Interview with Mr. Bernard Akanbang from TREND, Ghana

Sascha de Graaf (2006)

Summary of the interview

What is the most valuable lesson you’ve learned so far (either from your work or from the symposium) about strengthening capacity for local governance in WASH?

In the water sector in Ghana, where decentralisation is taking place, there is a need for capacity development at the level of those who have the responsibility of providing water and sanitation to communities. In 1994 we embarked on a reform, leading to a national water and sanitation programme. Capacity development became a key ingredient in this programme. It aims at developing the capacity of the organisations, especially the district assemblies, which have the responsibility to provide water to the communities.

Capacity development can be seen in terms of three dimensions: institutional development, i.e. providing an enabling environment for the district assemblies to provide the services; organisational development, i.e. clarity in terms of rules and responsibilities; and human resources development, i.e. giving people the skills to be able to deliver the services.

The most important lesson for me is that these three dimensions are not single activities, but that they are inter-related. And we need to ensure that we do not concentrate on only one of these dimensions. I was involved in training district water and sanitation teams that monitor the performance of water and sanitation committees and boards that are responsible for managing water in small town schemes. In the beginning of the session we asked the participants to tell us about their fears and expectations. It turned out that their fears concerned not just the training but also the enabling environment that they need to put their skills in practice. This included, for instance, logistics such as fuel, vehicles, transport allowances etc. So you can’t just train people, you also have to look at the environment.

What is the most important thing that sector staff should keep in mind in the context of strengthening capacity for local governance?

Capacity development is not a one-off activity, but a process. And there is a need to develop an inter-relationship between the three dimensions I mentioned before. We need to ensure that capacity development is imbedded in existing institutions. Often, separate project management support units are established to support capacity development activities. After a project has ended, in most cases these units are dismantled and the existing institutions have to carry on the capacity development activities. So instead of establishing these separate units, capacity development should be imbedded in the institutions who continue to run programmes and projects. I think that the Learning Alliance approach is one of the ways to help ensure this. In Learning Alliances there is both horizontal sharing of knowledge, information and experiences among institutions within a particular district and vertical sharing where information also reaches regional levels and government, where the possibility exists of influencing policies that may create an enabling environment.

What does ‘strengthening capacity for local governance’ mean for you in practice? Has it changed or will it change the way you (or your organisation) work(s)? If so, how?

Capacity development will strengthen the way we work. It will change our values, work attitudes and the way we do things. I had the opportunity to study outside my home country and see the way other people were doing things. When I got back to my own country and organisation, I was a model: the way I worked influenced other people and they started to change the way they did things. So capacity building will change your attitude, will influence the people around you, will change your organisation and your environment and lead to integral development.

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