Honorary Vice President of IMANI Africa, Bright Simons has bemoaned the alarming decline in death registrations in the country despite the much-touted digitalization agenda by the government.
Bright Simons cannot fathom why with the much-touted agenda to improve the country’s system through digitalization, death registration remains alarmingly low posing a threat to proper governance, public health, and socio-economic development.
Government strategies, he says are ineffective in prioritizing such important data.
According to Bright Simons, while birth registrations in Ghana have improved significantly since the 1970s, rising from 26% in 1974 to approximately 80% today, death registrations have not followed the same trajectory.
In 1974, only 22% of deaths were registered, and by 2020, this figure shockingly declined to just 17%. In 2022, the rate dropped to 12%, before recovering slightly to 16% in 2023.
This sharp decline over the years, he says has occurred despite the millions of dollars spent on high-profile digitalization projects aimed at improving the system.
He attributes the situation to a “lack of incentive” for death certificates while birth certificates have become increasingly important for identity verification, travel arrangements and other official matters. However, death certificates have been relegated since they’re rarely required for burials, probate and inheritance purposes.
“Currently in Ghana, death certificates aren’t very useful. Even for burial sites, many don’t bother to demand them. Most Ghanaians still don’t leave estates or make wills that then require relatives to get death certificates for probate & inheritance purposes,” Bright Simons noted.
He continued that, “Yet, since 2018, the impression has been created that big digitalisation projects can dramatically change things. Millions have been spent on vans, bikes, pickups, computers, & PR. UNDP & World Bank programs like HISWAP & eTransform have been tapped for funds to support these procurements.
“Yet, while birth registrations have followed their natural trend to about 80% of all births today, death registrations have actually FALLEN,” he added.
Some data experts argue that the consequences of this declining rate of death registrations are profound. Without accurate death records, the government struggles to manage critical data that could inform public policy, health planning, and national security. Furthermore, it hinders transparency and accountability in the allocation of resources for social services and infrastructure.
With this, Bright Simons is urging Ghanaians to look beyond the public grand displays of governments and concentrate on the impact and essence to hold them accountable.
