HERE was this police constable with his AK47 straddling his shoulders and labouring to his duty post on foot. Then a taxi pulled up with an offer from the driver to drop him (constable), since he was going his way.
By some inexplicable coincidence, this taxi driver continued to meet this police constable on the days that followed and offered him lift on each occasion, until they struck acquaintance and became friends.
Can you imagine what will happen if these two persons — the police constable and the taxi driver — meet again. This time not as friends, but as a law enforcement officer and a suspect in a criminal case.
They say, “one good turn deserves another”, and we should not expect the constable to forget so soon the assistance he had been getting from the taxi driver as he made his daily journey to his duty post. The outcome of that case can well be predicted.
Imagine the unpleasant duty of a police prosecutor who is handling a case involving his landlord who is accommodating several police officers because the service could not build its own residential facility for its officers.
Even if the prosecutor is able to maintain his professional independence, he will leave doubts in the minds of many members of the public, especially if the case should end up in favour of the landlord.
Even though our security as individuals and as a nation, relies crucially on an effective, efficient and well-equipped police service, our response to the needs and requirements of service personnel has been on the reverse side.
Our governments have made and continue to make promises to provide the needs of service men and women, and to equip the service with the requisite logistics so that they can deliver. These provisions remain largely inadequate, thus putting a lot of strain — physical, mental, psychological and financial — on the service men and women, especially those who are committed and determined to execute their mandate in the interest of national peace and security.
Often times, members of the public expect the best from the police without sparing a few moments to ponder over their service conditions and the circumstances under which they operate.
To start with, most of our police stations lack spacious and environmentally friendly accommodation.
The difference in the condition of the police personnel and suspects in their custody is not very clear. They are all crammed in a limited space, very stuffy and they cannot avoid the stench of a mixture of human sweat and waste material exuding from what is described as a cell.
Working in such a stifling environment renders the police officer himself an aggrieved person. Already, there is a general problem with salaries among public servants and so his reaction to complaints from the public will not be the best.
Many projects initiated more than 30 years ago by the Acheampong regime to provide office accommodation for the police in the regional capitals have been ignored and abandoned by successive governments. Why should such a sensitive and strategic public institution be treated so shabbily? Is it another case of a lack of funds?
After working in such a hostile environment, the police man or woman does not get any solace when he or she closes from work.
First is how to get home, and second is whether there is any comfort in what is supposed to be a home. Home may be a small one-bedroom structure, accommodating man and wife, about three children and two other nephews or nieces.
Privacy is limited. so from the word go, children have to start picking some few tricks from father and mother which they make good use of prematurely with dire consequences. These are living conditions that can subject an ardent moralist to severe temptations.
Not many are able to overcome them and, therefore, compromise their professionalism and reduce justice delivery to mere mockery.
Apart from personal discomfort and inconvenience, which somehow, some are able to cope with, the greatest problem lies in logistics. Here, it is not only the police man or woman who suffers, but the whole society.
Many victims of crime find it rather difficult to believe, if told that there was no vehicle at post to be used to effect an arrest. A complainant is, therefore, asked to look for a vehicle if his/her case should be given any attention.
Straightaway, the police man/woman has put himself/herself in a compromising situation, since it is difficult to sit in somebody’s vehicle and not deliver to his/her satisfaction, no matter how bad his/her case may turn out to be.
The police are lacking in many things, from common flashlights and raincoats to patrol vehicles and communication equipment. This has virtually rendered the service a destitute institution always appealing for public support. That is where the danger lies.
The police service should not at any time lose its independence. They say there is no free lunch and we should not expect that any act of charity from individuals or corporate institutions will go unrewarded. And the only way the police can reward a benefactor is to look the other way when there is the breach of the law.
Not too long ago, a prominent businessman who took up the crusade of helping the police overcome some of their predicaments got entangled with the law when one of his sons was involved in a shooting incident in a night club.
How do you ignore the pleas of a benefactor, who even donated vehicles to the police? More so, when the person had shown remorse and was prepared to pay for damages and compensate the victim. Nothing has been heard again of the case, and there is a general belief that the police have reciprocated the businessman’s goodwill and gesture.
No matter the financial standing of the country, the basic needs of the police should not be provided as an act of charity. The police need the support and co-operation of members of the public insofar as volunteering information is concerned.
Beyond that, any material support offered today will compromise the independence and effectiveness of the police tomorrow. This will be too expensive a price to pay for a vehicle, a television set, a computer, a flashlight or a free ride.
The police are not alone in this category. Members of the judiciary and other law enforcement agencies, including the media should be careful when they receive gifts from individuals and institutions.
When the Kufuor administration released a piece of state property to the Ghana Journalists Association to be used as an international press centre, some people were quick to read meaning into it. They claimed it was an indirect way of courting friendship with the media to gain undue advantage. That might not necessarily have been the case, and it could be that the Government then was only interested in contributing to a vibrant and internationally acclaimed media.
So even if the Government that is enjoined to cater for the needs and interests of all should be suspected of courting favours from the media with a house, why should people think that any private support for the police will not be without any selfish and parochial interests?
The police should be the last institution to fall into the pockets of private individuals and corporate institutions for the reason that the state has failed in its responsibility to this important institution.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Compromising the police with charity
By Kofi Akordor
Here was this police constable with his AK-47 rifle straddling his shoulders labouring to his duty post on foot. Then a taxi pulled up with an offer from the driver to take the constable, since the driver was heading towards the policeman’s destination.
By some inexplicable coincidence, this taxi driver continued to meet the police constable on the days that followed and offered him lift on each occasion until they struck an acquaintance and became friends.
Can you imagine what will happen if these two persons — the police constable and the taxi driver — meet again, this time not as friends but as a law enforcement officer and a suspect in a criminal case?
They say that one good turn deserves another and so we should not expect the constable to forget so soon the assistance he had been getting from the taxi driver as he made his daily journey to his duty post.
The outcome of that case can well be predicted.
Imagine the unpleasant duty of a police prosecutor who is handling a case involving his landlord who is accommodating several police officers because the service cannot build its own residential facility for its officers. Even if the prosecutor is able to maintain his professional independence, he will leave doubts in the minds of many members of the public, especially if the case should end up in favour of the landlord.
Even though our security as individuals and as a nation relies crucially on an effective, efficient and well-equipped police service, our response to the needs and requirements of service personnel has been on the reserve side.
Our governments have made and continue to make promises to provide the needs of service men and women and equip the service with the requisite logistics so that the personnel can deliver. These provisions remain largely inadequate, thus putting a lot of strain — physical, mental, psychological and financial — on the service men and women, especially those who are committed and determined to execute their mandate in the interest of national peace and security.
Often, members of the public expect the best from the police, without sparring a few moments to ponder over their service conditions and the circumstances under which they operate.
To start with, most of our police stations lack spacious and environmentally friendly accommodation. The difference in the conditions of the policemen and suspects in their custody is not very clear. Both are crammed in a very stuffy and limited space and they cannot avoid the stench of a mixture of human sweat and waste material exuding from what is described as a cell.
Working in such a stifling environment renders the police officer himself an aggrieved person. Already there is a general problem with salaries among public servants and so his reaction to complaints from the public will not be the best.
Many projects initiated more than 30 years ago by the Acheampong regime to provide office accommodation for the police in the regional capitals have been ignored and abandoned by successive governments. Why should such a sensitive and strategic public institution be treated so shabbily? Is it another case of lack of funds?
After working in such a hostile environment, the policeman or woman does not get any solace when he closes from work. First is how to get home, followed by whether there is any comfort in what is supposed to be a home. Home may be a small one-bedroom structure accommodating the man and his wife, about three children and two other nephews or nieces.
Privacy is limited, so from the word go children have to start picking some few tricks from their father and their mother which they make good use of prematurely, with dire consequences. These are living conditions that can subject an ardent moralist to severe temptations. Not many are able to overcome them and, therefore, they compromise their professionalism and reduce justice delivery to mere mockery.
Apart from personal discomfort and inconvenience which, somehow, some are able to cope with, the greatest problem lies in logistics. Here, it is not only the policeman or woman who suffers but the whole society. Many victims of crime find it difficult to believe if told that there was no vehicle at post to be used to effect an arrest. A complainant is, therefore, asked to look for a vehicle if his/her case should be given any attention. Straightaway, the policeman/woman has put himself/herself in a compromising situation, since it is difficult to sit in somebody’s vehicle and not deliver to his/her satisfaction, no matter how bad his/her case may turn out to be.
The police lack many things, from common flashlights and raincoats to patrol vehicles and communication equipment. This has virtually rendered the service a destitute institution always appealing for public support.
And that is where the danger lies.
The Police Service should not at any time lose its independence. They say there is no free lunch and we should not expect that any act of charity from individuals or corporate institutions will go unrewarded. And the only way the police can reward a benefactor is to look the other way when there is a breach of the law.
Not too long ago, a prominent businessman who took up the crusade of helping the police overcome some of their predicaments got entangled with the law when one of his sons was involved in a shooting incident in a night club. How do you ignore the pleas of a benefactor who even donated vehicles to the police, more so when the person had shown remorse and was prepared to pay for the damage done and compensate the victim?
Nothing has been heard again of the case and there is general belief that the police have reciprocated the businessman’s goodwill and gesture.
No matter the financial standing of the country, the basic needs of the police should not be provided as an act of charity. The police need the support and co-operation of members of the public as far as volunteering information is concerned. Beyond that, any material support offered today will compromise the independence and effectiveness of the police tomorrow. This will be too expensive a price to pay for a vehicle, a television set, a computer, a flashlight or a free ride.
The police are not alone in this category. Members of the judiciary and other law enforcement agencies and the media should be careful when they receive gifts from individuals and institutions.
When the Kufuor administration released a piece of state property to the Ghana Journalists Association to be used as an international press centre, some people were quick to read meaning into it. They claimed it was an indirect way of courting friendship with the media to gain undue advantage. That might not necessarily have been the case and it could be that the government then was only interested in contributing to a vibrant and internationally acclaimed media.
So if even the government that is enjoined to cater for the needs and interests of all should be suspected of courting favours from the media with a house, why should people think that any private support for the police will be without any selfish and parochial interests? The police should be the last institution to fall into the pockets of private individuals and corporate institutions for the reason that the state has failed in its responsibility to this important institution.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Here was this police constable with his AK-47 rifle straddling his shoulders labouring to his duty post on foot. Then a taxi pulled up with an offer from the driver to take the constable, since the driver was heading towards the policeman’s destination.
By some inexplicable coincidence, this taxi driver continued to meet the police constable on the days that followed and offered him lift on each occasion until they struck an acquaintance and became friends.
Can you imagine what will happen if these two persons — the police constable and the taxi driver — meet again, this time not as friends but as a law enforcement officer and a suspect in a criminal case?
They say that one good turn deserves another and so we should not expect the constable to forget so soon the assistance he had been getting from the taxi driver as he made his daily journey to his duty post.
The outcome of that case can well be predicted.
Imagine the unpleasant duty of a police prosecutor who is handling a case involving his landlord who is accommodating several police officers because the service cannot build its own residential facility for its officers. Even if the prosecutor is able to maintain his professional independence, he will leave doubts in the minds of many members of the public, especially if the case should end up in favour of the landlord.
Even though our security as individuals and as a nation relies crucially on an effective, efficient and well-equipped police service, our response to the needs and requirements of service personnel has been on the reserve side.
Our governments have made and continue to make promises to provide the needs of service men and women and equip the service with the requisite logistics so that the personnel can deliver. These provisions remain largely inadequate, thus putting a lot of strain — physical, mental, psychological and financial — on the service men and women, especially those who are committed and determined to execute their mandate in the interest of national peace and security.
Often, members of the public expect the best from the police, without sparring a few moments to ponder over their service conditions and the circumstances under which they operate.
To start with, most of our police stations lack spacious and environmentally friendly accommodation. The difference in the conditions of the policemen and suspects in their custody is not very clear. Both are crammed in a very stuffy and limited space and they cannot avoid the stench of a mixture of human sweat and waste material exuding from what is described as a cell.
Working in such a stifling environment renders the police officer himself an aggrieved person. Already there is a general problem with salaries among public servants and so his reaction to complaints from the public will not be the best.
Many projects initiated more than 30 years ago by the Acheampong regime to provide office accommodation for the police in the regional capitals have been ignored and abandoned by successive governments. Why should such a sensitive and strategic public institution be treated so shabbily? Is it another case of lack of funds?
After working in such a hostile environment, the policeman or woman does not get any solace when he closes from work. First is how to get home, followed by whether there is any comfort in what is supposed to be a home. Home may be a small one-bedroom structure accommodating the man and his wife, about three children and two other nephews or nieces.
Privacy is limited, so from the word go children have to start picking some few tricks from their father and their mother which they make good use of prematurely, with dire consequences. These are living conditions that can subject an ardent moralist to severe temptations. Not many are able to overcome them and, therefore, they compromise their professionalism and reduce justice delivery to mere mockery.
Apart from personal discomfort and inconvenience which, somehow, some are able to cope with, the greatest problem lies in logistics. Here, it is not only the policeman or woman who suffers but the whole society. Many victims of crime find it difficult to believe if told that there was no vehicle at post to be used to effect an arrest. A complainant is, therefore, asked to look for a vehicle if his/her case should be given any attention. Straightaway, the policeman/woman has put himself/herself in a compromising situation, since it is difficult to sit in somebody’s vehicle and not deliver to his/her satisfaction, no matter how bad his/her case may turn out to be.
The police lack many things, from common flashlights and raincoats to patrol vehicles and communication equipment. This has virtually rendered the service a destitute institution always appealing for public support.
And that is where the danger lies.
The Police Service should not at any time lose its independence. They say there is no free lunch and we should not expect that any act of charity from individuals or corporate institutions will go unrewarded. And the only way the police can reward a benefactor is to look the other way when there is a breach of the law.
Not too long ago, a prominent businessman who took up the crusade of helping the police overcome some of their predicaments got entangled with the law when one of his sons was involved in a shooting incident in a night club. How do you ignore the pleas of a benefactor who even donated vehicles to the police, more so when the person had shown remorse and was prepared to pay for the damage done and compensate the victim?
Nothing has been heard again of the case and there is general belief that the police have reciprocated the businessman’s goodwill and gesture.
No matter the financial standing of the country, the basic needs of the police should not be provided as an act of charity. The police need the support and co-operation of members of the public as far as volunteering information is concerned. Beyond that, any material support offered today will compromise the independence and effectiveness of the police tomorrow. This will be too expensive a price to pay for a vehicle, a television set, a computer, a flashlight or a free ride.
The police are not alone in this category. Members of the judiciary and other law enforcement agencies and the media should be careful when they receive gifts from individuals and institutions.
When the Kufuor administration released a piece of state property to the Ghana Journalists Association to be used as an international press centre, some people were quick to read meaning into it. They claimed it was an indirect way of courting friendship with the media to gain undue advantage. That might not necessarily have been the case and it could be that the government then was only interested in contributing to a vibrant and internationally acclaimed media.
So if even the government that is enjoined to cater for the needs and interests of all should be suspected of courting favours from the media with a house, why should people think that any private support for the police will be without any selfish and parochial interests? The police should be the last institution to fall into the pockets of private individuals and corporate institutions for the reason that the state has failed in its responsibility to this important institution.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
DOINH POLITICS WITH SERIOUS BUSINESS (OCT 20, 2009)
IN 2004, after the terrible Tsunami which devastated the coastline of some parts of south-east Asia, resulting in the death of more than 230,000 people, three prominent Americans sat in one aircraft and visited the area to show sympathy and offer support to the victims.
These three personalities were George W. Bush Snr and Bill Clinton, both former US Presidents, and George W. Bush Jnr, the then President of the US.
Former Presidents Bush Snr and Clinton belonged to the Republican and the Democratic parties, respectively, but when it came to US interest, party affiliation or interest became secondary.
In the same way, when, in 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck and wreaked havoc on parts of the southern coast of the US, including New Orleans, Americans were unanimous in condemning the Bush administration for not reacting with urgency to the disaster.
There were some racial and political undertones, though, because New Orleans has a huge Black population and it was generally observed that if the federal government was a bit slow in its response to the tragedy, then the racial issue could have been a factor.
Since the 1967 Arab/Israeli War, there has not been any major shift in US foreign policy in that region. Even after the October 1973 war when oil-producing Arab countries resorted to oil as a weapon to fight their cause, the position did not change much and it was rather poor countries in Africa which absorbed the shocks of that policy.
Every US administration comes to office with the pledge to solve the Palestinian/Israeli conflict but leaves without even condemning Israeli attacks on Palestinian settlements. That is why it is commonly said that Americans have permanent interests and not permanent friends. It is only when it affects them directly that Americans react to press home their feelings to the political leadership.
That was why when Americans were lured into a useless war in Iraq which earned them a bad image abroad and economic hardships at home, their reaction was the rejection of the Republican Party, which George Bush Snr and Jnr represented, paving the way for the first Black-American to occupy the Oval Office in the White House.
That is the American story.
The most important thing is that the Americans know their national interest or their interests as citizens and these two can never be subjugated or compromised in anyway for the interest of a few people in the name of party interest. After all the parties are there to serve the national interest, so what is party interest if the interest of the vast majority of the people is being ignored?
Since the return to multi-party constitutional rule in 1993, we in Ghana have been developing a culture which is gradually eroding in large measure, the benefits of multi-party democracy. We are now very quick to go to the defence of political parties when we should be pursuing a national agenda for development.
Tune in to any radio or television discussion and the subject matter will be either on a party justifying an action by its officials or condemning another by a different party. It is always they against US. We never try to build consensus on national issues which will propel this country forward.
Some well-meaning and respected citizens have condemned this approach to important national issues but it seems our political parties, goaded on by a media which are fast losing focus, are not tired of launching verbal assaults on one another. We do not rationalise issues again and even purely criminal cases had to be politicised one way or the other.
For instance, a former public office holder is called upon to render account for his stewardship and then a group surfaces from nowhere, chanting intimidation and persecution.
A public office holder exhibits incompetence and arbitrariness in his tenure but the moment a fresh person is put there, he/she jumps to his political party that is too eager to sing the all-too-well-known song of victimisation.
Try criticising a national policy and bringing out what may be a better alternative, then there will be cries of sabotage. The national interest is lost in the process.
Let us all agree that selling on the pavements has become a social menace in Accra and other big towns. Let the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) set in motion measures to restore order on the streets and, suddenly, the subject becomes heavily politicised to the extent that no solution can be found for the problem.
Our capital city is gradually becoming a giant slum, but any attempt to bring some semblance of sanity will see the people marshalling forces against the government in order to score cheap political points, to the detriment of the societal good.
Try removing unauthorised structures on water courses and strategic installations and those who have been complaining all along become human rights activists overnight to condemn the operation. In the end, all our governments come and go without solving most of our problems because of politics.
One of the latest to draw attention to this rather negative phenomenon is Dr Francis Appiah, the Executive Secretary of the National African Peer Review Mechanism Governing Council (NAPRM-GC), who observed that the politicisation of national issues was affecting the country’s development.
Dr Appiah, who was speaking at a validation workshop on the Asante Akim North Municipal APRM Monitoring and Evaluation Report at Konongo last week, called for a stop to the practice whereby people supported national policies based on which political party was in government.
“It is a drawback to the nation’s quest for accelerated development,” he said.
The media, especially the electronic ones, have not helped in engendering this type of healthy debate on national affairs. Panellists are invited to make contributions on serious national issues not based on their competence and their grasp of the subject matter but based on their political affiliation.
Naturally, these people come on radio or television to spew out insults and add to an already tense atmosphere without serving the national interest. Why should newspaper reviews on radio and television be by representatives of political parties and not opinion leaders very conversant with the issues under discussion?
After 52 years as an independent nation, Ghana is confronted with serious challenges that should be the focus of our national debates and the way forward.
The majority of our children are still taking their lessons in mud houses with thatch roofs. The less fortunate ones squat under trees. We are having more illiterates in our population today than immediately before and after independence.
More than 52 years into nationhood, we still find it prudent to invite foreigners to collect water bills for us. This cannot be defended by any party fanatic unless he/she does not value our sovereignty and national pride.
It is not out of place for a country that is always beating its chest proclaiming itself as the first Black nation south of the Sahara to gain political independence to go to another sovereign country for support to build a presidential palace. This is not politics. This is national pride, security and sovereignty at stake.
We are engulfed in filth everywhere. Our schools are overcrowded, with limited facilities which make mockery some of the courses pursued by the students. Traffic lights which constitute a basic necessity in our cities do not function most of the time.
We are importing everything, including junk, from all over the globe and food from even Sahelian countries. Our roads are not the best, while our health facilities are overstretched, with inadequate human and material resources.
We are more or less a colony which goes through the motion of electing our leaders seasonally. That is the freedom we enjoy.
We can change things if we begin to see every government as our government that must be supported, advised and criticised to deliver and whose officers must at the same time be held accountable to us.
When we drive on our pothole-filled roads, there is no special lane for those who supported the government’s party and another, a more-terrible one, for opposition people. When school re-opens every parent determined to get a good school for his/her child must hit the road searching and pleading.
If the medical facilities are not functioning properly, there is no hope of survival whether you belong to a winning party or a losing one. In exceptional cases, a few people in government may be sent outside for treatment at our expense.
But the rest of us will either survive or die here. If the taps don’t flow there is no way a party chairman will have a private pipeline. If the electricity system collapses, it affects everyone. The list goes on.
In short, our survival is tied to the fortunes of this country, that is why we should not allow a few people to whom we have ceded our authority so that they will pursue our interests to exploit us and plunder our resources and when called upon to account for them, come back to us screaming that they are being persecuted or witch-hunted
Former Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, is standing trial on corruption charges. In fact, he was forced out of office because of allegations of corruption and bribery.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to cough out cash he illegally used to water his garden. So are other members of the British Parliament.
The immediate past Taiwanese President, Chen Shu-bian, was in September sentenced to life imprisonment for money laundering, bribery and embezzlement of government funds.
These are not witch-hunting. Public officers must hold office in trust and do what is expected of them. That is the only way countries will not be short-changed and kept in perpetual poverty and under-development.
If ministers are questioned for their stewardship, one could not fathom why some people calling themselves party supporters should jump to the side of such ministers. Yes, due process must be followed, not just making wild allegations. In the same way, a public officer who is doing well must be given all the necessary encouragement to deliver in the interest of the people. A policy or programme which has everything good about it should be supported by all to bring about the positive change we are all clamouring for.
Multi-party democracy is good. It guarantees our individual rights and the freedoms and freedom to choose. It is better than even the best of benevolent dictatorships.
It keeps governments on their toes, since the possibility of change is always apparent. That is the power we wield as an electorate and which must be well exercised for the national or common good.
It will be dangerous and counter-productive to allow multi-partyism to polarise us into them and us and into the winners and losers. It will not help in our national development drive.
That is why the suggestion by Mr David A. Kanga, a Deputy Commissioner of the Electoral Commission, that in order to reduce the tension and acrimony associated with the current system of ‘winner-takes-all’ the system should give way to a blend of the winner-takes-all and proportional representation should be taken seriously.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
These three personalities were George W. Bush Snr and Bill Clinton, both former US Presidents, and George W. Bush Jnr, the then President of the US.
Former Presidents Bush Snr and Clinton belonged to the Republican and the Democratic parties, respectively, but when it came to US interest, party affiliation or interest became secondary.
In the same way, when, in 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck and wreaked havoc on parts of the southern coast of the US, including New Orleans, Americans were unanimous in condemning the Bush administration for not reacting with urgency to the disaster.
There were some racial and political undertones, though, because New Orleans has a huge Black population and it was generally observed that if the federal government was a bit slow in its response to the tragedy, then the racial issue could have been a factor.
Since the 1967 Arab/Israeli War, there has not been any major shift in US foreign policy in that region. Even after the October 1973 war when oil-producing Arab countries resorted to oil as a weapon to fight their cause, the position did not change much and it was rather poor countries in Africa which absorbed the shocks of that policy.
Every US administration comes to office with the pledge to solve the Palestinian/Israeli conflict but leaves without even condemning Israeli attacks on Palestinian settlements. That is why it is commonly said that Americans have permanent interests and not permanent friends. It is only when it affects them directly that Americans react to press home their feelings to the political leadership.
That was why when Americans were lured into a useless war in Iraq which earned them a bad image abroad and economic hardships at home, their reaction was the rejection of the Republican Party, which George Bush Snr and Jnr represented, paving the way for the first Black-American to occupy the Oval Office in the White House.
That is the American story.
The most important thing is that the Americans know their national interest or their interests as citizens and these two can never be subjugated or compromised in anyway for the interest of a few people in the name of party interest. After all the parties are there to serve the national interest, so what is party interest if the interest of the vast majority of the people is being ignored?
Since the return to multi-party constitutional rule in 1993, we in Ghana have been developing a culture which is gradually eroding in large measure, the benefits of multi-party democracy. We are now very quick to go to the defence of political parties when we should be pursuing a national agenda for development.
Tune in to any radio or television discussion and the subject matter will be either on a party justifying an action by its officials or condemning another by a different party. It is always they against US. We never try to build consensus on national issues which will propel this country forward.
Some well-meaning and respected citizens have condemned this approach to important national issues but it seems our political parties, goaded on by a media which are fast losing focus, are not tired of launching verbal assaults on one another. We do not rationalise issues again and even purely criminal cases had to be politicised one way or the other.
For instance, a former public office holder is called upon to render account for his stewardship and then a group surfaces from nowhere, chanting intimidation and persecution.
A public office holder exhibits incompetence and arbitrariness in his tenure but the moment a fresh person is put there, he/she jumps to his political party that is too eager to sing the all-too-well-known song of victimisation.
Try criticising a national policy and bringing out what may be a better alternative, then there will be cries of sabotage. The national interest is lost in the process.
Let us all agree that selling on the pavements has become a social menace in Accra and other big towns. Let the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) set in motion measures to restore order on the streets and, suddenly, the subject becomes heavily politicised to the extent that no solution can be found for the problem.
Our capital city is gradually becoming a giant slum, but any attempt to bring some semblance of sanity will see the people marshalling forces against the government in order to score cheap political points, to the detriment of the societal good.
Try removing unauthorised structures on water courses and strategic installations and those who have been complaining all along become human rights activists overnight to condemn the operation. In the end, all our governments come and go without solving most of our problems because of politics.
One of the latest to draw attention to this rather negative phenomenon is Dr Francis Appiah, the Executive Secretary of the National African Peer Review Mechanism Governing Council (NAPRM-GC), who observed that the politicisation of national issues was affecting the country’s development.
Dr Appiah, who was speaking at a validation workshop on the Asante Akim North Municipal APRM Monitoring and Evaluation Report at Konongo last week, called for a stop to the practice whereby people supported national policies based on which political party was in government.
“It is a drawback to the nation’s quest for accelerated development,” he said.
The media, especially the electronic ones, have not helped in engendering this type of healthy debate on national affairs. Panellists are invited to make contributions on serious national issues not based on their competence and their grasp of the subject matter but based on their political affiliation.
Naturally, these people come on radio or television to spew out insults and add to an already tense atmosphere without serving the national interest. Why should newspaper reviews on radio and television be by representatives of political parties and not opinion leaders very conversant with the issues under discussion?
After 52 years as an independent nation, Ghana is confronted with serious challenges that should be the focus of our national debates and the way forward.
The majority of our children are still taking their lessons in mud houses with thatch roofs. The less fortunate ones squat under trees. We are having more illiterates in our population today than immediately before and after independence.
More than 52 years into nationhood, we still find it prudent to invite foreigners to collect water bills for us. This cannot be defended by any party fanatic unless he/she does not value our sovereignty and national pride.
It is not out of place for a country that is always beating its chest proclaiming itself as the first Black nation south of the Sahara to gain political independence to go to another sovereign country for support to build a presidential palace. This is not politics. This is national pride, security and sovereignty at stake.
We are engulfed in filth everywhere. Our schools are overcrowded, with limited facilities which make mockery some of the courses pursued by the students. Traffic lights which constitute a basic necessity in our cities do not function most of the time.
We are importing everything, including junk, from all over the globe and food from even Sahelian countries. Our roads are not the best, while our health facilities are overstretched, with inadequate human and material resources.
We are more or less a colony which goes through the motion of electing our leaders seasonally. That is the freedom we enjoy.
We can change things if we begin to see every government as our government that must be supported, advised and criticised to deliver and whose officers must at the same time be held accountable to us.
When we drive on our pothole-filled roads, there is no special lane for those who supported the government’s party and another, a more-terrible one, for opposition people. When school re-opens every parent determined to get a good school for his/her child must hit the road searching and pleading.
If the medical facilities are not functioning properly, there is no hope of survival whether you belong to a winning party or a losing one. In exceptional cases, a few people in government may be sent outside for treatment at our expense.
But the rest of us will either survive or die here. If the taps don’t flow there is no way a party chairman will have a private pipeline. If the electricity system collapses, it affects everyone. The list goes on.
In short, our survival is tied to the fortunes of this country, that is why we should not allow a few people to whom we have ceded our authority so that they will pursue our interests to exploit us and plunder our resources and when called upon to account for them, come back to us screaming that they are being persecuted or witch-hunted
Former Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, is standing trial on corruption charges. In fact, he was forced out of office because of allegations of corruption and bribery.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to cough out cash he illegally used to water his garden. So are other members of the British Parliament.
The immediate past Taiwanese President, Chen Shu-bian, was in September sentenced to life imprisonment for money laundering, bribery and embezzlement of government funds.
These are not witch-hunting. Public officers must hold office in trust and do what is expected of them. That is the only way countries will not be short-changed and kept in perpetual poverty and under-development.
If ministers are questioned for their stewardship, one could not fathom why some people calling themselves party supporters should jump to the side of such ministers. Yes, due process must be followed, not just making wild allegations. In the same way, a public officer who is doing well must be given all the necessary encouragement to deliver in the interest of the people. A policy or programme which has everything good about it should be supported by all to bring about the positive change we are all clamouring for.
Multi-party democracy is good. It guarantees our individual rights and the freedoms and freedom to choose. It is better than even the best of benevolent dictatorships.
It keeps governments on their toes, since the possibility of change is always apparent. That is the power we wield as an electorate and which must be well exercised for the national or common good.
It will be dangerous and counter-productive to allow multi-partyism to polarise us into them and us and into the winners and losers. It will not help in our national development drive.
That is why the suggestion by Mr David A. Kanga, a Deputy Commissioner of the Electoral Commission, that in order to reduce the tension and acrimony associated with the current system of ‘winner-takes-all’ the system should give way to a blend of the winner-takes-all and proportional representation should be taken seriously.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
How to make the computers redundant
By Kofi Akordor
THE introduction of the junior and senior secondary schools concept as part of the educational reform of 1987 saw the abolition of the Common Entrance Examination to select students for the next stage on the education ladder. That brought pressure on school heads who had tough times picking from the large number of candidates who, by the standard and criteria set by the Ghana Education Service (GES), qualified to gain admission to secondary schools.
In that tight demand-and-supply environment, many things emerged, including corruption and favouritism in the admission process.
Apart from the fact that school heads had to find ways of making head or tail out of the admission quagmire, they had to contend with other forces waiting at the fringes to stake their claim to the few vacant places existing in some of the schools. These included old students associations, church leaders, traditional authorities, politicians, drinking/play mates and, of course, money people who could pay their way through any obstacle to get whatever they wanted.
At the end of the day, school heads were seen more or less as villains who were out to exploit parents and deprive candidates of their first-choice schools. While these were going on, the GES thought of a remedy. That was when the idea of the Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) was conceived.
The computers, it was assumed, were expected to defy human manipulation so all parties were assured that the admission blues would be over. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case. Since the introduction of the CSSPS, parents and students have always been at loggerheads with the GES and school heads over the placement of students in schools.
Every year comes with its own experience. The computer can also play its own tricks. It can send girls to boys-only schools and the other way round. It can send candidates to far away places they and their parents have not heard of before. But as had always been explained, it is what we put into the computer that is returned to us. “Garbage in, garbage out”, is the computer language. That is why it is very important parents and students alongside school authorities pay serious attention to the information they feed into the computers. However, the greatest worry of most parents was that their children, even with the best of grades, never got the schools of their choice. The human manipulation is gone or at least curtailed but the computer has not brought any solace or respite to pupils, parents and educational authorities.
Last week, Dr Harriet Somuah, Chief Executive of Somuah Information Systems (SISCO) Limited, designers of the programme used for the selection, went to great pains to explain how the system worked and gave the assurance that it cannot be manipulated.
An official of the Ministry of Education, Mr Paul Krampah, also defended the electronic placement system, saying everything was done on merit based on the raw scores of candidates.
Ironically, while parents are criss-crossing the country and knocking at doors to get schools for their children, the GES continues to remind parents that there are more than enough vacancies in the senior high schools to absorb all qualified candidates. In fact, the hard truth is that a great number of the schools in both the public and private sectors never get even half of their school enrolment requirements for the academic year.
This brings us to the hard reality that the problem is not about the availability of schools but the lack of good schools that would make parents and students to confidently select them. ‘Good’ here means adequate physical infrastructure such as good classrooms, laboratory, and library and boarding facilities, teaching and administrative personnel, all adding up to provide the congenial and disciplined atmosphere for academic work. Above all, parents see a good school as the one with a track record of academic excellence over the years which will guarantee a better future for their children.
This is where we should begin to address the problem from. Our schools have not developed evenly over the years and nobody should pretend that there is no class system in the educational sector. The truth that must be told is that a lot of our students at the junior high school level, who are in the majority, through no fault of theirs can never gain admission to the so-called first class senior high schools that have a record of high academic performance over the years.
The placement result in one school — St Thomas Aquinas Senior High School in Accra — illustrates clearly what is becoming a national situation. That pupils from most of our public schools cannot compete with pupils from private schools. In the St Thomas Aquinas case, out of the 90 students placed in General Science, 68 came from private schools. This unfortunate trend should be seriously addressed.
It is also incontestable that students of some of senior high schools, who through official neglect, connivance and abandonment can never pass the final examination with very good grades to enter the universities and pursue certain courses that could easily put them in strong contention on the job market in future. So do we blame parents who are bent on securing admission for their children in certain particular schools?
By now we should realise that no amount of appeals and assurances will soften the hearts of some parents if they do not get what they see as the only guarantee for their children’s future. That is a school which does not only exist in name but in deeds. They want schools which have track records and can deliver.
What we should, therefore, do for the sake of the future of our children is to bring as many schools to the level of the so-called big and affluent ones. We need to expand physical infrastructure such as classrooms, accommodation for teaching and non-teaching, library and laboratory facilities and the provision of quality human resources and all the teaching and learning materials so that choosing between two schools will become very difficult.
If the Kufuor administration had carried to its logical conclusion its pledge to provide every district with at least one model school with facilities comparable to some of the celebrated ones, our current problem would have been partly, in fact, greatly, solved. The idea is still good and we pray that the Mills administration will continue with it so that every district will have at least one school which can serve the purpose the current big ones are serving to assuage the fears of parents.
Ultimately, there is a serious need for a general overhauling of the educational system. It goes beyond merely changing of names and haggling over course duration. It is interesting to realise that most of the schools which continue to hold attractions to parents and students are those belonging to the religious missions, especially the Catholic, Presbyterian, Anglican and Methodist churches. These are schools with a good amount of disciplinary control of their students. And the difference in their examination results is clear.
Discipline in most of the government-controlled schools is very weak even though some of them could boast of impressive physical infrastructure. This is the challenge to the GES, the Ministry of Education, the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS), old students unions, parents and students.
Until we are able to improve upon physical infrastructure, expand facilities in existing schools, upgrade facilities in schools in the districts and bring them to equal level with those in the urban centres and cities, and until there is something close to equilibrium in the educational field and social and economic barriers are reduced to the barest minimum, the computer will for a long time do the placement all right but that will not take away the disappointment, pain and dejection from the hearts of many parents and BECE candidates.
I wish to take this opportunity to express my sincerest gratitude to all those individuals and organisations who sent me messages of congratulation after this year’s GJA Media Awards. They are many, but let me mention, the ABANTU for Development, the Asogli Traditional Council and the Ho Development Association.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
THE introduction of the junior and senior secondary schools concept as part of the educational reform of 1987 saw the abolition of the Common Entrance Examination to select students for the next stage on the education ladder. That brought pressure on school heads who had tough times picking from the large number of candidates who, by the standard and criteria set by the Ghana Education Service (GES), qualified to gain admission to secondary schools.
In that tight demand-and-supply environment, many things emerged, including corruption and favouritism in the admission process.
Apart from the fact that school heads had to find ways of making head or tail out of the admission quagmire, they had to contend with other forces waiting at the fringes to stake their claim to the few vacant places existing in some of the schools. These included old students associations, church leaders, traditional authorities, politicians, drinking/play mates and, of course, money people who could pay their way through any obstacle to get whatever they wanted.
At the end of the day, school heads were seen more or less as villains who were out to exploit parents and deprive candidates of their first-choice schools. While these were going on, the GES thought of a remedy. That was when the idea of the Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) was conceived.
The computers, it was assumed, were expected to defy human manipulation so all parties were assured that the admission blues would be over. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case. Since the introduction of the CSSPS, parents and students have always been at loggerheads with the GES and school heads over the placement of students in schools.
Every year comes with its own experience. The computer can also play its own tricks. It can send girls to boys-only schools and the other way round. It can send candidates to far away places they and their parents have not heard of before. But as had always been explained, it is what we put into the computer that is returned to us. “Garbage in, garbage out”, is the computer language. That is why it is very important parents and students alongside school authorities pay serious attention to the information they feed into the computers. However, the greatest worry of most parents was that their children, even with the best of grades, never got the schools of their choice. The human manipulation is gone or at least curtailed but the computer has not brought any solace or respite to pupils, parents and educational authorities.
Last week, Dr Harriet Somuah, Chief Executive of Somuah Information Systems (SISCO) Limited, designers of the programme used for the selection, went to great pains to explain how the system worked and gave the assurance that it cannot be manipulated.
An official of the Ministry of Education, Mr Paul Krampah, also defended the electronic placement system, saying everything was done on merit based on the raw scores of candidates.
Ironically, while parents are criss-crossing the country and knocking at doors to get schools for their children, the GES continues to remind parents that there are more than enough vacancies in the senior high schools to absorb all qualified candidates. In fact, the hard truth is that a great number of the schools in both the public and private sectors never get even half of their school enrolment requirements for the academic year.
This brings us to the hard reality that the problem is not about the availability of schools but the lack of good schools that would make parents and students to confidently select them. ‘Good’ here means adequate physical infrastructure such as good classrooms, laboratory, and library and boarding facilities, teaching and administrative personnel, all adding up to provide the congenial and disciplined atmosphere for academic work. Above all, parents see a good school as the one with a track record of academic excellence over the years which will guarantee a better future for their children.
This is where we should begin to address the problem from. Our schools have not developed evenly over the years and nobody should pretend that there is no class system in the educational sector. The truth that must be told is that a lot of our students at the junior high school level, who are in the majority, through no fault of theirs can never gain admission to the so-called first class senior high schools that have a record of high academic performance over the years.
The placement result in one school — St Thomas Aquinas Senior High School in Accra — illustrates clearly what is becoming a national situation. That pupils from most of our public schools cannot compete with pupils from private schools. In the St Thomas Aquinas case, out of the 90 students placed in General Science, 68 came from private schools. This unfortunate trend should be seriously addressed.
It is also incontestable that students of some of senior high schools, who through official neglect, connivance and abandonment can never pass the final examination with very good grades to enter the universities and pursue certain courses that could easily put them in strong contention on the job market in future. So do we blame parents who are bent on securing admission for their children in certain particular schools?
By now we should realise that no amount of appeals and assurances will soften the hearts of some parents if they do not get what they see as the only guarantee for their children’s future. That is a school which does not only exist in name but in deeds. They want schools which have track records and can deliver.
What we should, therefore, do for the sake of the future of our children is to bring as many schools to the level of the so-called big and affluent ones. We need to expand physical infrastructure such as classrooms, accommodation for teaching and non-teaching, library and laboratory facilities and the provision of quality human resources and all the teaching and learning materials so that choosing between two schools will become very difficult.
If the Kufuor administration had carried to its logical conclusion its pledge to provide every district with at least one model school with facilities comparable to some of the celebrated ones, our current problem would have been partly, in fact, greatly, solved. The idea is still good and we pray that the Mills administration will continue with it so that every district will have at least one school which can serve the purpose the current big ones are serving to assuage the fears of parents.
Ultimately, there is a serious need for a general overhauling of the educational system. It goes beyond merely changing of names and haggling over course duration. It is interesting to realise that most of the schools which continue to hold attractions to parents and students are those belonging to the religious missions, especially the Catholic, Presbyterian, Anglican and Methodist churches. These are schools with a good amount of disciplinary control of their students. And the difference in their examination results is clear.
Discipline in most of the government-controlled schools is very weak even though some of them could boast of impressive physical infrastructure. This is the challenge to the GES, the Ministry of Education, the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS), old students unions, parents and students.
Until we are able to improve upon physical infrastructure, expand facilities in existing schools, upgrade facilities in schools in the districts and bring them to equal level with those in the urban centres and cities, and until there is something close to equilibrium in the educational field and social and economic barriers are reduced to the barest minimum, the computer will for a long time do the placement all right but that will not take away the disappointment, pain and dejection from the hearts of many parents and BECE candidates.
I wish to take this opportunity to express my sincerest gratitude to all those individuals and organisations who sent me messages of congratulation after this year’s GJA Media Awards. They are many, but let me mention, the ABANTU for Development, the Asogli Traditional Council and the Ho Development Association.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
A tale of two celebrations
By Kofi Akordor
SEPTEMBER 21 has passed as the centenary of the birth of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of the Republic of Ghana, and the first Founder’s Day celebration in the country.
The success or otherwise of the twin events may be open to debate by those who care for an impartial and objective examination and analysis. It is, however, easy to stick out one’s neck to say that the celebration did not receive the national enthusiasm that was expected of an event connected with the birthday of Dr Nkrumah. More so, when this was the first Founder’s Day to be observed to commemorate the birthday of the man who led Black Africa’s first country, south of the Sahara to independence from colonial rule.
Not that the Planning Committee, headed by Professor Akilakpa Sawyerr, with the short time at its disposal, did not try hard enough. The truth, however, is that Nkrumah still remains an enigma. The mention of his name evokes mixed emotions. There are those, who in his death, have not forgiven him. Some would not even forget, let alone forgive. He who feels it, knows it, so nobody could begrudge those who do not want to forget the pain they went through because of the arrest of their relatives, friends on the real or assumed of President Nkrumah.
There are others who, for purely political reasons, will never see eye to eye with Nkrumah, not even when he had been lying in his grave for over three decades. Remember some people who claimed to be his sponsors wanted this country, then the Gold Coast, to march slowly to independence. The shortest possible time (when would that ever be), they argued. Some wanted this country at independence to be fragmented into federal states when Nkrumah said: “No Way. We create and share. Together we stand, divided we fall.” Others will never forgive him for his free and universal education for all policy. To such people, it ought to be each one for himself, God for us all. For those people, Nkrumah was never a great leader, because he opposed that view. At best, he should be equated with others.
On the other side are the near-fanatics. Nkrumah is Ghana and Ghana is Nkrumah. These people are quick to point at the speed with which Nkrumah was leading newly independent Ghana into a middle-income status and beyond. Every sector was moving fast – education, agriculture, health, science and technology, social services such as roads and water supply, and industrial establishments such as ports and harbours. So even though the image of the man is receding fast into history, they are always ready to blow Nkrumah’s trumpet at the least opportunity.
Nkrumah as a human being had his positive and negative parts. As a human being, he had his survival instincts, so when he felt his life threatened, he reacted accordingly. That is how he became ‘wicked’ in the eyes of some people. As a human being, he enjoyed being worshipped. So in a way, he became a dictator. There is something, however, about Nkrumah which very few people will try to dilute — his determination, by deeds and words, to see this country and other African countries become truly independent — politically and economically.
Apart from the national holiday which was enjoyed by all, there was a lack of unanimity in the celebration, partly because of the reasons mentioned earlier and partly because the development of this country, in comparison with its contemporaries, has stagnated so much so that there was not much to celebrate on the centenary of the birthday of the man who led the country’s struggle to independence.
Ghanaians have treated Nkrumah’s centenary the same way they treated the country’s Golden Jubilee — with total indifference. What is there to celebrate? Many would ask, when we are lagging so far behind others who started with us? What is there to celebrate in 2009, if after 52 years of independence we still have to resort to using food as a bait to attract pupils into the classrooms? What is there to celebrate if after 52 years, we are still saddled with heavy debts of Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), the only one built in the 1960s, when South Korea, which started with us, could boast of more than 20 giant refineries today?
They ask, what do we celebrate, when as a nation we could not build any road close to the Accra-Tema Motorway after Nkrumah, and all we could do now is to waste our national efforts worrying about toll collection on the only motorway in the country? They have legitimate reason not to be enthusiastic about the celebration, if after Nkrumah, the two new state universities after him -- the University for Development Studies (UDS) and the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) are left in structures bequeathed to them by the Nkrumah regime? The questions are many, depicting the frustrations of many Ghanaians who have seen the hope and promise of independence whittle away over the years through bad, uninspiring, incompetent and corrupt political leadership.
Most of the legacies of Nkrumah have been abandoned to rot; others mortgaged and the rest sold to the highest bidder. His birth place, Nkroful, in the Western Region, could easily have become a money-spinning, soul-inspiring tourist zone if we were serious as a people. The Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum right here in the heart of Accra had to be rehabilitated in a hurry to prepare for the foreign visitors who may have laughed at what could easily have been a national disgrace.
The organisation itself cannot be described as the best. It could, however, be argued that the planning committee had a short time to do its work. Two, with the experience of Ghana@50 as a guide, not much funds could be committed to the celebration. It is the hope of Ghanaians that next year’s celebration of the Founder’s Day, which will also feature on the African Union’s calendar of activities, would be better planned and celebrated.
The World Tourism Day celebration has also come and gone and many are wondering whether the country made any gains. As usual, all that we could showcase with pride was colonial castles and forts which serve as reminders of our colonial and slave history. The real tourism attractions remain treasures hidden all over the country, but inaccessible to adventurers and leisure and pleasure seekers.
Our definition of tourism, as it seems, does not go beyond cultural dances by a folkloric group or schoolchildren clad in thin cloth to chest level. Where are the roads to the game reserves, the waterfalls and to the scenic beauties of Amedzofe and Afadzato? What is happening to the vast expanse of the Volta Lake and the islands dotted in it?
We have heard of Dodi Island, Boti Falls, Wli Falls, Mole Game Park, the Kakum Forest Bridge and the rest. What are the facilities in these places doing to attract internal tourism or foreign visitors? Is it possible to drive to any of these places with ease to celebrate a weekend with one’s family?
Tourism has a big place in Ghana’s economy and could easily surpass the revenue generated from the traditional cocoa and minerals if serious attention could be paid to its development. It also has the potential for reducing rural poverty and bridging the rural-urban disparity in national development.
What is needed is a little bit of imaginative and bold decisions which would take tourism development beyond boardroom meetings, workshops and seminars to the fields where action is called for.
For us to have a whole ministry to oversee tourism development means we know the prospects and gains. The truth, however, is that our tourism industry is still in a primitive stage. We need to do more than we are doing.
The World Tourism Day has come and gone, but to many, it is still a coming event because very little was seen of it. Nkrumah’s centenary and Founder’s Day, coming so close to World Tourism Day celebration in Ghana, should have made the country a centre of global attention for the one-week period. I do not think we got close to that. These are opportunities other countries would not want to miss, but we take them for granted.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
SEPTEMBER 21 has passed as the centenary of the birth of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of the Republic of Ghana, and the first Founder’s Day celebration in the country.
The success or otherwise of the twin events may be open to debate by those who care for an impartial and objective examination and analysis. It is, however, easy to stick out one’s neck to say that the celebration did not receive the national enthusiasm that was expected of an event connected with the birthday of Dr Nkrumah. More so, when this was the first Founder’s Day to be observed to commemorate the birthday of the man who led Black Africa’s first country, south of the Sahara to independence from colonial rule.
Not that the Planning Committee, headed by Professor Akilakpa Sawyerr, with the short time at its disposal, did not try hard enough. The truth, however, is that Nkrumah still remains an enigma. The mention of his name evokes mixed emotions. There are those, who in his death, have not forgiven him. Some would not even forget, let alone forgive. He who feels it, knows it, so nobody could begrudge those who do not want to forget the pain they went through because of the arrest of their relatives, friends on the real or assumed of President Nkrumah.
There are others who, for purely political reasons, will never see eye to eye with Nkrumah, not even when he had been lying in his grave for over three decades. Remember some people who claimed to be his sponsors wanted this country, then the Gold Coast, to march slowly to independence. The shortest possible time (when would that ever be), they argued. Some wanted this country at independence to be fragmented into federal states when Nkrumah said: “No Way. We create and share. Together we stand, divided we fall.” Others will never forgive him for his free and universal education for all policy. To such people, it ought to be each one for himself, God for us all. For those people, Nkrumah was never a great leader, because he opposed that view. At best, he should be equated with others.
On the other side are the near-fanatics. Nkrumah is Ghana and Ghana is Nkrumah. These people are quick to point at the speed with which Nkrumah was leading newly independent Ghana into a middle-income status and beyond. Every sector was moving fast – education, agriculture, health, science and technology, social services such as roads and water supply, and industrial establishments such as ports and harbours. So even though the image of the man is receding fast into history, they are always ready to blow Nkrumah’s trumpet at the least opportunity.
Nkrumah as a human being had his positive and negative parts. As a human being, he had his survival instincts, so when he felt his life threatened, he reacted accordingly. That is how he became ‘wicked’ in the eyes of some people. As a human being, he enjoyed being worshipped. So in a way, he became a dictator. There is something, however, about Nkrumah which very few people will try to dilute — his determination, by deeds and words, to see this country and other African countries become truly independent — politically and economically.
Apart from the national holiday which was enjoyed by all, there was a lack of unanimity in the celebration, partly because of the reasons mentioned earlier and partly because the development of this country, in comparison with its contemporaries, has stagnated so much so that there was not much to celebrate on the centenary of the birthday of the man who led the country’s struggle to independence.
Ghanaians have treated Nkrumah’s centenary the same way they treated the country’s Golden Jubilee — with total indifference. What is there to celebrate? Many would ask, when we are lagging so far behind others who started with us? What is there to celebrate in 2009, if after 52 years of independence we still have to resort to using food as a bait to attract pupils into the classrooms? What is there to celebrate if after 52 years, we are still saddled with heavy debts of Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), the only one built in the 1960s, when South Korea, which started with us, could boast of more than 20 giant refineries today?
They ask, what do we celebrate, when as a nation we could not build any road close to the Accra-Tema Motorway after Nkrumah, and all we could do now is to waste our national efforts worrying about toll collection on the only motorway in the country? They have legitimate reason not to be enthusiastic about the celebration, if after Nkrumah, the two new state universities after him -- the University for Development Studies (UDS) and the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) are left in structures bequeathed to them by the Nkrumah regime? The questions are many, depicting the frustrations of many Ghanaians who have seen the hope and promise of independence whittle away over the years through bad, uninspiring, incompetent and corrupt political leadership.
Most of the legacies of Nkrumah have been abandoned to rot; others mortgaged and the rest sold to the highest bidder. His birth place, Nkroful, in the Western Region, could easily have become a money-spinning, soul-inspiring tourist zone if we were serious as a people. The Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum right here in the heart of Accra had to be rehabilitated in a hurry to prepare for the foreign visitors who may have laughed at what could easily have been a national disgrace.
The organisation itself cannot be described as the best. It could, however, be argued that the planning committee had a short time to do its work. Two, with the experience of Ghana@50 as a guide, not much funds could be committed to the celebration. It is the hope of Ghanaians that next year’s celebration of the Founder’s Day, which will also feature on the African Union’s calendar of activities, would be better planned and celebrated.
The World Tourism Day celebration has also come and gone and many are wondering whether the country made any gains. As usual, all that we could showcase with pride was colonial castles and forts which serve as reminders of our colonial and slave history. The real tourism attractions remain treasures hidden all over the country, but inaccessible to adventurers and leisure and pleasure seekers.
Our definition of tourism, as it seems, does not go beyond cultural dances by a folkloric group or schoolchildren clad in thin cloth to chest level. Where are the roads to the game reserves, the waterfalls and to the scenic beauties of Amedzofe and Afadzato? What is happening to the vast expanse of the Volta Lake and the islands dotted in it?
We have heard of Dodi Island, Boti Falls, Wli Falls, Mole Game Park, the Kakum Forest Bridge and the rest. What are the facilities in these places doing to attract internal tourism or foreign visitors? Is it possible to drive to any of these places with ease to celebrate a weekend with one’s family?
Tourism has a big place in Ghana’s economy and could easily surpass the revenue generated from the traditional cocoa and minerals if serious attention could be paid to its development. It also has the potential for reducing rural poverty and bridging the rural-urban disparity in national development.
What is needed is a little bit of imaginative and bold decisions which would take tourism development beyond boardroom meetings, workshops and seminars to the fields where action is called for.
For us to have a whole ministry to oversee tourism development means we know the prospects and gains. The truth, however, is that our tourism industry is still in a primitive stage. We need to do more than we are doing.
The World Tourism Day has come and gone, but to many, it is still a coming event because very little was seen of it. Nkrumah’s centenary and Founder’s Day, coming so close to World Tourism Day celebration in Ghana, should have made the country a centre of global attention for the one-week period. I do not think we got close to that. These are opportunities other countries would not want to miss, but we take them for granted.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
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