Poor record keeping not good enough

Successive governments have tried to support the Public Records Administration and Archives Department (PRAAD) to play the frontline role in the documentation of national records.

A few years ago, the country could boast a very active public records office where records of activities relating to land, chieftaincy, governance and newspaper clippings could be located.

At that time, the PRAAD was so central to record-keeping in the country that members of the public looking for documents on specific issues were directed to the central records office. In those days, the records office did not let people down,  in line with its mandate.

Concerned with the poor record-keeping regime in the country, the government, about two years ago, initiated the process to update public records. We believe that process is ongoing, except that we appeal to the government to step up its efforts to improve record-keeping in the country.

It is sad that the poor record-keeping situation has been aggravated by the state of disrepair at the PRAAD. The state of neglect at PRAAD is not good enough and if we all acknowledge the need for records on public transactions to be properly stored, then the state ought to resource the PRAAD to discharge its responsibilities more effectively and efficiently.

In jurisdictions that are referred to as advanced economies, record-keeping is regarded as the critical driver of the development process.

In those countries, a tap on the mouse brings out all kinds of information that people require from service providers such as passport offices, driver and vehicle  licensing authorities, hospitals, media organisations and schools.

 Perhaps in a country where the provision of the basic needs of the people is still a headache, the government may not consider record-keeping as a top priority.

However, no nation has progressed by relegating information on its history to the background because the government needs to know what happened in the past to design necessary interventions to resolve problems of society.

Not too long ago, Ghana was rocked by reports on the payment of ‘gargantuan’ judgement debts to institutions and individuals for breach of contract. And to avoid the recurrence of the payment of judgement debts that the Auditor-General described as an ‘avoidable debts’, the government appointed the Sole Judgement Debt Commissioner to look into the matter.

At its sittings in recent times, the challenge of poor record-keeping has ‘popped up’, necessitating the adjournment of sittings.

This is because critical institutions such as the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the Bank of Ghana are unable to produce documents on judgement debt payments at the sittings.

The Daily Graphic thinks that the time has come for the government to take a critical look at record-keeping in the country and encourage all institutions to upgrade their record-keeping capabilities.

It is also important to put public documents in digital form, so that the burning of vital installations such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building will not be like the burning of a library where we lose all information.

That is why we need to retool the PRAAD now.