Water supply governance in Accra: authentic or symbolic

This paper uses a governance theory framework to analyse the introductory process for the private sector managing and operating the public water utility Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL). The analysis was performed from three standpoints: process inputs, process conduct and process outcomes. The co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inWater policy Vol. 12; no. 2; pp. 272 - 289
Main Authors SULEIMAN, Lina, CARS, Göran
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London International Water Association 01.01.2010
IWA Publishing
Subjects
Applied sciences
Authenticity
Buildings. Public works
Civil engineering and architecture
CIVIL-SOCIETY
Compromises
Consultation
Distribution. Storage
Exact sciences and technology
Frameworks
GHANA
Governance
Interest groups
Participation
Private sector
Privatisation
Public waters
Samhällsbyggnadsteknik och arkitektur
SOCIAL INNOVATION
STATE
STRATEGIES
TECHNOLOGY
TEKNIKVETENSKAP
Vattenteknik
Water authorities
Water engineering
Water shortages
Water supply
Water supply. Pipings. Water treatment
Water utilities
Water utility
Ghana
Africa
Policy
Water management
Methodology
Theory
Water utility
Water supply
Process
Reform
Governance
Privatisation
Public utilities
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Summary:This paper uses a governance theory framework to analyse the introductory process for the private sector managing and operating the public water utility Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL). The analysis was performed from three standpoints: process inputs, process conduct and process outcomes. The consultation process on involvement of the private sector was hostile and resulted in a “light” form of private sector participation in the form of a management contract that can be considered a de facto compromise, although not deliberate, by stakeholders. The challenges in improving the water sector performance and water supply services are profound. Because of continuing institutional, social, political and legal constraints, the involvement of the private sector per se is not the solution to providing long-term improvement in water services. The article concludes that it is misleading to leapfrog from government to governance, calling for the transmission of a governance “recipe”, as conceptualised in the Western context, and to assume that it can work in an unaccommodating institutional context.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ISSN:1366-7017
1996-9759
1996-9759
DOI:10.2166/wp.2009.162