THANK YOU, ECG (DEC 28, 2010)

There is this wise saying that one does not know the value of what he is holding until he loses it. For those of us who have taken electricity for granted, the reality of this wise saying dawned on us, when for two days – Christmas Eve, December 24 and Christmas Day, December 25, 2010 – some communities in Tema, Nungua and Teshie were without electricity.
Power outages are nothing new to the Ghanaian public and power failures at any time of the day do not make news for obvious reasons. But it was still an experience too painful to bear that of all days, Christmas Day and the day preceding it should be spent in darkness.
This is a period when almost every household, even the not-well-to-do, tries by all means including collaterality (with apologies to oil and gas) to fill the refrigerator with fresh meat and other perishable food items for the celebration.
All these went bad because the engineers at ECG could not rectify whatever problem it was which triggered the power blackout on Friday, December 24, 2010.
Information from the nation’s sole power distributor was scanty while desperate and frustrated consumers had to do guess work of their own. But it was not difficult to blame the fault on damaged equipment which gave up either for old age or negligence or a combination of both.
By now not many people will claim ignorance of the challenges facing power generation, transmission and distribution in the country. We are aware of obsolete and overused equipment and installations. We know of inadequate facilities that have failed to meet increased population density and new human settlements. We know that power generation had excessively relied on nature, especially in the immediate past when the Akosombo and Kpong dams were the main sources of electricity generation for the country.
We cannot lose sight of the human factors which include bad management practices, incompetence, pilfering and sheer sabotage by gangsters who for personal gains vandalise installations of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
Hopefully, with thermal generation and with abundant gas from the West African Gas Pipeline Project and from our own Jubilee Field, we are getting close to the situation whereby our worry will not be about power generation but about transmission and distribution.
Even though as consumers we have always been disappointed with the failures of ECG in particular, because they deal with us directly, the Volta River Authority (VRA) and GRIDCo, some of us have come to appreciate the hard facts about their challenges.
It is, however, about time we reduced the excuses and approach issues of the power sector with more seriousness. Now that we have suddenly found ourselves in a middle-income country that is an oil-exporting country in Africa, we should expect more people with business motives to be interested in our country. And nothing can be more frustrating to a business person than an erratic power supply system, especially when production was expected to be at its peak. ECG and the other service providers in the energy sector must redouble their efforts to make power outages things of the past.
I do not know the institution that manages the Accra-Tema Motorway, but I know the Ministry of Roads and Highways has contracted a company to collect tolls on the motorway. I, therefore, hope my concern will not be misdirected if I, on behalf of other motorists, appeal to the ministry to use the same vim it applied to collect tolls on the motorway to ensure that the reflective markings on the motorway that have long faded are restored without further delay.
This is a major road carrying heavy traffic between Accra and Tema and beyond, yet this is a road bareft of any reflective markings. We do not need any consultant to tell us that the motorway in its present form poses a threat to life, especially in the night when every motorist determines his/her fair portion of the road.
Providing reflective markings in the middle and the edges of the motorway in particular and other major roads in the country should not be ignored for the sake of lack of funds, which has become the unending song we always sing. It is good to ask motorists to be careful when driving. It is equally good to make the roads suitable for good driving.
Still on making our roads safe for both motorists and pedestrians, it is unfortunate the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit of the Ghana Police Service has not been able to manage the arbitrariness of the drivers, especially commercial drivers who have turned the edges or shoulders of Accra roads into special lanes for their use.
The traffic regulations are clear but we are unable to enforce them, thus not only placing the lives of law-abiding citizens at risk, but very often making it look as if it is a crime to obey the laws of the road.
We have lived with too many excuses for our failures. Let us resolve that in the New Year, we shall register more positive results and get our systems functioning instead of offering excuses for our human failures. Thanks to ECG, mine and that of thousands of others could not be described as a merry Christmas.
I wish to thank my readers whose interest continue to sustain this column. May the New Year be a prosperous one for all.

fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com

HURRAY AT LAST (DEC 21, 2010)

Anticipating the arrival of something new and probably big can be exciting and sometimes unnerving because of the numerous wild ideas that will be struggling for space in your imagination.
Put yourself in the shoes of a young couple preparing for and anticipating how things will be on their wedding day.
What about the couple expecting their first baby? When, finally, the day comes and the event has taken place, there is a kind of feeling not matched with the anxiety and excitement associated with the long wait.
A few years ago when South Africa was given the honour of hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the whole continent shared in the excitement and waited expectantly for the day to come.
South Africa 2010 is now history and at best we can only look back with some painful memories at the penalty miss by Asamoah Gyan which deprived us of the historic opportunity of going into the semi-finals and, who knows, beyond.
Asamoah Gyan, the player who made us cry in South Africa, has gone on to earn the admiration of many and crowned a year’s sterling performance with the award of the BBC African Footballer of the Year 2010.
Beyond that, South Africa 2010 is a pale shadow in our memories just six months after it ended.
In June 2007, an elated President John Agyekum Kufuor, with cup in hand, announced to the joy of the nation the discovery of oil in commercial quantities offshore around Cape Three Points in the western part of the country. No sooner had that historic information been allowed to soak into our system then the long wait and calculations began.
Even though it was generally agreed that the oil find was in the Western Region of Ghana, there were skirmishes by some tribal chiefs to claim the portion of the vast ocean where the discovery was made, apparently for purposes of claiming royalties in future, if there would be any.
There were still others who felt the story was too sweet to be true. They took our minds several years back into history when a similar announcement about the discovery of oil was made but which faded into nothingness. We were, therefore, advised to treat the new announcement with cautious optimism.
As the days rolled into weeks and months, it became increasingly clear that Ghana was heading towards becoming a major oil producer, a realisation which brought with it its own anxieties. That was because oil news is not always good news.
Apart from the environmental hazards which oil production entails, there is the bigger question of how to share oil money. We have always made reference to Nigeria because it is a close neighbour who offers one of the best examples of how a country can be so rich in oil resources but cannot produce enough to fuel local industries and fill the tanks of its vehicles.
Many Ghanaians may not have heard of an organisation called MEND – the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta. This organisation has gone beyond a pressure group to become a full-fledged fighting force battling the Federal government over oil revenue in Nigeria.
The 1967-70 civil war in Nigeria, which saw the birth of the short-lived Republic of Biafra in the former Eastern State of Nigeria, had more to do with oil than anything else. So when MEND was formed, it was to retrace the footsteps of Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu’s secessionist movement of the 1960s.
Nigeria’s experience apart, there is the Cabinda Province of Angola where secessionist instincts are high because of the belief that with oil, the people of Cabinda can lead independent and prosperous lives. The people of southern Sudan, led by the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA,) for years fought for autonomy mainly because much of the oil in The Sudan is on their territory. Incidentally, for religious and racial reasons, most parts of the south are seriously under-developed.
Now that the south, under a peace agreement signed in January 2005, is to determine autonomy or unity with the north in a referendum in January 2011, the whole world is waiting with some kind of apprehension for the outcome, for on one side, it means full control of vital natural resources which were denied in the past, while on the other side, it means the end to a limitless access to free flowing oil.
So you see, oil can bring disparities and internal conflicts or serve as preys to predators as were the cases of Iraq and Iran in the Persian Gulf, which became attractions to major western powers and contributed greatly to the Iran/Iraq war of 1980/90 and the invasion of Iraq by the US and its allies under the guise of dismantling Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction.
With all these as a guide, it was not strange that everybody became an adviser overnight in oil matters, especially on how the revenue of Ghana’s oil should be managed. Incidentally, the politicians, who actually pose the greatest danger to the security of the country’s oil resources, are the most vocal in providing the magic formula for the management of the revenue from this natural resource.
The people of the Western Region, led by their chiefs and youth, did not hide their determination not to be outsmarted by anybody when they came out with their own calculations and settled on 10 per cent of the Ghana’s share of the oil revenue to be paid into a special account for their use as they deem fit.
You cannot fault them if even you think their demand was outrageous and has the potential to create serious problems for a unitary state like Ghana. They have history to guide them. They have seen enough of their timber, cocoa and mineral wealth vanishing without anything on the ground showing that the region is after all, not a desolate area.
Not only is the region poor in infrastructure, but beyond their region, they could see the poverty in Obuasi, once reputed to be one of the richest gold mines in the world. They could see the emptiness of Akwatia, Kade and other diamond-rich areas where the people are hanging only on hope for survival. So they saw the discovery as the last opportunity to redeem what they have lost over the years.
For some of us, the chiefs and people of the Western Region are making a strong case for the whole country. Never should we allow a few greedy vampires, parading as political leaders to enter into alliances with foreign interests to siphon away our national wealth again. But for bad political leadership, this country should not be where it is today, and be making desperate noises about oil discovery.
The long wait came to an end on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 when President John Evans Atta Mills turned a wheel to symbolically open the valves to allow the oil to flow. This time, people are not just ready to sit and watch. The debate is still going on. How do we manage the oil revenue so that we do not end up being paupers in the midst of plenty? Who takes control of what?
The politicians on both sides of the divide are doing their best to justify their positions. How sincere they are can only be a matter of time. Ghanaians will, however, do well for themselves if they avoid falling into the traps of partisanship in their discussions.
We may be talking today as supporters of one political party or another. What we may not know is that when they begin to cart away our oil as booties the rest of us will remain on one side and the rapists on the other side, no matter their political colour.
Our President has turned the wheel, and the rest of us have shouted hurray. Let us not drop guard. Let us not reduce the debate to a National Democratic Congress (NDC) and a New Patriotic Party (NPP) affair. It is our life and our survival. It is our life today and tomorrow.
For years we have made a lot of noise of being major producers of cocoa beans, timber, gold, diamond, manganese and others. There is nothing in our lives as a people to reflect the wealth these natural resources have given to this country. That is why we should not fight among ourselves over oil. We need to join forces to watch over those who claim they are leading us so that we are not swerved again.
We have said the first hurray to welcome the first flow. Let us wait for the big roads, the schools, the medical facilities and housing estates, the uninterrupted electricity service and the cheerful smiles. Then we can say the second and third hurray.

fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com

Farmers Day: Beyond the fanfare, what next?

By Kofi Akordor
The days, weeks and months following December 31, 1981 were not good for this country. It is almost 30 years ago and the human brain has been designed in such a way that it can dull even the most painful of experiences so that they do not eat up the body.
It will, therefore, not be surprising if many of those who were alive at the time and are still alive today fail to remember many of the hardships of those days or at best are only able to recollect faint memories of one of the darkest periods in our country’s history.
There are others who wish that the brain worked like the mobile phones of today. If it were so, they could have just removed the chips of that era and forget everything.
On December 31, 1981, a few hours before the country was ushered into a new year, the government of Dr Hilla Limann was brought to an abrupt end. The end came when the President of the Republic was enjoying the Christmas/New Year with soldiers at the Burma Camp.
Events following that day could best be described by individuals, each according to how he/she perceived that political exercise and how he/she fared under the system. But as a country, there was a general agreement — things were hard and different interpretations were given by way of explanation. However, one thing was common on the lips of many — the gods were annoyed for the blood of the innocent which was shed to desecrate the land.
First, as if the water gates in Heaven were locked, there was no rain for almost the whole part of the year and the land became dry and patchy. Then, as if ignited by a huge spark, a large part of the dry land went up in flames.
The country suffered a serious drought which members of that generation had nothing to compare with. The land was ravaged by bush fires, stripping it of the remaining vegetation. The cocoa farms were gone, so were food crops.
By the end of 1983, two years after the launch of the 31st December Revolution, the Mother of all Revolutions, there was unprecedented famine in the land. There was very little to go round in terms of food and those were the days when hungry people dipped their hands into frying pans to remove half-cooked cassava from boiling oil.
As if we had not suffered enough to atone for our sins, President Shehu Shagari of Nigeria offloaded hundreds of thousands of Ghanaians then seeking economic refuge in that country on Ghana after giving them a one-month ultimatum to return home.
The exodus of the returnees (as they were called) back to the homeland was managed in a way which gave a government struggling locally and internationally for recognition some respectability. And that was how the country began its march towards normalcy.
The heavens opened and the rains came. The bowels of the earth generously received the seeds planted by our farmers and in that year — 1984 — there was a good harvest which called for celebration. That was how, in December 1984, what could be described as a farmers’ rally was held at Osino in the Eastern Region and on that occasion some farmers were given token gifts, not necessarily prizes, for their determination, hard work and for reviving the country’s agriculture.
That modest Osino meeting, at which Captain Kojo Tsikata (retd), a member of the then Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), was the special guest became the first National Farmers Day when the government decided to set aside a day to celebrate farmers in the country.
The National Farmers Day has since undergone a lot of transformation and has become a huge platform for many corporate institutions to market themselves, while the award winners have become better off with the enhancement of the prizes.
Twenty-six years on, many Ghanaians are getting alarmed that if care is not taken, the Farmers’ Day, will remain an occasion for making speeches and throwing a few goodies at farmers without elevating agriculture from its present subsistence level to a major business capable of generating wealth and employment and playing its role as a major backbone of the economy.
Agriculture, or food production for that matter, is still essentially at the subsistence level because we have, over the years, failed to modernise the sector through irrigation and mechanised farming, while at the same time denying entrepreneurs who are determined to go into massive commercial farming the needed funding.
It is unfortunate that Ghana, for its size and land resources, should continue to expend a lot of money on food imports. President John Evans Atta Mills himself announced in Somanya at the weekend during the National Farmers Day that the country committed, on an annual basis, an amount of US$1 billion for the importation of food that could be produced locally, with rice imports alone taking 50 per cent of that amount.
This does not speak well of a country that has been celebrating the achievement of farmers with such fanfare and glamour for almost three decades.
It is time we go beyond the fanfare and the speeches and raised the stakes to higher level. By now we should realise that a few parcels here and there to selected farmers will not raise agricultural production beyond the subsistence level if pragmatic steps are not taken to change the face of agriculture in the country.
We have enough water resources that flow wastefully into the sea that could support irrigation farming all-year round. We must move from the machete and hoe to serious mechanised farming on a large-scale. We need to enhance rural infrastructure such as roads, energy and water supply to have a profound improvement on farming in the country.
Apart from capital injection, we need to invest in storage and processing facilities to reduce post-harvest losses, while adding value to farm produce and enhancing their market value.
A few weeks ago, it was very pathetic to see baskets of tomatoes literally abandoned along the highways because there were no markets for them. Other crops suffer the same fate during the harvest season.
Most important, we need to discourage the excessive importation of basic food items that could be produced locally. The tendency among top government officials, including ministers of state who should be leading the crusade for local food production themselves becoming net importers of rice and other commodities should be effectively discouraged.
The National Farmers Day can remain on the national calendar but the best form of reward to farmers and for that matter all those who play significant roles in the production chain will be the creation of an environment that will make farming a very rewarding and dignifying business.

fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com

Combating crime, keeping criminals

By Kofi Akordor
For nearly five weeks teachers in the polytechnics withdrew their services from the classrooms to press home their demand for better service conditions. That was at the beginning of a fresh academic year when parents had paid the full-term fees of their children (a precondition for admission), hostel fees paid, after a long search for what, under normal circumstances, should have been a basic facility in the polytechnics, and made other investments such as the procurement of cooking utensils, kitchen cabinets and the food items needed to prepare meals.
A friend told me (and it did not take me long to appreciate his point) that these days an admission to a tertiary institution for a child is like sending him or her on his/her first employment — you have to look for accommodation, buy a cooker and all other kitchen appliances and stock the cabinet with food items that will last at least for a month when the supply process begins again.
Parents did all these, after which the polytechnic teachers saw the iron red hot and decided to strike hardest. Of course, you cannot fault them for fighting for their survival. Even pastors these days think first of their worldly salvation before the life hereafter, and politicians who were down on their knees pleading for votes so that they could straighten our national problems demand first their accommodation, vehicles and allowances. So why not teachers and all other categories of workers?
In the case of the polytechnic teachers and the university teachers who also withdrew their services in solidarity with their bank accounts, in the final analysis, they will receive all their salaries, both the old and the new and the arrears accruing as a result of enhanced salaries.
What about parents? There will be no refund of fees as a result of the withdrawal of services by the teachers. For the food consumed during the period of the strike, it had nourished the students any way, so what is the fuss about?
The teachers will console the rest of us that no lives were lost during their strike, as would have been in the case of doctors, who also periodically embark on industrial actions to back their demand for better salaries and other service conditions.
During the period of the strike by the polytechnic teachers, just as in the case of the university teachers, there was very little in the form of condemnation of the action from the public and, conversely, any sympathy for the government. The affected students felt it more prudent to side with their teachers in their just fight for better service conditions and threatened to embark on demonstrations to compel the government to listen to the striking teachers.
Those more inclined politically, either for expediency or opportunism, used the strike to go for the jugular by blaming the Mills administration for inaction, even though it was obvious that the actions of the university and polytechnic teachers could, in the main, be blamed on the leftovers of the previous administration whose feet-dragging on the issues brought them into the present.
It is not too difficult why people are hesitant to condemn strikes these days. Our politicians have set a standard which can only be matched by demands, no matter how outrageous or unrealistic some may seem.
First, they allow simple problems to fester before taking desperate measures. Second, and more seriously, their lifestyles can never be said to be true reflections of the situation on the ground. Therefore, it is not easy convincing workers that there is very little in the national kitty when political office holders, their allies in the public service and business and those very close to them, with no defined job descriptions, are well catered for by the State and are far away from the word modesty.
As we gradually emerge from the side effects of the strike by the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) and the Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG), other formidable forces on the labour front have arrayed their arsenal for possible strike and have made their intentions very clear. These include the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Ghana Medical Association (GMA). The exploits of these two organisations, when it comes to the resoluteness with which they approach their demands and threats, are well known.
While UTAG, POTAG, the GMA and others win our unflinching solidarity in their strikes because theirs is a fight for a just cause, have we, for a moment, pondered over the conditions of our men and women in uniform who work under very perilous and strenuous conditions but have very little compensation in terms of remuneration and other service conditions?
On September 15, 2010, a group of warders at the Kumasi Central Prison demonstrated in front of the prison to press home their demand for better service conditions. The following day, some of the aggrieved warders marched to OTEC 102 FM to challenge a radio presenter who was reported to have made derogatory remarks about the warders. There were some physical contacts and these were rightly condemned as uncalled for, no matter the degree of provocation.
There were similar demonstrations by warders in other prison facilities. All those actions have been condemned, not because warders are among the best paid public servants in the country. The reason is that by their service conditions, prison officers and others working for the other security organisations are not entitled to industrial actions, no matter how critical their situation is.
Already, there are unconfirmed reports that some senior officers are suffering punitive transfers as a fallout from those demonstrations.
There is an old Ibo proverb which says: “If you see a toad in the day time, it means something is after its life”. It will surely take something very critical to bring out warders from their prison walls to demonstrate in public. But do we care? We are quick to pick the order book and read out the rules when prison officers and policemen, under circumstances beyond their control, come out publicly to demand what they consider their fair share of the national cake.
We are quick to declare that such acts on their part will undermine state security and are, in some jurisdictions, tantamount to mutiny. So should they be held hostage by the rules and suffer unnecessary agonising pain in silence?
What about those who, with impunity and some element of arrogance, can avoid working for as long as they wish because they want an improvement in their service conditions? Should they be allowed to blackmail the nation, including those whose strikes are a clear contradiction of their own sworn oaths to serve humanity with selfless devotion, even at the peril of their lives?
The teachers will tell you that they can teach overtime to cover lost time. What about doctors? After getting the fat salaries and the accruing arrears they relentlessly fought for, how do they compensate for the gruelling pain patients went through in the absence of health workers or those who, in the extreme of cases, lost their lives because those who swore an oath to heal them were busy chasing money and other worldly things?
Those who care may find out why prison officers are described as glorified prisoners. Sometimes only a thin line separates them from the prisoners under their charge. The conditions in which our policemen live and work are nothing to write home about. But they are not to withdraw their services in protest because the country will descend into chaos and anarchy.
Why should others be allowed to collect their salaries and sit at home without working because they want more and end up collecting back-pay or salary arrears? Why should people suffer pain or die miserably because one category of workers wants more money and better working conditions?
All categories of workers have the right to fight for higher wages and other service conditions that will enable them to lead dignified lives and take good care of their families. But as we are carried away by an air of indispensability and adopt strikes as powerful weapons to demand our pound of flesh, let us ponder, in our sober moments, over an hour without the services of the police, the fire brigade or engineers and technicians of the Electricity Company of Ghana.
It will dawn on us that no matter how important we consider ourselves or our services, at the end of the day we are a team and our individual survival hinges perilously on others we may not factor at all in our scheme of things.
If we consider the hazards of controlling crime and keeping criminals out of circulation, we will appreciate how the contribution of others have made some of us feel safer and more secure to live our lives. These are the men and women who cannot afford the luxury of staying away from their duty posts for even an hour so that the rest of us will be free.

fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com

Is AU up to the task?

By Kofi Akordor
When the African Union (AU) was outdoored in 2002 to replace the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), it was welcomed by many Africans with great expectation.It was felt by many and rightly so, that the continent needs a continental body that would spearhead its development agenda in the 21st century and beyond.
The predecessor of the AU, the OAU, was seen as having outlived its usefulness, having become more or less a club for African dictators who met regularly for their annual ritual of wining and dining, only to disperse to meet another day.
There was that strong feeling that with the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Communist Empire, pivoted around the Soviet Union, and in the absence of any more territories to be decolonised, there was the need for Africa to reappraise its priorities and strategise to overcome poverty, disease, illiteracy, ignorance and political marginalisation.
One cardinal objective which never featured on the agenda of the previous OAU was the democratisation of political governance on the continent. There are many who believe that the continent had lagged behind the rest of the world over the past five decades or so, mainly because of dictatorship and the quality of political leadership which emerged after the immediate post-independent era.
As part of this mandate, the AU set about to isolate all forms of dictatorships on the continent and to nurture a vibrant democratic culture, which will in turn push the agenda of economic emancipation forward.
Eight years into its existence, the question may be asked whether the AU, which is modelled along the lines of the European Union (EU), is on course and shown remarkable evidence of attaining its set goals. On the economic front Africa's impoverishment continues to baffle many, having regard to the continent's vast resources.
At the recent meeting of the Group of 20, only South Africa was represented on the high table as a member. The rest of the African delegations were there as observers and as usual to push for economic and financial support for the distressed continent.
But as had been stressed on numerous occasions economic emancipation will remain a mirage if the political leadership on the continent is not restructured to embrace democracy, the rule of law, respect for individual rights and freedoms and the acceptance of the ballot box as the only legitimate means of attaining political power. And this is where the AU seems to be making very slow progress.
A lot of the old guards who constituted the political leadership of the past are gone, either dead or out of power. They include General Gnansigbe Eyadema of Togo, Omar Bongo of Gabon who died in office and Daniel arap Moi of Kenya and Sam Nujuma of Namibia who are out of office. However, a few others are still in the system and are calling the shots. They include Paul Biya of Cameroun, Col. Muamar Gaddafi of Libya, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.
While the AU may still be grappling with how to deal with the old foxes that are still in the system, it has to contend with an emerging phenomenon - the modern-day dynasty- which is a mockery of any semblance of democracy on the continent.
Mr Laurent Kabila who shot into power in the Democratic Republic of Congo was succeeded by his son, Joseph Kabila, when the former was assassinated. Mr Faure Gnansigbe is effectively the President of Togo, after the death of his father, Gnansigbe Eyadema.The latest in the son-succeeds-father syndrome is Ali-Ben Bongo who succeeded his father, former President Omar Bongo of Gabon.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal are also grooming their sons to take over from them.
The greatest challenge confronting the AU in this political drama is the stream of electoral frauds and conflicts that are becoming characteristic of every electoral process on the continent.
In 2007, General Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria was accused of presiding over one of the most controversial elections on the continent and virtually handed over power to his surrogate, Alhaji Shehu Yar'dua. The AU, the under the Presidency of President J.A. Kufuor of Ghana, maintained a stony silence over the irregularities.
On January 1, 2008, Kenya exploded into violent and bloody confrontations, following an election which was suspected to have been won by the opposition led by Riley Odinga but which was declared in favour of incumbent Mwai Kibaki. Many lives were lost and properties destroyed.
Presently, there is a contentious electoral result in Guinea, while waiting on the sidelines is that of Cote d'Ivoire, where a run-off is expected between President Laurent Gbagbo and Allassane Ouattara.
The AU has failed to exhibit resoluteness in all these cases giving rise to doubts among some political analysts as to whether the new continental body is up to the task it set out for itself.
If really the AU has made good governance and democracy one of its cornerstones, then it must be up and doing and confront the problems boldly than it is doing now.

fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com

Democracy, our curse

By Kofi Akordor
But for the Republic of South Africa, the meeting of the Group of 20, which comprises 19 developed and emerging economies and the European Union, which took place in Seoul, the South Korean capital, would have been without the presence of Africa, the continent with perhaps the largest concentration of natural resources.
South Africa certainly is not the most endowed African country. Its advancement could, therefore, be attributed to other factors, the most obvious being the presence of a sizeable white population which, for a very long time, controlled its political and economic administration. Even after the end of apartheid or White minority rule, South Africa’s economy is by and large under White control, thereby giving it the necessary leverage it commands on the international market.
We were all witnesses to the successful hosting of the 2010 World Cup by South Africa, to the amazement of the sceptics and the pride of the continent. However, we will be the first to admit, difficult it may be, though, that but for that White minority element, perhaps things would have been different.
For a very long time we have blamed the problems of Africa, especially its underdevelopment, variously on slavery, colonialism and over-exploitation of its natural resources by foreign powers. We have not failed to mention the new world economic order and the unfair trade between the industrialised countries and the less-developed countries mostly in Africa, Asia and Latin America as a source of our economic and development problems.
Another important factor which was considered a major contributor to the continent's impoverishment was political dictatorship which dominated the continent during the immediate post-independent era until the end of the Cold War.
Dictators are answerable to no one and can easily be manipulated in their efforts to gain recognition. Therefore, during the Cold War era, the so-called democratic world was not interested in the culture of democratic governance flourishing on the continent. In fact, the Western powers were ready to sponsor and they really sponsored and propped up dictators in the name of fighting the spread of communism, even though in most cases they allowed the free plunder of their countries' natural resources.
The end of the Cold War gave us an indication that the time has come to remove the last obstacle to development — dictatorship — from the continent. That was how Ghana and many other countries on the continent embarked on another mission to cultivate the democratic culture which entails multi-partysm and adherence to the rule of law.
We in Ghana set off with the promulgation of the 1992 Constitution and the conduct of the first multi-party elections after years of military dictatorship which scuttled previous attempts at multi-party democracy.
We are all happy with the political freedom that constitutional rule brings to the people. Apart from the individual freedoms every citizen enjoys and the right to freedom of expression, there is also a check on the arbitrary use of state power. Multi-party democracy also envisages the involvement of more and more people in the governance process.
Even though the 1992 Constitution does not demarcate clear boundaries between the Executive and the Legislature, and even though the Judiciary is subordinated in a way to the Executive by way of the appointment of the Chief Justice, there is still room for these arms of government to operate as independently as possible to keep the machinery of state functioning, to the advantage of all.
After five elections and alternating between two parties — the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) — we can say with pride and some conviction that we are gradually mastering the art of democratic governance and, therefore, are on the path of national development.
As we look back, can we say with certainty that apart from individual liberties and the right to express ourselves on national issues, democracy has been able to build bridges of national cohesion and brought about consensus on national affairs that can move this country forward?
What about those ethnic and tribal sentiments that are creeping back into our politics? What about factionalism which is threatening to tear the same political parties apart? Can we explain why people have become so desperate for political power that they could go to any length to influence the voting process?
After the 2000 elections, we were joined by the international community to celebrate our success, having been able to switch from one political party to another in an election. We forgot all the tension that characterised the electoral process.
In 2008, we moved closer to the brink. In fact, one false step could have sent us tumbling down the abyss. We seem not to have learnt any lessons. Today, the conflicts and disagreements are not just about one party against another but within the same parties.
It may not sound logical, but if we compare what happened in 2000 to what happened in 2008, and if we consider the polluted atmosphere prevailing today, we can easily predict that 2012 is not going to be better than 2008. And that could be very dangerous to our survival as a nation.
We have survived vicious dictatorships in the past. We have squandered revenue from the sale of our natural resources in the past. Today, we are being given another chance. We have in place what we ourselves consider our own democratic government. We have another opportunity to tap into one of our natural resources — oil and gas. Are we not ready to be part of the Group of 21 when the next roll is called?
We have come a long way from the days of slavery and colonialism. We have effectively pushed dictatorship away from our political landscape. What is going to be our next excuse for failure? Disunity? Intolerance? Ethnocentrism? Factionalism? Greed or what? Is democratic freedom becoming too much for us to bear?
It seems we have savoured and overstretched our individual freedoms, especially the right to freedom of expression to such an extent that we have effectively ignored the national interest.
For some of us, we have made very little out of our much-touted democracy and political stability. We should not have been where we are today. Our situation will become more precarious if we allow complacency, intrigues and factionalism to set in.
Cote d'Ivoire, our western neighbour, is emerging out of seven years of political instability. We all know that that country can be a formidable force if it builds bridges and puts its past behind it.
The way we are going about things, we may not be able to hold on to our cherished dream of stability and unity for long. Should the worse happen, let it not be said that we fought for and won democracy and lost our national life.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com

CRAWLING SLOWLY OUT OF DUNGEONS (NOV 9, 2010)

Politics everywhere virtually operates on the same rules. See nothing good about your opponent; Blame your opponent for every misfortune, including natural disasters like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, drought and floods; Hammer the sore parts when it matters most; and Hang your mistakes like a noose around the neck of your opponents.
President Barrack Obama of the US did not escape the intrigues of politics when he came to power and occupied the Oval Office in the White House.
Americans, especially the hard core conservatives, did not take long to blame him for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, even though former President George W. Bush, in his memoirs, has expressed regrets for not seeing any weapon of mass destruction in Iraq, a pretext used to invade Iraq.
The recession and its credit crunch was at its peak in 2008, when Obama was campaigning for the White House but the collapse of business on Wall Street and unemployment have been attributed to his bad policies.
When there was an explosion on an oil rig belonging to British Petroleum (BP) in the Gulf of Mexico causing the leakage of millions of barrels into the ocean, President Obama took the blame for not acting fast enough to protect the coastal environment and for not acting hard against the oil giant. That is politics.
But politics can have a human face, especially for those who believe that the bottom line of the game is to make sure that the people get what they want. That was why Obama, while musing over the abysmal performance of the Democrats in the mid-term congressional elections, could not but acknowledge that he had not been able to successfully promote his economic rescue message to anxious Americans and, therefore, appreciate their frustrations.
In an interview with the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), Obama admitted that he had stopped paying attention “to the leadership style he displayed during his run for the presidency, and pledged to find common ground with the Republicans on many issues”.
Apparently in furtherance of this objective, has invited both Republican and Democratic Congressional leaders to meet at the White House on November 18, 2010 to discuss, among other things, economic measures, tax cuts, unemployment benefits and stimulus packages, issues which dominated the recent elections.
“I want us to talk substantively about how we can move the American people’s agenda forward,” President Obama said of that intended meeting.
In Ghana, our politics is not lacking in the earlier ingredients mentioned. Our incumbent governments hardly give credit to previous ones but are quick to blame them for their own failures. We even do worse. We do not follow any national development agenda and that is why we have a lot of uncompleted projects scattered all over the country while at the same time initiating new ones.
However, that is nothing compared to insults — crude and vulgar insults — that have become part and parcel of our politics. At first, we could tolerate a few irresponsible and very often fabricated words thrown at political opponents on campaign platforms, knowing very well that politicians are always carried away by the charged atmosphere characteristic of political rallies to “talk by heart”.
We all would have wished that after the campaigns and a new government is in place, things would return to normalcy and ensure that decency and decorum light the path for all our actions and expressions.
Unfortunately, we are descending deeper into the gutters and one can hardly tune in to a radio station on a normal day without encountering insults from one politician on another.
The habit has become so entrenched that those who could not oil their lips with abusive words in the political domain are seen as the odd ones. Thank God, it seems we are getting to the saturating point now and voices of dissent are beginning to sound the alarms — we are heading closer to the brink, if we do not mend our political ways.
The President of the Republic, Prof John Evans Atta Mills, publicly expressed his abhorrence for foul words on Wednesday, October 27, 2010 while inaugurating the rehabilitated rail link between Tema and Accra.
Charity, they say, begins at home and we are expectantly waiting for the reaction of the President when any member of his government oversteps the bounds of decency and flings insulting words at others.
The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) also drew attention to the canker in a communiqué the legal body issued at the end of its conference, which called for respect for the dignity of our national leadership.
The Catholic Bishops of Ghana, at their meeting at Sefwi Wiawso, joined the chorus against what they described as the culture of insults, which has dominated our politics in recent times.
Just last week, on Wednesday, November 3, 2010, Members of Parliament brought the subject to the floor of the House.
While some of the honourable members of the House were pointing accusing fingers at others, especially the media, others did a thorough soul-searching and came to the conclusion that whatever was carried in the media was their handiwork.
All these groups of prominent and respectable citizens have spoken. It means the problem is real and requires immediate solution.
What about the group which acts like the conveyor belt sending the final product to millions of Ghanaians in their homes, workplaces, drinking spots, eating places and on the streets? I am referring to those who work in the media houses and who have become conduits of foul language in our country?
Have those noisy social commentators, political analysts and the phone-in contractors also reflected soberly on the harm they are causing this country by the way they are exercising their media freedom and freedom of expression? The politicians can be irresponsible but it takes an equally irresponsible media to bring their utterances to the public domain. That is why the media, like the MPs, must also do their own soul-searching.
Sometimes when people, including very knowledgeable professionals, appeal to the National Media Commission (NMC) to step in and bring wayward media practitioners to order, I wonder if they are aware of the limitations of the NMC. Beyond public condemnation and an order for retraction, the NMC can do very little to curb abuse of media freedom. The solution lies in individual media professionals, who should be able to predict the consequences of what, to some of them, is their freedom to practise their profession.
There is no way we can think alike and there is no way we cannot have disagreements. But whether we like it or not, our interests converge – good schools, good roads, adequate health facilities, employment for all and money in everybody’s pocket, regular and cheaper electric power, etc. We may differ on how to reach these targets but if we mean well, we shall be able to accommodate one another’s views and work towards the common goal.
The Americans have proved that while playing all the games associated with politics they still have the American dream to pursue. That was why their political leaders are meeting at the White House on November 18, 2010. And that was why Republican John Boehner of Ohio, who is heading for the post of Speaker in Congress, in his victory speech, promised to work with President Obama to turn the economy round.
The insults, at best, can only polarise us and divert precious attention from the real issues. It is better we begin to extricate ourselves from the dungeons into which we have thrown ourselves in the desperate attempt to discredit our political opponents.

fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com

Crawling slowly out of the dungeons

By Kofi Akordor
Politics everywhere virtually operates on the same rules. See nothing good about your opponent; Blame your opponent for every misfortune, including natural disasters like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, drought and floods; Hammer the sore parts when it matters most; and Hang your mistakes like a noose around the neck of your opponents.
President Barrack Obama of the US did not escape the intrigues of politics when he came to power and occupied the Oval Office in the White House. Americans, especially the hard core conservatives, did not take long to blame him for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, even though former President George W. Bush, in his memoirs, has expressed regrets for not seeing any weapon of mass destruction in Iraq, a pretext used to invade Iraq. The recession and its credit crunch was at its peak in 2008, when Obama was campaigning for the White House but the collapse of business on Wall Street and unemployment have been attributed to his bad policies.
When there was an explosion on an oil rig belonging to British Petroleum (BP) in the Gulf of Mexico causing the leakage of millions of barrels into the ocean, President Obama took the blame for not acting fast enough to protect the coastal environment and for not acting hard against the oil giant. That is politics.
But politics can have a human face, especially for those who believe that the bottom line of the game is to make sure that the people get what they want. That was why Obama, while musing over the abysmal performance of the Democrats in the mid-term congressional elections, could not but acknowledge that he had not been able to successfully promote his economic rescue message to anxious Americans and, therefore, appreciate their frustrations.
In an interview with the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), Obama admitted that he had stopped paying attention “to the leadership style he displayed during his run for the presidency, and pledged to find common ground with the Republicans on many issues”.
Apparently in furtherance of this objective, has invited both Republican and Democratic Congressional leaders to meet at the White House on November 18, 2010 to discuss, among other things, economic measures, tax cuts, unemployment benefits and stimulus packages, issues which dominated the recent elections.
“I want us to talk substantively about how we can move the American people’s agenda forward,” President Obama said of that intended meeting.
In Ghana, our politics is not lacking in the earlier ingredients mentioned. Our incumbent governments hardly give credit to previous ones but are quick to blame them for their own failures. We even do worse. We do not follow any national development agenda and that is why we have a lot of uncompleted projects scattered all over the country while at the same time initiating new ones.
However, that is nothing compared to insults — crude and vulgar insults — that have become part and parcel of our politics. At first, we could tolerate a few irresponsible and very often fabricated words thrown at political opponents on campaign platforms, knowing very well that politicians are always carried away by the charged atmosphere characteristic of political rallies to “talk by heart”.
We all would have wished that after the campaigns and a new government is in place, things would return to normalcy and ensure that decency and decorum light the path for all our actions and expressions. Unfortunately, we are descending deeper into the gutters and one can hardly tune in to a radio station on a normal day without encountering insults from one politician on another.
The habit has become so entrenched that those who could not oil their lips with abusive words in the political domain are seen as the odd ones. Thank God, it seems we are getting to the saturating point now and voices of dissent are beginning to sound the alarms — we are heading closer to the brink if we do not mend our political ways.
The President of the Republic, Prof John Evans Atta Mills, publicly expressed his abhorrence for foul words on Wednesday, October 27, 2010 while inaugurating the rehabilitated rail link between Tema and Accra. Charity, they say, begins at home and we are expectantly waiting for the reaction of the President when any member of his government oversteps the bounds of decency and flings insulting words at others.
The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) also drew attention to the canker in a communiqué the legal body issued at the end of its conference, which called for respect for the dignity of our national leadership.
The Catholic Bishops of Ghana, at their meeting at Sefwi Wiawso, joined the chorus against what they described as the culture of insults, which has dominated our politics in recent times.
Just last week, on Wednesday, November 3, 2010, Members of Parliament brought the subject to the floor of the House. While some of the honourable members of the House were pointing accusing fingers at others, especially the media, others did a thorough soul-searching and came to the conclusion that whatever was carried in the media was their handiwork.
All these groups of prominent and respectable citizens have spoken. It means the problem is real and requires immediate solution. What about the group which acts like the conveyor belt sending the final product to millions of Ghanaians in their homes, workplaces, drinking spots, eating places and on the streets? I am referring to those who work in the media houses and who have become conduits of foul language in our country?
Have those noisy social commentators, political analysts and the phone-in contractors also reflected soberly on the harm they are causing this country by the way they are exercising their media freedom and freedom of expression? The politicians can be irresponsible but it takes an equally irresponsible media to bring their utterances to the public domain. That is why the media, like the MPs, must also do their own soul-searching.
Sometimes when people, including very knowledgeable professionals, appeal to the National Media Commission (NMC) to step in and bring wayward media practitioners to order, I wonder if they are aware of the limitations of the NMC. Beyond public condemnation and an order for retraction, the NMC can do very little to curb abuse of media freedom. The solution lies in individual media professionals, who should be able to predict the consequences of what, to some of them, is their freedom to practise their profession.
There is no way we can think alike and there is no way we cannot have disagreements. But whether we like it or not, our interests converge – good schools, good roads, adequate health facilities, employment for all and money in everybody’s pocket, regular and cheaper electric power, etc. We may differ on how to reach these targets but if we mean well, we shall be able to accommodate one another’s views and work towards the common goal.
The Americans have proved that while playing all the games associated with politics they still have the American dream to pursue. That was why their political leaders are meeting at the White House on November 18, 2010. And that was why Republican John Boehner of Ohio, who is heading for the post of Speaker in Congress, in his victory speech, promised to work with President Obama to turn the economy round.
The insults, at best, can only polarise us and divert precious attention from the real issues. It is better we begin to extricate ourselves from the dungeons into which we have thrown ourselves in the desperate attempt to discredit our political opponents.

fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com

THE STORM IN THE HOUSE (NOV 2, 2010)

Last week, our elected representatives in Parliament went into a frenzy over a survey sponsored and its result published by Africawatch, a US-based news magazine with focus on Africa.
The beef of the parliamentarians was that the survey, christened Political Performance Index (PPI) and conducted by the magazine, was not fair to them in relation to their ratings ranging from Grade F (0%-49%), which is Failure, to Grade A (95%-100%), representing Exceptional Performance.
In between these two extremes are other grades: D(50%-54%); D+ (55%-59%); C- (60%-64%); C (65%-69%); C+ (70%-74%); B-(75%-79%); B (80%-84%); B+(85%-89%) and A- (90%-94%), representing Poor Performance, Minimum Performance, Moderate Performance, Average Performance, Satisfactory Performance, Good Performance, Very Good Performance, High Performance and Excellent Performance in that ascending order.
It is very important to make it clear that the survey was not only about Members of Parliament. The survey also took into account the performance of the President and Ministers of State. It is also important to emphasise the point that Africawatch as a magazine or Steve Mallory, its Editor, did not constitute the source of the conclusions of the survey.
According to the Editor, the President was assessed by a group of Ghanaian experts in various fields and from different professional backgrounds and political persuasions based on performance in five categories. These are Foreign Policy, Economic Development, Social Interventions, Political Development and National Security.
The Ministers, according to the Editor, were assessed by another group of experts based on their performance in Policy Articulation and Implementation; Managerial and Supervision Effectiveness; Human Relations and Ethics.
For the Speaker of Parliament and Members of Parliament, the magazine chose a group of senior journalists with experience in parliamentary coverage and former members of Parliament for the assessment.
For the Speaker, they looked at her impartiality, her firmness and fairness and general performance. In the case of members of Parliament, they were assessed based on their knowledge in lawmaking and the Constitution; Active participation in legislative business; Contribution to parliamentary debates and how their ideas and suggestions reflect society's needs and interests; tolerance of divergent views and ethics.
According to the Editor; the survey did not take into account the performance or non-performance of the MPs at the constituency level, an aspect, he said, would be taken into consideration in future surveys. Again he said in all cases, the questionnaire was administered at random and that each member of a group operated independently and no member was aware of others in the group. This might be a determination to ensure that responses are as independent and impartial as possible.
If these are the true state of affairs, then it can be concluded that the Africawatch magazine only did the collation and used the percentage marks to strike an average for The President and each of the Ministers and Members of Parliament.
Results of surveys of this nature, including those conducted by recognised and world-renowned institutions and think-tanks, have always come under criticism for political bias or for the choice of wrong indices for the research. Amnesty International (AI), an international human rights watch group and Transparency International, which monitors levels of corruption in sovereign states, have always had their reports challenged.
Even powerful and credible lending institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) have not always endeared themselves to certain countries which suspect the two institutions to be biased in favour of the US and its powerful allies of the West.
So unless a survey is overwhelmingly favourable to a group or to a country, one should expect resistance to its credibility. It is in this light that the reaction of the Members of Parliament, especially those who scored very low rating, should be understood and appreciated. Nobody would want to be graded as a non-performer or a failure, no matter how academic or scientific the exercise is. Therefore, the MPs have every right to protest and fight to redeem their lost image if they feel strongly about it.
However, if we begin from the premise that Africawatch PPI had no ill-motive and as explained by the Editor, the survey was to help enhance democracy in Ghana, then we need to revisit the outrage by the Members of Parliament, and determine whether they are flowing with the current democratic tide on the continent or they are just there to replace one form of dictatorship with another.
In the first place, Parliament, as a body, was not the subject of the survey; second, the MPs were not assessed alone, even though in our case, we could say that our Ministers are also MPs; and third, the MPs were not ranked the same and so cannot apply the notion of collective victimisation to fight their case. Are those with high grades also complaining that anything below Grade A is demeaning to them?
As stated earlier, it is generally the norm that results of surveys such as the type conducted by Africawatch are contentious and victims at its vicious end have every right to register their protest. But unless one could establish ill-motives, mischief or deliberate sabotage behind the survey, such protestations can be understood if expressed within acceptable norms. One needs not be sophisticated to realise that the Africawatch PPI cannot be absolute and there would always be room for improvement for it to come closer to its objectives. In any case the magazine has admitted this and promised to do better in their next survey.
That was why some of us were amazed at the amount of venom the MPs spewed out when the matter came for discussion on the floor of the House last week. In the first place, some of us do not see why the results of a survey conducted by a magazine based in the US should be such an attraction to our MPs as to consume a whole day's business time.
We could tolerate it if at most, a few minutes are allowed for members to express their opinions on the results, while at the same time admitting their weaknesses as human beings, knowing very well that their performance is being observed by others, including their own peers, and, therefore, there is the need to step up their performance.
To invoke Article 122 of the 1992 Constitution as well as Order 30 (2) of the Standing Orders of the House, and come to the conclusion that the Africawatch publication had brought the reputation of the House into disrepute is totally out of place.
To help readers, Article 122 of the 1992 Constitution says: “An act or omission which obstructs or impedes Parliament in the performance of its functions or which obstructs or impedes a member or officer of Parliament in the discharge of his duties, or affronts the dignity of Parliament or which intends either directly or indirectly to produce that result is contempt of Parliament”.
It was on the strength of this provision that the Editor of Africawatch was referred to the Privileges Committee of Parliament to appear to answer contempt charges.
At this juncture, a few questions would do. In what way has a performance survey become an impediment to the work of Parliament? What would have been the reaction of the MPs if they were all rated Grade A? Again how would they have reacted if the survey with similar results were conducted by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)? Or would they have called for the blood of Ted Turner, if it were the Cable News Network (CNN) which conducted the survey and came to worse conclusions?
By citing the Editor for contempt, is Parliament trying to claim infallibility and, therefore, its performance is beyond public scrutiny?
Of the three arms of government — The Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislature — only the Legislature comes closest to be representative of the sovereign will of the people. So if the President and his ministers could be criticised, and if even the judiciary, which has a more solid amour of independent cloak surrounding it, could be criticised, how come our elected representatives, our true representatives, want to stand out as a special breed whose performance should not be subject of public debate?
A few months ago, some members of Parliament boycotted the business of the house in solidarity with an individual who made a careless statement on radio and compelled the police to also react carelessly by arresting the man when they did not know which offence had been committed. On that day, the boycotting MPs claimed they were defending freedom of expression, which was represented by that careless statement made on radio that Flt. Lt. J.J. Rawlings, the former President, set his own house on fire.
Where are their democratic credentials when an Editor, exercising his right to freedom of expression, sponsored a survey on The President, Ministers and Members of Parliament? Is Parliament going to gag the media or subvert freedom of expression contrary to what is enshrined in the Constitution by invoking Article 122 at the least opportunity when the interest of its members is at stake? What about the interest of the mass of the people who, under very cruel weather conditions, spent the whole day in long queues just to make sure that they would elect their representatives who would fight for their interests?
Members of Parliament, like all other public office holders, deserve respect from the public for the dignity of their office not to be undermined, so they could serve the people very well. They will need the support and co-operation of all if they are to deliver their mandate as the true representatives of the people.
They must, in reciprocity, be humble enough to submit to public assessment no matter how flawed the criteria may be. At the end of the day, the truth shall remain the truth and those who are the ultimate judges would prevail.
Africawatch has started something which it claimed was motivated by the desire to strengthen our democracy and keep our political players on their toes. Like anything new, it would have its limitations, weaknesses and flaws. But if it is a venture conceived out of sincerity, it will purge itself of all the imperfections with time. That is what we should all pray for and offer the necessary suggestions that would make subsequent surveys better to meet our aspirations.
The torrent of words which conveyed the protestations of the MPs could only be likened to a storm in a teacup. We would wish to prevail upon our elected representatives not to make Article 122 hang ominously like the Sword of Damocles over our heads. If our representatives, our last bastion against the excesses and inaction of the other arms of government turn against us, what shall be our fate? They better sit up.

fokofi@yahoo.couk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com

The storm in a tea cup

By Kofi Akordor
Last week, our elected representatives in Parliament went into a frenzy over a survey sponsored and its result published by Africawatch, a US-based news magazine with focus on Africa. The beef of the parliamentarians was that the survey, christened Political Performance Index (PPI) and conducted by the magazine, was not fair to them in relation to their ratings ranging from Grade F (0%-49%), which is Failure, to Grade A (95%-100%), representing Exceptional Performance.
In between these two extremes are other grades: D(50%-54%); D+ (55%-59%); C- (60%-64%); C (65%-69%); C+ (70%-74%); B-(75%-79%); B (80%-84%); B+(85%-89%) and A- (90%-94%), representing Poor Performance, Minimum Performance, Moderate Performance, Average Performance, Satisfactory Performance, Good Performance, Very Good Performance, High Performance and Excellent Performance in that ascending order.
It is very important to make it clear that the survey was not only about Members of Parliament. The survey also took into account the performance of The President and Ministers of State. It is also important to emphasise the point that Africawatch as a magazine or Steve Mallory, its Editor, did not constitute the source of the conclusions of the survey.
According to the Editor, the President was assessed by a group of Ghanaian experts in various fields and from different professional backgrounds and political persuasions based on performance in five categories. These are Foreign Policy, Economic Development, Social Interventions, Political Development and National Security.
The Ministers, according to the Editor, were assessed by another group of experts based on their performance in Policy Articulation and Implementation; Managerial and Supervision Effectiveness; Human Relations and Ethics.
For the Speaker of Parliament and Members of Parliament, the magazine chose a group of senior journalists with experience in parliamentary coverage and former members of Parliament for the assessment.
For the Speaker, they looked at her impartiality, her firmness and fairness and general performance. In the case of members of Parliament, they were assessed based on their knowledge in lawmaking and the Constitution; Active participation in legislative business; Contribution to parliamentary debates and how their ideas and suggestions reflect society's needs and interests; Tolerance of divergent views and Ethics.
According to the Editor the survey did not take into account the performance or non-performance of the MPs at the constituency level, an aspect, he said, would be taken into consideration in future surveys. Again he said in all cases, the questionnaire was administered at random and that each member of a group operated independently and no member was aware of others in the group. This might be a determination to ensure that responses are as independent and impartial as possible.
If these are the true of state of affairs, then it can be concluded that the Africawatch magazine only did the collation and used the percentage marks to strike an average for The President and each of the Ministers and Members of Parliament.
Results of surveys of this nature, including those conducted by recognised and world-renowned institutions and think-tanks, have always come under criticism for political bias or for the choice of wrong indices for the research. Amnesty International (AI), an international human rights watch group and Transparency International, which monitors levels of corruption in sovereign states, have always had their reports challenged.
Even powerful and credible lending institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) have not always endeared themselves to certain countries which suspect the two institutions to be biased in favour of the US and its powerful allies of the West.
So unless a survey is overwhelmingly favourable to a group or to a country, one should expect resistance to its credibility. It is in this light that the reaction of the Members of Parliament, especially those who scored very low rating, should be understood and appreciated. Nobody would want to be graded as a non-performer or a failure, no matter how academic or scientific the exercise is. Therefore, the MPs have every right to protest and fight to redeem their lost image if they feel strongly about it.
However, if we begin from the premise that Africawatch PPI had no ill-motive and as explained by the Editor, the survey was to help enhance democracy in Ghana, then we need to revisit the outrage by the Members of Parliament, and determine whether they are flowing with the current democratic tide on the continent or they are just there to replace one form of dictatorship with another.
In the first place, Parliament, as a body, was not the subject of the survey; second, the MPs were not assessed alone, even though in our case, we could say that our Ministers are also MPs; and third, the MPs were not ranked the same and so cannot apply the notion of collective victimisation to fight their case. Are those with high grades also complaining that anything below Grade A is demeaning to them?
As stated earlier, it is generally the norm that results of surveys such as the type conducted by Africawatch are contentious and victims at its vicious end have every right to register their protest. But unless one could establish ill-motives, mischief or deliberate sabotage behind the survey, such protestations can be understood if expressed within acceptable norms. One needs not be sophisticated to realise that the Africawatch PPI cannot be absolute and there would always be room for improvement for it to come closer to its objectives. In any case the magazine has admitted this and promised to do better in their next survey.
That was why some of us were amazed at the amount of venom the MPs spewed out when the matter came for discussion on the floor of the House last week. In the first place, some of us do not see why the results of a survey conducted by a magazine based in the US should be such an attraction to our MPs as to consume a whole day's business time.
We could tolerate it if at most, a few minutes are allowed for members to express their opinions on the results, while at the same time admitting their weaknesses as human beings, knowing very well that their performance is being observed by others, including their own peers, and, therefore, there is the need to step up their performance.
To invoke Article 122 of the 1992 Constitution as well as Order 30 (2) of the Standing Orders of the House, and come to the conclusion that the Africawatch publication had brought the reputation of the House into disrepute is totally out of place.
To help readers, Article 122 of the 1992 Constitution says: “An act or omission which obstructs or impedes Parliament in the performance of its functions or which obstructs or impedes a member or officer of Parliament in the discharge of his duties, or affronts the dignity of Parliament or which intends either directly or indirectly to produce that result is contempt of Parliament”.
It was on the strength of this provision that the Editor of Africawatch was referred to the Privileges Committee of Parliament to appear to answer contempt charges.
At this juncture, a few questions would do. In what way has a performance survey become an impediment to the work of Parliament? What would have been the reaction of the MPs if they were all rated Grade A? Again how would they have reacted if the survey with similar results were conducted by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)? Or would they have called for the blood of Ted Turner, if it were the Cable News Network (CNN) which conducted the survey and came to worse conclusions?
By citing the Editor for contempt, is Parliament trying to claim infallibility and, therefore, its performance is beyond public scrutiny?
Of the three arms of government — The Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislature — only the Legislature comes closest to be representative of the sovereign will of the people. So if the President and his ministers could be criticised, and if even the judiciary, which has a more solid amour of independent cloak surrounding it, could be criticised, how come our elected representatives, our true representatives, want to stand out as a special breed whose performance should not be subject of public debate?
A few months ago, some members of Parliament boycotted the business of the house in solidarity with an individual who made a careless statement on radio and compelled the police to also react carelessly by arresting the man when they did not know which offence had been committed. On that day, the boycotting MPs claimed they were defending freedom of expression, which was represented by that careless statement made on radio that Flt. Lt. J.J. Rawlings, the former President, set his own house on fire.
Where are their democratic credentials when an Editor, exercising his right to freedom of expression, sponsored a survey on The President, Ministers and Members of Parliament? Is Parliament going to gag the media or subvert freedom of expression contrary to what is enshrined in the Constitution by invoking Article 122 at the least opportunity when the interest of its members is at stake? What about the interest of the mass of the people who, under very cruel weather conditions, spent the whole day in long queues just to make sure that they would elect their representatives who would fight for their interests?
Members of Parliament, like all other public office holders, deserve respect from the public for the dignity of their office not to be undermined, so they could serve the people very well. They will need the support and co-operation of all if they are to deliver their mandate as the true representatives of the people.
They must, in reciprocity, be humble enough to submit to public assessment no matter how flawed the criteria may be. At the end of the day, the truth shall remain the truth and those who are the ultimate judges would prevail.
Africawatch has started something which it claimed was motivated by the desire to strengthen our democracy and keep our political players on their toes. Like anything new, it would have its limitations, weaknesses and flaws. But if it is a venture conceived out of sincerity, it will purge itself of all the imperfections with time. That is what we should all pray for and offer the necessary suggestions that would make subsequent surveys better to meet our aspirations.
The torrent of words which conveyed the protestations of the MPs could only be likened to a storm in teacup. We would wish to prevail upon our elected representatives not to make Article 122 hang ominously like the Sword of Damocles over our heads. If our representatives, our last bastion against the excesses and inaction of the other arms of government turn against us, what shall be our fate? They better sit up.

fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (OCT 26, 2010)

THE security agencies have a way of conducting their investigations and bringing charges against suspects. At the end of the day, the mission is deemed well accomplished if a solid case is established against the suspect, resulting in a conviction in a court of competent jurisdiction.
In certain crime situations, however, the fight does not end with just the conviction of criminals but by the extent to which leaders of criminal gangs and their accomplices are crippled in their criminal activities.
In syndicated crimes such as money laundering, smuggling, counterfeiting, drug dealing and many others, the police sometimes rush into jubilation even when a few people in the chain and who may not necessarily command any authority are put behind bars. This should not be, and the reason is very simple: Since the cult leaders are still free, it will not take long before fresh recruits are brought into the system to continue with the business of the criminal gang.
Drug trafficking is a major criminal menace confronting our country, just like many others along the West African coast. We are aware that the government, through the security agencies, has made clear its determination to clamp down on the crime and make the country a hostile place for drug traffickers and their foreign collaborators.
We all know that the drug business is a major one involving many people in a long chain — from the barons who could be likened, more or less, to the main wholesalers, through the sub-wholesalers, the bulk transporters, couriers, retailers to the final consumers.
From time to time, the arrest of suspected drug traffickers is given prominence in the media as part of the media’s contribution towards the fight against the canker. However, with the exception of a few cases, most of those arrests have been limited to couriers of very little quantities of cocaine, leaving the barons still lurking in the dark and pulling the strings.
Sometimes, in their excitement and zeal to be seen to be doing their work, the security agencies rush for media coverage when what may be seen as a major catch could only serve as a clue leading to the arrest of the real dons behind the chain.
In many instances, people with a few grammes of cocaine are arrested with a lot of fanfare when the big-time dealers still walk free because the security agencies have failed to conduct meticulous investigations into drug cases.
Very often, whether by design or mistake, they have jumped the gun, instead of following leads that will bring them closer to the real dons behind the business.
We cannot forget so soon how 76 parcels of cocaine vanished into thin air and the one retrieved mysteriously turned into kokonte, while the arrest of couriers with a few grammes who are only acting on behalf of the bigger guns are celebrated with fanfare. Even a limping man believed to be behind that haul managed to limp away to freedom after his arrest by the police.
A few years ago, a tailor who allegedly designed attires for drug couriers was arrested and his photograph splashed in the newspapers. In a serious security environment, the security agencies would not hasten to arrest that tailor or make public knowledge of it. Instead, they would mount a close surveillance on him and monitor all his customers for a period of time. Such customers may, in turn, lead the security apparatus to bigger people who are higher in the chain until, who knows, the main source of the drugs is traced and apprehended.
Elsewhere, there have been many instances when a little patience and good surveillance work have led to the arrest of drug barons. But here, these opportunities are sometimes bungled, either due to bad judgement or deliberately to cover up some people.
In one of the most recent of such cases, the security agencies were quick to arrest a clearing agent for clearing some containers in which substances suspected to be cocaine were found. We all know that clearing agents, as the name denotes, are not owners of shipments they clear from the ports. They are only agents for the importers for the purposes of going through the clearing procedure for a fee. They, like the port authorities and security agencies, could be outwitted by importers or criminals.
This does not necessarily mean that they cannot play other roles outside their legitimate clearing assignments on behalf of their clients. The issue is, until hard facts are established, it will be imprudent to come to hasty conclusions when a little bit of tact and intelligence work could establish criminality on their part or not and at the same time drag others into the net.
To arrest a clearing agent without carrying out a thorough investigation on the consignor or the consignee of the cargo or other persons in the business chain can let go a few others along the chain or be a deliberate way of overlooking serious factors in a criminal situations.
Perhaps our security agencies can learn a few lessons from their US counterparts in surveillance work. In November 2005, Mr Eric Amoateng, then a Member of Parliament for Nkoranza North, forwarded seven boxes of pottery to the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York via London.
When the goods arrived at the Newark Liberty International Airport, it was detected that they contained 136 pounds of heroin, with a street value of US$6 million.
The US security waited for Amoateng himself to arrive in the US on November 12, 2005, in the company of Nii Okai Adjei, a friend, and move the goods to a self-storage facility on Staten Island. All that while, Amoateng and his friend were being monitored by security personnel.
Cameras were mounted at vantage points and Amoateng was picked up the following day when they went there to inspect the goods. They were finally arrested after they had retrieved the goods and were heading out. Amoateng’s case is now history.
The long and short of it is that on December 12, 2007, he was jailed 10 years for distributing a controlled narcotic drug.
It was revealing that the US agents were not in any haste. The cargo had arrived in the US a day earlier than Amoateng and any arrests could have signalled him to take cover. In other words, he was not given any hint that the US security was interested in the cargo. He might have been making mental calculations of what the US$6 million could do when he walked into the warehouse to inspect the goods.
We may not have the vast resources at the disposal of the US and other advanced societies, but I believe we have the men and the women capable of doing proper surveillance work if they are given the encouragement and training. Strangely enough, we are not able to exhibit the same level of patience that could lead us to the real people behind the drugs that find their way into the country for local distribution or re-export.
We shall not in any way overlook the efforts of the security agencies in their battle against drug traffickers. We are aware that the drug war, even in the most sophisticated environment, is not an easy one and every day the drug gangs are devising more sophisticated ways of outwitting the law. All the same, we can do better than we are doing now, if we can improve upon our monitoring and surveillance mechanisms.
We have had enough of the small fries. We need to go in for the big catches now if we are to win public confidence and trust and debunk those unwritten perceptions that some of the big fishes are operating within the protective arms of big people in high places, in which case we are only blowing hot air in our avowed claim to be fighting the drug menace.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com

THIS IS NO FAMILY AFFAIR (OCT 19, 2010)

WE have talked extensively about indiscipline, which has permeated every facet of our national life and is steadily eating away the fabric of society. Indiscipline has been a subject of discussion on radio and television and dominated newspaper publications while many pastors have used their pulpits to draw attention to this national canker.
In spite of the sermonisations and protestations, the country is still engulfed in lawlessness and acts of indiscipline are becoming a normal part of our national life. The indiscipline on our roads is now phenomenal and it has been sadly accepted that for every road, there is an unofficial one purposely for the use of commercial drivers, who use the shoulders of our roads as speed lanes to show their personal aggrandisement.
The daily carnage witnessed on our roads speaks volumes of the type of drivers we have in the country – drivers who use more of their legs and hands and very little of their heads when behind their steering wheels.
Politicians and their hirelings who describe themselves as political and social analysts and commentators have turned the studios of radio and television stations into gutters, into which they all descend without any sense of shame to smear themselves with filth in the name of democracy and one of its fruits – freedom of expression.
Students are prepared to go to battle against school authorities who dare to enforce the Ghana Education Service ban on the use of cellular phones on school campuses.
Indiscipline has matured and now knows no bounds. It has extended its tentacles to the building sector, where people build anywhere anyhow without regard to laid-down regulations. Accra, the capital city, is virtually a floating city after the slightest rain because flood waters have no drains to follow and so discharge themselves into the streets and homes.
Even religious leaders, who in the past inspired the rest of us by offering good counsel, have strayed into worldly things and are now virtually on the same level as others when it comes to breaching the law or exhibiting undisciplined behaviour.
One way or another, either as individuals or groups, we have all shown one strain of indiscipline or another. Since we are human beings and harbour the weakness to occasionally stray off course in our endeavours, a few infractions here and there could be tolerated, but it becomes dangerous for society if state institutions that have been mandated to maintain law and order become instruments of indiscipline, thuggery and lawlessness.
On Friday, June 4 and Saturday, June 5, 2010, there were some nasty incidents which were widely reported in the media. It began on Friday, June 4, 2010 when some soldiers from the Fourth Garrison went on rampage and brutalised more than a dozen policemen at various duty posts in the Kumasi metropolis, leaving three of them unconscious.
In that incident, it was alleged that a man riding an unregistered motorbike and without a helmet was stopped and questioned by two policemen on duty. The rider, according to the story, later identified himself as a soldier. We all know that it is an offence to ride an unregistered motorbike and equally an offence to ride a motorbike without a helmet. The law does not grant any concession on account of who the rider is.
The police said in the course of the interrogation, the rider got annoyed and sped off but before issuing a threat that he was going to bring more of his colleagues to assault the policemen. True to his threat, a military vehicle packed with soldiers drove to the duty post of the policemen at Cedar Crescent Traffic Intersection and attacked the policemen, tearing their uniform in the violent orgy.
From there, like sharks that have smelled blood, the soldiers went on rampage and attacked any policeman on sight. The victims included Inspector Jacob Gyekye, Lance Corporal Opoku Agyeman Prempeh and Constable Hannah Serwah, who were on duty at the Bekwai Roundabout.
On the same day, another policeman, Lance Corporal C.K. Mensah, stationed at Nkawie, was assaulted by some military men at Sofoline while he was driving to his station. The carnage continued when another group of military men attacked policemen at the Suame Police Station and vandalised their radio equipment and other property.
By now they were in top flight, enjoying the game so they proceeded to the Suame office of the Ghana Water Company Limited and attempted to attack policemen on duty at the barrier nearby, but the policemen who saw blood in the eyes of the soldiers fled for their life.
The adrenaline was still flowing, so on the following day, Saturday, June 5, 2010, the soldiers continued the attack on some Motor Traffic and Transport Unit officials on duty at Sofoline, this time using hammers, and left their victims unconscious after the brutalities. The victims were later conveyed to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital for treatment.
Before that weekend’s two days of madness in June, on May 20, 2010, a group of soldiers had attacked MTTU officials at Suame for arresting their driver who was driving without a valid driver’s licence and log book. Then on May 22, 2010, a soldier went berserk when he was cautioned for driving carelessly and dangerously at Asokwa, another suburb of Kumasi.
What had gone into the heads of those soldiers who decided to operate outside the law and administer their own brand of justice to police officers who were only performing their lawful duties? The June incidents in Kumasi were widely reported and brought to the notice of all those who matter in the military hierarchy and the political apparatus. They include Lt General Henry Smith, the Minister of Defence, the Minister of Interior and Brigadier-General Chris Ocran, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) the Northern Command of the Ghana Armed Forces.
The impression they gave the Ghanaian public was that this was a small misunderstanding between family members and, therefore, the Military High Command and the Police Administration could meet to resolve the matter amicably. Is that how we treat those who breach the laws of this country?
Even on the battlefield, under the Geneva Convention, enemy combatants have rights and soldiers who are deemed to have breached international protocols are punished, how much more those who, without any provocation, go on the rampage and attack the police for going about their legitimate duty? Should such soldiers be welcomed with warm embraces back to the barracks bytheir superior officers? What happens if other professionals or organised groups begin to resist the arrest of their members in such a crude manner?
Since that Kumasi incident was treated as a family affair, it happened again. On Friday, October 8, 2010, a police corporal, David Dzokoto, stationed in Ho, allegedly came under physical attack from some soldiers of the 66 Artillery Regiment, who were returning from a military exercise in a convoy of vehicles.
The soldiers did not deny the allegation and justified their action by saying the police corporal was drunk and was behaving irresponsibly. Come to think of it! Remember the Asokwa incident which took place on May 22, 2010? A soldier went berserk because he was cautioned for driving carelessly and dangerously. Surely Corporal Dzokoto had not done himself and the Ghana Police Service any good by his irresponsible behaviour, that is if we are to take the word of the soldiers.
However, the soldiers must be told in clear terms that by their action, they have behaved more irresponsibly. They could have proved otherwise and shown the way by apprehending Corporal Dzokoto or reporting his conduct to his superior officers and wait for the reaction of the Police Command for future reference.
By taking the law into their own hands, they have either exhibited ignorance of the law or proved to be above the laws of the land. In both cases, they have not endeared themselves to members of the public, especially those who still see soldiers as a bunch of people who know nothing beyond exhibiting brute force.
Some of us know more than that. We know that in the military, especially among the officer corps, are some of the finest, most disciplined and well-trained persons not only in the military sense, but academically and intellectually such that the country can boast of them. That is why it would be a disservice to the institution if the authorities continue to gloss over such acts of misconduct on the part of a few soldiers. We need not wait for a violent confrontation between soldiers and the police before we come to terms with realities.
Infractions such as the ones exhibited by soldiers in Kumasi and the latest in Ho, should not be treated as family affairs that must come under arbitration from the family head. The law is quite explicit and there is no room for concessions. As soon as you condone one act, you create a situation where similar acts become justified. Under normal circumstances, members of the military, like their counterparts in the police, must be seen to be the most faithful adherents of the laws of the country, since they could at anytime be called upon to defend the country and its laws.
The Kumasi incidents and similar ones were cases of blatant disregard for the law. They amounted to treating the police with contempt and subjecting them to public ridicule. Very often, the police look the other way, when men in uniform breach the law, especially traffic offences, in apparent recognition of soldiers as counterparts. It is only fair that the soldiers reciprocate this goodwill and identify with the police in the maintenance of law and order in the country.
The Ghana Armed Forces have a reputation which must be guarded jealously. It is an institution made up of disciplined officers and men who have served with distinction in different parts of the world. This is an image that must be built upon and not undermined by acts of lawlessness.
We have come a long way from those revolutionary days, and we do not need to descend back into the jungle of old, where might was always seen as right.

fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com

BAGRE CANALS AND FATE OF TOMATO FARMERS (OCT 12, 2010)

THE name Bagre does not sound pleasant to the ears of many of our brothers and sisters in the northern part of the country, and for good reasons. Anytime the spill gates of the dam bearing that name are opened in Burkina Faso, our northern neighbour, the excess water finds its level on the farms and in the homes of people in the three northern regions.
This year, as in previous years, a few souls have been lost, some homes destroyed and many food crops destroyed as a result of the opening of the Bagre Dam. Since this has become an annual affair, people have started raising questions on why, instead of waiting for the floods to come and swallow us and our crops on a yearly basis, we can’t exploit the possibility of transforming a seemingly natural calamity into a fortune by harnessing the excess water from the dam for productive use in the agricultural sector.
For a country that relies, in the main, on rain-fed agricultural production, it does not make sense seeing this large volume of water going waste and causing destruction in the process when its venom could be subdued and its energy utilised for productive use to the advantage of the people who otherwise have been victims of its devastating effects.
It was, therefore, welcoming news when Dr Charles Jebuni, a technical adviser to the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), broke the news that the body purposely established to spearhead accelerated development of the north had decided to construct canals and reservoirs to collect and store the excess water for irrigation purposes.
Dr Jebuni does not need to offer reasons for such a bold and pragmatic initiative, since the benefits of the venture, if carried out to the full, are clear on the wall.
First, the perennial flooding will become a thing of the past or at least it will be reduced considerably. Second, as indicated by Dr Jebuni, the Bagre Dam water will enhance irrigation farming in the affected areas, mostly in the Upper East and Upper West regions
Some of us have always held the view that excessive reliance on the weather for agricultural production is not the best for a country so abundantly endowed with water resources for domestic, commercial, agricultural and industrial use. It is very sad seeing vast tracts of land in the Afram and Accra plains, all drained by the Volta Lake lying waste, while the country continues to rely on imported rice and other food items.
Elsewhere, nations have gone to war or are feuding seriously over limited water resources. Just a few months ago, countries in the Nile Basin met to draft a new law to replace the colonial one supervised by Great Britain which gave Egypt greater control over the waters of the River Nile.
Thankfully, we have escaped that tragedy, at least for now. Unfortunately, we have not been able to harness the water resources of our rivers for serious agricultural production. We still rely heavily on the rains for farming, with its serious side effects.
Burkina Faso has shown the way by undertaking serious irrigation farming which has turned that Sahelian country into a huge exporter of fruits and vegetables. What are we doing here? I know the Ministry of Agriculture has in its books plans to go into extensive irrigation farming. But, for now, we are waiting for the day that this will happen and until then, we are still at the mercy of the weather.
We hope that when the SADA initiative becomes a reality, it will open the way for more of such projects in other parts of the country.
And that brings us to other major obstacles which are undermining agricultural production and consequently impoverishing farmers in the country.
Apart from the poor road network in most of our food-growing areas, the problems of poor storage and preservation of farm produce have conspired to make our farmers poor, notwithstanding the efforts and resources they put into farming.
A few weeks ago, tomato farmers all over the country, especially those around Ada and the southern parts of the Volta Region, raised their voices in anguish, crying for market for their produce. Out of frustration, some of them left baskets of tomatoes by the roadside to rot. It is as if we do not know that after planting, there is bound to be a period of harvesting for which we should prepare accordingly.
Every year, tomatoes, oranges, mangoes and other farm produce go waste during the harvest season, while hard foreign exchange is spent importing fruit juices and tomato puree of questionable quality into the country, at the expense of local production. We cannot continue to treat our farmers with such disdain.
We cannot continue to make noise about our dedication to developing agriculture to attain self-sufficiency in food production and create jobs for the rural youth if we cannot store and preserve what we produce against the rainy day and as a means of adding value to local production.
So what happens if SADA should succeed in its objective of harnessing water from the Bagre Dam for irrigation farming and there is a bumper harvest? Are we going to watch the efforts and investments of the farmers rot away? Or are we going to pursue a more aggressive policy of creating facilities for storing and preserving what we produce, just as other countries whose goods have flooded our markets do?
We do not need complex factories and canneries for food preservation. A few cottage processing plants here and there will do the trick and even though individual initiatives are necessary, an official position or the government’s policy in this matter will greatly meet the farmers halfway and give impetus to local production in the long run.
The Americans say: “We eat what we can, and CAN what we CAN’T.” It is the food which other countries cannot consume locally that find its way onto our markets as canned products. What is going to be our marching song as we launch ourselves onto the ambitious path of attaining a middle-income status by the year 2015?
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com