-third of urban residents depend on water vendors and neighbours for their water supply. Studies such as Khatri and Vairavamoorthy (2007), Zaato (2015) and Egan and Agyemang (2019) found that several urban water interventions in Ghana failed with little or no attention to the institutional landscape and stakeholders' engagement in the development and implementation phases. This is because most of the encumbrances may be attributed to operational and institutional inefficiencies of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) (Egan and Agyemang, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Appraising institutional management of urban water supply in Ghana: the role of the stakeholders

Aigbavboa,

Addo,

Ebekozien

et al. 2023

JFM

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Purpose Access to clean drinking water is a major encumbrance in developing countries. In Ghana, urban water supply is below internationally recognised standards, especially among the urban poor, sub-urban and rural communities. Stakeholders and institutional inefficiencies may be hindrances facing the Ghanaian water supply process. Therefore, this study aims to appraise the motivational factors and outcome of stakeholders’ engagement and identify the factors that influence effective institutional management of urban water supply in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach Sequential exploratory mixed methods were adopted and analysed to proffer answers to the research questions. Nineteen participants and 521 respondents were sampled for the qualitative and quantitative phases. Findings Findings reveal that the institutional processes and stakeholder engagement significantly influence the effectiveness of the management of urban water supply in Ghana. Findings identified 35 motivational factors and categorised them into the health of the population, socio-economic, technological and innovation trends, policy reform and adaptive governance. Also, the 22 institutional factors identified were categorised into three groups: regulatory framework, ethics for managing water supply and the culture of managing water supply. Originality/value Besides the study addressing the theoretical gap regarding which variables are germane in influencing the effective management of urban water supply, the study may be among the top studies that have appraised the role of stakeholders in the institutional management of urban water supply in Ghana.

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“Look Before You Leap”: Lessons from Urban Water Sector Reforms in Ghana

Cited by 7 publications

References 27 publications

Developing a framework for effective institutional management of Ghana's urban water supply

Developing a framework for effective institutional management of Ghana's urban water supply

Anatomy of the Privatization of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) in Ghana: Implication for Policy and Accountability

Appraising institutional management of urban water supply in Ghana: the role of the stakeholders

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