By Kofi Akordor
Some of us knew it will happen sooner or later. We foresaw the most rational thing being done when the management agreement with Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL) will be thrown into the dustbin where it appropriately belongs.
The AVRL management agreement followed a pattern that has become our national culture. I mean the tendency to look outward at the least excuse for solutions to our problems. Just before the AVRL agreement, the country went through two similar agreements on behalf of Ghana Telecom, the national telecommunications operator.
In 1995 or there about, an agreement was signed with Telekom Malaysia to manage the telecom operator which was going through management and cash crises. By the time the Malaysian management experts left in 2001, Ghana Telecom was not left in any better health but was more devastated and pillaged by the high-earning expatriates from Malaysia.
Typically of us, we did not learn any lesson, and so a new management agreement was signed with Telenor of Norway who also brought its brand of management to Ghana Telecom in 2003. That agreement expired or was abrogated in 2005 because there was no visible sign that the health of Ghana Telecom was better than the Norwegians came to meet it.
We all know what happened to Ghana Telecom finally. It was sold under controversial circumstances in July 2008 for $900 million to the Vodafone Group which acquired 70 per cent shares, while the Government of Ghana took home a paltry 30 per cent. That was how the country lost control of its vast telecommunications industry.
Some of us were, therefore, genuinely apprehensive when the government of the day decided that the best solution to the challenges facing the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) was a foreign management consultancy. I put my thoughts in this column.
The truth is that the GWCL, like all other service providers and, to a large extent, many public institutions, is facing numerous challenges, but human resource is the least. The GWCL has some of the best engineers and managers the industry could boast of.
The company has not been able to deliver its mandate over the years because it suffered and continues to suffer from one major canker – heavy politicisation. The management of the GWCL and that of almost all other public institutions has been heavily politicised to the extent that management positions do not necessarily go to the best but the loudest in terms of sycophancy. Those who try to do the right thing often find themselves hitting the concrete wall of political agitators. They are either bent or are ejected.
Many of our public institutions, notable among them Ghana Airways, have collapsed not because as a nation we lack the requisite human resource or qualified and dedicated Ghanaians to manage them but because we lack committed political leadership that is prepared to separate politics from business.
When the AVRL, which has its origins from The Netherlands and South Africa, was given the contract to manage the country’s urban water systems for a five-year period, we knew it was a wrong move. Many of the details of the agreement were not made public, but we were told that, among other things, AVRL was to ensure that more people got access to water, to plug loopholes to check revenue leakage and ensure that less treated water was wasted.
The contract did not provide that AVRL should bring even a wheelbarrow or a shovel, so straight away it meant AVRL, under the contract, was not expected to lay even a metre of new pipeline or build new treatment plants. It came to feed on what was already in existence — something that was built from the sweat and toil of Ghanaians. Strangely, even its own workers were not in agreement with the renewal of the contract.
The AVRL came with nothing and it was to use GWCL revenue staff to collect money for services it had not rendered and went home with fat commissions and consultancy fees at the end of the day. There was nothing special about AVRL. What it had which our local managers did not get was insulation from interference from any quarters and the free hand to operate because it made sure those clauses were captured in the agreement.
Many well-meaning Ghanaians have said repeatedly that as Ghanaians, we cannot assert our independence if we fail to be our own masters. One person, Mr Kwame Pianim, arguably one of the best economists produced by this country, has been a crusader on that front. He keeps reminding the powers that be that our continued reliance on so-called foreign consultants is not only sapping our national resources but also trapping us in perpetual inferiority complex and taking away our national dignity.
Most of the people we bring here as consultants come nowhere near our local experts who are ignored because they do not sing the same political or ethnic tunes. Cronyism and patronage are the twin evils undermining the administration of our national affairs.
Second, those given the jobs are not given the free hand to deliver without hindrance and interference.
Giving the same autonomy and independence, local experts can easily manage most of our institutions with excellence and with better results. Mind you, the local manager is not only working for money but also he is determined to build his own country and so his commitment will be guaranteed.
The technical audit on the performance of AVRL proved the obvious — that it could not find answers to the problems of GWCL. Meanwhile, it has drained the national coffers of millions in foreign cash. We have also, in a way, succeeded in reducing our self-esteem and making us look more inferior.
We need to establish self-confidence and begin to recognise our strengths in every sphere of national endeavour, including managing our national institutions. We need to stop making appointments for their sake or as a reward for loyalty.
We should be able to entrust our companies into local hands who should also be given the same management contracts which assure them of good returns and the freedom to take bold decisions for the good of the companies involved.
We should be able to disengage politics from serious national business if we want to make progress. It does not make sense to train people and abandon them for less-qualified people just because the latter are foreigners.
The GWCL would have gone the way of Ghana Telecom, Ghana Airways and many others long ago but for the fact that the privatisation of water is a very dangerous proposition. The problem lies not in our incapability but the failure of our leadership style and a mentality which does not recognise self worth.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
VALCO, the heart of Ghana's aluminium industry
By Kofi Akordor
THE Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO) is a very well-known name on the country’s industrial landscape, and for obvious reasons.
VALCO is perhaps the country’s largest industrial enterprise in terms of technology and employment and revenue generation. More important, it is the mother that gave birth to the giant Volta River hydroelectric project.
At the time of the construction of the hydroelectric dam at Akosombo, there was the need to guarantee a ready consumer of the enormous power that was expected to be generated, since Ghana’s industrial base was very small.
Funding institutions were not ready to finance the project at that huge cost if there was no evidence of an industrial base that could utilise the power and, consequently, pay for the investment.
VALCO, therefore, became a strategic team player when a consortium of aluminium companies, headed by Kaiser Aluminium and Chemical Corporation, decided to build an aluminium smelter in Tema as the primary consumer of the power from Akosombo.
Even though the long-term agreement which guaranteed VALCO first-choice status in the use of power from Akosombo may not be the most favourable, President Kwame Nkrumah took consolation from the fact that no matter how long the power-sharing agreement went on, the Akosombo project would surely outlive that agreement.
More significant is the fact that President Nkrumah had already calculated the benefits of the dam and the smelter to Ghana’s future industrial advancement, with the aluminium industry playing a lead role.
With huge deposits of bauxite at Kibi, Nyinahin and Awaso which, at conservative estimates, could last more than 200 years at the current production capacity of VALCO, Dr Nkrumah foresaw an integrated aluminium industry (IAI) taking shape in the country.
Ghana, I am beginning to believe, has a special place in the heart of God. It is perhaps the only country that has all the major raw materials needed for an integrated aluminium industry. First, we have the bauxite in abundance; we have salt and lime which are needed at the refinery level and abundant energy resources for the smelter.
Knowing how multi-nationals operate, I am not surprised that after nearly 40 years of VALCO’s existence, we have still not attained full integration as was Kwame Nkrumah’s dream when the VALCO agreement was signed. They prefer to segment their operations, so that should there be any hostile political decision, they will not suffer unduly.
So while we export bauxite at approximately $25 per metric tonne (mt), VALCO imports alumina at approximately $400/mt for its operations and after processing the alumina, sells its aluminium ingots at approximately $2,500/mt. The vast difference between the price of the ore and the price of aluminium ingots and billets is a clear indication of a disservice to this nation so long as we continue to scrape our bauxite and sell it cheaply on the world market when we have better use for it.
As fate will have it, something that we never expected happened when Alcoa sold its last 10 per cent shares in VALCO to the government of Ghana in 2008, ending all foreign involvement in the ownership in VALCO.
What a coincidence that the ownership of VALCO changed hands just as Ghana made a breakthrough in the discovery of oil and gas in massive quantities!
The question is, now that we have VALCO, what are we going to do with it? Incidentally, the smelter is the most expensive both in terms of technology and cost and for that matter the most strategic in the aluminium production chain and, therefore, once we have the smelter, the only thing we need to complete the chain process is the refinery.
The benefits of an integrated aluminium industry cannot be over-emphasised. Apart from job-creation along the chain, from the mining level to the industrial level where aluminium products are converted into finished products, there will be foreign exchange conservation at all stages, such as the $186 million VALCO presently spends on the importation of alumina.
The energy situation will also improve dramatically, since about 100MW of electrical energy could be generated from steam from the alumina refinery. Other alumina refinery by-products can be used for housing construction.
The greatest explosion will be experienced at the industrial level when the end users of VALCO’s products, such as Aluworks, Tropical Cable, Western Rod and Wire, Ghanal, Ghana Pioneer Aluminium, and others can expand their plants, while new players can join the band wagon.
Ghana is close to a middle-income status not on paper but in reality. VALCO is currently operating at less than 30 per cent capacity of 200,000MT per annum. This will change when full power is restored and all the five potlines are put into full operation.
VALCO gave the economic justification for the building of the Akosombo Dam. It gave meaning to Nkrumah’s vision for an integrated aluminium industry in Ghana. Today, as a fully Ghanaian-owned company, VALCO is poised to lead Ghana into full industrialisation. It requires political will to get the refinery established, a protective cover to shield the company from political manipulation and watch Ghana move alongside Brazil, South Korea, China and India.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
THE Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO) is a very well-known name on the country’s industrial landscape, and for obvious reasons.
VALCO is perhaps the country’s largest industrial enterprise in terms of technology and employment and revenue generation. More important, it is the mother that gave birth to the giant Volta River hydroelectric project.
At the time of the construction of the hydroelectric dam at Akosombo, there was the need to guarantee a ready consumer of the enormous power that was expected to be generated, since Ghana’s industrial base was very small.
Funding institutions were not ready to finance the project at that huge cost if there was no evidence of an industrial base that could utilise the power and, consequently, pay for the investment.
VALCO, therefore, became a strategic team player when a consortium of aluminium companies, headed by Kaiser Aluminium and Chemical Corporation, decided to build an aluminium smelter in Tema as the primary consumer of the power from Akosombo.
Even though the long-term agreement which guaranteed VALCO first-choice status in the use of power from Akosombo may not be the most favourable, President Kwame Nkrumah took consolation from the fact that no matter how long the power-sharing agreement went on, the Akosombo project would surely outlive that agreement.
More significant is the fact that President Nkrumah had already calculated the benefits of the dam and the smelter to Ghana’s future industrial advancement, with the aluminium industry playing a lead role.
With huge deposits of bauxite at Kibi, Nyinahin and Awaso which, at conservative estimates, could last more than 200 years at the current production capacity of VALCO, Dr Nkrumah foresaw an integrated aluminium industry (IAI) taking shape in the country.
Ghana, I am beginning to believe, has a special place in the heart of God. It is perhaps the only country that has all the major raw materials needed for an integrated aluminium industry. First, we have the bauxite in abundance; we have salt and lime which are needed at the refinery level and abundant energy resources for the smelter.
Knowing how multi-nationals operate, I am not surprised that after nearly 40 years of VALCO’s existence, we have still not attained full integration as was Kwame Nkrumah’s dream when the VALCO agreement was signed. They prefer to segment their operations, so that should there be any hostile political decision, they will not suffer unduly.
So while we export bauxite at approximately $25 per metric tonne (mt), VALCO imports alumina at approximately $400/mt for its operations and after processing the alumina, sells its aluminium ingots at approximately $2,500/mt. The vast difference between the price of the ore and the price of aluminium ingots and billets is a clear indication of a disservice to this nation so long as we continue to scrape our bauxite and sell it cheaply on the world market when we have better use for it.
As fate will have it, something that we never expected happened when Alcoa sold its last 10 per cent shares in VALCO to the government of Ghana in 2008, ending all foreign involvement in the ownership in VALCO.
What a coincidence that the ownership of VALCO changed hands just as Ghana made a breakthrough in the discovery of oil and gas in massive quantities!
The question is, now that we have VALCO, what are we going to do with it? Incidentally, the smelter is the most expensive both in terms of technology and cost and for that matter the most strategic in the aluminium production chain and, therefore, once we have the smelter, the only thing we need to complete the chain process is the refinery.
The benefits of an integrated aluminium industry cannot be over-emphasised. Apart from job-creation along the chain, from the mining level to the industrial level where aluminium products are converted into finished products, there will be foreign exchange conservation at all stages, such as the $186 million VALCO presently spends on the importation of alumina.
The energy situation will also improve dramatically, since about 100MW of electrical energy could be generated from steam from the alumina refinery. Other alumina refinery by-products can be used for housing construction.
The greatest explosion will be experienced at the industrial level when the end users of VALCO’s products, such as Aluworks, Tropical Cable, Western Rod and Wire, Ghanal, Ghana Pioneer Aluminium, and others can expand their plants, while new players can join the band wagon.
Ghana is close to a middle-income status not on paper but in reality. VALCO is currently operating at less than 30 per cent capacity of 200,000MT per annum. This will change when full power is restored and all the five potlines are put into full operation.
VALCO gave the economic justification for the building of the Akosombo Dam. It gave meaning to Nkrumah’s vision for an integrated aluminium industry in Ghana. Today, as a fully Ghanaian-owned company, VALCO is poised to lead Ghana into full industrialisation. It requires political will to get the refinery established, a protective cover to shield the company from political manipulation and watch Ghana move alongside Brazil, South Korea, China and India.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Overtaken by events
By Kofi Akordor
For well over two hours there was no vehicular movement. All vehicles were trapped in heavy traffic which stretched kilometres, spilling in all directions. Those driving from the Accra-end of the Motorway suffered in the same way as those coming from Tema using the dual carriage from the Tema Port. Those going to Accra were naturally affected, and so while the empty road beckoned, the vehicles could not disentangle themselves from the trap at the roundabout.
The confusion and frustration at the Tema end of the Motorway needs to be experienced and not just imagined. No amount of description can paint the true picture of what motorists go through at peak hours at the Motorway Roundabout which has become a vital converging point for major roads leading into and out of Tema, our main port city, and Accra, the national capital.
More than 40 years ago when the Accra-Tema Motorway was under construction, there were some who protested that it was a frivolous expenditure on a misplaced priority. They felt the money for that road project could have been used in a more productive way.
However, the great architect of that project foresaw a future in which there would be a large volume of vehicular traffic between Accra and Tema, the industrial hub of the country. The Motorway was also not to carry traffic between Accra and Tema alone but beyond, towards the eastern corridor, which also means that it was to be a link between Ghana and its eastern neighbours of Togo, Benin and Nigeria.
Today, posterity is the best judge whether the investment was justified or not. Suffice it to say that the Motorway remains the most effective and reliable way of commuting between Accra and Tema and beyond.
What we have failed to do as a nation is expand the dreams of Nkrumah and improve upon what was constructed more than 40 years ago. The Accra-Motorway remains our national pride in road construction and even though it has long paid its due, we continue to enjoy collecting the tolls it generates, without devoting a fraction of those tolls for its maintenance.
With all its beauty and the aura around it, the Motorway is one of the most dangerous roads in the country. The reflective markings in the middle and edges which guide motorists have long faded and we are waiting, maybe, for the Chinese to come and help us mark the road. The craters especially on the outer lanes are so sharp that they can tear into pieces the best of tyres that fall into their open jaws.
At the time of the construction of the Motorway, all that expanse of land between Accra and the emerging industrial city of Tema was without human habitation. That was why those without foresight argued that the road was misplaced. Today, it divides human settlements with huge populations and consequently carries a large volume of traffic.
One would have thought that just as Nkrumah had the foresight to construct the Motorway, subsequent leaders would dream big and expand the Motorway from the present four-lane to a six- or even eight-lane dual carriage in response to current demands.
Typical of a mentality that does not create room for the future, we have allowed the Motorway in its present form for so long that today it has become more of a liability than an asset. While the surface has suffered a lot of wear and tear, its two ends have become a nightmare to motorists.
The Kufuor administration tried to open up the Accra-end of the Motorway with the construction of the Tetteh-Quarshie Interchange. Unfortunately, the final product could not meet today’s expectations. One of the greatest engineering blunders that could be foisted on a nation was a roundabout that has become a major obstacle to vehicular movement at the interchange. Very little consideration was given to the strategic nature of the interchange and its grand design in the total traffic distribution in the city.
Unlike the Motorway which was constructed with the philosophy: ‘Suffer today, enjoy tomorrow’, the Tetteh-Quarshie Interchange was designed and constructed with the philosophy: ‘Save money today, suffer tomorrow’. Yes, we are really suffering at Tetteh-Quarshie. Come to think of it — there is a huge shopping mall there which was built against good counsel.
The damage at Tetteh-Quarshie will require a lot of resources to rectify. But it must be done sooner than later if the objective of easing traffic and making driving a pleasant experience is to be met.
The challenge confronting users of the Motorway now is the obstacle at the roundabout at the Tema end. More than 40 years ago, Tema was a small place and all the settlements along the Tema-Ho-Akosombo and Tema-Aflao roads were non-existent or at best hamlets.
Today, gigantic towns have sprung up in all directions and with that the vehicle population has multiplied more than tenfold. That is why that roundabout has become a trap which saps the energy of motorists. Any country that cherishes productivity cannot afford to keep its workers trapped in traffic for hours through no fault of theirs.
The Accra-Tema Motorway story is a microcosm of a national situation. Accra’s roads have not developed to match the growth and expansion of human settlements. That is why all roads entering the city, whether from Takoradi-Cape Coast, Kumasi, Akosombo-Ho or Aflao-Lome are always choked. That is why leaving Accra on Fridays has become a punishment for every motorist.
Apart from the problem of inadequate roads, the few existing are poorly developed and hardly maintained. The result is that after a downpour and sometimes just a drizzle, almost all roads in the city become unmotorable. One can hardly drive for a kilometre on any major road in our capital without wading in mud, diving into ponds or crashing into potholes.
I do not want to believe that our leaders enjoy seeing us suffer. If that is the case, we want to see the removal of some roundabouts from the city. The Danquah Circle, the Obetsebi-Lamptey Circle, the great Kwame Nkrumah Circle, the Akuafo Circle at the 37 Military Hospital and the roundabout at the Tema-end of the motorway are all eyesores and hindrances to the movement of vehicles in the city and must be removed.
Sometimes I wonder what goes through the minds of our big people when they travel outside and they are driven on those smooth and expansive roads. Do they just recline in the back seat and enjoy the good ride or they dream of having similar roads in our beloved country?
Money should not always be the excuse for our failures. Something very serious is lacking in us. Maybe we lack the self-esteem, the confidence, the ability to dream big, the desire to translate dreams into reality or the leadership to champion our aspirations.
There are many challenges confronting this country and even if we find ourselves helpless, at least we can take time to ponder over them, instead of worrying about imaginary tape recordings and the hallucinations of modern-day Don Quixotes. Our national aspirations should go beyond the frivolous and the trivial.
Whatever way we look at it, we are stagnating unless we want to equate personal acquisitions with national development. The Accra-Tema Motorway is a clear example of how a people without vision could be overtaken by events.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogpost.com
For well over two hours there was no vehicular movement. All vehicles were trapped in heavy traffic which stretched kilometres, spilling in all directions. Those driving from the Accra-end of the Motorway suffered in the same way as those coming from Tema using the dual carriage from the Tema Port. Those going to Accra were naturally affected, and so while the empty road beckoned, the vehicles could not disentangle themselves from the trap at the roundabout.
The confusion and frustration at the Tema end of the Motorway needs to be experienced and not just imagined. No amount of description can paint the true picture of what motorists go through at peak hours at the Motorway Roundabout which has become a vital converging point for major roads leading into and out of Tema, our main port city, and Accra, the national capital.
More than 40 years ago when the Accra-Tema Motorway was under construction, there were some who protested that it was a frivolous expenditure on a misplaced priority. They felt the money for that road project could have been used in a more productive way.
However, the great architect of that project foresaw a future in which there would be a large volume of vehicular traffic between Accra and Tema, the industrial hub of the country. The Motorway was also not to carry traffic between Accra and Tema alone but beyond, towards the eastern corridor, which also means that it was to be a link between Ghana and its eastern neighbours of Togo, Benin and Nigeria.
Today, posterity is the best judge whether the investment was justified or not. Suffice it to say that the Motorway remains the most effective and reliable way of commuting between Accra and Tema and beyond.
What we have failed to do as a nation is expand the dreams of Nkrumah and improve upon what was constructed more than 40 years ago. The Accra-Motorway remains our national pride in road construction and even though it has long paid its due, we continue to enjoy collecting the tolls it generates, without devoting a fraction of those tolls for its maintenance.
With all its beauty and the aura around it, the Motorway is one of the most dangerous roads in the country. The reflective markings in the middle and edges which guide motorists have long faded and we are waiting, maybe, for the Chinese to come and help us mark the road. The craters especially on the outer lanes are so sharp that they can tear into pieces the best of tyres that fall into their open jaws.
At the time of the construction of the Motorway, all that expanse of land between Accra and the emerging industrial city of Tema was without human habitation. That was why those without foresight argued that the road was misplaced. Today, it divides human settlements with huge populations and consequently carries a large volume of traffic.
One would have thought that just as Nkrumah had the foresight to construct the Motorway, subsequent leaders would dream big and expand the Motorway from the present four-lane to a six- or even eight-lane dual carriage in response to current demands.
Typical of a mentality that does not create room for the future, we have allowed the Motorway in its present form for so long that today it has become more of a liability than an asset. While the surface has suffered a lot of wear and tear, its two ends have become a nightmare to motorists.
The Kufuor administration tried to open up the Accra-end of the Motorway with the construction of the Tetteh-Quarshie Interchange. Unfortunately, the final product could not meet today’s expectations. One of the greatest engineering blunders that could be foisted on a nation was a roundabout that has become a major obstacle to vehicular movement at the interchange. Very little consideration was given to the strategic nature of the interchange and its grand design in the total traffic distribution in the city.
Unlike the Motorway which was constructed with the philosophy: ‘Suffer today, enjoy tomorrow’, the Tetteh-Quarshie Interchange was designed and constructed with the philosophy: ‘Save money today, suffer tomorrow’. Yes, we are really suffering at Tetteh-Quarshie. Come to think of it — there is a huge shopping mall there which was built against good counsel.
The damage at Tetteh-Quarshie will require a lot of resources to rectify. But it must be done sooner than later if the objective of easing traffic and making driving a pleasant experience is to be met.
The challenge confronting users of the Motorway now is the obstacle at the roundabout at the Tema end. More than 40 years ago, Tema was a small place and all the settlements along the Tema-Ho-Akosombo and Tema-Aflao roads were non-existent or at best hamlets.
Today, gigantic towns have sprung up in all directions and with that the vehicle population has multiplied more than tenfold. That is why that roundabout has become a trap which saps the energy of motorists. Any country that cherishes productivity cannot afford to keep its workers trapped in traffic for hours through no fault of theirs.
The Accra-Tema Motorway story is a microcosm of a national situation. Accra’s roads have not developed to match the growth and expansion of human settlements. That is why all roads entering the city, whether from Takoradi-Cape Coast, Kumasi, Akosombo-Ho or Aflao-Lome are always choked. That is why leaving Accra on Fridays has become a punishment for every motorist.
Apart from the problem of inadequate roads, the few existing are poorly developed and hardly maintained. The result is that after a downpour and sometimes just a drizzle, almost all roads in the city become unmotorable. One can hardly drive for a kilometre on any major road in our capital without wading in mud, diving into ponds or crashing into potholes.
I do not want to believe that our leaders enjoy seeing us suffer. If that is the case, we want to see the removal of some roundabouts from the city. The Danquah Circle, the Obetsebi-Lamptey Circle, the great Kwame Nkrumah Circle, the Akuafo Circle at the 37 Military Hospital and the roundabout at the Tema-end of the motorway are all eyesores and hindrances to the movement of vehicles in the city and must be removed.
Sometimes I wonder what goes through the minds of our big people when they travel outside and they are driven on those smooth and expansive roads. Do they just recline in the back seat and enjoy the good ride or they dream of having similar roads in our beloved country?
Money should not always be the excuse for our failures. Something very serious is lacking in us. Maybe we lack the self-esteem, the confidence, the ability to dream big, the desire to translate dreams into reality or the leadership to champion our aspirations.
There are many challenges confronting this country and even if we find ourselves helpless, at least we can take time to ponder over them, instead of worrying about imaginary tape recordings and the hallucinations of modern-day Don Quixotes. Our national aspirations should go beyond the frivolous and the trivial.
Whatever way we look at it, we are stagnating unless we want to equate personal acquisitions with national development. The Accra-Tema Motorway is a clear example of how a people without vision could be overtaken by events.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogpost.com
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Monuments of waste
By Kofi Akordor
THE military regime of General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong took a wise decision to build modern office complexes to house the Ghana Police Service in all the regions. Those complexes were designed to provide office accommodation for a full-strength regional secretariat and workshops for the service and remove the personnel from the dilapidated and very often scanty buildings which had been their lot.
Those complexes had got to advanced stages of completion when the Acheampong/General F.W.K. Akuffo regime was removed by another group of coup makers on June 4, 1979, led by Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings. The abrupt end to that regime brought those laudable projects to a halt.
More than 30 years after the execution of General Acheampong and six others, namely, General Akuffo, General R.E.A. Kotei, Rear Admiral Joy Amedume, Air-Vice Marshal Yaw Boakye, General E.K. Utuka and Col Roger Felli, no government had found it necessary to complete the office complexes for the police.
Those abandoned complexes became the abode of miscreants until somebody decided that they should be turned into makeshift offices for the Ghana Police Service. The service still lacks the requisite office accommodation at the district and regional levels which exudes the authority and confidence it must portray to the public as the nation’s main law enforcing agency and its first line of defence, while the abandoned complexes remain ugly scars of national neglect.
The wanton neglect and abandonment of national projects did not begin yesterday. It was well pronounced after the overthrow of the government of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the country’s first President. For ideological differences and to undermine all the good things the late Osagyefo stood for, all development projects initiated by that great man but which were not completed in his time were abandoned.
Prominent among such projects were the silos that were being constructed at various locations in the country for the storage of agricultural produce for very good reasons. While these silos remained uncompleted, we have just been reminded that sub-Saharan Africa loses an equivalent of US$4 billion as a result of post-harvest losses. Gone with the silos were the various processing plants established to give process and add value to agricultural produce in the country.
Today, Ghana, with a small population of 25 million or so, cannot support its food consumption, not only because we do not produce enough but significantly because even the little we produce go waste because of storage facilities. Unfortunately, our governments prefer to go begging for food aid from countries such as Japan which do not have a fraction of our fertile land, instead of addressing production and post-harvest losses in a more proactive and pragmatic manner.
Many years ago, Nkrumah’s administration decided on an integrated meat and leather industry by setting up the Aveyime Cattle Ranch and a tannery that would make industrial use of the hide of the cattle. His overthrow led to the abandonment of the equipment ordered from the then Czechoslovakia to rot in their containers. That display of hatred for one person also caused the collapse of our leather industry.
Today, after more than 40 years of that bad decision, we have gone back to the Czech Republic, one of the countries that emerged from the disintegration of Czechoslovakia, for assistance to build our leather industry.
Apart from the flagrant display of lack of any national development agenda which was characteristic of the immediate post-Nkrumah era, successive governments have not helped this country by following up and completing projects initiated by their predecessors.
The abandoned projects are many and varied and cumulatively undermine any pretence for a cohesive national development agenda. They include roads, bridges, schools, hospitals and housing projects which could be found in every part of the country. Some of them have been so totally forgotten that their original drawings could not even be found.
Most of these projects have been abandoned after heavy investments had been made in them. Take, for instance, cultural centres that were to be built in all the regional capitals. None of these have been completed, more than 30 years after they had been initiated. That means the annual national cultural festivals have to be celebrated in abandoned cultural centres, and at each celebration promises are made to complete the centres which were meant to be the central points of the nation’s cultural development and promotion to the outside world in the form of tourism.
The change over to multi-party democracy has not helped us much in this regard. While every new government initiates new projects to boost its political credentials, none makes the effort to complete what others have started. Incidentally, all the governments seldom see their projects through full completion before exiting office.
That is how, in the midst of our infrastructural shortfalls, we can boast bits and pieces of uncompleted projects all over the place. The latest in this haphazard approach to development is evidenced in the manner this government is handling the uncompleted housing projects started by the Kufuor administration.
This was a well-conceived and good-intentioned housing project but at the execution stage it ran into problems partly because of corruption, cronyism and the never-ending refrain of lack of funds. These estates which should have been accommodating workers in Accra, Ashanti-Mampong, Koforidua and other places have become dens of criminals and squatters who have a better use for a facility left to rot away slowly. Meanwhile, massive investments from our scarce resources have been sunk in the projects.
The Mills administration has its own housing agenda and is, therefore, not showing keen interest in the uncompleted ones started by the previous government. It has also initiated its own STX Housing Project which promises, among others, to accommodate the security agencies.
This project has its own challenges and by the time the first foundation stones are laid, there is no way the project will travel the full completion before President Mills completes his first term. So what happens if he does not get the chance for a second term? Does that leave our national investment in the lurch?
Take the Aflao Border Complex Project as another example. This was another project initiated under the Acheampong regime, designed to give a facelift to the Aflao Border Complex which is the country’s main gateway to the east linking us to our traditional neighbours Togo, Benin and Nigeria.
This project, which was to provide offices and residential accommodation for the various institutions operating at the border, including the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, the Ghana Immigration Service and the Ghana Police Service, was never completed.
The Pantang Psychiatric Hospital Complex, which was designed to be a one-touch facility, is hanging, with a lot of uncompleted buildings into which huge sums of money have been committed. The list does not end there.
Quite recently, in 2006, to be precise, a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Kwadwo Asenso- Okyere, started the construction of a stadium complex for the university which, after completion, was to host the West Africa University Games in 2008. More than four years down the line, the stadium project has stalled and the place has become home to squatters.
Sure, there should be a more serious approach to national projects. We cannot continue to abandon projects midway and expect to start new ones with better results. If all these abandoned projects will be reactivated and completed, there is no doubt that this country will experience a major facelift.
These projects are financed by the taxpayer’s money and should not be allowed to go waste at the pleasure of any person or groups of persons. We cannot continue to complain of lack of resources if we allow projects to go waste because some people think their personal interests are not at stake.
The idea that the National Development Planning Commission should be depoliticised to serve as the brokerage of all national projects should be given serious attention, since, left to the Executive alone, we shall continue to count more uncompleted projects.
Anytime I see the uncompleted MDPI building complex at Baatsona which has now been encircled by private buildings; anytime I see the uncompleted National Science Museum; anytime I think of the Kumasi Asafo-Sofoline Interchange, the Achimota-Ofankor, Nsawam-Apedwa, Tetteh Quarshie-Adenta roads, I know we have a long way to go as a nation.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
THE military regime of General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong took a wise decision to build modern office complexes to house the Ghana Police Service in all the regions. Those complexes were designed to provide office accommodation for a full-strength regional secretariat and workshops for the service and remove the personnel from the dilapidated and very often scanty buildings which had been their lot.
Those complexes had got to advanced stages of completion when the Acheampong/General F.W.K. Akuffo regime was removed by another group of coup makers on June 4, 1979, led by Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings. The abrupt end to that regime brought those laudable projects to a halt.
More than 30 years after the execution of General Acheampong and six others, namely, General Akuffo, General R.E.A. Kotei, Rear Admiral Joy Amedume, Air-Vice Marshal Yaw Boakye, General E.K. Utuka and Col Roger Felli, no government had found it necessary to complete the office complexes for the police.
Those abandoned complexes became the abode of miscreants until somebody decided that they should be turned into makeshift offices for the Ghana Police Service. The service still lacks the requisite office accommodation at the district and regional levels which exudes the authority and confidence it must portray to the public as the nation’s main law enforcing agency and its first line of defence, while the abandoned complexes remain ugly scars of national neglect.
The wanton neglect and abandonment of national projects did not begin yesterday. It was well pronounced after the overthrow of the government of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the country’s first President. For ideological differences and to undermine all the good things the late Osagyefo stood for, all development projects initiated by that great man but which were not completed in his time were abandoned.
Prominent among such projects were the silos that were being constructed at various locations in the country for the storage of agricultural produce for very good reasons. While these silos remained uncompleted, we have just been reminded that sub-Saharan Africa loses an equivalent of US$4 billion as a result of post-harvest losses. Gone with the silos were the various processing plants established to give process and add value to agricultural produce in the country.
Today, Ghana, with a small population of 25 million or so, cannot support its food consumption, not only because we do not produce enough but significantly because even the little we produce go waste because of storage facilities. Unfortunately, our governments prefer to go begging for food aid from countries such as Japan which do not have a fraction of our fertile land, instead of addressing production and post-harvest losses in a more proactive and pragmatic manner.
Many years ago, Nkrumah’s administration decided on an integrated meat and leather industry by setting up the Aveyime Cattle Ranch and a tannery that would make industrial use of the hide of the cattle. His overthrow led to the abandonment of the equipment ordered from the then Czechoslovakia to rot in their containers. That display of hatred for one person also caused the collapse of our leather industry.
Today, after more than 40 years of that bad decision, we have gone back to the Czech Republic, one of the countries that emerged from the disintegration of Czechoslovakia, for assistance to build our leather industry.
Apart from the flagrant display of lack of any national development agenda which was characteristic of the immediate post-Nkrumah era, successive governments have not helped this country by following up and completing projects initiated by their predecessors.
The abandoned projects are many and varied and cumulatively undermine any pretence for a cohesive national development agenda. They include roads, bridges, schools, hospitals and housing projects which could be found in every part of the country. Some of them have been so totally forgotten that their original drawings could not even be found.
Most of these projects have been abandoned after heavy investments had been made in them. Take, for instance, cultural centres that were to be built in all the regional capitals. None of these have been completed, more than 30 years after they had been initiated. That means the annual national cultural festivals have to be celebrated in abandoned cultural centres, and at each celebration promises are made to complete the centres which were meant to be the central points of the nation’s cultural development and promotion to the outside world in the form of tourism.
The change over to multi-party democracy has not helped us much in this regard. While every new government initiates new projects to boost its political credentials, none makes the effort to complete what others have started. Incidentally, all the governments seldom see their projects through full completion before exiting office.
That is how, in the midst of our infrastructural shortfalls, we can boast bits and pieces of uncompleted projects all over the place. The latest in this haphazard approach to development is evidenced in the manner this government is handling the uncompleted housing projects started by the Kufuor administration.
This was a well-conceived and good-intentioned housing project but at the execution stage it ran into problems partly because of corruption, cronyism and the never-ending refrain of lack of funds. These estates which should have been accommodating workers in Accra, Ashanti-Mampong, Koforidua and other places have become dens of criminals and squatters who have a better use for a facility left to rot away slowly. Meanwhile, massive investments from our scarce resources have been sunk in the projects.
The Mills administration has its own housing agenda and is, therefore, not showing keen interest in the uncompleted ones started by the previous government. It has also initiated its own STX Housing Project which promises, among others, to accommodate the security agencies.
This project has its own challenges and by the time the first foundation stones are laid, there is no way the project will travel the full completion before President Mills completes his first term. So what happens if he does not get the chance for a second term? Does that leave our national investment in the lurch?
Take the Aflao Border Complex Project as another example. This was another project initiated under the Acheampong regime, designed to give a facelift to the Aflao Border Complex which is the country’s main gateway to the east linking us to our traditional neighbours Togo, Benin and Nigeria.
This project, which was to provide offices and residential accommodation for the various institutions operating at the border, including the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, the Ghana Immigration Service and the Ghana Police Service, was never completed.
The Pantang Psychiatric Hospital Complex, which was designed to be a one-touch facility, is hanging, with a lot of uncompleted buildings into which huge sums of money have been committed. The list does not end there.
Quite recently, in 2006, to be precise, a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Kwadwo Asenso- Okyere, started the construction of a stadium complex for the university which, after completion, was to host the West Africa University Games in 2008. More than four years down the line, the stadium project has stalled and the place has become home to squatters.
Sure, there should be a more serious approach to national projects. We cannot continue to abandon projects midway and expect to start new ones with better results. If all these abandoned projects will be reactivated and completed, there is no doubt that this country will experience a major facelift.
These projects are financed by the taxpayer’s money and should not be allowed to go waste at the pleasure of any person or groups of persons. We cannot continue to complain of lack of resources if we allow projects to go waste because some people think their personal interests are not at stake.
The idea that the National Development Planning Commission should be depoliticised to serve as the brokerage of all national projects should be given serious attention, since, left to the Executive alone, we shall continue to count more uncompleted projects.
Anytime I see the uncompleted MDPI building complex at Baatsona which has now been encircled by private buildings; anytime I see the uncompleted National Science Museum; anytime I think of the Kumasi Asafo-Sofoline Interchange, the Achimota-Ofankor, Nsawam-Apedwa, Tetteh Quarshie-Adenta roads, I know we have a long way to go as a nation.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
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