The National Democratic Congress (NDC), the largest opposition party, has criticised the government's newly launched Performance Tracker, arguing that it is unnecessary in the face of the economic hardships being experienced by Ghanaians.

The government unveiled the Performance Tracker on Wednesday, April 10, at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), aiming to enhance transparency and accountability in infrastructure projects execution.

Works and Housing Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, who introduced the tracker, emphasised its role in addressing concerns about project accuracy and reliability, particularly in depicting project outcomes through an artist impression.

• Read also: Government’s Performance Tracker will promote transparency and accountability – Oppong Nkrumah

Mr Nkrumah explained that the tracker builds upon the foundation of the Delivery Tracker introduced by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in 2020.

He described the tracker as factual, credible, and accurate, aiming to showcase the progress and impact of infrastructure projects, and thus foster trust among citizens.

"The conversation on roads, you will find about 11,974.96 kilometres of road constructed and rehabilitated from 2017 to 2020. That is a hundred and fifty-eight per cent increase over the 2009 and 2016 metre set.”

"Job created between 2017 and June 2023, when this data was put together, is a little over two million. So two million and eighty-seven thousand and it will tell you the source of the data coming from SSNIT. So SSNIT is the one providing this data. For every data set that is uploaded, the source will be made available."

However, Mustapha Gbande, Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, has dismissed the tracker's importance.

• Read also: Ghanaians need infrastructure, not a tracker – Thomas Anaba

In an interview with Citi FM on Thursday, April 11, Mr Gbande criticised the government, suggesting that their focus should be on assessing the damage they've caused to the country rather than launching trackers.

He accused the government of failing the masses and lacking meaningful solutions to address their suffering.

• Read also: We will expose falsehoods in government’s Performance Tracker – Kofi Adams

“How will the performance [tracker] impact the ordinary Ghanaian who has not eaten in the last 24 hours? How would that impact the life of an old lady who is helpless but cannot get health care and government intervention?”

"Today we are back to cash and carry in terms of infrastructure. They want to present what they have captured on a performance tracker that does not reflect what is on the ground," he said.