Debates that lead no where

By Kofi Akordor

Some time ago someone wanted to draw the whole nation into a bout of fruitless debate. His argument was that Accra was no longer suitable as the national capital because of several problems, including congestion, poor amenities such as accommodation, good roads and poor sanitation. His solution was that the capital should be relocated at a place called Kintampo, which is in the Brong Ahafo Region, a place, according to him, which is more centrally situated.
It is true that Accra is congested, ill-planned and gradually being swallowed up by garbage. But relocating the capital may not offer the best solution. It may only amount to creating another jungle in the middle belt with time, since Accra’s woes will eventually visit the new capital if the culture of discipline, good planning and sanitation practices remains an illusion in our wildest dreams.
Thankfully, that debate fizzled out, even though echoes of it kept reverberating at respectable intervals. That is why I know it will take centre stage sooner than later, since, as a people, we prefer solving problems by creating more problems, instead of confronting the real issues head on.
There was a group which continued to advocate the changing of the name of the national football team, the Black Stars, because, according to that group, the misfortunes of the team were directly linked to the name. When the senior national team was the monarch of football on the continent in the 1960s and 70s, it was bearing the name the Black Stars. It was a name every Ghanaian was proud of because the Black Stars were the team to beat on the continent. When our football started to slide, some thought the solution lay in a change of name, instead addressing the real issues.
Debates will never end and we are currently confronted with another big one, that is, the one on the presidential pension awards. This is a continent where people enter political office empty-handed and return home heavily-laden. But, since there are still honest and honourable persons around, we, as a people, have to do the right thing by ensuring a comfortable retirement for our public officers.
It is just reasonable that a former president is given three vehicles — two for his personal use and one for his household. Any time any of our former presidents is traveling outside, it is only fair that officials at State Protocol are informed and the right thing is done. In the same way, should any of the former presidents receive foreign guests, State Protocol will be called in to handle accommodation, feeding, movement and all the necessary arrangements so that as a nation we do not lose face.
Medical care and personal security are basic things that should be enjoyed by every former head of state who remains a state asset that must be protected. Their pension should be reviewed periodically as pertains to other public pensioners. In order to avoid these facilities and services being provided at the whim and caprices of some politician filled with over-bloated ego and self-esteem, they should be documented and captured in our Constitution.
We have enough honourable and noble men and women in this country to have done this exercise for us without creating the problems that have generated another bout of debate in the country. It is strange that some people could still find justification for giving a former president six brand new vehicles, with one to be heavily armoured.
It is strange because even the palace the president is going to occupy during his tenure was built with borrowed funds. It means as a sovereign nation we are incapable of building a palace for our own president.
It is strange because after 50 years of independence, a lot of our children still squat on the bare floor to take their lessons. A lot of them stare into empty space the whole day because there are no teachers to take them through their daily lessons.
It is ridiculous because a lot of our hospitals, including the major ones, are partly transit camps and partly graveyards because they lack basic facilities and equipment that can save lives at critical times. Granted that the committee members are oblivious of the real conditions of our people in the country, they could have taken themselves out of their comfortable homes and visit a few places in the Accra-Tema metropolitan area and they would have realised that we are engulfed in a massive pool of poverty and misery. May be they have not suffered any frustration before, otherwise they would have understood the discomfort of drivers in Accra who have to battle it out at traffic intersections where traffic lights do not work on a regular basis.
If Accra is not good, then where is the paradise the former presidents have created on this small part of planet Earth to have deserved such a parting gift?
By the way, what is the toil that these people have gone through to attract all these concerns? Is it because they do not pay for anything, not even for sachet water while in office? Is it because they have access to every state property, including vintage land to dispose of as they please to themselves and their friends, relatives and cronies? Is it because they award contracts that are never executed but for which the state has paid huge sums of money? Or is it because when they are passing, the rest of us must give way and allow them and their wailing sirens to pass first? Somebody should tell me what are those sacrifices made that must be compensated for so lavishly.
By the way, which of our presidents or former presidents were dragged from the comfort of their homes and forced to slave for our comfort? Not too long ago, this nation witnessed 17 people from one party alone falling over one another to become the president of this country. Not even the hefty registration fee of GH¢25,000 could discourage them. Were they driven by the motivation to address the sufferings of the vast majority of the people or personal glory and aggrandisement?
We saw how money was splashed all over the place during Election 2008 and no one dares, not even the Electoral Commission, which is empowered by the Political Parties Law, to question the sources of those funds for the campaign.
So why should our former presidents and ministers be sent home like martyrs in that pomp and filthy pageantry?
If a fraction of the time used to think about the comfort of a few people could be used to think about the numerous frustrated and jobless youth of this country; if we could use a little of that time to worry about the congestion, desperation and pain in our health facilities; if we could spare a little thought about an educational system which is not bringing anything good out of our children; if we could think of how to remove the stigma of a beggar nation from this country, we would have done something generations will remember us about.
For now, we have only succeeded in making those who played a big role in our impoverishment, who contributed to the pillage and rape of this country and who amassed filthy wealth in the process to go home smiling all the way, while the rest of us place our hope on the shoulders of a new set of politicians.
The question is, where is the sacrifice?