City governance and poverty: The case of Kumasi

Environment and Urbanization

Volumn 12, Issue 1, 2000, Pages 123-136

  Devas, Nick ^a   Korboe, David ^b,c  

^a UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM   (United Kingdom)

^b KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY   (Ghana)

^c NONE   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DEMOCRATIZATION; GOVERNANCE APPROACH; POVERTY DETERMINANT; URBAN ECONOMY;

GHANA; KUMASI;

EID: 0034112576     PISSN: 09562478     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/095624780001200109     Document Type: Article

References (30)

1. This is a summary of one of nine city case studies prepared as part of a research programme on Urban Governance, Partnerships and Poverty, funded by the UK Department for International Development's ESCOR programme. This involved research teams in each of these cities and a coalition of UK-based research groups from the University of Birmingham, the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the University of Wales, Cardiff, and the London School of Economics. Summaries of other city case studies also feature in this edition of Environment and Urbanization. The full version of this study and other city case studies and also of theme papers may be obtained from the Publications Office, School of Public Policy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT,UK; tel: (44) 121414 5020, fax-. (44) 121 414 4969 or e-mail to: u.grant@bham.ac.uk. City case studies cost UK £10 each including postage) but are free to NGOs and teaching institutions in non-OECD countries.
2. The term Asante refers to the people and their culture, while the term Ashanti refers to the land they occupy.
3. Korboe, David, Kofi Diaw and Nick Devas (1999), Urban Governance, Partnerships and Poverty in Kumasi, University of Birmingham, International Development Department, page 8.
4. Korboe, David (1998), Handing Over the Stick, synthesized report on the Ghana Social Assessment, Accra, World Bank.
5. Abugre, Charles and Jeremy Holland (1998), Ghana: Water Sector Improvement Project: A Poverty Analysis in Support of Project Preparation in Kumasi, London, DFID.
6. World Bank (1995), Ghana Poverty Past, Present and Future, Population and Human Resources Division, West Central Africa Department, Africa Region, report No.14504-GH, p.v.
7. Korboe, David (1995), Extended Poverty Study (Participatory Poverty Assessment Phase 3): Access and Utilisation of Basic Social Services by the Poor in Ghana, Accra, UNICEF.
8. See reference 5, Box 1.
9. See reference 5, page 15.
10. Government of Ghana (1994), The New Local Government System, Accra, Ministry of Local Government. Although Kumasi is generally referred to as a district, its boundaries relate to the urban area and the elected assembly is the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly.
11. Crook, Richard C (1994) "Four years of the Ghana district assemblies in operation: decentralization democratization and administrative performance", Public Administration and Development Vol 14, page 345.
12. Although sitting allowances are not large, they are attractive enough for most people, especially when combined with the prestige of office and the possible opportunities for unofficial income.
13. In January 1999, the chief executive attempted to dissolve one of the sub-metros; Pioneer, 12 January 1999.
14. GLSS data for 1992 put the school enrolment rate in "other urban centres" as 72.2 per cent for males and 56.9 per cent of females. See Government of Ghana (1995), Ghana Living Standards Survey Round 3, Accra, Ghana Statistical Service, page 14.
15. GLSS Round 3 suggested that 99.3 per cent of Kumasi is served with piped water (see reference 14, page 51) but this figure is misleading since many do not have access to the network and, for many, the water source is too distant for regular access. See Rakodi, C (1996), "Opinions of health and water service users in Ghana", The Role of Government in Adjusting Economies, Paper 10, University of Birmingham, Development Administration Group.
16. Post, Johan (1995), "The problems and potentials of privatising solid waste management in Kumasi, Ghana", Habitat International, Vol 23 No 2, page 204.
17. Interestingly, at least one sub-metro has entered into management contracts with the new private operators of public toilets, both as a way of ensuring that services are managed properly and to recover some of the revenue which the sub-metro had previously generated from public toilets.
18. The speech by the regional minister, Ashanti, in January 1999 was deeply critical of the performance of KMA (quoted in Korboe, Diaw and Devas (1999), Annex 2B, see reference 3).
19. Korboe, David (1996), Poverty Profile of the Kumasi Metropolis: Report on the Aboabo and Appiadu Communities, Accra, Save the Children Fund, UK; also see reference 4.
20. See reference 3, page 52.
21. Cedis 500 is the official charge; it is widely acknowledged that there are unofficial charges as high as Cedis 5,000 levied by government clinics.
22. Officially, those reselling water at a GWSC public tap are supposed to charge Cedis 30 per bucket but there is no effective enforcement. GWSC's policy is not to increase the number of public taps, preferring to install house connections.
23. See reference 16, page 210.
24. Kasanga, R K (1991), Institutional/Legal Arrangements for Land Development, Urban Management Programme, Land Administration Centre, University of Science and Technology, Kumasi; also Blake, Barry et al. (1997), Kumasi Natural Resource Management Research Project: Inception Report, Chatham, Natural Resources Institute and Kumasi, UST.
25. Kasanga, R K (1991), Institutional/Legal Arrangements for Land Development, Urban Management Programme, Land Administration Centre, University of Science and Technology, Kumasi; also Blake, Barry et al. (1997), Kumasi Natural Resource Management Research Project: Inception Report, Chatham, Natural Resources Institute and Kumasi, UST.
26. For native Asantes, the tribute is - formally at least - in the form of drink and meat (two bottles of schnapps and a fatted sheep); for non-natives, it is paid as the monetary equivalent.
27. For non-Asantes, the cost of acquiring land is higher and they do not have the same access to a rent-free "family house" or the same opportunity to build an extension in the family compound, as do native Asantes. Thus, they are more likely to end up renting.
28. Korboe, David (1993), The Law-income Housing System in Kumasi: An Empirical Examination of Two Neighbourhoods, unpublished PhD thesis, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
29. See reference 27.
30. See reference 5, Section 4.3.1.2.