When silence is golden
By Kofi Akordor
Very few will dispute the fact that whatever comes out from the mouth in the form of words is not easy to retrieve. That was why the wise counsel that sometimes it is better to remain silent. This time, remaining silent is not a cautious step to avoid saying the wrong words; it is purely an economic decision necessitated by the Finance Minister, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu’s budget statement for next year in which he stated that those who liked talking more on their mobile phones would pay more to the government in the form of talking levies.
Governments everywhere have several ways of raising revenue through taxes, whether direct or indirect. Those on salaries will tell you that they pay monthly income tax on their salaries. The indirect taxes include those that consumers pay on goods and services. So if the government tells the world that it is going to raise tax on importers, what it means indirectly is that consumers are going to pay more. This is because every astute entrepreneur, after calculating his/her expenditure, which includes taxes, will fix prices on his/her goods and services taking into account all the components of the expenditure.
I am yet to see a businessman/woman who would want to make losses or reduce profits. So, naturally, the tax element is passed on to the consumer. What the Finance Minister is saying, therefore, is that apart from the taxes that the telecommunication service providers have passed on to service users, the government is going to adopt another strategy to collect more taxes from consumers.
I am not as worried about the government’s decision to raise more revenue for national development as I am about the reasons given to tax those who use mobile phones. The government, according to Mr Baah-Wiredu, is claiming that most mobile phone dealers evade tax by smuggling their merchandise into the country and, as a remedy for that, innocent consumers who are already paying taxes for using their mobile phones should pay for the negligence, inefficiency and corrupt practices of those who have been paid to make sure that uncustomed goods do not enter the country.
We already know what is happening to the Value Added Tax (VAT) Service, which is owed billions of cedis by business entities, and whether this additional tax on cellular phone users is not another way of making telecommunication service providers richer by sitting on the proposed tax deductions is another matter.
What about those who bought their phones from accredited agents who duly paid their import duties to the state? Should they also suffer as those who are using smuggled phones? Since the talking tax is premised on the fact that mobile phones are smuggled into the country wholesale, is the government going to abolish import tax on phones altogether so that we suffer the penalty by the payment of talking taxes?
A better excuse should, therefore, have been given, and, who knows, that could even have won support for the government from the general public. Many years ago, anytime the government wanted to increase the price of petroleum products, the excuse was that smugglers were sending the products to neighbouring countries where they were more expensive. In short, because of the activities of a few unscrupulous people, the whole nation had to suffer. Even in those days, some of us were not deceived. We knew a few gallons of kerosene carried across the border to Togo, Burkina Faso or Cote d’Ivoire could not warrant the Ghanaian taxpayer paying more for that commodity.
Today, we are using the same smuggling as an excuse to demand more from mobile phone users when the objective in several places is to make the use of mobile phones and the Internet as cheap and accessible to as many members of the population as possible. I am beginning to wonder what will happen if this kind of thinking is carried to its logical conclusion, as we commonly say here. This is because of the simple reason that every commodity, from toothpick from Vietnam, rice from Thailand, tomato from Burkina Faso, onions from Niger to vehicles from Canada, are smuggled into the country, most often with the connivance of those men and women who are paid from the sweat of the taxpayer to protect our borders.
Are car owners going to pay special taxes because importers of second-hand vehicles fail to pay the appropriate duties and taxes on them? According to the Justice Samuel Glenn Baddoo Committee which investigated the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), there are over 13,000 vehicles currently in the system which were not appropriately registered. Could these vehicles also have been hidden in passengers’ luggage or obscure corners of vehicles, as is the case with mobile phones? That means many bad things happen from the ports and other entry points to the vehicle registration and licensing centres and the officers responsible for these places cannot claim innocence. The solution, therefore, does not lie in adding more tax to the poor consumer but ensure better policing on the borders and punishing the smugglers and those who aid them to commit the crime.
Apart from VAT, there are many taxes that are in arrears or could not even be accounted for because the collecting agencies have failed in their duty, are unable to enforce the rules to the letter or cannot properly target those who should pay taxes.
There are many companies and individuals that are making billions in profits but who are not known to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The tax burden is, therefore, on public servants and a few companies. Why should the VAT Service and the IRS wait for companies to accumulate arrears running into billions of cedis before initiating action to retrieve what is duly owed the state?
In the Daily Graphic of Wednesday, November 28, 2007 is the story about the frustrations of the IRS to retrieve US$16.7 million owed it by the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) in unpaid taxes as of the end of last year. We can imagine how heavy the national kitty would be if the revenue collection agencies were performing their statutory functions to the optimum with dedication, commitment and maximum efficiency, devoid of corrupt tendencies.
So why should the state add to the tax burden of the populace when serious efforts are not made to collect existing ones? Or is it that those who want to discharge their civil obligations to the state should continue to suffer as a result, while the recalcitrant ones are allowed to escape with impunity?
When cellular phones were first introduced into the country, they were the preserve of a few rich ones. They were seen as status symbols which were displayed with pride at public functions. Today, cellular phones are everywhere. It is one area where the difference between the rich and the poor is not visibly clear. Go to the markets, the chop bars, the fitting shops, the schools, on the streets and in the dark alleys and corners of the towns and villages and you will find mobile phones everywhere.
Mobile phones have brought Ghanaians closer than before. They have actually given expression to the globalisation concept to even the ordinary person. They have removed the drudgery of travelling to one’s home town every weekend for the simplest of assignments when a simple call from a mobile-to-mobile set-up will do the trick.
In the case of a mechanical fault, it is convenient for a vehicle owner to send an SOS message to his mechanic and the problem is solved. If you are stranded or in some dire need for help, you just need to call a friend or a relative, and if you are lucky, help will come. If there is armed robbery in your area, the cellular phone will help to inform the police or other neighbours and a big catastrophe may be averted.
The benefits of the cellular phone are too many and too essential to mention and there is the temptation for the government to try to exploit this. But that should not be the case.
It will be futile propagating the gospel of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) development if the use of the cellular phone, which is an integral part of ICT, is made to become a burden on the ordinary person.
By all means the state must exploit all avenues to raise money for national development, but in doing so care must be taken not to break the necks of the citizenry. We must begin by blocking all the leakage, removing all the bottlenecks, roping in those who have so far succeeded in evading tax and sweeping the corrupt elements from the system.
The revenue collecting agencies should be up and doing and move fast against tax dodgers, while effective mechanisms are put in place to check those who sell uncustomed goods on the market.
For now, it is better we keep on talking and it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that service providers offer more efficient and cheaper services to customers than they are doing now and not to add to their woes. Our elders have a saying which loosely translates that not everything is eaten before the famine season is over. In other words, even at the peak of hunger, there is still the need to avoid eating certain things. We need funds all right, but that should not send us into desperation in such a manner that we begin to tax our very survival.
At least, in this matter of using cellular phones, silence is not the best option.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
our children or guinea pigs?
By Kofi Akordor
On the front page of the Tuesday, October 11, 2007 edition of one the nation’s newspapers was this rather distressing news that 50 percent of the pupils who sat this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) could not make the pass grades. The story said that out of the 320,255 candidates in the April 2007 examinations, 160,000 could not qualify to enter any senior secondary school, now renamed senior high school.
To those who have followed the educational system very closely, this is not strange. You do not expect miracles, when you see our children squatting on the floor or trying to squeeze themselves into the few desks available while straining to catch lessons from an overstretched and tired teacher.
Many in Accra and a few urban centres may not know, but a brief trip into the regions in the rural areas will give a true picture of what is happening in the country and how our children are fighting against all odds to compete with the elite and more privileged schools for vacancies in the senior secondary and universities.
Poor infrastructure is still a major problem confronting the educational system. A lot of our schools still comfortable abode under trees and sheds. Apart from physical structures, learning materials are not easily available in most of the schools. It is also an established fact that most of the schools, especially those in the rural areas do not have their requisite number of teachers, thus putting severe strains on the few who accept postings to those areas.
Under the circumstances, one should not expect anything extraordinary from these pupils who, through no fault of theirs found themselves in such depraved situation. What it means is that if the parents and guardians of these 160,000 unfortunate children do not take steps to send them for apprenticeship training they will join a bigger pool of similar unfortunate children to constitute fertile breeding ground for future armed robbers, burglars, prostitutes and ‘419’ experts.
It means 50 percent of the population of tomorrow’s Ghana has been declared redundant even before they learnt to do some work. This cannot fit into the development agenda of any country that wants to be taken seriously.
Before the introduction of new educational reforms in 1987 by the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), there was a system which created room for several terminal points as the pupils climb the academic ladder. For instance, pupils were pushed into a narrow gorge and made to fight for survival. Those who could pass the Common Entrance Examination in the then Primary Class Six or Standard Three enter the secondary schools and leave a reduced number to enter Middle School Form One.
The process continued until the last batch either as a result of poor performance or lack of financial resources reached Middle School Form Four (Standard Seven), where the pupils were given the last chance to either enter a secondary school, training college, technical institute or a vocational training institute.
By this time, the original number on roll might have dwindled considerably to reduce any pressure on the various second cycle schools. That system left very little drop-outs in strict terms apart from those who if even you split their heads and stuff them with examination answers they may not be able to pass.
The argument for the 1987 reforms was that the previous system did not cater for the practical needs of the pupils. There was this further argument that the pupils will be given practical training in certain employable skills so that by the time they graduate at the junior secondary school level, those who could not pursue academic courses could conveniently find place on the job market.
The system therefore, envisaged the provision of well-equipped workshops to train pupils in skills such as masonry, carpentry, painting, plumbing, batik, tie and dye and many others. The programme, however, started on a faulty note and all appeals for a second appraisal were submerged under torrents of political arguments. In the end, the programme started without the workshops. Where there were workshops, there were no equipment or tools. Above all, there were no teachers for the vocational skills. It was basically an old system with a new name.
Twenty years after, a new educational system has been put in place. In defence of the new system, the age-old arguments surfaced again. That the old system was not fashioned to cater for the practical or employable skills of the youth. That the new system will depart from mere writing, reading and rhetoric as pertained in the previous one. We have also been told that the new system will put emphasis on the teaching of science and technology to hasten our middle-income status.
These are laudable reasons which have heard several times in the past. Even before the syllabi for the new system could be ready, we have done what we have perfected over the years – changing names. So schools re-opened and our children went to sit in the same dilapidated classrooms, sat on the same rickety chairs, staring at the same disgruntled and poorly-paid teacher. Only this time, they are no longer in the junior secondary or senior secondary school but in Junior High and Senior High. Call it giving a dog a new name.
Apart from a new name, nothing much has changed. The text books for the new system are not ready. The teachers who are the key players in the scheme of things are themselves in a quandary. We have been told the authorities of the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service have started a series of orientation courses for the teachers on the new educational reforms. It means the teachers must finish with their courses before attempting to approach our children with any new ideas.
As happened in the past, any attempt to make an objective analysis of the situation and offer any suggestion is seen as diversionary to distract the government from its path of giving our children quality education.
No educational system, no matter how well-intentioned and fashioned will function properly if the essential ingredients of the system are not adequately catered for. Basic infrastructure such as classrooms and furniture are still woefully inadequate. The question of classrooms without teachers has not received the due attention. The demands of teachers are also hanging on our necks as well as lack of text books and teaching aids.
If instead of confronting these traditional problems pragmatically and addressing them once and for all we think the solution lies in the changing of names, then our children for many years to will remain guinea pigs for experiments which have nothing positive to do with their future. For what benefit does a child derive, if because of capitation grant and free feeding, he decides to go to school yet there is no classroom and when he enters a classroom, there is no teacher?
In my humble opinion, the best way to progress is to make improvement in existing systems having studied their strengths and weaknesses and not making frequent changes. But changes, if they become absolutely necessary, must not be cosmetic but total in name and structure. We hope the new system will not only be a matter of junior high and senior high but a reform which will be bring fundamental changes in our educational structure and bring the best out of our children. But that means all facilities must be made available.
On the front page of the Tuesday, October 11, 2007 edition of one the nation’s newspapers was this rather distressing news that 50 percent of the pupils who sat this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) could not make the pass grades. The story said that out of the 320,255 candidates in the April 2007 examinations, 160,000 could not qualify to enter any senior secondary school, now renamed senior high school.
To those who have followed the educational system very closely, this is not strange. You do not expect miracles, when you see our children squatting on the floor or trying to squeeze themselves into the few desks available while straining to catch lessons from an overstretched and tired teacher.
Many in Accra and a few urban centres may not know, but a brief trip into the regions in the rural areas will give a true picture of what is happening in the country and how our children are fighting against all odds to compete with the elite and more privileged schools for vacancies in the senior secondary and universities.
Poor infrastructure is still a major problem confronting the educational system. A lot of our schools still comfortable abode under trees and sheds. Apart from physical structures, learning materials are not easily available in most of the schools. It is also an established fact that most of the schools, especially those in the rural areas do not have their requisite number of teachers, thus putting severe strains on the few who accept postings to those areas.
Under the circumstances, one should not expect anything extraordinary from these pupils who, through no fault of theirs found themselves in such depraved situation. What it means is that if the parents and guardians of these 160,000 unfortunate children do not take steps to send them for apprenticeship training they will join a bigger pool of similar unfortunate children to constitute fertile breeding ground for future armed robbers, burglars, prostitutes and ‘419’ experts.
It means 50 percent of the population of tomorrow’s Ghana has been declared redundant even before they learnt to do some work. This cannot fit into the development agenda of any country that wants to be taken seriously.
Before the introduction of new educational reforms in 1987 by the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), there was a system which created room for several terminal points as the pupils climb the academic ladder. For instance, pupils were pushed into a narrow gorge and made to fight for survival. Those who could pass the Common Entrance Examination in the then Primary Class Six or Standard Three enter the secondary schools and leave a reduced number to enter Middle School Form One.
The process continued until the last batch either as a result of poor performance or lack of financial resources reached Middle School Form Four (Standard Seven), where the pupils were given the last chance to either enter a secondary school, training college, technical institute or a vocational training institute.
By this time, the original number on roll might have dwindled considerably to reduce any pressure on the various second cycle schools. That system left very little drop-outs in strict terms apart from those who if even you split their heads and stuff them with examination answers they may not be able to pass.
The argument for the 1987 reforms was that the previous system did not cater for the practical needs of the pupils. There was this further argument that the pupils will be given practical training in certain employable skills so that by the time they graduate at the junior secondary school level, those who could not pursue academic courses could conveniently find place on the job market.
The system therefore, envisaged the provision of well-equipped workshops to train pupils in skills such as masonry, carpentry, painting, plumbing, batik, tie and dye and many others. The programme, however, started on a faulty note and all appeals for a second appraisal were submerged under torrents of political arguments. In the end, the programme started without the workshops. Where there were workshops, there were no equipment or tools. Above all, there were no teachers for the vocational skills. It was basically an old system with a new name.
Twenty years after, a new educational system has been put in place. In defence of the new system, the age-old arguments surfaced again. That the old system was not fashioned to cater for the practical or employable skills of the youth. That the new system will depart from mere writing, reading and rhetoric as pertained in the previous one. We have also been told that the new system will put emphasis on the teaching of science and technology to hasten our middle-income status.
These are laudable reasons which have heard several times in the past. Even before the syllabi for the new system could be ready, we have done what we have perfected over the years – changing names. So schools re-opened and our children went to sit in the same dilapidated classrooms, sat on the same rickety chairs, staring at the same disgruntled and poorly-paid teacher. Only this time, they are no longer in the junior secondary or senior secondary school but in Junior High and Senior High. Call it giving a dog a new name.
Apart from a new name, nothing much has changed. The text books for the new system are not ready. The teachers who are the key players in the scheme of things are themselves in a quandary. We have been told the authorities of the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service have started a series of orientation courses for the teachers on the new educational reforms. It means the teachers must finish with their courses before attempting to approach our children with any new ideas.
As happened in the past, any attempt to make an objective analysis of the situation and offer any suggestion is seen as diversionary to distract the government from its path of giving our children quality education.
No educational system, no matter how well-intentioned and fashioned will function properly if the essential ingredients of the system are not adequately catered for. Basic infrastructure such as classrooms and furniture are still woefully inadequate. The question of classrooms without teachers has not received the due attention. The demands of teachers are also hanging on our necks as well as lack of text books and teaching aids.
If instead of confronting these traditional problems pragmatically and addressing them once and for all we think the solution lies in the changing of names, then our children for many years to will remain guinea pigs for experiments which have nothing positive to do with their future. For what benefit does a child derive, if because of capitation grant and free feeding, he decides to go to school yet there is no classroom and when he enters a classroom, there is no teacher?
In my humble opinion, the best way to progress is to make improvement in existing systems having studied their strengths and weaknesses and not making frequent changes. But changes, if they become absolutely necessary, must not be cosmetic but total in name and structure. We hope the new system will not only be a matter of junior high and senior high but a reform which will be bring fundamental changes in our educational structure and bring the best out of our children. But that means all facilities must be made available.
Assets declaration and anti-corruption crusade
By Kofi Akordor
Last week, two news items which centred on the same issue caught my attention. In the first one, discussants at a workshop jointly organized by Ghana Integrity Initiative and the Audit Service called for a more vigorous enforcement of assets declaration as required by law.
In the second, journalists attending a reception organized by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) for media practitioners who covered the African Union Summit in Accra were told to fight corruption as key role towards the development of Africa.
Even though corruption was not a prominent issue which dominated the deliberations of the Accra Summit, the fact remains that corruption is a major obstacle confronting Africa’s development efforts. An AU report itself confirms that about 25 per cent of the continent’s gross domestic product (GDP) is lost annually due to corruption.
There is a clear co-relation between the autocratic and unaccountable leadership and the level of corruption on the continent. Even though it could be said that a lot of progress has been made in good governance, democracy and respect for human rights in a number of countries, major remains a major challenge on the continent. That accounts for the continent’s underdevelopment notwithstanding the fact it has abundant resources to sustain any development drive.
Apart from leadership problems there are certain inherent socio-economic and cultural factors which open avenues for corruption. They include poor remuneration, high cost of living and pressures exerted on public officers by the extended system.
In Ghana, even though the 1992 Constitution makes provision for assets declaration by certain category of public office holders, it does not seem to be working because of its implementation enforcement.
In Chapter 24, under Article 286, certain categories of public officers are to submit to the Auditor-General" a written declaration of all property or assets owned by, or liabilities owed him whether directly or indirectly-
(a) within three months after coming into force of this Constitution or before taking office, as the case may be;
(b) at the end of every four years; and
(c) at the end of his term of office.
Some of the officers mentioned in the Constitution include the President of the Republic, the Vice-President of the Republic, the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker and a Member of Parliament.
Others are; Minister and Deputy Minister of State, the Chief Justice and Justice of the Superior Court of Judicature, Chairman, Managing Director, General Manager and Department Head of a public corporation or company in which the State has a controlling interest.
These are lofty safeguards. Unfortunately since 1992, when this constitution came into force, the public had not had any information about the assets and liabilities of those who offered themselves to be elected or were appointed into public office and who are under the constitution required to provide this information. The reason being that even if assets were declared, the public was kept ignorant because of a clause that these asset declaration forms should be kept in the vaults of the Auditor-General and not made public.
The irony is that under Article 287 (1), it is stated;" An allegation that a public officer has contravened or has not complied with a provision of this Chapter shall be made to the Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice, and in the case of of the Commissioner Rights and Administrative Justice, to the Chief Justice who shall, unless the person concerned makes a written admission of the contravention or non-compliance, cause the matter to be investigated"
Dear reader, how do you even initiate a case against a public officer on illegal acquisition of wealth when you could not tell what he had deposited in the vaults of the Auditor-General at any particular time? Straight away it shows that this country has not got any effective to combat corruption.
Ghanaians have always seen hungry and lean-looking politicians, who had suddenly developed pot-bellies, could throw lavish parties and build mansions but they could only grumble because the law does not offer them any relief to confront such officers about the source of their wealth.
It is not strange that political office which is supposed to be sacrificial and a place for missionary work for those who want to develop their communities has become a playground for all sorts of characters many of whom do not hide their intentions by going all lengths to achieve their ambitions.
Another flaw in our anti-corruption is that the state institutions set up to protect national resources are poorly resourced for obvious reasons and easy tools in the hands of public officers.
The Serious Fraud Office, which is one of the institutions, mandated to protect property is seriously handicapped resource-wise and by legislation. This is because the SFO operates under the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice who is a key government personality.
The weakness in the functions of the SFO is obvious if a key government official or someone very close to government is to be investigated. Secondly, all appointments to the SFO is done by the President of the Republic, thus making the SFO a virtual appendage of the Presidency. So who checks who?
This is why if we do not have anything to hide and are serious to fight corruption, we should be it mandatory for public declaration of assets for all public officials mentioned in the Constitution and those who may be determined by Parliament. This is the plea of many Ghanaians and which was stated by the discussants at the Accra workshop.
President Umar Yar’dua of Nigeria has declared his assets soon after entering office. At the end of four years, Nigerians will judge him as to whether he has bloated his assets from state coffers or not. It may not be the ultimate to stop those who want to steal from the State but it is far, far better than what we have in Ghana now.
Last week, two news items which centred on the same issue caught my attention. In the first one, discussants at a workshop jointly organized by Ghana Integrity Initiative and the Audit Service called for a more vigorous enforcement of assets declaration as required by law.
In the second, journalists attending a reception organized by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) for media practitioners who covered the African Union Summit in Accra were told to fight corruption as key role towards the development of Africa.
Even though corruption was not a prominent issue which dominated the deliberations of the Accra Summit, the fact remains that corruption is a major obstacle confronting Africa’s development efforts. An AU report itself confirms that about 25 per cent of the continent’s gross domestic product (GDP) is lost annually due to corruption.
There is a clear co-relation between the autocratic and unaccountable leadership and the level of corruption on the continent. Even though it could be said that a lot of progress has been made in good governance, democracy and respect for human rights in a number of countries, major remains a major challenge on the continent. That accounts for the continent’s underdevelopment notwithstanding the fact it has abundant resources to sustain any development drive.
Apart from leadership problems there are certain inherent socio-economic and cultural factors which open avenues for corruption. They include poor remuneration, high cost of living and pressures exerted on public officers by the extended system.
In Ghana, even though the 1992 Constitution makes provision for assets declaration by certain category of public office holders, it does not seem to be working because of its implementation enforcement.
In Chapter 24, under Article 286, certain categories of public officers are to submit to the Auditor-General" a written declaration of all property or assets owned by, or liabilities owed him whether directly or indirectly-
(a) within three months after coming into force of this Constitution or before taking office, as the case may be;
(b) at the end of every four years; and
(c) at the end of his term of office.
Some of the officers mentioned in the Constitution include the President of the Republic, the Vice-President of the Republic, the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker and a Member of Parliament.
Others are; Minister and Deputy Minister of State, the Chief Justice and Justice of the Superior Court of Judicature, Chairman, Managing Director, General Manager and Department Head of a public corporation or company in which the State has a controlling interest.
These are lofty safeguards. Unfortunately since 1992, when this constitution came into force, the public had not had any information about the assets and liabilities of those who offered themselves to be elected or were appointed into public office and who are under the constitution required to provide this information. The reason being that even if assets were declared, the public was kept ignorant because of a clause that these asset declaration forms should be kept in the vaults of the Auditor-General and not made public.
The irony is that under Article 287 (1), it is stated;" An allegation that a public officer has contravened or has not complied with a provision of this Chapter shall be made to the Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice, and in the case of of the Commissioner Rights and Administrative Justice, to the Chief Justice who shall, unless the person concerned makes a written admission of the contravention or non-compliance, cause the matter to be investigated"
Dear reader, how do you even initiate a case against a public officer on illegal acquisition of wealth when you could not tell what he had deposited in the vaults of the Auditor-General at any particular time? Straight away it shows that this country has not got any effective to combat corruption.
Ghanaians have always seen hungry and lean-looking politicians, who had suddenly developed pot-bellies, could throw lavish parties and build mansions but they could only grumble because the law does not offer them any relief to confront such officers about the source of their wealth.
It is not strange that political office which is supposed to be sacrificial and a place for missionary work for those who want to develop their communities has become a playground for all sorts of characters many of whom do not hide their intentions by going all lengths to achieve their ambitions.
Another flaw in our anti-corruption is that the state institutions set up to protect national resources are poorly resourced for obvious reasons and easy tools in the hands of public officers.
The Serious Fraud Office, which is one of the institutions, mandated to protect property is seriously handicapped resource-wise and by legislation. This is because the SFO operates under the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice who is a key government personality.
The weakness in the functions of the SFO is obvious if a key government official or someone very close to government is to be investigated. Secondly, all appointments to the SFO is done by the President of the Republic, thus making the SFO a virtual appendage of the Presidency. So who checks who?
This is why if we do not have anything to hide and are serious to fight corruption, we should be it mandatory for public declaration of assets for all public officials mentioned in the Constitution and those who may be determined by Parliament. This is the plea of many Ghanaians and which was stated by the discussants at the Accra workshop.
President Umar Yar’dua of Nigeria has declared his assets soon after entering office. At the end of four years, Nigerians will judge him as to whether he has bloated his assets from state coffers or not. It may not be the ultimate to stop those who want to steal from the State but it is far, far better than what we have in Ghana now.
The Preacherman has paid his due
By Kofi Akordor
Music can do many wonderful things for us. It excites, incites and inspires us. When in grief, music soothes us. In our happy moments, music adds to the joy.
The Negro Spirituals were a collection of soul-inspiring songs sung mainly by our great grand brothers and grand sisters, while they were toiling on the plantations and in the depths of mines in the Americas and Europe as slaves.
People under political or racial oppression let loose their emotions through music. Apartheid South Africa provided a good example of how music could comfort people and make the enemy shiver. Sometimes music can melt the hearts of even the wicked and strengthen the resolve of the oppressed
A party without music is no party. In the same vein a funeral without dirges will be an affront to the dead while a sermon not interspersed with gospel music will be boring. That is why musicians are not ordinary people. They play an important role in our daily lives.
Music is not only about rhythm and melody. It is not just about singing. It is about words. It is the message it carries. While some will sing just to make sound others sing to create impressions. Musicians can be instruments of change carrying the aspirations of the people on their lips through their lyrics.
Many musicians are able to entertain with their melodious tunes, but few are able to deliver a message. Those in the latter category are the prophets because everything they say comes to pass. And they are legends.
Two weeks ago, the Black race lost one of its greatest prophets to the bullets of assassins or robbers. Whichever was the case, Lucky Dube made an honourable exit from this world on October 18, 2007, albeit prematurely. He has joined other legends like Fela Anikulakpo Kuti, Robert Nesta Marley and James Brown.
Why is Lucky Dube receiving so much attention even after his death, one may ask? It is because, as I pointed out earlier, he belonged to that rare species of musicians who do not only sing, but preach. They preach for humanity to uphold virtues and preach against vices. They are always on the side of the oppressed while giving praise where it is due. He belonged to that class of musicians who raise their voices against corruption, bad governance and racial discrimination.
When Alpha Blondy screamed out, “America, America, break the neck of that Apartheid”, he echoed the feelings of all Africans and indeed all peace-loving and fair-minded people who abhorred the cruel, unjust and inhuman policy of apartheid which segregates human beings on racial lines with the indigenous Blacks lying lowest on the ladder.
In a similar vein, Sonny Okusun’s “Fire in Soweto”, was a cry of anguish against the maltreatment of the Blacks in South Africa during the apartheid era.
Today, both Alpha Blondy and Sony Okusuns and many others who raised their voices against that obnoxious system will sit back with pride that they played their part which collectively brought victory to good sense, f fairness and respect for human dignity.
Both Sonny Okusuns and Alpha Blondy might have derived inspiration from Bob Nesta Marley, who through his music tried to fight the Blackman’s cause. “Until the philosophy which makes one race superior and another inferior is fundamentally and finally abandoned and eliminated, everywhere there will be war”, he sang.
Fela, the superstar of Afro-rock music and the originator of the Afrobeat,was a torn in the flesh of military dictators who have usurped political power under false pretences and ran down the economies of the continent through naked robbery and corruption. Even in his grave, Fela’s soul will be resting in peace because he used music to fight a good cause. The world has come to acknowledge the fakes and criminals that those self-proclaimed redeemers and revolutionaries were.
Long before these young artistes, James Brown, the Godfather of Soul Music, screamed out, “Say it loud, I’m Black and proud”, to sneer at his White supremacists, who were not prepared to give the Black man his due. That song gave momentum to the struggle for equality by the Africa-Americans.
It is this league of exclusive musicians Lucky Dube joined when he decided to use music to address social problems confronting his people. In his, This Crazy World, Lucky Dube observed, “People are dying like flies everyday, you read about it in the news but you don’t believe it. You only know about it when the man in the long black coat knocks on your door, because you are the next victim”.
In apparent reference to the oppressive apartheid system which sent many of his country men and women into exile, Lucky Dube sang, “ Sun went down on the mountain, birds flew back to their hiding places, leaving him standing there like a telephone pole; in the still of the night, you and I dream, dreaming of Romeo and Juliet; all he dreams about is the freedom of the nation, when every man will be equal in the eyes of the law, as he closes his eyes for the last time, he said again, I’m still here in the house exile for the love of the nation”.
Lucky Dube, quite surprising to many because of his Rastafarian beliefs, did not smoke nor drink alcohol. He, therefore, preached against drug addiction. “I have known this preacherman, for a long time, he was a good man; I have known this judge, for a long time, he was a good man; I have known this teacher, for a long time, he was a good man too; but because of the drugs they’ve been taking secretly, them are in loony houses today. We cannot stand aside and look, while the nation is going down the drain.”
Lucky Dube has paid his due. May his achievements serve as an inspiration to those young musicians who want to be known for their message and not the everyday reference to what we all know already.
Music can do many wonderful things for us. It excites, incites and inspires us. When in grief, music soothes us. In our happy moments, music adds to the joy.
The Negro Spirituals were a collection of soul-inspiring songs sung mainly by our great grand brothers and grand sisters, while they were toiling on the plantations and in the depths of mines in the Americas and Europe as slaves.
People under political or racial oppression let loose their emotions through music. Apartheid South Africa provided a good example of how music could comfort people and make the enemy shiver. Sometimes music can melt the hearts of even the wicked and strengthen the resolve of the oppressed
A party without music is no party. In the same vein a funeral without dirges will be an affront to the dead while a sermon not interspersed with gospel music will be boring. That is why musicians are not ordinary people. They play an important role in our daily lives.
Music is not only about rhythm and melody. It is not just about singing. It is about words. It is the message it carries. While some will sing just to make sound others sing to create impressions. Musicians can be instruments of change carrying the aspirations of the people on their lips through their lyrics.
Many musicians are able to entertain with their melodious tunes, but few are able to deliver a message. Those in the latter category are the prophets because everything they say comes to pass. And they are legends.
Two weeks ago, the Black race lost one of its greatest prophets to the bullets of assassins or robbers. Whichever was the case, Lucky Dube made an honourable exit from this world on October 18, 2007, albeit prematurely. He has joined other legends like Fela Anikulakpo Kuti, Robert Nesta Marley and James Brown.
Why is Lucky Dube receiving so much attention even after his death, one may ask? It is because, as I pointed out earlier, he belonged to that rare species of musicians who do not only sing, but preach. They preach for humanity to uphold virtues and preach against vices. They are always on the side of the oppressed while giving praise where it is due. He belonged to that class of musicians who raise their voices against corruption, bad governance and racial discrimination.
When Alpha Blondy screamed out, “America, America, break the neck of that Apartheid”, he echoed the feelings of all Africans and indeed all peace-loving and fair-minded people who abhorred the cruel, unjust and inhuman policy of apartheid which segregates human beings on racial lines with the indigenous Blacks lying lowest on the ladder.
In a similar vein, Sonny Okusun’s “Fire in Soweto”, was a cry of anguish against the maltreatment of the Blacks in South Africa during the apartheid era.
Today, both Alpha Blondy and Sony Okusuns and many others who raised their voices against that obnoxious system will sit back with pride that they played their part which collectively brought victory to good sense, f fairness and respect for human dignity.
Both Sonny Okusuns and Alpha Blondy might have derived inspiration from Bob Nesta Marley, who through his music tried to fight the Blackman’s cause. “Until the philosophy which makes one race superior and another inferior is fundamentally and finally abandoned and eliminated, everywhere there will be war”, he sang.
Fela, the superstar of Afro-rock music and the originator of the Afrobeat,was a torn in the flesh of military dictators who have usurped political power under false pretences and ran down the economies of the continent through naked robbery and corruption. Even in his grave, Fela’s soul will be resting in peace because he used music to fight a good cause. The world has come to acknowledge the fakes and criminals that those self-proclaimed redeemers and revolutionaries were.
Long before these young artistes, James Brown, the Godfather of Soul Music, screamed out, “Say it loud, I’m Black and proud”, to sneer at his White supremacists, who were not prepared to give the Black man his due. That song gave momentum to the struggle for equality by the Africa-Americans.
It is this league of exclusive musicians Lucky Dube joined when he decided to use music to address social problems confronting his people. In his, This Crazy World, Lucky Dube observed, “People are dying like flies everyday, you read about it in the news but you don’t believe it. You only know about it when the man in the long black coat knocks on your door, because you are the next victim”.
In apparent reference to the oppressive apartheid system which sent many of his country men and women into exile, Lucky Dube sang, “ Sun went down on the mountain, birds flew back to their hiding places, leaving him standing there like a telephone pole; in the still of the night, you and I dream, dreaming of Romeo and Juliet; all he dreams about is the freedom of the nation, when every man will be equal in the eyes of the law, as he closes his eyes for the last time, he said again, I’m still here in the house exile for the love of the nation”.
Lucky Dube, quite surprising to many because of his Rastafarian beliefs, did not smoke nor drink alcohol. He, therefore, preached against drug addiction. “I have known this preacherman, for a long time, he was a good man; I have known this judge, for a long time, he was a good man; I have known this teacher, for a long time, he was a good man too; but because of the drugs they’ve been taking secretly, them are in loony houses today. We cannot stand aside and look, while the nation is going down the drain.”
Lucky Dube has paid his due. May his achievements serve as an inspiration to those young musicians who want to be known for their message and not the everyday reference to what we all know already.
The President's Honour List
By Kofi Akordor
Honour is greater than riches. That is why many people will do anything to protect their honour or what they passionately believe in even at the point of death. In the same way, honour should not be bestowed freely. It must be truly deserved. That adds dignity and reverence to the honour.
State honour is something many citizens look up for. What more will be dignifying to a citizen than to be recognized by the State and honoured accordingly. It is for this reason that those who receive state honours on occasions such as National Independence Day or Republic Day cherish with pride, fond memories of such occasions.
In Ghana, there seven main awards conferred on distinguished citizens of the land by the President of the Republic. The highest award is the Order of the Star of the Ghana, which is in three sub-categories, namely: Companion (Highest); Officer (Intermediate) and Member (Basic). The second award is the Order of the Volta which is in three categories – Companion (Highest); Officer (Intermediate) and Member (Basic).The third in descending order is the Grand Medal. Whichever the category, it is a pride to be a recipient.
These are awards reserved for men and women who have excelled not only in their professions or fields of endeavour but have, by the quality of their lifestyles become role models for their peers and the younger generation.
In the past, those who were privileged to be award winners were limited. One may even be tempted to describe it as special league club restricted to giants in the academia, the elite professions and the nobility associated with our chieftaincy institution.
In recent times there appears to be a clear indication that the net is being cast wider to accommodate those who in the past could not satisfy the rigid standards set by the select committee or whichever body is responsible for advising the President on who and who should not be awarded.
There is every good reason to give recognition to as many nation builders as possible and the national awards should not be the preserve of only those with a chain of degrees or long chains of gold ornaments dangling around their necks.
However, there is an emerging trend which should be checked before the national awards lose their importance and become like a child’s play. Until the select makes its mode of selection public, I daresay, some of the recipients at this year’s awards do not deserve the type of the honour the annual awards carry.
A person deserves such monumental award after he/she has proved consistently that he/she is imbued with patriotism, humility, honesty and above all excellence in whatever field of endeavour he/she finds him/herself. That is why most often these award winners have always found themselves at the sunset of their lives when they can go home with broad smiles on their faces for a mission accomplished.
I was, therefore, particularly surprised that a young musician who barely five years ago was not known by many could after two or three albums be given such a national recognition. Was it the revenue brought in by his music or what? Surely musicians and entertainers generally are important. They keep our depressed souls alive with their music, jokes and other comic acts and they deserve praise. But they need to mature and go beyond a few albums or stagecrafts to enter our history books as heroes.
I quite remember, Ike Quartey, in one of his gross displays of indiscipline, blocked the Accra Stadium main gate with his vehicle. The reason was that they did not allow some the apparachicks following him to enter the facility free of charge. Not even the entreaties of very influential persons will make him burg. It is on record he is the only boxer who lost a crucial bout and people from his own locality jubilated. The man had also engaged in some street brawls.So what was the criteria used to put such a character on such a historic national honour list? It is like you can misbehave but once you can break an opponent’s jaw in the boxing ring, you deserve a national award.
Ghana has produced many great boxers whose exploits did not end in the ring. Outside, they were role models. Such persons deserve every bit of national award. Mention the late Eddie Blay and Barimah Azumah Nelson and nobody will blink if they mount the rostrum to receive a Grand Medal or something even higher from the President. Sportsmen and women are judged not only by their nimble-footedness or the power of the fists. More important, by their demeanour, humility and their willingness at all times to serve as role models to the younger ones and make themselves ambassadors of worthy causes. The great Edison Arantes dos Nascimento alias Pele of Brazil, George Opon Weah of Liberia and our own Azumah Nelson are clear examples of great sportsmen.
The State must not encourage indiscipline by according high national awards to persons who will not submit to lawful authority or humble themselves before their own admirers.
I saw some the name of some evangelists also on the list and I was beginning to wonder what is our priority as a nation. Are we trying to say that people who scream at the top of their voices and make cheap money are the ones who are building this nation for us?
I saw on the list of award winners, an array of very distinguished and dedicated gentlemen and women who have played their part in the development of this country. There was Dr Gotlieb Kofi Noamesi, who has played a great role in the development of herbal medicine in the country. There was Professor Atukwei Okai, a great poet and writer. There were Nana Otuo Siriboe, a traditional ruler and a great farmer and Apostle Kwadwo Safo, who despite his academic limitations has remained a beacon of hope of our technological future.
Such a list of distinguished personalities should not be contaminated by persons who cannot receive the endorsements of even their own peers.
The national award is a heritage we cannot afford to toy with and those who dangle medals suspended on rings with ribbons in the national colours of Red, Gold and Green around their neck should not only be doers but real achievers.
Honour is greater than riches. That is why many people will do anything to protect their honour or what they passionately believe in even at the point of death. In the same way, honour should not be bestowed freely. It must be truly deserved. That adds dignity and reverence to the honour.
State honour is something many citizens look up for. What more will be dignifying to a citizen than to be recognized by the State and honoured accordingly. It is for this reason that those who receive state honours on occasions such as National Independence Day or Republic Day cherish with pride, fond memories of such occasions.
In Ghana, there seven main awards conferred on distinguished citizens of the land by the President of the Republic. The highest award is the Order of the Star of the Ghana, which is in three sub-categories, namely: Companion (Highest); Officer (Intermediate) and Member (Basic). The second award is the Order of the Volta which is in three categories – Companion (Highest); Officer (Intermediate) and Member (Basic).The third in descending order is the Grand Medal. Whichever the category, it is a pride to be a recipient.
These are awards reserved for men and women who have excelled not only in their professions or fields of endeavour but have, by the quality of their lifestyles become role models for their peers and the younger generation.
In the past, those who were privileged to be award winners were limited. One may even be tempted to describe it as special league club restricted to giants in the academia, the elite professions and the nobility associated with our chieftaincy institution.
In recent times there appears to be a clear indication that the net is being cast wider to accommodate those who in the past could not satisfy the rigid standards set by the select committee or whichever body is responsible for advising the President on who and who should not be awarded.
There is every good reason to give recognition to as many nation builders as possible and the national awards should not be the preserve of only those with a chain of degrees or long chains of gold ornaments dangling around their necks.
However, there is an emerging trend which should be checked before the national awards lose their importance and become like a child’s play. Until the select makes its mode of selection public, I daresay, some of the recipients at this year’s awards do not deserve the type of the honour the annual awards carry.
A person deserves such monumental award after he/she has proved consistently that he/she is imbued with patriotism, humility, honesty and above all excellence in whatever field of endeavour he/she finds him/herself. That is why most often these award winners have always found themselves at the sunset of their lives when they can go home with broad smiles on their faces for a mission accomplished.
I was, therefore, particularly surprised that a young musician who barely five years ago was not known by many could after two or three albums be given such a national recognition. Was it the revenue brought in by his music or what? Surely musicians and entertainers generally are important. They keep our depressed souls alive with their music, jokes and other comic acts and they deserve praise. But they need to mature and go beyond a few albums or stagecrafts to enter our history books as heroes.
I quite remember, Ike Quartey, in one of his gross displays of indiscipline, blocked the Accra Stadium main gate with his vehicle. The reason was that they did not allow some the apparachicks following him to enter the facility free of charge. Not even the entreaties of very influential persons will make him burg. It is on record he is the only boxer who lost a crucial bout and people from his own locality jubilated. The man had also engaged in some street brawls.So what was the criteria used to put such a character on such a historic national honour list? It is like you can misbehave but once you can break an opponent’s jaw in the boxing ring, you deserve a national award.
Ghana has produced many great boxers whose exploits did not end in the ring. Outside, they were role models. Such persons deserve every bit of national award. Mention the late Eddie Blay and Barimah Azumah Nelson and nobody will blink if they mount the rostrum to receive a Grand Medal or something even higher from the President. Sportsmen and women are judged not only by their nimble-footedness or the power of the fists. More important, by their demeanour, humility and their willingness at all times to serve as role models to the younger ones and make themselves ambassadors of worthy causes. The great Edison Arantes dos Nascimento alias Pele of Brazil, George Opon Weah of Liberia and our own Azumah Nelson are clear examples of great sportsmen.
The State must not encourage indiscipline by according high national awards to persons who will not submit to lawful authority or humble themselves before their own admirers.
I saw some the name of some evangelists also on the list and I was beginning to wonder what is our priority as a nation. Are we trying to say that people who scream at the top of their voices and make cheap money are the ones who are building this nation for us?
I saw on the list of award winners, an array of very distinguished and dedicated gentlemen and women who have played their part in the development of this country. There was Dr Gotlieb Kofi Noamesi, who has played a great role in the development of herbal medicine in the country. There was Professor Atukwei Okai, a great poet and writer. There were Nana Otuo Siriboe, a traditional ruler and a great farmer and Apostle Kwadwo Safo, who despite his academic limitations has remained a beacon of hope of our technological future.
Such a list of distinguished personalities should not be contaminated by persons who cannot receive the endorsements of even their own peers.
The national award is a heritage we cannot afford to toy with and those who dangle medals suspended on rings with ribbons in the national colours of Red, Gold and Green around their neck should not only be doers but real achievers.
The world without the cold war
By Kofi Akordor
By the end of 1990, the Berlin Wall, one of the most significant physical symbols of the Cold War era was torn down and the world heaved a heavy sigh of relief. The Berlin Wall came to represent the monstrosity of the Cold War which separated world into the Western and the Eastern blocs.
The collapse of hastened the disintegration of the Soviet Empire in 1991, which spearheaded the Eastern Bloc against the Western Bloc led by the United States of America and its European allies.
The Third World countries especially those of Africa and Latin America which became the battlegrounds for this ideological conflict received the news of the end of the Cold War with mixed feelings. On one side was this lingering fear that the US, which emerged from that era much intact and even stronger will use bullying tactics to frustrate their development efforts and on the other, the hope that a world without superpower rivalry or ideological conflicts is the best environment to engender growth and prosperity.
There was also that expectation that funds ploughed into clandestine activities during the Cold War could now be deployed into development projects in the poor countries of Asia, Latin America and Africa.
Africa particularly was a victim of the Cold War. Most of its leaders became pawns in the ideological rivalry which engulfed the continent. Pragmatic and nationalist leaders such as Dr Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and Patrice Lumumba of the then Belgian Congo who were determined to chart an independent and militant path for their countries’ development agenda were perceived as communist agents, branded as such, were discredited and finally eliminated.
Africa’s underdevelopment had a lot to do with the ideological conflict which existed during the Cold War era. Projects initiated outside Western sources were sabotaged one way or the other while the Eastern bloc also continued to play the Good Samaritan role on the continent as long as the Communist ideology prevails. Corrupt and dictatorial leaders found solace with the big powers as long as they were prepared to pander to their whims and caprices. It was, therefore, fashionable for most African politicians to align themselves with either the West or the East to secure patronage. That was why it became possible for leaders such as Mobutu Sese Seko, General Gnasingbe Eyadema, Hosni Mubarak and Paul Biya to remain for long in power while others like Nkrumah, who were not prepared to play ball could not survive the heat of the times.
It is also significant to realise that it was not until the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Empire that the Western world began to show serious attention in democratic reforms in Africa and other places. That showed that Africa’s interest was secondary and did not fit into scheme of things at the time.
Nearly 16 years after the end of the Cold War and after the euphoria of a new world has waned, the question is has the world been better without the Cold War? For Africa, the significant benefits are in the areas of democracy and good governance. Most of the multi-party governments blossoming on the continent were as a result of a new world order which recognized the need for democracy and good governance as a prerequisite for development.
The ideological war was over so the Western powers were interested in Africa not as a battleground to test the supremacy of either of the ideologies. Maybe Africa, as a primary source of cheap raw materials and crude oil which the industrial North seriously needs is expected to play a new role which will be determined by the powerful European Union and the US. Beyond the political reforms much has not changed in the fortunes of Africa since the trade barriers and other unfair practices in business and commerce continue to hinder Africa’s share in world trade.
At the global level, the balance of powers which existed during the Cold War era has given way to a unipolar world, where the US reigns supreme as the most powerful and playmaker in the world. This is what has created a situation whereby instead of reaping the benefits of then absence of the Cold War, the world has become a huge conflict zone with the US the sole determinant of what constitute nationalist activities of acts of terrorism.
From fighting communism in the Cold War era, the US, strongly supported by Britain and other EU countries has embarked on what President George W. Bush describes as war on terrorism. In 2001, after the September 11 attacks on the twin buildings of the World Trade Centre, President Bush found a fine excuse to launch an attack on Afghanistan in a war he claimed he was waging on the Taliban which has been described as a terrorist group.
Emboldened by this blatant show of power, President Bush again defied international opinion including the United Nations and launched a massive attack on Iraq, a sovereign nation in 2003, this time to save the world from Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction. This was at a time when the UN Weapon Inspectors including experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), have consistently cautioned moderation and pleaded with the world body to allow more time to do a thorough work since at the time President Bush was yearning to go to war, nothing close to weapons of mass destruction have been found in Saddam’s arsenal.
When his attention was drawn to the fact that there was no UN mandate for any attack on Iraq, President’s Bush response was that he does not need any mandate from the UN to defend what he defines as American interests.
The late Pope John Paul II, someone well respected by all did not mince words when he said it would be criminal and in fact, an unforgivable offence for anyone to attack Iraq without concrete evidence. President Bush did not pay heed to that mature counseling.
Today, more than four years’ display of effrontery, President Bush’s soldiers are no longer looking for weapons of mass destruction, since they do not exist in the first place. They are rather looking for a face-saving way of pulling out after turning an otherwise developing country, rich in oil resources into a huge graveyard where the bodies of innocent young men and women are buried in their hundreds everyday.
President Bush was supported in that disregard for public opinion, morality and respect for the rights of human beings to live in their own countries in peace and dignity by Tony Blair, now succeeded by Gordon Brown, who knowing that African leaders have one thing in common – begging -- threatened to boycott a summit of African and EU leaders in Portugal later in the year, if President Robert Gabriel Mugabe attends. Mugabe’s crime; he has reclaimed lands dispossessed of the local people by the Boers and British adventurists who came to this continent as explorers.
This is an African hero who even some people who claimed to be professors of history, international law and politics out of ignorance, despise, due to the deep mental slavery into which they have immersed themselves.
Wars on terrorism and a so-called championing the cause of human rights have become hollow slogans the US and Britain are using to undermine the aspirations of weaker countries all over the globe. While the US, Britain, Australia and some EU member states are busy worrying about what Mugabe is doing to protect land for the indigenous Africans, Darfur has become too much for the world’s sole superpower and its allies whose mighty arsenal could not be ranged against the Janjawe terrorists who have killed more than 200,000 innocent men and women in the Darfur region of Sudan.
The world celebrated the end of the Cold War in anticipation of period of peace and development. That has eluded us all. Now many wished there were two opposing powers of equal strength to balance the equation.
For now, till the US gets the Bill Clinton type of a leader the world will know no peace and those who try fighting for their natural rights could become the terrorists of this world.
By the end of 1990, the Berlin Wall, one of the most significant physical symbols of the Cold War era was torn down and the world heaved a heavy sigh of relief. The Berlin Wall came to represent the monstrosity of the Cold War which separated world into the Western and the Eastern blocs.
The collapse of hastened the disintegration of the Soviet Empire in 1991, which spearheaded the Eastern Bloc against the Western Bloc led by the United States of America and its European allies.
The Third World countries especially those of Africa and Latin America which became the battlegrounds for this ideological conflict received the news of the end of the Cold War with mixed feelings. On one side was this lingering fear that the US, which emerged from that era much intact and even stronger will use bullying tactics to frustrate their development efforts and on the other, the hope that a world without superpower rivalry or ideological conflicts is the best environment to engender growth and prosperity.
There was also that expectation that funds ploughed into clandestine activities during the Cold War could now be deployed into development projects in the poor countries of Asia, Latin America and Africa.
Africa particularly was a victim of the Cold War. Most of its leaders became pawns in the ideological rivalry which engulfed the continent. Pragmatic and nationalist leaders such as Dr Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and Patrice Lumumba of the then Belgian Congo who were determined to chart an independent and militant path for their countries’ development agenda were perceived as communist agents, branded as such, were discredited and finally eliminated.
Africa’s underdevelopment had a lot to do with the ideological conflict which existed during the Cold War era. Projects initiated outside Western sources were sabotaged one way or the other while the Eastern bloc also continued to play the Good Samaritan role on the continent as long as the Communist ideology prevails. Corrupt and dictatorial leaders found solace with the big powers as long as they were prepared to pander to their whims and caprices. It was, therefore, fashionable for most African politicians to align themselves with either the West or the East to secure patronage. That was why it became possible for leaders such as Mobutu Sese Seko, General Gnasingbe Eyadema, Hosni Mubarak and Paul Biya to remain for long in power while others like Nkrumah, who were not prepared to play ball could not survive the heat of the times.
It is also significant to realise that it was not until the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Empire that the Western world began to show serious attention in democratic reforms in Africa and other places. That showed that Africa’s interest was secondary and did not fit into scheme of things at the time.
Nearly 16 years after the end of the Cold War and after the euphoria of a new world has waned, the question is has the world been better without the Cold War? For Africa, the significant benefits are in the areas of democracy and good governance. Most of the multi-party governments blossoming on the continent were as a result of a new world order which recognized the need for democracy and good governance as a prerequisite for development.
The ideological war was over so the Western powers were interested in Africa not as a battleground to test the supremacy of either of the ideologies. Maybe Africa, as a primary source of cheap raw materials and crude oil which the industrial North seriously needs is expected to play a new role which will be determined by the powerful European Union and the US. Beyond the political reforms much has not changed in the fortunes of Africa since the trade barriers and other unfair practices in business and commerce continue to hinder Africa’s share in world trade.
At the global level, the balance of powers which existed during the Cold War era has given way to a unipolar world, where the US reigns supreme as the most powerful and playmaker in the world. This is what has created a situation whereby instead of reaping the benefits of then absence of the Cold War, the world has become a huge conflict zone with the US the sole determinant of what constitute nationalist activities of acts of terrorism.
From fighting communism in the Cold War era, the US, strongly supported by Britain and other EU countries has embarked on what President George W. Bush describes as war on terrorism. In 2001, after the September 11 attacks on the twin buildings of the World Trade Centre, President Bush found a fine excuse to launch an attack on Afghanistan in a war he claimed he was waging on the Taliban which has been described as a terrorist group.
Emboldened by this blatant show of power, President Bush again defied international opinion including the United Nations and launched a massive attack on Iraq, a sovereign nation in 2003, this time to save the world from Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction. This was at a time when the UN Weapon Inspectors including experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), have consistently cautioned moderation and pleaded with the world body to allow more time to do a thorough work since at the time President Bush was yearning to go to war, nothing close to weapons of mass destruction have been found in Saddam’s arsenal.
When his attention was drawn to the fact that there was no UN mandate for any attack on Iraq, President’s Bush response was that he does not need any mandate from the UN to defend what he defines as American interests.
The late Pope John Paul II, someone well respected by all did not mince words when he said it would be criminal and in fact, an unforgivable offence for anyone to attack Iraq without concrete evidence. President Bush did not pay heed to that mature counseling.
Today, more than four years’ display of effrontery, President Bush’s soldiers are no longer looking for weapons of mass destruction, since they do not exist in the first place. They are rather looking for a face-saving way of pulling out after turning an otherwise developing country, rich in oil resources into a huge graveyard where the bodies of innocent young men and women are buried in their hundreds everyday.
President Bush was supported in that disregard for public opinion, morality and respect for the rights of human beings to live in their own countries in peace and dignity by Tony Blair, now succeeded by Gordon Brown, who knowing that African leaders have one thing in common – begging -- threatened to boycott a summit of African and EU leaders in Portugal later in the year, if President Robert Gabriel Mugabe attends. Mugabe’s crime; he has reclaimed lands dispossessed of the local people by the Boers and British adventurists who came to this continent as explorers.
This is an African hero who even some people who claimed to be professors of history, international law and politics out of ignorance, despise, due to the deep mental slavery into which they have immersed themselves.
Wars on terrorism and a so-called championing the cause of human rights have become hollow slogans the US and Britain are using to undermine the aspirations of weaker countries all over the globe. While the US, Britain, Australia and some EU member states are busy worrying about what Mugabe is doing to protect land for the indigenous Africans, Darfur has become too much for the world’s sole superpower and its allies whose mighty arsenal could not be ranged against the Janjawe terrorists who have killed more than 200,000 innocent men and women in the Darfur region of Sudan.
The world celebrated the end of the Cold War in anticipation of period of peace and development. That has eluded us all. Now many wished there were two opposing powers of equal strength to balance the equation.
For now, till the US gets the Bill Clinton type of a leader the world will know no peace and those who try fighting for their natural rights could become the terrorists of this world.
When the dead come passing fast
t
By Kofi Akordor
In the past, the sound of the loud sirens signaled the approach of the Head of State or the President of the Republic. In those days just as it is still today, the motorcade will zoom past at a top speed as if the President and his aides were being chased by Death. It is an occasion for the dispatch riders to put their skills on full display.
The difference is that today, things have changed considerably. The wailing of the sirens may mean many things. The monopoly the President enjoyed as the only person to be escorted under police sirens has faded into history.
About a month ago on a Saturday morning, I heard the usual noisy siren of an approaching police dispatch rider. The President was out of the country so I concluded that the Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, who steps in effectively was on his way to an official function. I do not to whether to say I was surprised or disappointed.. But when the motor rider came into view, he was escorting a corpse in a motor hearse, being driven whether to the cemetery, the mortuary or any other place I could not tell. Why a corpse should be driven with such fanfare to the disadvantage of the living is unimaginable!
There is now a lucrative business in corpse transportation. A lot of old and abandoned ambulances have been brought into the country which carry the wrong impression that there are plenty ambulances in the system. The truth is they are motor hearses in disguise. Their main business is to transport bodies to the mortuary and then to the deceased’s hometown for final funeral rites.
It would have been nobody’s business to worry about special vans carrying corpses around town but for the presidential motorcade manner this is down. With horns blurring, headlights switched on and video camera men perched perilously on vehicles taking live shots of the cortege.
The irony is that while a sick person may lose his life because there was no ambulance to convey him to a medical facility at the critical hour when he needed it, in death, there will be a procession while his lifeless body lies in a decorated ambulance.
Taxi drivers who have a lot of tricks up their sleeves also have their own way of disturbing the peace and create their own path in heavy traffic. All they do is to get someone feigning sickness then the blurring begins. I am yet to see the police stopping any such taxi driver and finding out who was actually sick and needed urgent medical attention.
The police administration has always issued threatening statements warning the public against the misuse of sirens. Unfortunately, these have become empty threats further compounding the heavy volume of indiscipline eating deep into our national life. And the last thing we expect was to see a police dispatch rider escorting a corpse to whichever destination.
Ever since private security companies started operating in the country, some of them have moved from guarding residential and business facilities to conveying large sums of money in their bullion vans on behalf of clients. Motorists, however, do not know which vans are empty or fully laden with cash at a particular time. One thing is, however, certain. Out of the blue, these vans will surface at full speed, headlights on and giving other motorists no option but to scamper for space on the shoulders of on already choked and narrow roads.
The phenomenon gained some notoriety during the approach and early days of the redenomination exercise when the Bank of Ghana and the commercial banks had to move large sums of money to their various branches. Money, we all concede, is the blood of every economy. But the way, money, like corpses have attained so much importance that we are ready to kill or endanger the lives of human beings in reverence to them beats our imagination. No wonder, the dead and money have become dominant objects which cherish so much in our national life. People are ready to spend any amount of money lavishly on the dead while many also prepared to do anything from drug trafficking to murder to get money.
Any way we still have people who want to live up to their responsibilities as good citizens. The story that some car washing bay attendants on Saturday, July 21, 2007 tipped off the police about a car with blood stains needs commendation. Combating crime is a social responsibility which should be embraced by all. It is, therefore, important we all, especially those whose work could easily bring them into contact with criminals link up with the police whenever something does not look normal.
The police will also do well to keep their sources confidential and act swiftly on information relayed to them. A healthy and cordial relationship between the police and members of the public is a potent avenue to fight the menace of crime in the country.
By Kofi Akordor
In the past, the sound of the loud sirens signaled the approach of the Head of State or the President of the Republic. In those days just as it is still today, the motorcade will zoom past at a top speed as if the President and his aides were being chased by Death. It is an occasion for the dispatch riders to put their skills on full display.
The difference is that today, things have changed considerably. The wailing of the sirens may mean many things. The monopoly the President enjoyed as the only person to be escorted under police sirens has faded into history.
About a month ago on a Saturday morning, I heard the usual noisy siren of an approaching police dispatch rider. The President was out of the country so I concluded that the Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, who steps in effectively was on his way to an official function. I do not to whether to say I was surprised or disappointed.. But when the motor rider came into view, he was escorting a corpse in a motor hearse, being driven whether to the cemetery, the mortuary or any other place I could not tell. Why a corpse should be driven with such fanfare to the disadvantage of the living is unimaginable!
There is now a lucrative business in corpse transportation. A lot of old and abandoned ambulances have been brought into the country which carry the wrong impression that there are plenty ambulances in the system. The truth is they are motor hearses in disguise. Their main business is to transport bodies to the mortuary and then to the deceased’s hometown for final funeral rites.
It would have been nobody’s business to worry about special vans carrying corpses around town but for the presidential motorcade manner this is down. With horns blurring, headlights switched on and video camera men perched perilously on vehicles taking live shots of the cortege.
The irony is that while a sick person may lose his life because there was no ambulance to convey him to a medical facility at the critical hour when he needed it, in death, there will be a procession while his lifeless body lies in a decorated ambulance.
Taxi drivers who have a lot of tricks up their sleeves also have their own way of disturbing the peace and create their own path in heavy traffic. All they do is to get someone feigning sickness then the blurring begins. I am yet to see the police stopping any such taxi driver and finding out who was actually sick and needed urgent medical attention.
The police administration has always issued threatening statements warning the public against the misuse of sirens. Unfortunately, these have become empty threats further compounding the heavy volume of indiscipline eating deep into our national life. And the last thing we expect was to see a police dispatch rider escorting a corpse to whichever destination.
Ever since private security companies started operating in the country, some of them have moved from guarding residential and business facilities to conveying large sums of money in their bullion vans on behalf of clients. Motorists, however, do not know which vans are empty or fully laden with cash at a particular time. One thing is, however, certain. Out of the blue, these vans will surface at full speed, headlights on and giving other motorists no option but to scamper for space on the shoulders of on already choked and narrow roads.
The phenomenon gained some notoriety during the approach and early days of the redenomination exercise when the Bank of Ghana and the commercial banks had to move large sums of money to their various branches. Money, we all concede, is the blood of every economy. But the way, money, like corpses have attained so much importance that we are ready to kill or endanger the lives of human beings in reverence to them beats our imagination. No wonder, the dead and money have become dominant objects which cherish so much in our national life. People are ready to spend any amount of money lavishly on the dead while many also prepared to do anything from drug trafficking to murder to get money.
Any way we still have people who want to live up to their responsibilities as good citizens. The story that some car washing bay attendants on Saturday, July 21, 2007 tipped off the police about a car with blood stains needs commendation. Combating crime is a social responsibility which should be embraced by all. It is, therefore, important we all, especially those whose work could easily bring them into contact with criminals link up with the police whenever something does not look normal.
The police will also do well to keep their sources confidential and act swiftly on information relayed to them. A healthy and cordial relationship between the police and members of the public is a potent avenue to fight the menace of crime in the country.
Why ADB must not go
Why ADB must not go
By Kofi Akordor
The long and sometimes acrimonious debate on the energy crisis has abated, thanks to the improvement in the power supply system. However, for a nation which is enjoying its freedom of expression there is something to discuss always. This time, attention has shifted to two issues. One, the sale of Bank of Ghana shares in the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) and two, the alleged payment of bribes to some government officials by an international cement manufacturing company so as to maintain its monopoly on the local market.
My interest for now will be in the former. That is the sale of Bank of Ghana shares in the ADB to Stanbic Bank owned by Standard Bank of South Africa and which is owned by Standard Chartered Bank of Britain. As could be seen, Stanbic and Stanchart (Ghana) share common parentage but for operational reasons and to avoid any ambiguities, Stanbic had to adopt a new name, hence what it is called.
What it also means is that should the government remains adamant and goes ahead to sell ADB, this local bank will be swallowed by and become a member of the Standard Chartered Bank of Britain, which is a giant conglomerate in the world of finance. In a purely business setting, this is welcome news since there is nothing wrong with being associated with a giant company with a lot of resources to spare.
We may even argue further that the acquisition will benefit ADB in the form of large doses of foreign cash that will flow into its coffers by virtue of its international links to enhance its operations. In fact, this argument constitutes the strength of the proponents of the acquisition and that is all.
The ADB, however, is not just about banking. The ADB story goes beyond that. It is about a nation’s security. It is about a nation’s independence. It is about social responsibility and it is about survival. The ADB has been tasked to fuel the agricultural sector which, even in its current primitive state continues to be the backbone of the national economy.
Agriculture is an area where you can hardly make predictions until you see the fruits ripe. Even here, post-harvest losses through improper handling and other calamities such as floods and bushfires can easily turn a smile into a cry. That is why very few banks will stick out their neck to grant loans for agricultural ventures. Our situation has been rendered even more unpredictable because of our reliance on the rains and crude methods for farming.
Even though it can be argued that there is risk in every business, that of agriculture is more overwhelming and, therefore, a gamble many financial institutions whose prime motive is profit making will not take. That leaves farmers without any anchor. This is the void the ADB has been designed purposely to fill. This is a bank which understands the local farmers and is ready to gamble along with them.
Banks are not only sources of credit. Financial institutions can be powerful instruments of coercion that could be employed under certain circumstances to influence political decisions and policies. Those who may not know this, may want to find out why the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) have never been the darlings of poor Third World countries. This is because what is deemed as financial support from these institutions come with strict and what could be described as atrocious conditionalities to the extent that recipient countries become pawns in the hands of the economic powers and where aid becomes an instrument of enslavement.
Just imagine that recipient countries are not given the free hand to disburse moneys the way they should to satisfy their national interests. The loan comes with instructions. Who and who should be employed; the amount that should be paid as salaries and allowances to expatriate staff; where logistics such as equipment and vehicles should be imported from, etc etc. At the end of the day, the loan trickles back to the donors while the recipient country is saddled with huge interests and debt-servicing to contend with.
Those who claim ignorant of these intrigues in the financial market should remember that cash flows that will swell the coffers of the new ADB will not be freely available for local industry if there are competitive products outside mainly from the countries of the major shareholders
Let us take South Africa, which is a major player on the continent where business and finance are concerned. If there is say, the need to establish a tomato cannery in the country and assistance is required from Stanbic, where is the guarantee that this loan application will receive favourable response if at the end of the day, this local tomato factory is going to take business from or compete with tomato factories in South Africa or other places where the principal shareholders have business interests?
This is just one example. That is why strategically, it is unwise in the name of trade liberalization and globalization to allow certain state institutions to fall into the hands of foreign interests. This has nothing to do with closing our doors to foreign investors. You do not expand by transferring national assets to foreigners. You expand by allowing foreign investors to enter the local market and create competition.
Already, a number of foreign banks mostly from neighbouring Nigeria have entered the local market and are doing well. Nothing stops Stanbic from expanding by opening more branches country-wide. Stanbic or for that matter any other bank can create a special department purposely for agricultural development or establish a completely new bank for that purpose.
It is better and more advantageous for the country if there are more than one bank devoted to agriculture than to have the only one swallowed by a bigger one with a different agenda all together.
State enterprises have every chance of succeeding if they will be freed from all forms of political interference. Ghana Airways is gone and what replaced it has not proved to be better. As long as principal officers of state enterprises have to look behind their shoulders to see who are watching they will continue to take decisions that serve the interest not of the organizations they are running but that of those in political power. In that case, it is not the Ghanaian manager who is not good, but the politician who is selfish.
The ADB must not go the way others have gone. It should be strengthened and allowed more Ghanaian participation to offer stiff competition to others. At least we will be assured that if others fail us, our farmers and fishermen will have the shoulders of ADB to lean on.
By Kofi Akordor
The long and sometimes acrimonious debate on the energy crisis has abated, thanks to the improvement in the power supply system. However, for a nation which is enjoying its freedom of expression there is something to discuss always. This time, attention has shifted to two issues. One, the sale of Bank of Ghana shares in the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) and two, the alleged payment of bribes to some government officials by an international cement manufacturing company so as to maintain its monopoly on the local market.
My interest for now will be in the former. That is the sale of Bank of Ghana shares in the ADB to Stanbic Bank owned by Standard Bank of South Africa and which is owned by Standard Chartered Bank of Britain. As could be seen, Stanbic and Stanchart (Ghana) share common parentage but for operational reasons and to avoid any ambiguities, Stanbic had to adopt a new name, hence what it is called.
What it also means is that should the government remains adamant and goes ahead to sell ADB, this local bank will be swallowed by and become a member of the Standard Chartered Bank of Britain, which is a giant conglomerate in the world of finance. In a purely business setting, this is welcome news since there is nothing wrong with being associated with a giant company with a lot of resources to spare.
We may even argue further that the acquisition will benefit ADB in the form of large doses of foreign cash that will flow into its coffers by virtue of its international links to enhance its operations. In fact, this argument constitutes the strength of the proponents of the acquisition and that is all.
The ADB, however, is not just about banking. The ADB story goes beyond that. It is about a nation’s security. It is about a nation’s independence. It is about social responsibility and it is about survival. The ADB has been tasked to fuel the agricultural sector which, even in its current primitive state continues to be the backbone of the national economy.
Agriculture is an area where you can hardly make predictions until you see the fruits ripe. Even here, post-harvest losses through improper handling and other calamities such as floods and bushfires can easily turn a smile into a cry. That is why very few banks will stick out their neck to grant loans for agricultural ventures. Our situation has been rendered even more unpredictable because of our reliance on the rains and crude methods for farming.
Even though it can be argued that there is risk in every business, that of agriculture is more overwhelming and, therefore, a gamble many financial institutions whose prime motive is profit making will not take. That leaves farmers without any anchor. This is the void the ADB has been designed purposely to fill. This is a bank which understands the local farmers and is ready to gamble along with them.
Banks are not only sources of credit. Financial institutions can be powerful instruments of coercion that could be employed under certain circumstances to influence political decisions and policies. Those who may not know this, may want to find out why the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) have never been the darlings of poor Third World countries. This is because what is deemed as financial support from these institutions come with strict and what could be described as atrocious conditionalities to the extent that recipient countries become pawns in the hands of the economic powers and where aid becomes an instrument of enslavement.
Just imagine that recipient countries are not given the free hand to disburse moneys the way they should to satisfy their national interests. The loan comes with instructions. Who and who should be employed; the amount that should be paid as salaries and allowances to expatriate staff; where logistics such as equipment and vehicles should be imported from, etc etc. At the end of the day, the loan trickles back to the donors while the recipient country is saddled with huge interests and debt-servicing to contend with.
Those who claim ignorant of these intrigues in the financial market should remember that cash flows that will swell the coffers of the new ADB will not be freely available for local industry if there are competitive products outside mainly from the countries of the major shareholders
Let us take South Africa, which is a major player on the continent where business and finance are concerned. If there is say, the need to establish a tomato cannery in the country and assistance is required from Stanbic, where is the guarantee that this loan application will receive favourable response if at the end of the day, this local tomato factory is going to take business from or compete with tomato factories in South Africa or other places where the principal shareholders have business interests?
This is just one example. That is why strategically, it is unwise in the name of trade liberalization and globalization to allow certain state institutions to fall into the hands of foreign interests. This has nothing to do with closing our doors to foreign investors. You do not expand by transferring national assets to foreigners. You expand by allowing foreign investors to enter the local market and create competition.
Already, a number of foreign banks mostly from neighbouring Nigeria have entered the local market and are doing well. Nothing stops Stanbic from expanding by opening more branches country-wide. Stanbic or for that matter any other bank can create a special department purposely for agricultural development or establish a completely new bank for that purpose.
It is better and more advantageous for the country if there are more than one bank devoted to agriculture than to have the only one swallowed by a bigger one with a different agenda all together.
State enterprises have every chance of succeeding if they will be freed from all forms of political interference. Ghana Airways is gone and what replaced it has not proved to be better. As long as principal officers of state enterprises have to look behind their shoulders to see who are watching they will continue to take decisions that serve the interest not of the organizations they are running but that of those in political power. In that case, it is not the Ghanaian manager who is not good, but the politician who is selfish.
The ADB must not go the way others have gone. It should be strengthened and allowed more Ghanaian participation to offer stiff competition to others. At least we will be assured that if others fail us, our farmers and fishermen will have the shoulders of ADB to lean on.
Time for Africa to raise a common flag
By Kofi Akordor
On May 25, 1963, in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, 32 independent African states appended their signatures and adopted the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Charter which brought into existence that continental body. On Monday, July 2, 2007, 53 African Heads of State will gather in Accra, for another historic event. This time the African leaders would be confronted with a crucial decision which will either bring to fulfillment or buried for ever, the dream of Dr Kwame Nkrumah and other illustrious sons of the continent on the Union of African States.
Branded the “The Grand Debate on the Union Government”, the Accra Conference is going to be a test case for the whole continent during which leaders will demonstrate whether they are prepared to bury national pride and interest in favour of continental unity or remain fragmented and poor for many years to come.
When the OAU was formed in 1963, it had a clear mandate. To rid the continent of the last vestiges of colonialism and apartheid; promote unity and solidarity among African countries; co-ordinate and intensify co-operation for development to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states and to promote international co-operation within the framework of the United Nations.
The idea of continental government at the time did not win favour since arguments were made that the newly-independent nations needed more time to establish strong foundations first.
There is no doubt that the OAU had a lot of limitations which affected its performance and institution of African unity. The obvious included the continent’s colonial past which left her with artificial boundaries which separated people who share common ideals and in some cases brought some people with different cultures together. There was also the North/South divide which pitched the Arabs of the North against the Blacks in sub-Saharan Africa.
Others include outside interference from the big powers which turned the continent into a playground for superpower rivalry especially during the Cold War era and who saw a threat to their political and economic interests in Africa’s unity.
There was also the problem of leadership which is characterized by dishonesty, greed, selfishness, insatiable taste for power, corruption and disregard for democratic values.
The way the OAU was perceived could be found in the words of one its founders, former President Julius Nyerere who described it as a “trade union of African Heads of State”. Because of its principle of non-interference in other member states’ affairs, dictators found a protection for their misrule and atrocities.
In spite of heavy criticisms that the OAU had not done much especially in the areas of economic and social integration, looking backwards, the OAU could be said to have succeeded in providing an effective forum that enabled member states to adopt co-coordinated positions on matters of common concern to the continent.
The Union Dream
It must be stressed that Africa’s position as the poorest, most diseased, most illiterate and most orphaned continent, notwithstanding its rich natural resources means the question cannot be wished away. The African Union dream continued to receive attention and the idea started to gain renewed momentum through several events.
In July, 1999, the Assembly decided to convene an extraordinary session to exploit the process of economic and political integration. This was followed by four significant summits culminating in the launching of the African Union in Durban, South Africa in July, 2002. These are:
The Sirte Extraordinary Session held in 1999 during which African heads decided to establish an African Union;
The Lome Summit in 2000 which adopted the Constitutive Act of the Union;
The Lusaka Summit of 2001 which drew the road map for the implementation of the African Union and the crowning moment came at the Durban Summit in July 2002 when the African Union was launched and the first assembly of Heads of State of the AU convened.
Before these four significant summits, several steps had been taken in the past towards the realization of the African Unity dream. They included;
*The Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act of Lagos in 1980 which incorporated programmes and strategies for self-reliance and co-operation among African countries;
* The African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Nairobi 1981) and the Grand Bay Declaration and Plan on Human Rights. This charter led to the establishment of the African Human Rights Commission based in Banjul, The Gambia.
* The treaty establishing the African Economic Community (AEC) in 1991, commonly known as the Abuja Treaty, which seeks to create AEC through six stages culminating in an African Common Market.
* The Cairo Agenda for Action (1995), a programme for relaunching the continent’s political, economic and social development.
* The 2000 Solemn Declaration of the Conference on Security, Stability, Development and Co-operation which establishes the fundamental principles for the promotion of Democracy and Good Governance on the and continent and;
* The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) which was adopted as an AU programme at the Lusaka Summit in 2001.
The African Union and its organs
The vision of the AU goes far beyond that of its predecessor – the OAU. With the attainment of political independence, what Africa needs now is socio-economic integration, promotion of continental unity and harmony and building of partnerships between governments and segments of civil society, particularly women, youth and the private sector in order to strengthen stability and cohesion among the peoples of Africa.
The AU is composed of the Assembly which is the supreme organ composed of Heads of State and Government or their accredited representatives. It is also has the Executive Council which is composed of ministers or authorities designated by the governments of member states.
There is a Commission composed of the Chairperson, the Deputy Chairperson, eight Commissioners and staff members. Each Commissioner shall be responsible for a portfolio.
Other organs are the Permanent Representatives’ Committee, the Peace and Security Council, the Pan African Parliament, the Economic Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOC), the Court of Justice, the Specialised Technical Committees and the Financial Institutions which comprise the African Central Bank, the African Monetary Fund and the African Investment Bank.
By some strange coincidence, Accra is the venue for a summit where African leaders are expected to commit themselves to a Union Government of Africa. Every student of African history and the struggle for continental freedom cannot avoid knowledge of the pioneering role Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President in that regard. Unfortunately, Nkrumah and many others became victims of vile propaganda which succeeded in nipping that idea in the bud. Those were the days when it was being trumpeted that Nkrumah wanted to President of Africa.
Africa cannot afford to remain fragmented. Those who stand to profit from the continent’s state of disunity will surely try to put the spook into the wheel of unity. But there can be no better legacy in memory of Nkrumah and the founding fathers than a strong affirmation for African unity. The Europeans have shown that it could be done and the advantages are too numerous to mention. Africa should not fail itself.
On May 25, 1963, in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, 32 independent African states appended their signatures and adopted the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Charter which brought into existence that continental body. On Monday, July 2, 2007, 53 African Heads of State will gather in Accra, for another historic event. This time the African leaders would be confronted with a crucial decision which will either bring to fulfillment or buried for ever, the dream of Dr Kwame Nkrumah and other illustrious sons of the continent on the Union of African States.
Branded the “The Grand Debate on the Union Government”, the Accra Conference is going to be a test case for the whole continent during which leaders will demonstrate whether they are prepared to bury national pride and interest in favour of continental unity or remain fragmented and poor for many years to come.
When the OAU was formed in 1963, it had a clear mandate. To rid the continent of the last vestiges of colonialism and apartheid; promote unity and solidarity among African countries; co-ordinate and intensify co-operation for development to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states and to promote international co-operation within the framework of the United Nations.
The idea of continental government at the time did not win favour since arguments were made that the newly-independent nations needed more time to establish strong foundations first.
There is no doubt that the OAU had a lot of limitations which affected its performance and institution of African unity. The obvious included the continent’s colonial past which left her with artificial boundaries which separated people who share common ideals and in some cases brought some people with different cultures together. There was also the North/South divide which pitched the Arabs of the North against the Blacks in sub-Saharan Africa.
Others include outside interference from the big powers which turned the continent into a playground for superpower rivalry especially during the Cold War era and who saw a threat to their political and economic interests in Africa’s unity.
There was also the problem of leadership which is characterized by dishonesty, greed, selfishness, insatiable taste for power, corruption and disregard for democratic values.
The way the OAU was perceived could be found in the words of one its founders, former President Julius Nyerere who described it as a “trade union of African Heads of State”. Because of its principle of non-interference in other member states’ affairs, dictators found a protection for their misrule and atrocities.
In spite of heavy criticisms that the OAU had not done much especially in the areas of economic and social integration, looking backwards, the OAU could be said to have succeeded in providing an effective forum that enabled member states to adopt co-coordinated positions on matters of common concern to the continent.
The Union Dream
It must be stressed that Africa’s position as the poorest, most diseased, most illiterate and most orphaned continent, notwithstanding its rich natural resources means the question cannot be wished away. The African Union dream continued to receive attention and the idea started to gain renewed momentum through several events.
In July, 1999, the Assembly decided to convene an extraordinary session to exploit the process of economic and political integration. This was followed by four significant summits culminating in the launching of the African Union in Durban, South Africa in July, 2002. These are:
The Sirte Extraordinary Session held in 1999 during which African heads decided to establish an African Union;
The Lome Summit in 2000 which adopted the Constitutive Act of the Union;
The Lusaka Summit of 2001 which drew the road map for the implementation of the African Union and the crowning moment came at the Durban Summit in July 2002 when the African Union was launched and the first assembly of Heads of State of the AU convened.
Before these four significant summits, several steps had been taken in the past towards the realization of the African Unity dream. They included;
*The Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act of Lagos in 1980 which incorporated programmes and strategies for self-reliance and co-operation among African countries;
* The African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Nairobi 1981) and the Grand Bay Declaration and Plan on Human Rights. This charter led to the establishment of the African Human Rights Commission based in Banjul, The Gambia.
* The treaty establishing the African Economic Community (AEC) in 1991, commonly known as the Abuja Treaty, which seeks to create AEC through six stages culminating in an African Common Market.
* The Cairo Agenda for Action (1995), a programme for relaunching the continent’s political, economic and social development.
* The 2000 Solemn Declaration of the Conference on Security, Stability, Development and Co-operation which establishes the fundamental principles for the promotion of Democracy and Good Governance on the and continent and;
* The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) which was adopted as an AU programme at the Lusaka Summit in 2001.
The African Union and its organs
The vision of the AU goes far beyond that of its predecessor – the OAU. With the attainment of political independence, what Africa needs now is socio-economic integration, promotion of continental unity and harmony and building of partnerships between governments and segments of civil society, particularly women, youth and the private sector in order to strengthen stability and cohesion among the peoples of Africa.
The AU is composed of the Assembly which is the supreme organ composed of Heads of State and Government or their accredited representatives. It is also has the Executive Council which is composed of ministers or authorities designated by the governments of member states.
There is a Commission composed of the Chairperson, the Deputy Chairperson, eight Commissioners and staff members. Each Commissioner shall be responsible for a portfolio.
Other organs are the Permanent Representatives’ Committee, the Peace and Security Council, the Pan African Parliament, the Economic Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOC), the Court of Justice, the Specialised Technical Committees and the Financial Institutions which comprise the African Central Bank, the African Monetary Fund and the African Investment Bank.
By some strange coincidence, Accra is the venue for a summit where African leaders are expected to commit themselves to a Union Government of Africa. Every student of African history and the struggle for continental freedom cannot avoid knowledge of the pioneering role Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President in that regard. Unfortunately, Nkrumah and many others became victims of vile propaganda which succeeded in nipping that idea in the bud. Those were the days when it was being trumpeted that Nkrumah wanted to President of Africa.
Africa cannot afford to remain fragmented. Those who stand to profit from the continent’s state of disunity will surely try to put the spook into the wheel of unity. But there can be no better legacy in memory of Nkrumah and the founding fathers than a strong affirmation for African unity. The Europeans have shown that it could be done and the advantages are too numerous to mention. Africa should not fail itself.
Accountability and public expenditure
By Kofi Akordor
A week ago today, Tuesday, October 16, 2007, to be precise, Ghana took another giant step in its determination to ensure good democratic governance and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament held its first public proceedings. That decision opens the doors to members of the public to have first –hand information on how persons placed in responsible positions are conducting themselves as representatives of the people.
Revelations on the first day when officials of the Ministry of Tourism and Diasporean Relations led by Mr. Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, the Sector Minister proved that the exercise was worthwhile and, therefore, must be sustained. From their responses to questions posed by the PAC members led by Mr. Salas Mensah, its chairman, it became obvious that there is need for hard supervision and monitoring in our Ministries, Departments and Agencies if public money should not go down the drain. Queries were raised on submission of imprest, improper award of consultancy services and uncompetitive procurement methods which contributed to the loss of funds running into billions of cedis.
When it was the turn of the Ministry of Health on the second day, things did not prove better. Funds running into billions of cedis including a dollar account were not covered by any documentation.
By the third day when it was the turn of the Ministry of Transportation, it became obvious that those placed in positions of responsibility had either out of negligence or pure criminality have taken this country for a ride. The committee was told that some accountants of the ministry have embezzled funds running into billion of cedis.
Two names actually surfaced at the hearing for embezzling a total of 5.5 billion cedis which was withholding tax deducted from contractors which should have been paid to the Internal Revenue Service. These were that of Messrs Nicholas Sakyi and A.E. Kaati of the Kumasi and Sekondi offices of the Department of Urban Roads respectively.
It was evident from information available to the PAC that the state has lost large sums of money through several fraudulent means including delay in the execution of projects, unremmitted withholding of tax, unapproved contract variations and unpaid mobilization of advances.
It has always been argued that contracts and procurement are areas where the state is very vulnerable in the hands of corrupt and inefficient public servants and revelations at the PAC proceedings have confirmed this. Strangely, these thefts took place between 2002 and 2005. So why should they take so long to be uncovered? As the PAC chairman observed, part had to do laxity in supervision and incompetence. The other was the disinterest shown by the contractors in their Tax Credit Certificates.
Whatever be the case, the revelations of the past few days go to show that this nation has over the years billions in funds which should have been used to develop it and held her emerge from abject poverty.
They also lend credence to the belief of many that our beggar status was self-inflicted. It is very disheartening that while so much is going down the drain or ending up in a few individual’s pockets; the nation is always on the begging spree asking for anything in sight from whoever is ready to look our side.
Even the donor countries and institutions have cause to complain about the laxity in the financial administration of the country. This has resulted in the loss of international confidence and support on several fronts. Where countries and institutions are willing to assist they demand certain conditions which sometimes we are not able to meet to qualify for the available support. Some even demand that their own are put in charge of affairs where disbursement is concerned.
Kufuor’s government came to power with a strong message of zero tolerance for corruption. The government went ahead to get into existence, three important legislative instruments which were to energize the fight against corruption. These are the Public Procurement Act, the Financial Administration Act and the Internal Audit Act. These were described as classical monuments in the government’s fight against corruption.
These, in addition to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the Office of Accountability, were to serve as bulwarks against corruption and other financial malpractices. Unfortunately, the SFO Act of 1993 (Act 466), has so much diluted the powers of the office that in its present form, it lacks the necessary independence and authority to execute its mandate.
Even though the SFO was to “investigate public acts likely to result in serious financial or economic loss to the state”, its operation comes directly under Executive control to the extent that there should not be the need for any pretences that it can carry out its functions effectively. There is, therefore, the need for the review of its legislative instrument to give it sufficient independence and power to prosecute suspected offenders. It will also build public confidence in the anti-corruption agencies and the government’s declaration of war on corruption.
In the next few days or weeks, Ghanaians must brace up for more revelations which will churn their stomach. People may want to do politics out of them as usual. But on a serious note, we need to show concern about how our national resources can go on enriching others while our children continue to squat under trees for classes.
We must begin to understand why we have poor roads even though we are always told these roads have been awarded on contract. We must begin to understand why people who complain of low remuneration could afford mansions and expensive cars.
The system has become so rotten that one is unable to determine where to start from. But all said and done, the politicians who always promise to stamp corruption from the system deserve the greater blame. They may not be everywhere all the time, but their disposition and the manner they handle perceived abuses of office by those who serve under them will send ample signal that they could not be manipulated easily. But where they also chart their own path to easy wealth they will definitely open the floodgates for others to do so.
President John Agyekum Kufuor has always said that he is ready to act on any credible information about misconduct on the part of any of his ministers or senior officials. The public proceedings of the PAC offers him a good opportunity to determine those who did well and those who did not. After that Ghanaians will see how he reacts.
A week ago today, Tuesday, October 16, 2007, to be precise, Ghana took another giant step in its determination to ensure good democratic governance and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament held its first public proceedings. That decision opens the doors to members of the public to have first –hand information on how persons placed in responsible positions are conducting themselves as representatives of the people.
Revelations on the first day when officials of the Ministry of Tourism and Diasporean Relations led by Mr. Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, the Sector Minister proved that the exercise was worthwhile and, therefore, must be sustained. From their responses to questions posed by the PAC members led by Mr. Salas Mensah, its chairman, it became obvious that there is need for hard supervision and monitoring in our Ministries, Departments and Agencies if public money should not go down the drain. Queries were raised on submission of imprest, improper award of consultancy services and uncompetitive procurement methods which contributed to the loss of funds running into billions of cedis.
When it was the turn of the Ministry of Health on the second day, things did not prove better. Funds running into billions of cedis including a dollar account were not covered by any documentation.
By the third day when it was the turn of the Ministry of Transportation, it became obvious that those placed in positions of responsibility had either out of negligence or pure criminality have taken this country for a ride. The committee was told that some accountants of the ministry have embezzled funds running into billion of cedis.
Two names actually surfaced at the hearing for embezzling a total of 5.5 billion cedis which was withholding tax deducted from contractors which should have been paid to the Internal Revenue Service. These were that of Messrs Nicholas Sakyi and A.E. Kaati of the Kumasi and Sekondi offices of the Department of Urban Roads respectively.
It was evident from information available to the PAC that the state has lost large sums of money through several fraudulent means including delay in the execution of projects, unremmitted withholding of tax, unapproved contract variations and unpaid mobilization of advances.
It has always been argued that contracts and procurement are areas where the state is very vulnerable in the hands of corrupt and inefficient public servants and revelations at the PAC proceedings have confirmed this. Strangely, these thefts took place between 2002 and 2005. So why should they take so long to be uncovered? As the PAC chairman observed, part had to do laxity in supervision and incompetence. The other was the disinterest shown by the contractors in their Tax Credit Certificates.
Whatever be the case, the revelations of the past few days go to show that this nation has over the years billions in funds which should have been used to develop it and held her emerge from abject poverty.
They also lend credence to the belief of many that our beggar status was self-inflicted. It is very disheartening that while so much is going down the drain or ending up in a few individual’s pockets; the nation is always on the begging spree asking for anything in sight from whoever is ready to look our side.
Even the donor countries and institutions have cause to complain about the laxity in the financial administration of the country. This has resulted in the loss of international confidence and support on several fronts. Where countries and institutions are willing to assist they demand certain conditions which sometimes we are not able to meet to qualify for the available support. Some even demand that their own are put in charge of affairs where disbursement is concerned.
Kufuor’s government came to power with a strong message of zero tolerance for corruption. The government went ahead to get into existence, three important legislative instruments which were to energize the fight against corruption. These are the Public Procurement Act, the Financial Administration Act and the Internal Audit Act. These were described as classical monuments in the government’s fight against corruption.
These, in addition to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the Office of Accountability, were to serve as bulwarks against corruption and other financial malpractices. Unfortunately, the SFO Act of 1993 (Act 466), has so much diluted the powers of the office that in its present form, it lacks the necessary independence and authority to execute its mandate.
Even though the SFO was to “investigate public acts likely to result in serious financial or economic loss to the state”, its operation comes directly under Executive control to the extent that there should not be the need for any pretences that it can carry out its functions effectively. There is, therefore, the need for the review of its legislative instrument to give it sufficient independence and power to prosecute suspected offenders. It will also build public confidence in the anti-corruption agencies and the government’s declaration of war on corruption.
In the next few days or weeks, Ghanaians must brace up for more revelations which will churn their stomach. People may want to do politics out of them as usual. But on a serious note, we need to show concern about how our national resources can go on enriching others while our children continue to squat under trees for classes.
We must begin to understand why we have poor roads even though we are always told these roads have been awarded on contract. We must begin to understand why people who complain of low remuneration could afford mansions and expensive cars.
The system has become so rotten that one is unable to determine where to start from. But all said and done, the politicians who always promise to stamp corruption from the system deserve the greater blame. They may not be everywhere all the time, but their disposition and the manner they handle perceived abuses of office by those who serve under them will send ample signal that they could not be manipulated easily. But where they also chart their own path to easy wealth they will definitely open the floodgates for others to do so.
President John Agyekum Kufuor has always said that he is ready to act on any credible information about misconduct on the part of any of his ministers or senior officials. The public proceedings of the PAC offers him a good opportunity to determine those who did well and those who did not. After that Ghanaians will see how he reacts.
Cheap cash for political parties
By Kofi Akordor
For once there was unanimity on the political front. It was not surprising because it was about money to be paid by an already overtaxed Ghanaians to fund political party activities. So when leaders of the various political parties were interview on the subject, they were unanimous. Yes, how Ghanaians may wish their political leaders will bury their parochial interests and discuss important issues dispassionately with national consensus and interest in mind with the same passion exhibited when it came to the funding of political parties.
The philosophy behind the Political Parties (Public Funding) Bill which is to be put before parliament and which was the work of competent and knowledgeable personalities was premised on the belief that political party activities must be made open to as many people as possible.
There may be genuine fears that if state funding is not made available, political parties may become like clubs for the rich and national governance will be the preserve of those who could command money. Public funding might also be seen as a better alternative if political parties which are not in power are compelled by liquidity problems to fold up or forced into extinction. The idea, therefore, it is presumed, is to give all the parties a common financial base for their constitutionally required activities.
The draft bill has also prescribed how the parties should be funded. The main source is an amount equivalent to two percent of the prevailing rate of the Value Added Tax (VAT) to be paid by the VAT Service or any amount approved by Parliament but which shall not be less than two percent of VAT.
The draft provides for other sources including grants, donations, gifts, corporate and other voluntary contributions originating from within or outside the country, whether by foreigners or citizens of Ghana.
The bill provides for safeguards to ensure transparency, accountability and fairness to all the parties involved. The fund is to be managed by a body only mentioned as the ‘Commission”. Whether this refers to the Electoral Commission (EC) has not been clearly spelt out. One would, however, assume that since the EC is the sole statutory body mandated by the 1992 Constitution to be in charge of the country’s electoral process, the commission referred to in the draft bill is the EC, unless otherwise stated.
There is no doubt that money has a major influence in party activities and no matter the support given by the state, individuals with money or who have connections with people with money within or outside the parties would still yield a lot of power to influence decisions. If reports that huge sums of money are changing hands in ongoing campaign by presidential aspirants to elicit support from delegates are anything to go by, then one could conclude that there is very little political parties themselves can do to stem the tide. Secondly it can not be the most prudent thing for political parties to say that in the name of fairness and democratic principles any member of the party could just walk into party offices and collect nomination forms without proving that he/she is a person of substance.
This is why there is a limit to what the state could do in the form of support for political parties. Moreover, political parties are constituted by people with common ideologies and aspirations and who think they have a better of governing this country. They should, therefore, be in a position to pool resources to carry out their political ambitions. That should not be another bureaucratic apparatus hanging on the neck of Ghanaians who have suffered enough in the hands of politicians. Already there is a requirement that all political parties submit their annual audited accounts to the EC and to furnish it with reports about their operations. This, most of them have failed to do and some parties have become private businesses operated by one person or a few individuals.
We all know that after general elections, even parties which win power forget their own supporters until another election year. It is like what all have created is shared by a few. We also know that many people are gunning for political office not for any genuine desire to help this country but for what they can take out of our national coffers. Such people cannot be a burden on Ghanaians even before they enter political office. The crave for political power is so intense that state sponsorship will only excercebate the situation and bring more questionable characters into the fray.
The existing arrangement which allows the EC to support political parties during elections can remain in place. As a nation, we are confronted with a lot of problems already which need serious and urgent attention. A great number of our children who should have been in the classrooms are struggling for space with vehicles in the cities while those who manage to get a place in schools have to contend with inadequate facilities. A lot of our problems as a nation came about as a result of the attitude of politicians who promised the electorate the moon but who could not deliver even a lantern.
It will be like adding insult to injury for these same politicians to enjoy the luxury of being prefinanced by the same poor Ghanaians. There are many things that VAT money can do for this country to make it a better place. We cannot pretend that we do not know what politicians are capable of doing when they win power and until they can prove their mission and vision and stay above board, funding political parties for the moment may not be a national priority.
For once there was unanimity on the political front. It was not surprising because it was about money to be paid by an already overtaxed Ghanaians to fund political party activities. So when leaders of the various political parties were interview on the subject, they were unanimous. Yes, how Ghanaians may wish their political leaders will bury their parochial interests and discuss important issues dispassionately with national consensus and interest in mind with the same passion exhibited when it came to the funding of political parties.
The philosophy behind the Political Parties (Public Funding) Bill which is to be put before parliament and which was the work of competent and knowledgeable personalities was premised on the belief that political party activities must be made open to as many people as possible.
There may be genuine fears that if state funding is not made available, political parties may become like clubs for the rich and national governance will be the preserve of those who could command money. Public funding might also be seen as a better alternative if political parties which are not in power are compelled by liquidity problems to fold up or forced into extinction. The idea, therefore, it is presumed, is to give all the parties a common financial base for their constitutionally required activities.
The draft bill has also prescribed how the parties should be funded. The main source is an amount equivalent to two percent of the prevailing rate of the Value Added Tax (VAT) to be paid by the VAT Service or any amount approved by Parliament but which shall not be less than two percent of VAT.
The draft provides for other sources including grants, donations, gifts, corporate and other voluntary contributions originating from within or outside the country, whether by foreigners or citizens of Ghana.
The bill provides for safeguards to ensure transparency, accountability and fairness to all the parties involved. The fund is to be managed by a body only mentioned as the ‘Commission”. Whether this refers to the Electoral Commission (EC) has not been clearly spelt out. One would, however, assume that since the EC is the sole statutory body mandated by the 1992 Constitution to be in charge of the country’s electoral process, the commission referred to in the draft bill is the EC, unless otherwise stated.
There is no doubt that money has a major influence in party activities and no matter the support given by the state, individuals with money or who have connections with people with money within or outside the parties would still yield a lot of power to influence decisions. If reports that huge sums of money are changing hands in ongoing campaign by presidential aspirants to elicit support from delegates are anything to go by, then one could conclude that there is very little political parties themselves can do to stem the tide. Secondly it can not be the most prudent thing for political parties to say that in the name of fairness and democratic principles any member of the party could just walk into party offices and collect nomination forms without proving that he/she is a person of substance.
This is why there is a limit to what the state could do in the form of support for political parties. Moreover, political parties are constituted by people with common ideologies and aspirations and who think they have a better of governing this country. They should, therefore, be in a position to pool resources to carry out their political ambitions. That should not be another bureaucratic apparatus hanging on the neck of Ghanaians who have suffered enough in the hands of politicians. Already there is a requirement that all political parties submit their annual audited accounts to the EC and to furnish it with reports about their operations. This, most of them have failed to do and some parties have become private businesses operated by one person or a few individuals.
We all know that after general elections, even parties which win power forget their own supporters until another election year. It is like what all have created is shared by a few. We also know that many people are gunning for political office not for any genuine desire to help this country but for what they can take out of our national coffers. Such people cannot be a burden on Ghanaians even before they enter political office. The crave for political power is so intense that state sponsorship will only excercebate the situation and bring more questionable characters into the fray.
The existing arrangement which allows the EC to support political parties during elections can remain in place. As a nation, we are confronted with a lot of problems already which need serious and urgent attention. A great number of our children who should have been in the classrooms are struggling for space with vehicles in the cities while those who manage to get a place in schools have to contend with inadequate facilities. A lot of our problems as a nation came about as a result of the attitude of politicians who promised the electorate the moon but who could not deliver even a lantern.
It will be like adding insult to injury for these same politicians to enjoy the luxury of being prefinanced by the same poor Ghanaians. There are many things that VAT money can do for this country to make it a better place. We cannot pretend that we do not know what politicians are capable of doing when they win power and until they can prove their mission and vision and stay above board, funding political parties for the moment may not be a national priority.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
The Teleku-Bokazo spillage
The Teleku-Bokazo spillage
October 9.2007
By Kofi Akordor
ON Sunday, September 30, 2007, a nasty incident was recorded in the Nzema East District of the Western Region when the youth of two communities clashed with employees of a company prospecting for gold in the area.
Limbs were broken, wounds sustained and property said to run into millions of cedis damaged when some over-zealous youth from Teleku-Bokazo and Anwia resisted an attempt by Adamus Resources Limited to convey equipment suspected to be for surface mining to its designated site. That information was said to have been based on a wrong assumption and, therefore, it was false. The clash, during which two policemen sustained severe injuries, has since received a lot of media attention.
It was natural that the immediate public reaction was a general condemnation of the action of the youth of the two communities. That was because violence and lawlessness, no matter their underlying factors, need not be condoned or encouraged. Public indignation at the clash was, therefore, in order and could be expected.
However, after the calm is restored, it is important to revisit the grievances of the two communities and see whether they are isolated or they have something in common with the concerns of other mining communities in the country. Whether we like it or not, some of these confrontations may be harbingers of worse things to come and pushing them under the carpet or disregarding them may only mean burying our heads in the sand, ostrich style.
It is likely that the youth of the two communities may have been reacting to genuine fears based on historical precedents. Under normal circumstances, one would have expected that a company going to a community with investment money would be received with open arms and not the hostile confrontation which met the Adamus team.
What could have triggered the confrontation? This is the question we should all try to find an answer to.
The police have acted by apprehending some people who were allegedly involved in the unfortunate incident, and if news that the aggrieved youth have adopted what is termed guerilla tactics, then we have a big load of communal violence resting perilously on our heads.
The solution, in my opinion, lies more on tact and diplomacy than trying to show where power lies. That is why if even the law should take its course, there would be the need to take steps to ensure a cordial atmosphere that will engender goodwill between the two parties, that is, the mining company and the communities. It is, therefore, very important that anything which will breed bad blood between the two parties must be avoided.
The plain truth is that while mining is constantly receiving attention as a major foreign exchange earner, the abject poverty and the deplorable conditions under which people in the mining communities live make nonsense of that claim. This has apparently heightened tension in the mining communities and led to intermittent clashes between the local people and mining companies.
The story of Obuasi is a good example. The Obuasi gold mine was for many years regarded as one of the richest in the world. What is there to show for this? A degraded environment, polluted water bodies, destroyed farmlands, poor social infrastructure, a horde of jobless youth who have resorted to any means to earn a living and a town which is dead even before it has started life. Apart from the Len Clay Stadium, Obuasi offers nothing which represents one of the richest gold mines on this earth.
Meanwhile, Obuasi has made millionaires out of people from other lands. It has built economic empires elsewhere, while its inhabitants are battling with diseases associated with mining activities. The only crowning moment was when a son of the land was knighted by the British Monarch for a good job done. That is Sir Sam Jonah, the former Chief Executive Officer of Ashanti Goldfields Company (AGC), which became AngloGold Ashanti to reflect its true owners.
They say once bitten, twice shy. Many of the newly-emerging mining communities are now jittery about the operations of these foreign companies, having studied the fortunes of Obuasi and the earlier mining communities. If, in the past, out of ignorance the people thought these foreign mining companies were charitable organisations, a lot of the youth today are beginning to realise the folly of the past and are no longer ready to sit down unconcerned while the wealth of their land is taken away, leaving them in abject poverty. Being called illegal miners on their own land, while foreign companies get vast concessions for mining activities, is becoming a burden too much to bear by many of them.
It is time the government’s mining policy was reviewed to give the indigenes some control over their mineral resources. The local communities, led by the traditional authorities, the Members of Parliament (MPs)and the district and area councils could be encouraged to take concessions for mining purposes for community development and to enhance the social life of the people. It should also be possible for the local communities to have shares in the foreign mining companies so that together they sink or float.
A clinic here or a classroom block there is not all that the communities need, considering the huge profits running into hundreds of millions of dollars these mining companies make annually. The general lifestyle of the people in the communities must change to reflect the wealth of resources at their disposal. They need good roads, modern health and educational facilities, good drinking water and infrastructure which can enhance cottage industries and promote rural development.
Any dream that these companies are benevolent or charitable institutions which are here to help us to develop must be discarded. We must realise that they are here for serious business for maximum profit and it is only fair that those who are the custodians of the land also derive their fair share of their natural heritage.
The youth of Teleku-Bokazo and Anwia may have over-reacted. They may have taken the law into their own hands, but putting a few of them behind bars will only amount to trying to put out a smoldering fire with a few fresh leaves. It will simmer under and explode into something nastier at a future date, with more devastating consequences.
If the slum we call Obuasi has not taught us any lesson, then it means for many years to come we shall continue to mortgage our precious natural resources for a pittance.
By the way, since when did the Police Administration notice that some youth brandishing branches have taken over the duties of traffic wardens at our traffic intersections?
Since the beginning of our energy crisis last year, these boys have been operating at most of our traffic intersections because most of the traffic lights do not work. Sometimes you cannot tell whether they are traffic wardens or beggars. All the same, they provide some useful service, while the ministers, police officers and MPs drive past. If today the police have regained their confidence and sense of duty, they should go to work to control traffic at the intersections and not blow any unnecessary hot air.
October 9.2007
By Kofi Akordor
ON Sunday, September 30, 2007, a nasty incident was recorded in the Nzema East District of the Western Region when the youth of two communities clashed with employees of a company prospecting for gold in the area.
Limbs were broken, wounds sustained and property said to run into millions of cedis damaged when some over-zealous youth from Teleku-Bokazo and Anwia resisted an attempt by Adamus Resources Limited to convey equipment suspected to be for surface mining to its designated site. That information was said to have been based on a wrong assumption and, therefore, it was false. The clash, during which two policemen sustained severe injuries, has since received a lot of media attention.
It was natural that the immediate public reaction was a general condemnation of the action of the youth of the two communities. That was because violence and lawlessness, no matter their underlying factors, need not be condoned or encouraged. Public indignation at the clash was, therefore, in order and could be expected.
However, after the calm is restored, it is important to revisit the grievances of the two communities and see whether they are isolated or they have something in common with the concerns of other mining communities in the country. Whether we like it or not, some of these confrontations may be harbingers of worse things to come and pushing them under the carpet or disregarding them may only mean burying our heads in the sand, ostrich style.
It is likely that the youth of the two communities may have been reacting to genuine fears based on historical precedents. Under normal circumstances, one would have expected that a company going to a community with investment money would be received with open arms and not the hostile confrontation which met the Adamus team.
What could have triggered the confrontation? This is the question we should all try to find an answer to.
The police have acted by apprehending some people who were allegedly involved in the unfortunate incident, and if news that the aggrieved youth have adopted what is termed guerilla tactics, then we have a big load of communal violence resting perilously on our heads.
The solution, in my opinion, lies more on tact and diplomacy than trying to show where power lies. That is why if even the law should take its course, there would be the need to take steps to ensure a cordial atmosphere that will engender goodwill between the two parties, that is, the mining company and the communities. It is, therefore, very important that anything which will breed bad blood between the two parties must be avoided.
The plain truth is that while mining is constantly receiving attention as a major foreign exchange earner, the abject poverty and the deplorable conditions under which people in the mining communities live make nonsense of that claim. This has apparently heightened tension in the mining communities and led to intermittent clashes between the local people and mining companies.
The story of Obuasi is a good example. The Obuasi gold mine was for many years regarded as one of the richest in the world. What is there to show for this? A degraded environment, polluted water bodies, destroyed farmlands, poor social infrastructure, a horde of jobless youth who have resorted to any means to earn a living and a town which is dead even before it has started life. Apart from the Len Clay Stadium, Obuasi offers nothing which represents one of the richest gold mines on this earth.
Meanwhile, Obuasi has made millionaires out of people from other lands. It has built economic empires elsewhere, while its inhabitants are battling with diseases associated with mining activities. The only crowning moment was when a son of the land was knighted by the British Monarch for a good job done. That is Sir Sam Jonah, the former Chief Executive Officer of Ashanti Goldfields Company (AGC), which became AngloGold Ashanti to reflect its true owners.
They say once bitten, twice shy. Many of the newly-emerging mining communities are now jittery about the operations of these foreign companies, having studied the fortunes of Obuasi and the earlier mining communities. If, in the past, out of ignorance the people thought these foreign mining companies were charitable organisations, a lot of the youth today are beginning to realise the folly of the past and are no longer ready to sit down unconcerned while the wealth of their land is taken away, leaving them in abject poverty. Being called illegal miners on their own land, while foreign companies get vast concessions for mining activities, is becoming a burden too much to bear by many of them.
It is time the government’s mining policy was reviewed to give the indigenes some control over their mineral resources. The local communities, led by the traditional authorities, the Members of Parliament (MPs)and the district and area councils could be encouraged to take concessions for mining purposes for community development and to enhance the social life of the people. It should also be possible for the local communities to have shares in the foreign mining companies so that together they sink or float.
A clinic here or a classroom block there is not all that the communities need, considering the huge profits running into hundreds of millions of dollars these mining companies make annually. The general lifestyle of the people in the communities must change to reflect the wealth of resources at their disposal. They need good roads, modern health and educational facilities, good drinking water and infrastructure which can enhance cottage industries and promote rural development.
Any dream that these companies are benevolent or charitable institutions which are here to help us to develop must be discarded. We must realise that they are here for serious business for maximum profit and it is only fair that those who are the custodians of the land also derive their fair share of their natural heritage.
The youth of Teleku-Bokazo and Anwia may have over-reacted. They may have taken the law into their own hands, but putting a few of them behind bars will only amount to trying to put out a smoldering fire with a few fresh leaves. It will simmer under and explode into something nastier at a future date, with more devastating consequences.
If the slum we call Obuasi has not taught us any lesson, then it means for many years to come we shall continue to mortgage our precious natural resources for a pittance.
By the way, since when did the Police Administration notice that some youth brandishing branches have taken over the duties of traffic wardens at our traffic intersections?
Since the beginning of our energy crisis last year, these boys have been operating at most of our traffic intersections because most of the traffic lights do not work. Sometimes you cannot tell whether they are traffic wardens or beggars. All the same, they provide some useful service, while the ministers, police officers and MPs drive past. If today the police have regained their confidence and sense of duty, they should go to work to control traffic at the intersections and not blow any unnecessary hot air.
The James Watson Theory
The James Watson Theory
October 30,2007
By Kofi Akordor
HAVE you ever heard of the name James Dewey Watson? I will not be surprised if you have not. This is a name which belongs to the exclusive world of science and research. And the man Dr James Dewey Watson is no mean a person. He entered the University of Chicago at an early age of 15 and graduated with Bachelor of Science in Zoology. He went on to do his Ph.D in the same field at the Indiana University.
In 1962, Watson shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine with his research mate, Francis Crick, and a third person, Maurice Wilkins. Watson and his colleague discovered the structure of DNA, the molecule that lies at the heart of heredity in living organisms.
About two weeks ago, Watson was in the news again, this time also about a personal discovery. The only difference is that this time Watson’s discovery lacked scientific proof (at least that was what people claimed).
Dr Watson was alleged to have said in an interview he granted a British newspaper that Africans were less intelligent than Europeans. In short, Blacks are less intelligent than Whites.
The outrage was expected, so were the condemnations. Suddenly, Dr Watson became a pariah. The Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory where he works distanced itself from the renowned and yet controversial scientist’s discovery. The consequence was that the laboratory’s board of trustees took a stern action by suspending him, “pending further deliberation by the board”.
By some coincidence, another top scientist, Dr Craig Venter, was also in London to promote a book and he did not mince words in his condemnation of his colleague.
“Skin colour as a surrogate for race is a social concept, not a scientific one,” Dr Venter said, adding, “There is no basis in scientific fact or in human genetic code for the notion that skin colour will be predictive of intelligence.”
A lecture which Dr Watson was due to deliver at the Science Museum in London was cancelled. An appearance at the Bristol Festival of Ideas was also torpedoed, all because Dr Watson, by the judgement of the rest of humanity, has gone beyond tolerable levels.
But what did Dr Watson say? Was he telling the truth and were all those flurry of condemnations sincere or just another smokescreen to cover a hidden belief from Africans?
Dr Watson told the Sunday Times that he was “inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa” because “all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours – whereas all the testing says not really”.
Now Dr Watson has spoken; the world has condemned him and he has since apologised, claiming those words were not actually his or at best they were put out of context.
What is the assessment of Africans themselves about Dr Watson’s words?
We may be glad that even before we Africans opened our mouths, Dr Watson’s own people have spoken for us. Is that the case? By the way, Dr Watson did not talk about the colour of the skin. He went beyond that. He may be referring to the mentality of the Black race or the Black people’s inability to exercise brain power.
I, therefore, think instead of rubbishing Dr Watson’s statement and taking consolation in the condemnation which followed it, we Blacks should use it as a wake-up call for some moments of sober reflection for obvious reasons.
We are yet to have proof that the other races came into existence long before we Blacks, neither have we been told that the Earth first came without Africa. On the contrary, we have been told that historically, civilisation started from Africa. If that were so, why the vast gap in terms of development between Africa and the rest of the continents?
Even in the most developed parts of world, Blacks are found on the fringes. As for the mother continent, the least said about it the better. Africa is the first, not in the best, but in the worst. Africa is home to the poorest, weakest and most malnourished. Every disease that has ever plagued humanity had its biggest and safest sanctuary in Africa. It has the highest illiterate population in the world. This contrasts sharply with the material resources available to Africa. Look at the beautiful landscape, forests and their rich timber and mineral resources, the big rivers and lakes and all that they represent in resource terms, the awe-inspiring mountains and lush vegetation. It could even be argued that compared to other geographical regions, Nature has been over generous to Africa.
There may not be a genetic difference between Blacks and other races, neither can we claim that Mother Nature was cruel to us at any stage during creation. So what went wrong? We may be quick, as we always do, to point accusing fingers at slavery and colonialism. But for how long shall we continue to live in the past?
We played active roles in both the slavery and colonialisation processes. It was Africans who sold their own children, brothers and sisters to the Whites to be sent into slavery. And it was our chiefs who gave away our lands to the Whites for gin, brandy, whisky and tobacco. So do we continue to mourn these sad episodes if we claim today that we have regretted our folly?
One truth which is retarding our progress must be told. We have a mentality which is not assertive and proactive — a complex which is always pushing us down. That is inferiority complex. This is why we continue to downgrade or underestimate our capabilities and talents and see hope only in foreigners. We do not seem to see salvation within but without. We have embraced everything foreign, modified our eating and dressing habits and crowned it all with new names which we were told and believed were Christian names. We have even lost contact with our natural environment when we see a three-piece suit in the tropical heat as a sign of enlightenment. There was a time in this country when you had to trap yourself in suit before you were considered properly dressed to enter Parliament House. Should we fault the likes of Dr Watson for their low opinion of us when we do not like ourselves?
Our football teams do not feel safe or secure unless they are trained by white-skinned coaches. We are proud praising products from other continents, and the more we patronise foreign goods, the more affluent we wrongly think we are. A continent so depleted of initiative that every bit of problem has to be referred to foreign consultants who come to tap our brains and go home with millions of dollars.
On a continent where millions of innocent children are dying daily of malaria, measles and malnutrition, politicians, without any sense of shame, continue to stock their private bank accounts with funds stolen from the national exchequer. We are always begging, yet our presidential motorcades rival those of our benefactors. At the end of the day, we are happy not because we have made our countries better places but because we are a few millions of stolen cash richer.
Some years ago, we in Ghana were in the same trench with countries like China, Malaysia and India. Today, China has the fastest growing economy in the world. Last Wednesday, China blasted its first lunar probe into space, the same day that Malaysia’s first astronaut returned to Earth. India is preparing to launch its own lunar probe next April. We in this part of the world are yet to manufacture a wheelbarrow, neither do we have the faintest idea where we will be in the next 50 years. Incidentally, the Chinese are equipping us with energy resources, while the Indians are building our presidential mansion for us. Even then we are still asking for more.
Are we blaming slavery and colonialism for our inability to exhibit any technological advancement? No. The problem lies in our mentality and poor leadership.
We need to rediscover ourselves. We need to have confidence in our abilities and capabilities. We need to break away from the dependency and begging syndrome. We need leaders with vision and who are focused.
Dr Watson may be too blunt and unscientific in his evaluation of the African mind, but whether we like it or not, Africans have so far not proved that they are equal to others.
Having been so unimpressive, it is easy for anyone to conclude that the Black race is an inferior one. Will Dr Watson’s theory jostle us to confront the reality which will spur us into serious action? Are we going to remain existing in the shadows of others or we want to live as independent people? As we pause to answer these questions, who knows, we may, after all, be grateful to Dr Watson for a painful truth.
October 30,2007
By Kofi Akordor
HAVE you ever heard of the name James Dewey Watson? I will not be surprised if you have not. This is a name which belongs to the exclusive world of science and research. And the man Dr James Dewey Watson is no mean a person. He entered the University of Chicago at an early age of 15 and graduated with Bachelor of Science in Zoology. He went on to do his Ph.D in the same field at the Indiana University.
In 1962, Watson shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine with his research mate, Francis Crick, and a third person, Maurice Wilkins. Watson and his colleague discovered the structure of DNA, the molecule that lies at the heart of heredity in living organisms.
About two weeks ago, Watson was in the news again, this time also about a personal discovery. The only difference is that this time Watson’s discovery lacked scientific proof (at least that was what people claimed).
Dr Watson was alleged to have said in an interview he granted a British newspaper that Africans were less intelligent than Europeans. In short, Blacks are less intelligent than Whites.
The outrage was expected, so were the condemnations. Suddenly, Dr Watson became a pariah. The Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory where he works distanced itself from the renowned and yet controversial scientist’s discovery. The consequence was that the laboratory’s board of trustees took a stern action by suspending him, “pending further deliberation by the board”.
By some coincidence, another top scientist, Dr Craig Venter, was also in London to promote a book and he did not mince words in his condemnation of his colleague.
“Skin colour as a surrogate for race is a social concept, not a scientific one,” Dr Venter said, adding, “There is no basis in scientific fact or in human genetic code for the notion that skin colour will be predictive of intelligence.”
A lecture which Dr Watson was due to deliver at the Science Museum in London was cancelled. An appearance at the Bristol Festival of Ideas was also torpedoed, all because Dr Watson, by the judgement of the rest of humanity, has gone beyond tolerable levels.
But what did Dr Watson say? Was he telling the truth and were all those flurry of condemnations sincere or just another smokescreen to cover a hidden belief from Africans?
Dr Watson told the Sunday Times that he was “inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa” because “all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours – whereas all the testing says not really”.
Now Dr Watson has spoken; the world has condemned him and he has since apologised, claiming those words were not actually his or at best they were put out of context.
What is the assessment of Africans themselves about Dr Watson’s words?
We may be glad that even before we Africans opened our mouths, Dr Watson’s own people have spoken for us. Is that the case? By the way, Dr Watson did not talk about the colour of the skin. He went beyond that. He may be referring to the mentality of the Black race or the Black people’s inability to exercise brain power.
I, therefore, think instead of rubbishing Dr Watson’s statement and taking consolation in the condemnation which followed it, we Blacks should use it as a wake-up call for some moments of sober reflection for obvious reasons.
We are yet to have proof that the other races came into existence long before we Blacks, neither have we been told that the Earth first came without Africa. On the contrary, we have been told that historically, civilisation started from Africa. If that were so, why the vast gap in terms of development between Africa and the rest of the continents?
Even in the most developed parts of world, Blacks are found on the fringes. As for the mother continent, the least said about it the better. Africa is the first, not in the best, but in the worst. Africa is home to the poorest, weakest and most malnourished. Every disease that has ever plagued humanity had its biggest and safest sanctuary in Africa. It has the highest illiterate population in the world. This contrasts sharply with the material resources available to Africa. Look at the beautiful landscape, forests and their rich timber and mineral resources, the big rivers and lakes and all that they represent in resource terms, the awe-inspiring mountains and lush vegetation. It could even be argued that compared to other geographical regions, Nature has been over generous to Africa.
There may not be a genetic difference between Blacks and other races, neither can we claim that Mother Nature was cruel to us at any stage during creation. So what went wrong? We may be quick, as we always do, to point accusing fingers at slavery and colonialism. But for how long shall we continue to live in the past?
We played active roles in both the slavery and colonialisation processes. It was Africans who sold their own children, brothers and sisters to the Whites to be sent into slavery. And it was our chiefs who gave away our lands to the Whites for gin, brandy, whisky and tobacco. So do we continue to mourn these sad episodes if we claim today that we have regretted our folly?
One truth which is retarding our progress must be told. We have a mentality which is not assertive and proactive — a complex which is always pushing us down. That is inferiority complex. This is why we continue to downgrade or underestimate our capabilities and talents and see hope only in foreigners. We do not seem to see salvation within but without. We have embraced everything foreign, modified our eating and dressing habits and crowned it all with new names which we were told and believed were Christian names. We have even lost contact with our natural environment when we see a three-piece suit in the tropical heat as a sign of enlightenment. There was a time in this country when you had to trap yourself in suit before you were considered properly dressed to enter Parliament House. Should we fault the likes of Dr Watson for their low opinion of us when we do not like ourselves?
Our football teams do not feel safe or secure unless they are trained by white-skinned coaches. We are proud praising products from other continents, and the more we patronise foreign goods, the more affluent we wrongly think we are. A continent so depleted of initiative that every bit of problem has to be referred to foreign consultants who come to tap our brains and go home with millions of dollars.
On a continent where millions of innocent children are dying daily of malaria, measles and malnutrition, politicians, without any sense of shame, continue to stock their private bank accounts with funds stolen from the national exchequer. We are always begging, yet our presidential motorcades rival those of our benefactors. At the end of the day, we are happy not because we have made our countries better places but because we are a few millions of stolen cash richer.
Some years ago, we in Ghana were in the same trench with countries like China, Malaysia and India. Today, China has the fastest growing economy in the world. Last Wednesday, China blasted its first lunar probe into space, the same day that Malaysia’s first astronaut returned to Earth. India is preparing to launch its own lunar probe next April. We in this part of the world are yet to manufacture a wheelbarrow, neither do we have the faintest idea where we will be in the next 50 years. Incidentally, the Chinese are equipping us with energy resources, while the Indians are building our presidential mansion for us. Even then we are still asking for more.
Are we blaming slavery and colonialism for our inability to exhibit any technological advancement? No. The problem lies in our mentality and poor leadership.
We need to rediscover ourselves. We need to have confidence in our abilities and capabilities. We need to break away from the dependency and begging syndrome. We need leaders with vision and who are focused.
Dr Watson may be too blunt and unscientific in his evaluation of the African mind, but whether we like it or not, Africans have so far not proved that they are equal to others.
Having been so unimpressive, it is easy for anyone to conclude that the Black race is an inferior one. Will Dr Watson’s theory jostle us to confront the reality which will spur us into serious action? Are we going to remain existing in the shadows of others or we want to live as independent people? As we pause to answer these questions, who knows, we may, after all, be grateful to Dr Watson for a painful truth.
Beyond Ohene Djan and Baba Yara, where next?
Beyond Ohene Djan and Baba Yara, where next?
November 20, 2007
By Kofi Akordor
ON Sunday, November 11, 2007, the President of the Republic, Mr John Agyekum Kufuor, inaugurated the refurbished Ohene Djan Stadium, to the joy of many Ghanaians. I was not privileged to enter the stadium, but from what I saw from outside, I want to agree with those who said the new stadium is a magnificent one. A similar description has been given to those in Kumasi, Tamale and Essipon in Sekondi.
What it means is that as far as playing fields are concerned, Ghana is ready to host the rest of Africa and, indeed, the whole world in January 2008 when Ghana 2008 opens its doors to the football fraternity. The question is: Beyond these edifices, how prepared is the country to play host to the international community in January next year?
We made a mess of ourselves during the climax of our 50th independence anniversary when visiting Heads of State had to be hurriedly pushed into houses offered to the government by a private company. Things were not better during the African Union (AU) Summit hosted by the country in July when painters and other artisans were still hard at work while our very important guests were checking into their rooms. These two events were not forced on us without our consent.
The first, which was our own Golden Jubilee celebration, was a monumental national event which should have taken painstaking preparation to ensure a perfect finish. But that was not to be, as we fumbled at every turn and ended up housing our own invited guests in private homes.
The second, which was the AU Summit, did not come to us by surprise. Indeed, we were told as part of the excuses for the failure of the 50th anniversary celebrations that the executive mansions which could not be completed for occupation by the Heads of State during the independence celebrations would be ready for the summit. That also came to pass with its hiccups.
Two great opportunities to showcase our country to the outside world and to position it as a destination point in the sub-region have been handled carelessly and numerous chances squandered, even though some people may not admit it.
Today, another opportunity looms, thanks to GHANA 2008. However, apart from the four stadia which we are excited about, other important areas are receiving little or no attention. I heard with dismay and a little bit of heavy heart a response given to a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) correspondent by a prominent Ghanaian when asked how Tamale, one of the event venues, was ready to cope with the accommodation problems of supporters of visiting teams. Typical of the men and women who are in charge of our fate, he told the BBC correspondent, to the hearing of the whole world, that football supporters, as far as his knowledge would tell him, did not bother about accommodation. According to him, the supporters only went to the stadium to cheer their teams, after which they only looked for any open space to sleep till the following day when they looked for water to wash themselves. Very simplistic, isn’t it? That was the best way Ghana, if that man’s opinion is representative of that of the organisers, is looking at the accommodation problem confronting almost all the event centres.
A friend who is arranging accommodation for supporters of the Angolan national team in the Accra/Tema metropolitan area said the supporters, in their thousands, preferred to stay in Accra to go to Tamale each match day by chartered aircraft because they were not satisfied with accommodation facilities in Tamale.
This is not an isolated issue. We have heard that Tunisia and South Africa have also complained about poor accommodation facilities in Tamale and would, therefore, prefer staying in Kumasi while honouring their matches in Tamale. So, you see, that noble man who brushed aside the accommodation problem with nonchalant ease appears not to appreciate the seriousness of the problem. Or is that playing the ostrich game? At the end of the day, the disgrace does not go to any individual; not even to the government. It goes to the country called Ghana which could not host GHANA 2008 with success.
Accra, the nation’s capital itself, does not seem to be ready for GHANA 2008. The recent rains have exposed the numerous potholes on our roads. The drains are choked and refuse is suffocating us everywhere. Accra cannot boast of the type of roads one sees in the major cities of the world and the few that we have are perpetually crammed with heavy traffic. Any attempt to manoeuvre is obstructed by street vendors who have taken their business into the middle of the roads. Our traffic lights do not work most of the time and where there should be traffic wardens, we encounter unemployed youth clad in dirty dresses or are barechested brandishing tree branches and leaves as instruments of traffic control. This is the spectacle we are going to put on exhibition for our visitors. For a country that is recognised as the first Black nation to gain political independence, for a country that is celebrating its 50th anniversary and for a country that wants to assume the role of the gateway to the West African sub-region, we have not been fair to ourselves.
One would have thought that having offered to host the continental tournament, certain crash programmes would be undertaken to give the national capital a facelift. A good transportation network would also have ensured that travelling from any part of the country to the match venues will not be bothersome. The Accra to Paga railway system which was promised the country could also not be delivered. So the north, so close, is still far away from the south.
Apart from gate proceeds, it appears the country is not positioning itself to derive any gains from the tournament. Most of our potential tourist destinations are still not accessible because of the poor road network.
Some of our guests, for instance, may want to use the opportunity to visit the birthplace of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, who is intricately associated with Ghana’s independence and Africa’s political emancipation. But what will they see if they manage to reach Nkroful? Nothing but neglect and decay. Where Nkrumah grew up, where he sucked his mother’s breast in his infancy should have been preserved for posterity. But we do not find any need for that. We prefer spending money on more ‘important’ things which do not bring any returns.
I was glad to read in one of the private newspapers that Mr William Ayambire, the Northern Regional Manager of the Ghana Tourist Board, was advising hoteliers, restaurant and chop bar operators to promote local dishes during the tournament. I welcome this advice because the essence of tourism is to sample what pertains elsewhere. It will not serve our national interest if visitors will be served with the same thing they are used to eating or drinking in their own countries during the tournament. The most important thing is that these must be served under very hygienic conditions.
Between now and January next year may be too short for certain things to be done. All the same, we can do something about the filth which has engulfed our capital city and other major towns. We can also do something about our traffic lights which do not function, especially at a time we claim the power crisis is over.
If at first we thought foreign teams were only coming here to play and depart at the end of each match, then we need to revise our strategies. For now, our dreams do not seem to go beyond the Ohene Djan, the Baba Yara and other stadia constructed for the tournament.
November 20, 2007
By Kofi Akordor
ON Sunday, November 11, 2007, the President of the Republic, Mr John Agyekum Kufuor, inaugurated the refurbished Ohene Djan Stadium, to the joy of many Ghanaians. I was not privileged to enter the stadium, but from what I saw from outside, I want to agree with those who said the new stadium is a magnificent one. A similar description has been given to those in Kumasi, Tamale and Essipon in Sekondi.
What it means is that as far as playing fields are concerned, Ghana is ready to host the rest of Africa and, indeed, the whole world in January 2008 when Ghana 2008 opens its doors to the football fraternity. The question is: Beyond these edifices, how prepared is the country to play host to the international community in January next year?
We made a mess of ourselves during the climax of our 50th independence anniversary when visiting Heads of State had to be hurriedly pushed into houses offered to the government by a private company. Things were not better during the African Union (AU) Summit hosted by the country in July when painters and other artisans were still hard at work while our very important guests were checking into their rooms. These two events were not forced on us without our consent.
The first, which was our own Golden Jubilee celebration, was a monumental national event which should have taken painstaking preparation to ensure a perfect finish. But that was not to be, as we fumbled at every turn and ended up housing our own invited guests in private homes.
The second, which was the AU Summit, did not come to us by surprise. Indeed, we were told as part of the excuses for the failure of the 50th anniversary celebrations that the executive mansions which could not be completed for occupation by the Heads of State during the independence celebrations would be ready for the summit. That also came to pass with its hiccups.
Two great opportunities to showcase our country to the outside world and to position it as a destination point in the sub-region have been handled carelessly and numerous chances squandered, even though some people may not admit it.
Today, another opportunity looms, thanks to GHANA 2008. However, apart from the four stadia which we are excited about, other important areas are receiving little or no attention. I heard with dismay and a little bit of heavy heart a response given to a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) correspondent by a prominent Ghanaian when asked how Tamale, one of the event venues, was ready to cope with the accommodation problems of supporters of visiting teams. Typical of the men and women who are in charge of our fate, he told the BBC correspondent, to the hearing of the whole world, that football supporters, as far as his knowledge would tell him, did not bother about accommodation. According to him, the supporters only went to the stadium to cheer their teams, after which they only looked for any open space to sleep till the following day when they looked for water to wash themselves. Very simplistic, isn’t it? That was the best way Ghana, if that man’s opinion is representative of that of the organisers, is looking at the accommodation problem confronting almost all the event centres.
A friend who is arranging accommodation for supporters of the Angolan national team in the Accra/Tema metropolitan area said the supporters, in their thousands, preferred to stay in Accra to go to Tamale each match day by chartered aircraft because they were not satisfied with accommodation facilities in Tamale.
This is not an isolated issue. We have heard that Tunisia and South Africa have also complained about poor accommodation facilities in Tamale and would, therefore, prefer staying in Kumasi while honouring their matches in Tamale. So, you see, that noble man who brushed aside the accommodation problem with nonchalant ease appears not to appreciate the seriousness of the problem. Or is that playing the ostrich game? At the end of the day, the disgrace does not go to any individual; not even to the government. It goes to the country called Ghana which could not host GHANA 2008 with success.
Accra, the nation’s capital itself, does not seem to be ready for GHANA 2008. The recent rains have exposed the numerous potholes on our roads. The drains are choked and refuse is suffocating us everywhere. Accra cannot boast of the type of roads one sees in the major cities of the world and the few that we have are perpetually crammed with heavy traffic. Any attempt to manoeuvre is obstructed by street vendors who have taken their business into the middle of the roads. Our traffic lights do not work most of the time and where there should be traffic wardens, we encounter unemployed youth clad in dirty dresses or are barechested brandishing tree branches and leaves as instruments of traffic control. This is the spectacle we are going to put on exhibition for our visitors. For a country that is recognised as the first Black nation to gain political independence, for a country that is celebrating its 50th anniversary and for a country that wants to assume the role of the gateway to the West African sub-region, we have not been fair to ourselves.
One would have thought that having offered to host the continental tournament, certain crash programmes would be undertaken to give the national capital a facelift. A good transportation network would also have ensured that travelling from any part of the country to the match venues will not be bothersome. The Accra to Paga railway system which was promised the country could also not be delivered. So the north, so close, is still far away from the south.
Apart from gate proceeds, it appears the country is not positioning itself to derive any gains from the tournament. Most of our potential tourist destinations are still not accessible because of the poor road network.
Some of our guests, for instance, may want to use the opportunity to visit the birthplace of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, who is intricately associated with Ghana’s independence and Africa’s political emancipation. But what will they see if they manage to reach Nkroful? Nothing but neglect and decay. Where Nkrumah grew up, where he sucked his mother’s breast in his infancy should have been preserved for posterity. But we do not find any need for that. We prefer spending money on more ‘important’ things which do not bring any returns.
I was glad to read in one of the private newspapers that Mr William Ayambire, the Northern Regional Manager of the Ghana Tourist Board, was advising hoteliers, restaurant and chop bar operators to promote local dishes during the tournament. I welcome this advice because the essence of tourism is to sample what pertains elsewhere. It will not serve our national interest if visitors will be served with the same thing they are used to eating or drinking in their own countries during the tournament. The most important thing is that these must be served under very hygienic conditions.
Between now and January next year may be too short for certain things to be done. All the same, we can do something about the filth which has engulfed our capital city and other major towns. We can also do something about our traffic lights which do not function, especially at a time we claim the power crisis is over.
If at first we thought foreign teams were only coming here to play and depart at the end of each match, then we need to revise our strategies. For now, our dreams do not seem to go beyond the Ohene Djan, the Baba Yara and other stadia constructed for the tournament.
Peace officer or a warrior?
Peace officer or a warrior?
November 13,2007
By Kofi Akordor
THE Ghana Police Service has a history which cannot be detached from the country’s colonial history. During the colonial era, qualification into the police placed emphasis more on brawn than brain. That was why people below a certain height were deemed not strong enough to dish out hefty slaps to those caught in breach of the law. The phrase, “buga buga” in Hausa, loosely translated,” beat, beat”, became the unofficial name for the men in uniform. Policemen in those days who were giants and who were recruited mostly from the northern parts of the then Gold Coast were always handy to unleash terror on the citizens who threatened the British colonialists.
In short, what we know as the Ghana Police Service today started as a coercive tool of our colonial masters not only to maintain law and order but also to keep the “natives” in line. Fifty years after independence, the police are yet to shed all their colonial garb and mentality and understandably continue to carry the tag “buga buga” from the majority of the population.
The question is, why have the police remained in this state, after several efforts to modernise the service and bring it in tune with current trends, more so when it could be argued that it has some of the best intellectuals among its officer corps today?
Tradition, they say, dies hard and the traditions of terror and coercion, two hallmarks of the colonial police, are still lingering somewhere in the darkness ready to surface when the opportunity offers itself.
After independence, the new political leadership found the police a useful instrument to control dissent. Even though there were major administrative changes to Africanise the service and shift the focus of its personnel, the age-old mentality of “hit and hit” remained and rioters and demonstrators always faced the brunt of the police during periods of civil disobedience.
The Acheampong regime gave a further boost to this culture of force and violence when the Ghana Police Service was renamed the Ghana Police Force and had in its arsenal powerful weapons, including armoured vehicles. That was the time the military regime of General Acheampong was confronting agitation from pro-democracy forces which were demanding a return to civilian democratic rule.
After the return to constitutional rule in 1992, all the security agencies, including the police and the military, have been remodelled to keep pace with the country’s new democratic culture. The military, for instance, has kept out of public view for several years now and the personnel are gradually getting acclimatised to their traditional role as guardians of the territorial integrity of the sovereign state of Ghana, instead of the political rulers that they had been for several years in the days of military dictatorship.
This has left the police to maintain internal security. Unfortunately, the police have not been able to differentiate clearly what constitutes national interest, public interest and government interest. People on peaceful demonstrations continue to suffer atrocities at the hands of the police in the name of maintaining law and order. The Kumepreko and Wahala demonstrations of 1995 and 2006, respectively, during which lives were lost and bones broken, are clear examples of the misuse of the police to handle purely civilian and non-violent events.
While it is easy to explain why the police pander to the political authorities of the day for obvious reasons, the same cannot be said of atrocities meted out to suspects. Until the day the appointment of the top hierarchy of the police will be done by a body other than the Executive, we should expect, for now, that police neutrality in certain matters will be a mirage.
However, one area where the police must take a critical look at is the manner the personnel carry out their lawful duties and handle suspects. In recent times, there have been several reported cases of suspects dying in police custody, while others come out with bruises and broken bones. These were obviously due to the bad treatment given to those suspects while they were in the custody of the police. We know some suspects can be stubborn and aggressive, but the policemen and women, being professionals, should have a better way handling such suspects without causing harm or death.
There are many of such cases and two of the most recent were that of George Atua, the driver who was arrested for traffic offence and who died at the Suhum Hospital a day after his arrest, and 32-year-old Israel Kobla Amenume, one of the suspects in the Anloga violent clash who died while in the custody of the Ho Police.
Another phenomenon is the use of firearms. The police should be the first to know that the result of any gun fired is death and, therefore, before they pull the trigger, all the options available will be weighed. Strangely, warning shots which are directed upwards always end up penetrating the bowels of people or passing through the shoulders of those who may be described as fortunate.
Take the case of those four innocent people who were killed by a police patrol team at Dansoman in April last year after they had been mistaken for armed robbers.
The Anloga incident of Thursday, November 1, 2007 is another case of the police going to the place not to maintain peace but to do battle. So they went with live ammunition and were ready to shoot to kill.
We know the police are operating under several constraints, be they psychological, logistical, financial, physical and material. Some of us know that under the circumstances, they are doing very well and must be commended.
However, we cannot run away from the lack of internal indiscipline among some of the personnel and the manner some of them are ready to lend themselves to what are purely private affairs.
The police will thrive not only on the support and co-operation of the public but, more important, on the confidence reposed in them. This will only come about when service personnel are seen as peace officers and not vandals who can go on the rampage and destroy lives and property through negligence and recklessness. That was why Jimmy Cliff, one of world’s best reggae singers, once asked in one of his songs, “Peace officer, are you a warrior?” in apparent reference to the atrocities police officers could unleash on innocent citizens.
To that question, we would want to respond that we prefer our police officers being peace officers to warriors.
November 13,2007
By Kofi Akordor
THE Ghana Police Service has a history which cannot be detached from the country’s colonial history. During the colonial era, qualification into the police placed emphasis more on brawn than brain. That was why people below a certain height were deemed not strong enough to dish out hefty slaps to those caught in breach of the law. The phrase, “buga buga” in Hausa, loosely translated,” beat, beat”, became the unofficial name for the men in uniform. Policemen in those days who were giants and who were recruited mostly from the northern parts of the then Gold Coast were always handy to unleash terror on the citizens who threatened the British colonialists.
In short, what we know as the Ghana Police Service today started as a coercive tool of our colonial masters not only to maintain law and order but also to keep the “natives” in line. Fifty years after independence, the police are yet to shed all their colonial garb and mentality and understandably continue to carry the tag “buga buga” from the majority of the population.
The question is, why have the police remained in this state, after several efforts to modernise the service and bring it in tune with current trends, more so when it could be argued that it has some of the best intellectuals among its officer corps today?
Tradition, they say, dies hard and the traditions of terror and coercion, two hallmarks of the colonial police, are still lingering somewhere in the darkness ready to surface when the opportunity offers itself.
After independence, the new political leadership found the police a useful instrument to control dissent. Even though there were major administrative changes to Africanise the service and shift the focus of its personnel, the age-old mentality of “hit and hit” remained and rioters and demonstrators always faced the brunt of the police during periods of civil disobedience.
The Acheampong regime gave a further boost to this culture of force and violence when the Ghana Police Service was renamed the Ghana Police Force and had in its arsenal powerful weapons, including armoured vehicles. That was the time the military regime of General Acheampong was confronting agitation from pro-democracy forces which were demanding a return to civilian democratic rule.
After the return to constitutional rule in 1992, all the security agencies, including the police and the military, have been remodelled to keep pace with the country’s new democratic culture. The military, for instance, has kept out of public view for several years now and the personnel are gradually getting acclimatised to their traditional role as guardians of the territorial integrity of the sovereign state of Ghana, instead of the political rulers that they had been for several years in the days of military dictatorship.
This has left the police to maintain internal security. Unfortunately, the police have not been able to differentiate clearly what constitutes national interest, public interest and government interest. People on peaceful demonstrations continue to suffer atrocities at the hands of the police in the name of maintaining law and order. The Kumepreko and Wahala demonstrations of 1995 and 2006, respectively, during which lives were lost and bones broken, are clear examples of the misuse of the police to handle purely civilian and non-violent events.
While it is easy to explain why the police pander to the political authorities of the day for obvious reasons, the same cannot be said of atrocities meted out to suspects. Until the day the appointment of the top hierarchy of the police will be done by a body other than the Executive, we should expect, for now, that police neutrality in certain matters will be a mirage.
However, one area where the police must take a critical look at is the manner the personnel carry out their lawful duties and handle suspects. In recent times, there have been several reported cases of suspects dying in police custody, while others come out with bruises and broken bones. These were obviously due to the bad treatment given to those suspects while they were in the custody of the police. We know some suspects can be stubborn and aggressive, but the policemen and women, being professionals, should have a better way handling such suspects without causing harm or death.
There are many of such cases and two of the most recent were that of George Atua, the driver who was arrested for traffic offence and who died at the Suhum Hospital a day after his arrest, and 32-year-old Israel Kobla Amenume, one of the suspects in the Anloga violent clash who died while in the custody of the Ho Police.
Another phenomenon is the use of firearms. The police should be the first to know that the result of any gun fired is death and, therefore, before they pull the trigger, all the options available will be weighed. Strangely, warning shots which are directed upwards always end up penetrating the bowels of people or passing through the shoulders of those who may be described as fortunate.
Take the case of those four innocent people who were killed by a police patrol team at Dansoman in April last year after they had been mistaken for armed robbers.
The Anloga incident of Thursday, November 1, 2007 is another case of the police going to the place not to maintain peace but to do battle. So they went with live ammunition and were ready to shoot to kill.
We know the police are operating under several constraints, be they psychological, logistical, financial, physical and material. Some of us know that under the circumstances, they are doing very well and must be commended.
However, we cannot run away from the lack of internal indiscipline among some of the personnel and the manner some of them are ready to lend themselves to what are purely private affairs.
The police will thrive not only on the support and co-operation of the public but, more important, on the confidence reposed in them. This will only come about when service personnel are seen as peace officers and not vandals who can go on the rampage and destroy lives and property through negligence and recklessness. That was why Jimmy Cliff, one of world’s best reggae singers, once asked in one of his songs, “Peace officer, are you a warrior?” in apparent reference to the atrocities police officers could unleash on innocent citizens.
To that question, we would want to respond that we prefer our police officers being peace officers to warriors.
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