Ghana’s socio-economic development challenges are not beyond solution, but who sits at the decision-making table could be the missing link. This is the view of Charles Kwesi Mensa, a management consultant with Trust Consult.
Charles Mensah is advocating for a revolution in the country’s leadership composition.
The consultant believes that to drive the needed socio-economic development, the country must deliberately and intentionally reserve at least 30% of cabinet, board, and municipal leadership positions for engineers.
The Case for Engineers in Governance
According to Charles Mensa, engineers bring a skillset that Ghana desperately needs at the policy level. Unlike lawyers, marketers, or career politicians, who dominate Ghana’s leadership spaces, engineers are trained problem solvers, systems thinkers, and execution-driven professionals.
“Imagine if 30% of our leaders were engineers. We would have smarter infrastructure, sharper cost–benefit analysis, and a culture of maintenance instead of waste,” Mensa argued.
He believes Ghana’s tendency to sideline technocrats in favor of political loyalists or communicators has slowed progress on systemic issues such as poor road networks, industrial inefficiency, and the lack of sustained infrastructure upkeep.
Lessons from the Asian Miracle
Charles Kwesi Mensa, to further justify his argument, pointed to Asia’s economic transformation as proof of concept.
He cited that Singapore deliberately staffed ministries with engineers “because engineers make things work.”
Also, South Korea and China, he said, elevated technocrats into leadership, which directly fueled their industrialization and infrastructure boom.
For him, these countries didn’t get lucky. Their “miraculous economic transformation, he said, was made possible by deliberate choices to put technical minds at the helm. This is why they moved from poverty to prosperity in just a few decades.
A Call for Balance, Not Exclusion
Mensa was quick to clarify that his call is not to replace lawyers or communicators but to strike a balance. He believes the country needs all voices, but the technical voice, which is needed currently, is missing.
For the next 10–15 years, he is challenging the country to boldly experiment with technocratic leadership, insisting that the results will surprise us.
Why It Matters for Ghana Today
The proposal comes at a time when Ghanaians are grappling with ballooning infrastructure costs, weak industrial output, and poor maintenance culture. For ordinary citizens, the idea can be relatable given the core function of engineers.
If engineers can design resilient bridges and efficient systems, why can’t they apply the same discipline to governance?
Charles Mensa says the time is now for the country to reframe and reset its leadership composition to reflect the socio-economic needs.
