In pursuit of technical need or political compromise: Reforms of public financial management practices in Ghana’s health sector.

Abstract

Purpose – The major question posed in this paper is whether public finance management (PFM) reforms undertaken by development partners (DPs) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Ghana were to find solutions to the many PFM challenges or it was merely a façade to pursue latent political interest?

Methodology – Study information was gathered via a desk review of major PFM policy documents, procedures, manuals, guidelines, and findings of commissioned studies covering the period under review. Information generated from the desk review was triangulated via extensive interviews with a sample of policy makers from MOH and DPs.

Findings – The findings suggest that MOH and DPs pursued reforms mostly to address the PFM challenges in the sector. Additionally, the study finds questionable the attitude and posture of the two actors and calls for further investigations to unearth what the said attitude and posture may imply in terms of intentions.

Originality/value – The findings raises fundamental question regarding public sector – DPs collaborations in executing reforms. This could open up new frontiers for further research to better understand DPs/public sector collaboration in the implementation of reforms.

Limitations – The sample used for this study may constrain generalization to other jurisdiction. This limitation does not in any case invalidate the conclusions arrived at.