TECHNOLOGY IN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

 By Mawutodzi K. Abissath

DOUBTLESSLY, Africa is one of the wealthiest continents on this planet of abundance in terms of natural minerals sources such  as gold, diamond, uranium, steel, iron, bauxite, copper, as well as oil and natural" gas. Yet Africa is characterised as a poor, hopeless and helpless continent in terms of .hunger," disease, famine, starvation, wars, conflicts and aimless refugees, roaming in the empty forests of the bountiful continent.

On the eve of March 6,1957 when Osagyefo Dr Kwarne Nkrumah proclaimed the independence of Ghana, one other important statement he made among others was that the new nation was poised to prove to the rest of the world that, "the BLACK MAN IS CAPABLE OF MANAGING HIS OWN AFFA'IRS." This was a wonderful proclamation, so to speak. Interestingly, however, almost all the regimes both military and  civilian that ruled Ghana after Nkrumah have cast accusations and counter accusations of mismanagement against one another.

In fact, almost all African leaders have been accused of mismanaging the resources of the continent hence the sorry and messy state of affairs we are swimming in. The question this writer is tempted to pose is the ‘Blackman capable of managing his own affairs’? But don't forget that a Black man in the person of Mr Kofi Annan of Ghana is the virtual president of the world at the moment anyway.

While I leave the reader to meditate upon the above query, it is imperative to point out that

Information and Communication Technology (ICT), especially Timeware technology has now

made it possible for every nation to effectively and efficiently manage its human and material

resources for its own benefit for the advancement of mankind. And Ghana cannot stand and stare. In other words, with Timeware Technology, the Blackman has no excuse to mismanage his affairs in the 21st Century any longer Ghana, one of the most resourceful countries in the world.  

Ghana would not have found herself in the class of Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HlPC) if the nation's human and material resources had not been mismanaged over the years. Whether we like it or not, Ghana is reported to be indebted to the tune of over ¢4 trillion. When the United Nations Agencies in Ghana recently called on the President, Mr. John  Agyekum Kufuor to pledge their support for the new administration, the President was reported to have told them that Ghana did not join HIPC as a political trick or gimmick but as an opportunity to take a breather to pursue medium and long term target. "Man must be practical, so we took HIPC as a reality and must work to turn the situation round", said the President.

In fact he added there is “no pride in declaring oneself poor." It is the considered view of this writer that if Ghana can adopt Timeware Technology in the personnel, time, and resource management in government business, the nation will go a long way and will soon declassified itself from the abominable HIPC. The crux of the matter is that there is too much waste in government business or the public sector.

There are so many ghost names on government pay rolls in various sectors of the economy such as Education, Health, Agriculture, CEPS, IRS and others mentioned in the recent World Bank Survey on corruption in Ghana. Modern technology can help government check some malfeasance and corrupt practices that had caused administration waste as far as salaries and wages are concerned.

Using   Timeware Technology in personnel management in ministries, departments and agencies (MDA) can help Government reduce expenditure or minimise financial crimes.  For instance, if we take a ministry of 500 staff nationwide on average. Then everyday each worker reports for duty for 10 minutes late. It implies that government is "losing 10mn times 500 making 5000 minutes in all for lateness.  And 5000 minutes is equal to about, 80 hours if you divide it by 60 minutes. And if you divide 80 hours by 24 it gives you approximately three days and some hours. In short on the average that ministry loses three days on each working day.

If you multiply three days by 22 working days of the months it makes 66 working days lost in a

month. Meanwhile, all the 500 workers will receive their salaries at the end of the month. Even if government’s minimum daily wage is pegged at ¢4,000 it means that that particular ministry is paying ¢4000 times 66 making a total of ¢264.000 to workers for no work done. And if you multiply that amount by the number of ministries, departments, agencies and other sub vented organisations that are paid from the Consolidated Fund and you will see how much government money is being wasted for no work done.

Apart from money being thrown in the drains, production and productivity are sacrificed on the altar of lateness, truancy, pilfering, and all kinds of negative work ethics to the detriment of the economic prosperity of the country.

One concrete solution to this problem the writer will like to recommend is for government to take a critical look at the resource management of the economy both human and material by adopting a modern technology such as Timeware Technology to revolutionalise the labour sector for the advancement of the nation.

The author works with Information Services Department (ISD) abissath@gmail.com

NB: This article was first published by the Daily Graphic on April 25, 2001.