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Press Release
NPP, May 10, 2012
TOWARDS A STRONGER GHANA STATISTICAL SERVICE
Earlier today, the Ghana Statistical Service organised a press
conference to assert that the Service is credible, and that
their principles and methods for gathering and processing data
have not changed.
This defensiveness is unnecessary. The Ghana Statistical
Service, as a state institution, needs to receive feedback on
its work and use such feedback to improve its performance and
output. The GSS must not assume that any criticism of its work
is an attack on its credibility.
Dr Bawumia’s call for the nation to equip the GSS so that it
can improve what it does is nothing new.
The GSS may recall that on 5th July 2011, upon a request from
the policy desk of the NPP, it provided the prices the Service
had collected from markets across the country which they had
used for GSS’s inflation calculations. The data they provided
covered the first 5 months (January to May) of 2011. A look at
the data reveals some disturbing observations, two of which
are indicated below:
1. Prices of zero Ghana cedis (GH¢0.00).
18% of the prices from which the GSS calculated inflation
rates had been given as zero Ghana cedis (GH¢0.00). What this
means in practice is that those items are sold for free in the
markets. Some of the examples are as follows:
i. Kwahu Praso has 3 market-places from which prices are
taken. The price of maize (item code 002) at all the 3
market-places in each of the 5 months has been given as GH¢0.00.
ii. Ho has 6 market-places in the dataset. The price of local
rice (item code 005) at all the 6 market-places in each of the
5 months has been given as GH¢0.00.
iii. Koforidua has 6 market-places. The price of flour (item
code 009) at all the 6 market-places in each of the 5 months
has been given as GH¢0.00.
iv. Sefwi Bekwai has 3 market-places. The price of kenkey with
fried fish (item code 073) at all the 3 market-places in each
of the 5 months has been given as GH¢0.00.
v. Cape Coast and Kumasi have 6 market-places each. Property
tax (item code 149) at all their 6 market-places in each of
the 5 months has been given as GH¢0.00.
vi. In Sunyani, cost of construction & repairs (item code 151)
at all the 6 market-places in each of the 5 months has been
given as GH¢0.00.
vii. In Cape Coast, a gallon of Mobil oil (item code 218) at
all the 6 market-places in each of the 5 months has been given
as GH¢0.00.
viii. In Tumu, taxi fare for standard distance (item code 221)
at all the 3 marketplaces in each of the 5 months has been
given as GH¢0.00.
2. Missing items
17% of the prices from which the GSS calculated inflation
rates were completely missing from the dataset.
An examination of the data from Kumasi for example reveals
that some particular 16 prices were missing from 5 of the
market-places. Kumasi has 6 market-places. The 16 missing
prices are Fresh prawns (code 54), Ladies frock (code 120),
Electricity (code 152), Gas for cooking (code 153), Kerosene
(code
154), Water (code 158), Brand new Nissan Sunny car (code 213),
Petrol (code 217), Intercity bus fares (code 219), Standard
postage within Ghana (code 222), EMS charge within Ghana (code
223), Telephone charges (code 224), Daily
Graphic (code 227), Ghanaian Times (code 228), School fees in
state primary school per term (code 231), and Charges for text
books, equipment, PTA etc in basic school (code 235).
The NPP believes that it is the responsibility of the public
to help the Ghana Statistical Service improve its work. It is
in this spirit that we make these observations. We hope the
GSS will take the observations in good faith and take steps to
address them.
The suggestion that these errors have always been in GSS
inflation computations, and that neither the principle nor
methodology has changed is unhelpful. Irregularities, at
whatever time they are revealed, must be addressed.
The disparity between the inflation figures the GSS puts out
and the experience of ordinary people who visit the market is
disturbing for obvious reasons.
The NPP will continue to pay attention to the work of the
Ghana Statistical ervice and offer our comments where
necessary. More importantly, we will provide the GSS with more
logistical support so that they can deliver even more improved
services to the nation when we come into government.
Kwaku Kwarteng
Policy Advisor
0270 116 226
0244 838 735
DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM
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