By Kofi Akordor
When news broke that a young senator from the State of Illinois was gearing up to contest the Democratic nomination for the American presidency, the questions on the lips of many included: ”Is it mere adventure, or yet another bout of day-dreaming?”
It began dramatically in 2004, when Senator Barack Obama delivered a fiery speech at the Democratic Party Convention. His oratory was not only impressive, but he seemed to imbibe a lot of wisdom and sophistry in delivery on matters that cut across racial, social and economic lines. The question still remained: “How can the son of a black person from Kenya take custody of the White House, which is the symbol of white supremacy and dominance in the world?”
Obama was not the first black to stake claim to the US presidency. Others like the Reverend Jesse Jackson had blazed the trail but made very little impact in a racially prejudiced country. That was why Obama’s ambition at the time did not sound quite impressive to many, especially the blacks who, bogged down by inferiority complex and knowing the overwhelming racial impediments, gave him very little chance.
When Obama’s campaign gathered momentum, there was very little doubt that Americans were responding to a new awakening. After one of the longest and sometimes acrimonious primaries between Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton, wife of former President Bill Clinton, the former emerged as the choice of the Democrats to contest Republican Senator John McCain for the White House.
November 5, 2008, was a historic day for Africa, when Obama’s victory in the US presidential election was confirmed. It was not one person’s victory in a keen contest but a victory over inferiority complex and racial prejudice. It was a victory which led Africa to cross a serious psychological barrier.
President Obama may not do anything drastic more than what other US Presidents have done or will do for Africa in terms of development aid. However, one thing is clear. The Obama presidency has restored hope and confidence in the African and blacks elsewhere. It has erased centuries of brainwashing, which placed psychological barriers to progress among blacks generally.
The choice of Ghana as his first place of call in sub-Saharan Africa, after addressing the Muslim world in Cairo, Egypt, in June, 2009, did not come as an accident. Ghana had always played a pivotal role in Africa’s struggle against colonialism and neo-colonialism and was instrumental in the formation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which is now the African Union (AU).
The relentless effort of Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, to affirm the African Personality and to give hope to the Black race had won him as an individual, much respect and placed Ghana on a special pedestal in the international community.
Ghana’s efforts at peace-keeping are well-known and globally acknowledged. From the Congo Crisis in the 1960s, the deserts of the Middle East, Darfur, Bosnia-Herzegovina to the jungles of Liberia and Sierra Leone, Ghana has always expressed its solidarity with people in conflict zones and played prominent roles to restore sanity to distressed parts of the world.
In recent times, Ghana has been able to overcome years of political instability which had been the bane of many African countries, to establish the foundations for strong democratic governance which had seen five general elections and the change of baton from one government to another twice.
The discovery of oil in large commercial quantities in addition to its already known rich mineral and forest resources has made Ghana a prime attraction to many investors and the US cannot be ruled out.
The response given to President Obama’s visit by Ghanaians was spontaneous and ecstatic. President Bill Clinton was well received in 1998, so was President George W. Bush in 2008, albeit on a limited scale. President Obama was like a son returning to the land and so was appropriately given the reception he received. That the Presidents of the last three US Administrations made Ghana their destinations on the continent, is also a revelation that should not be taken for granted. Ghana must ride on and its democracy must grow.
As stated earlier, President Obama may not be able to do more than others before him in terms of development assistance, because of budgetary limitations. He can, however, do something to bring African leaders to order.
Despite strides in democratic governance on the continent, there is still a good chunk of the old order parading the corridors of power on the continent. Some, like Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Paul Biya of Cameroon, are allies of the US, but this continent cannot make headway in its development efforts if its political fortunes continue to remain in the hands of a few dictators and charlatans. In his address to Parliament and other invited guests, President Obama was not charitable to corrupt African leaders who have presided over the collapse of the economies of their countries. Foreign aid, he rightly told his audience, is the not the solution to Africa’s problems, but only a supplement to the real efforts of Africans themselves.
An Obama presidency is a challenge to African leaders to nurture dreams and bring them to fruition. The virtue Obama symbolises is that self-pity, inferiority complex and the feeling of inadequacy should be things of the past.
Can it be said that Africa is ready to step into the limelight and be counted among the global community?
It is a cruel co-incidence that in a week when we were welcoming President Obama, the highest and most influential political figure ever to emerge from among the black race, we should also be mourning Michael Jackson, an icon in the entertainment business. Whichever way one looks at it, it is evident that the Black race has all the endowments necessary for its redemption and it needs just a bit of mental readjustment to register its mark on the world scene.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
ARE WE READY FOR THE TOURISM WINDFALL?
In the coming days, weeks and months, our country will be playing host to several visitors and international events, which makes it an important place to harvest windfalls from tourism. Coming close is the arrival on Friday, of President Barrack Obama, the third sitting US President to visit this country over the last 11 years. Bill Clinton was here on March 23, 1998, followed by George W. Bush, who arrived here on February 19, 2008 for a three-day visit.
In September, Ghana will play host to the World Tourism Day, an event that will certainly record an inflow of visitors mostly in the hospitality industry. In the past few years, our country has been privileged to be venues for a number of important and significant international events.
In 2007, we celebrated our 50th anniversary in a manner that gave no credit to that epoch and historic event. It was as if there was nothing worth celebrating. In July of the same year, the country hosted the African Union Summit in which the African leaders made high-flying statements about a continental union government. In 2008, we were again lucky to host the 26th MTN Africa Cup of Nations.
These are high-profile international events that could have easily been utilised to advertise the country’s vast potentials and assets. But did we measure up to the challenge? Even though official sources continue to tout tourism as the fourth biggest foreign exchange earner, the tourism sector is woefully underdeveloped. We could not take advantage of these events to make foreign cash because of poor infrastructure.
The first visible sign of our inadequacy is the poor road network from the capital to the places of leisure and pleasure. Apart from the Elimina and Cape Coast castles that can now be accessed by a fairly good road, most of the places that will be the tourist’s haven are ‘hidden’ because it takes a lot of courage and determination to reach them.
The tourist’s disappointment could only be experienced to be appreciated after reaching his/her destination only to realise that apart from what nature has provided to the people of Ghana have not provided anything for their upkeep, comfort and entertainment. Poor souls, they would neither get a decent place to retire their worn-out bodies nor a nice place to relax with friends, not to talk about a place to have a decent meal or drink.
The emptiness at Dodi Island is something that intrigues me. This is a place that is very close to Accra and has money-spinning potentials but remains untapped. The dream of many who have heard of the place is to pay a visit and many social groupings and corporate entities continue to organise excursions for their members to Dodi Island. But the high expectations immediately fizzle out after the desolation hit them in the face. Only the boat ride offers something interesting.
Can we picture what Dodi Island would be like at the weekends if the place was developed with hotel facilities, recreational and amusement facilities for adults and children? The place would have been breezing with visitors, both local and foreign, who would want to savour the beauty of the Volta Lake.
It appears we still think that there cannot be anything more important beyond raw cocoa beans, raw timber and gold ore. Tourism can easily transform the economy of this country and change the lifestyle of our rural communities. And most of the people entrusted with the achievement of that goal know how Egypt or The Gambia did it.
We don’t develop tourism just by holding workshops for chopbar operators in Accra. The greater number of tourists will want to visit the tourist sites buried deep in the country and not walking the streets of Accra which, apart from its people, have nothing to offer the American or European.
We have heard a lot about the Kakum National Park, the Mole Game Reserve, the Paga Crocodile Pond, the Wli Waterfalls, the Tafi Monkey Sanctuary and many others. In all cases, the curious visitor had to beat a hasty return or find him/herself alone in the wilderness. Reaching those places can be nightmarish because of the poor nature of the roads. We need to give tourism development more serious attention than we are doing now.
Recently, a tourism marketing strategy was launched aimed at, according to its initiators, launching Ghana as the prime tourism destination in the West African subregion. It is a laudable idea but what is the guarantee that it will not end up becoming an Accra event, which will not change the tourism map of the country?
Investment in tourism is not about printing T-shirts, cloths and other paraphernalia and parading them on the streets or in the media. Neither shall we achieve much if we get social commentators talking plenty on the radio and television extolling our tourism potentials.
We do not need anyone to tell us that we have beautiful places in the country that can attract tourist. What we need is the development of these places and making sure that they are accessible to the visitor. That means building good roads to these places, providing decent accommodation for those who want to spend a night or two, and making sure that recreational and leisure facilities are available to provide total satisfaction to tourists.
President Obama’s visit is an opportunity to make good money from those who may want to take advantage of the visit to explore the country. But with the rains rendering almost all our roads impassable, where can they go?
The World Tourism Day celebration in Ghana is an opportunity to sell our country. However, as things stand now, it is likely we may end up sending the delegates to the Elmina and Cape Coast castles; show them a few people dancing bare-chested and return home feeling satisfied that we have showcased Ghana to the world. We can do more than that, but we have to change our approach to tourism development, otherwise we should as well forget the windfall for now.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
Kofiakordor.blogspot.com
In September, Ghana will play host to the World Tourism Day, an event that will certainly record an inflow of visitors mostly in the hospitality industry. In the past few years, our country has been privileged to be venues for a number of important and significant international events.
In 2007, we celebrated our 50th anniversary in a manner that gave no credit to that epoch and historic event. It was as if there was nothing worth celebrating. In July of the same year, the country hosted the African Union Summit in which the African leaders made high-flying statements about a continental union government. In 2008, we were again lucky to host the 26th MTN Africa Cup of Nations.
These are high-profile international events that could have easily been utilised to advertise the country’s vast potentials and assets. But did we measure up to the challenge? Even though official sources continue to tout tourism as the fourth biggest foreign exchange earner, the tourism sector is woefully underdeveloped. We could not take advantage of these events to make foreign cash because of poor infrastructure.
The first visible sign of our inadequacy is the poor road network from the capital to the places of leisure and pleasure. Apart from the Elimina and Cape Coast castles that can now be accessed by a fairly good road, most of the places that will be the tourist’s haven are ‘hidden’ because it takes a lot of courage and determination to reach them.
The tourist’s disappointment could only be experienced to be appreciated after reaching his/her destination only to realise that apart from what nature has provided to the people of Ghana have not provided anything for their upkeep, comfort and entertainment. Poor souls, they would neither get a decent place to retire their worn-out bodies nor a nice place to relax with friends, not to talk about a place to have a decent meal or drink.
The emptiness at Dodi Island is something that intrigues me. This is a place that is very close to Accra and has money-spinning potentials but remains untapped. The dream of many who have heard of the place is to pay a visit and many social groupings and corporate entities continue to organise excursions for their members to Dodi Island. But the high expectations immediately fizzle out after the desolation hit them in the face. Only the boat ride offers something interesting.
Can we picture what Dodi Island would be like at the weekends if the place was developed with hotel facilities, recreational and amusement facilities for adults and children? The place would have been breezing with visitors, both local and foreign, who would want to savour the beauty of the Volta Lake.
It appears we still think that there cannot be anything more important beyond raw cocoa beans, raw timber and gold ore. Tourism can easily transform the economy of this country and change the lifestyle of our rural communities. And most of the people entrusted with the achievement of that goal know how Egypt or The Gambia did it.
We don’t develop tourism just by holding workshops for chopbar operators in Accra. The greater number of tourists will want to visit the tourist sites buried deep in the country and not walking the streets of Accra which, apart from its people, have nothing to offer the American or European.
We have heard a lot about the Kakum National Park, the Mole Game Reserve, the Paga Crocodile Pond, the Wli Waterfalls, the Tafi Monkey Sanctuary and many others. In all cases, the curious visitor had to beat a hasty return or find him/herself alone in the wilderness. Reaching those places can be nightmarish because of the poor nature of the roads. We need to give tourism development more serious attention than we are doing now.
Recently, a tourism marketing strategy was launched aimed at, according to its initiators, launching Ghana as the prime tourism destination in the West African subregion. It is a laudable idea but what is the guarantee that it will not end up becoming an Accra event, which will not change the tourism map of the country?
Investment in tourism is not about printing T-shirts, cloths and other paraphernalia and parading them on the streets or in the media. Neither shall we achieve much if we get social commentators talking plenty on the radio and television extolling our tourism potentials.
We do not need anyone to tell us that we have beautiful places in the country that can attract tourist. What we need is the development of these places and making sure that they are accessible to the visitor. That means building good roads to these places, providing decent accommodation for those who want to spend a night or two, and making sure that recreational and leisure facilities are available to provide total satisfaction to tourists.
President Obama’s visit is an opportunity to make good money from those who may want to take advantage of the visit to explore the country. But with the rains rendering almost all our roads impassable, where can they go?
The World Tourism Day celebration in Ghana is an opportunity to sell our country. However, as things stand now, it is likely we may end up sending the delegates to the Elmina and Cape Coast castles; show them a few people dancing bare-chested and return home feeling satisfied that we have showcased Ghana to the world. We can do more than that, but we have to change our approach to tourism development, otherwise we should as well forget the windfall for now.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
Kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Are we ready for the tourism windfall?
By Kofi Akordor
In the coming days, weeks and months, our country will be playing host to several visitors and international events, which makes it an important place to harvest windfalls from tourism. Coming close is the arrival on Friday, of President Barrack Obama, the third US President to visit this country over the last 11 years. Bill Clinton was here on March 23, 1998 followed by George W. Bush, who arrived here on February 19, 2008 for a three-day visit.
In September, Ghana will play host to the World Tourism Day, an event that will certainly record an inflow of visitors mostly in the hospitality industry. In the past few years, our country has been privileged to be venues for a number of important and significant international events.
In 2007, we celebrated our 50th anniversary in a manner that gave no credit to that epoch and historic event. It was as if there was nothing worth celebrating. In July of the same year, the country hosted the African Union Summit at which the African leaders made high-flying statements about continental union. In 2008, we were again lucky to host the 26th MTN Africa Cup of Nations.
These are high-profile international events that could have easily been utilised to advertise the country’s vast potential assets. But did we measure up to the challenge? Even though official sources continue to tout tourism as the fourth biggest foreign exchange earner, the tourism sector is woefully underdeveloped. We could not take advantage of these events to make foreign cash because of poor infrastructure.
The first visible sign of our inadequacy is the poor road network from the capital to the places of leisure and pleasure. Apart from the Elmina and Cape Coast castles that can now be accessed by a fairly good road, most of the places that will be the tourist’s haven are ‘hidden’ because it takes a lot of courage and determination to reach them.
The tourist’s disappointment could only be experienced to be appreciated after reaching his/her destination only to realise that apart from what nature has provided the people of Ghana have not provided anything for their comfort and entertainment. Pour souls, they would neither get a decent place to retire their worn-out bodies nor a nice place to relax with friends.
The emptiness at Dodi Island is something that intrigues me. This is a place that is very close to Accra and has money-spinning potentials but remains untapped. The dream of many who have heard of the place is to pay a visit and many social groupings and corporate entities continue to organise excursions for their members to Dodi Island. But the high expectations immediately fizzle out after the desolation hit them in the face. Only the boat ride offers something interesting.
Can we picture how Dodi Island would be like at the weekends if the place was developed with hotel facilities, recreational and amusement facilities for adults and children? The place would have been breezing with visitors, both local and foreign, who would want to savour the beauty of the Volta Lake.
It appears we still think that there cannot be anything more important beyond raw cocoa beans, raw timber and gold ore. Tourism can easily transform the economy of this country and change the lifestyle of our rural communities.
We don’t develop tourism just by holding workshops for chop-bar operators in Accra. The greater number of tourists will want to visit the tourist sites buried deep in the country and not walking the streets of Accra which, apart from its people, have nothing to offer the American or European.
We have heard a lot about the Kakum National Park, the Mole Game Reserve, the Paga Crocodile Pond, the Wli Waterfalls, the Tafi Monkey Sanctuary and many others. In all cases the curious visitor had to beat a hasty return or find him/herself alone in the wilderness. Reaching those places can be nightmarish because of the poor nature of the roads. We need to give tourism development more serious attention than we are doing now.
Recently a tourism marketing strategy was launched aimed at, according to its initiators, launching Ghana as the prime tourism destination in the West African sub-region. It is a laudable idea but what is the guarantee that it will not end up becoming an Accra event, which will not change the tourism map of the country?
Investment in tourism is not about printing T-shirts, cloths and other paraphernalia and parading in them on the streets of media. Neither shall we achieve much if we get social commentators talking plenty on the radio and television extolling our tourism potentials.
We do not need anyone to tell us that we have beautiful places in the country that can attract the tourist. What we need is the development of these places and making sure that they are accessible to the visitor. That means building good roads to these places, providing decent accommodation for those who want to spend a night or two and making sure that recreational and leisure facilities are available to provide total satisfaction to tourists.
President Obama’s visit is an opportunity to make good money from those who may want to take advantage of the visit to explore the country. But with the rains rendering almost all our roads impassable, where can they go?
The World Tourism Day celebration in Ghana is an opportunity to sell our country. However, as things stand now, it is likely we may end up sending the delegates to the Elmina and Cape Coast castles; show them a few people dancing bare-chested and return home feeling satisfied that we have showcased Ghana to the world. We can do more than that, but we have to change our approach to tourism development, otherwise we should as well forget the windfall for now.
In the coming days, weeks and months, our country will be playing host to several visitors and international events, which makes it an important place to harvest windfalls from tourism. Coming close is the arrival on Friday, of President Barrack Obama, the third US President to visit this country over the last 11 years. Bill Clinton was here on March 23, 1998 followed by George W. Bush, who arrived here on February 19, 2008 for a three-day visit.
In September, Ghana will play host to the World Tourism Day, an event that will certainly record an inflow of visitors mostly in the hospitality industry. In the past few years, our country has been privileged to be venues for a number of important and significant international events.
In 2007, we celebrated our 50th anniversary in a manner that gave no credit to that epoch and historic event. It was as if there was nothing worth celebrating. In July of the same year, the country hosted the African Union Summit at which the African leaders made high-flying statements about continental union. In 2008, we were again lucky to host the 26th MTN Africa Cup of Nations.
These are high-profile international events that could have easily been utilised to advertise the country’s vast potential assets. But did we measure up to the challenge? Even though official sources continue to tout tourism as the fourth biggest foreign exchange earner, the tourism sector is woefully underdeveloped. We could not take advantage of these events to make foreign cash because of poor infrastructure.
The first visible sign of our inadequacy is the poor road network from the capital to the places of leisure and pleasure. Apart from the Elmina and Cape Coast castles that can now be accessed by a fairly good road, most of the places that will be the tourist’s haven are ‘hidden’ because it takes a lot of courage and determination to reach them.
The tourist’s disappointment could only be experienced to be appreciated after reaching his/her destination only to realise that apart from what nature has provided the people of Ghana have not provided anything for their comfort and entertainment. Pour souls, they would neither get a decent place to retire their worn-out bodies nor a nice place to relax with friends.
The emptiness at Dodi Island is something that intrigues me. This is a place that is very close to Accra and has money-spinning potentials but remains untapped. The dream of many who have heard of the place is to pay a visit and many social groupings and corporate entities continue to organise excursions for their members to Dodi Island. But the high expectations immediately fizzle out after the desolation hit them in the face. Only the boat ride offers something interesting.
Can we picture how Dodi Island would be like at the weekends if the place was developed with hotel facilities, recreational and amusement facilities for adults and children? The place would have been breezing with visitors, both local and foreign, who would want to savour the beauty of the Volta Lake.
It appears we still think that there cannot be anything more important beyond raw cocoa beans, raw timber and gold ore. Tourism can easily transform the economy of this country and change the lifestyle of our rural communities.
We don’t develop tourism just by holding workshops for chop-bar operators in Accra. The greater number of tourists will want to visit the tourist sites buried deep in the country and not walking the streets of Accra which, apart from its people, have nothing to offer the American or European.
We have heard a lot about the Kakum National Park, the Mole Game Reserve, the Paga Crocodile Pond, the Wli Waterfalls, the Tafi Monkey Sanctuary and many others. In all cases the curious visitor had to beat a hasty return or find him/herself alone in the wilderness. Reaching those places can be nightmarish because of the poor nature of the roads. We need to give tourism development more serious attention than we are doing now.
Recently a tourism marketing strategy was launched aimed at, according to its initiators, launching Ghana as the prime tourism destination in the West African sub-region. It is a laudable idea but what is the guarantee that it will not end up becoming an Accra event, which will not change the tourism map of the country?
Investment in tourism is not about printing T-shirts, cloths and other paraphernalia and parading in them on the streets of media. Neither shall we achieve much if we get social commentators talking plenty on the radio and television extolling our tourism potentials.
We do not need anyone to tell us that we have beautiful places in the country that can attract the tourist. What we need is the development of these places and making sure that they are accessible to the visitor. That means building good roads to these places, providing decent accommodation for those who want to spend a night or two and making sure that recreational and leisure facilities are available to provide total satisfaction to tourists.
President Obama’s visit is an opportunity to make good money from those who may want to take advantage of the visit to explore the country. But with the rains rendering almost all our roads impassable, where can they go?
The World Tourism Day celebration in Ghana is an opportunity to sell our country. However, as things stand now, it is likely we may end up sending the delegates to the Elmina and Cape Coast castles; show them a few people dancing bare-chested and return home feeling satisfied that we have showcased Ghana to the world. We can do more than that, but we have to change our approach to tourism development, otherwise we should as well forget the windfall for now.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
THE VULTURE IN THE GHANAIAN (JUNE 30, 2009)
Suddenly we all know the source of the problem and the solutions. We have been waiting for disaster to strike then everybody begins to do something to save a bad situation.
Last week, Accra, the nation’s capital, once again came under heavy floods that claimed lives and property. The politicians were as usual busy doing what they know best — putting the blame where it should be and making promises — a process they are likely to repeat next year, since nature’s ways cannot be controlled.
We all know why even the slightest drizzle can cause flooding in certain parts of Accra but we have failed to act sometimes for the sake of cheap politics.
Accra in particular and for that matter most of our towns and cities have problems of choked drains, poorly constructed roads and irresponsible construction of structures on watercourses. All these have something to do with human nature, which could be summed up in one word — indiscipline.
As had been the routine, government officials, while touring the disaster areas in the city, kept on warning those who had defied building regulations to obstruct the free flow of rainwater, thus causing the floods.
They also did not have kind words for officials of the Town and Country Planning Department for sometimes looking the other way while these illegal structures were being erected in a haphazard manner all over the city.
Officials of the Town and Country Planning Department will also tell you that they sometimes bend the rules because of phone calls from powerful voices or notes in the handwriting of people in powerful positions in government.
We are in a crisis so the government must respond accordingly. We have been told an inter-ministerial committee has been set up to identify and demolish buildings and structures on watercourses to prevent further floods. That is well said, what about the implementation? The solution also goes beyond the demolition of a few buildings.
We all know the history of demolitions and decongestions in the country. Attempts in the past to decongest the city or dismantle illegal structures were sabotaged either through opportunism or political expediency.
In 2005 or so, Mr Stanley Nii Adjiri-Blankson, the then Metropolitan Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), did a wonderful job by decongesting the Central Business District of Accra with amazing alacrity.
Residents who applauded the exercise testified that for once they could move freely on the pavements of Makola without winding their way through a dense forest of street hawkers. Motorists, including taxi and tro-tro drivers, were able to transport their passengers without any hindrance and apart from the street hawkers who had been uprooted from their strongholds, every other Ghanaian was pleased that Accra had regained its lost glory and dignity as the nation’s capital.
Just as Adjiri-Blankson’s decongestion and demolition squad was gathering steam and bracing up for more exercises in other parts of the capital, the political propaganda machinery went into motion discrediting the whole exercise. The story was that, the government was out to take food from the mouths of the ordinary people after they had voted the New Patriotic Party (NPP) into power.
Unfortunately for Nii Adjiri-Blankson, there was a forthcoming by-election at the Odododiodoo Constituency in the heart of Ga Mashie, which was already a bad zone for the NPP. You can call it blackmail. And it worked.
On the orders of some heavyweights in the party, the decongestive exercise was stopped and the madness returned to the streets of Accra. We were told the exercise would be repackaged with a human face (whatever that means) and ever since, Adjiri-Blankson managed to stay clear from controversy until his party bowed out of office. The NPP lost the Odododiodoo by-election anyway.
In 2007, an exercise was initiated with a lot of fanfare to demolish 25 unauthorised buildings built on land belonging to the Ghana Water Company Limited and which lie in the Weija Dam watercourses. After three houses went down, the human rights activists and those who read politics into everything went into action. The exercise came to an abrupt end. These two examples illustrate our frustration as a nation whenever we want to tackle a purely national problem.
The truth is, we are reaping the results of years of indiscipline and inaction. We are all talking today because we are still picking the dead and counting our losses. Let the sun dry up the flood waters and, we, like the vulture, shall go back to our evil ways.
We have building regulations that we do not adhere to, thus allowing structures to sprout at any empty space in our cities and towns, not necessarily on the blind side of the city authorities. Our poorly designed and constructed drains are reeling under garbage that blocks the free flow of water during heavy rains.
Warnings such as; ‘Stop Work and Produce Permit’ do not have meaning any longer. Most often, work never stops, not because a permit has been produced or the structure is located on an approved site. The maxim ‘man must live’ always holds sway and with a phone call here and a brief note there, watercourses have been turned into residential areas.
Accra has become flood-prone because over the years, several residential areas have developed without proper layout and those tasked to ensure that the right thing is done will tell you that they have been frustrated in their work by politicians and other powerful persons who should have known better.
It is the expectation of every Ghanaian that the inter-ministerial task force will discharge its mandate without fear or favour. Politicising every national issue should be discarded. That is why it is welcome news that two prominent politicians — Mr Peter Mac Manu, National Chairman of the NPP, and Mr Yaw Boateng-Gyan, Deputy National Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) — have called for a non-partisan approach to the decongestive exercise. Not only that. There are many other important matters that could be handled better in the national interest without undue heavy politicisation.
For now, we can only compare our case to that of the vulture, which always pledges to build a house after the first raindrops. We should aim at preventing disaster instead of making repairs after the harm has been done.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
Kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Last week, Accra, the nation’s capital, once again came under heavy floods that claimed lives and property. The politicians were as usual busy doing what they know best — putting the blame where it should be and making promises — a process they are likely to repeat next year, since nature’s ways cannot be controlled.
We all know why even the slightest drizzle can cause flooding in certain parts of Accra but we have failed to act sometimes for the sake of cheap politics.
Accra in particular and for that matter most of our towns and cities have problems of choked drains, poorly constructed roads and irresponsible construction of structures on watercourses. All these have something to do with human nature, which could be summed up in one word — indiscipline.
As had been the routine, government officials, while touring the disaster areas in the city, kept on warning those who had defied building regulations to obstruct the free flow of rainwater, thus causing the floods.
They also did not have kind words for officials of the Town and Country Planning Department for sometimes looking the other way while these illegal structures were being erected in a haphazard manner all over the city.
Officials of the Town and Country Planning Department will also tell you that they sometimes bend the rules because of phone calls from powerful voices or notes in the handwriting of people in powerful positions in government.
We are in a crisis so the government must respond accordingly. We have been told an inter-ministerial committee has been set up to identify and demolish buildings and structures on watercourses to prevent further floods. That is well said, what about the implementation? The solution also goes beyond the demolition of a few buildings.
We all know the history of demolitions and decongestions in the country. Attempts in the past to decongest the city or dismantle illegal structures were sabotaged either through opportunism or political expediency.
In 2005 or so, Mr Stanley Nii Adjiri-Blankson, the then Metropolitan Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), did a wonderful job by decongesting the Central Business District of Accra with amazing alacrity.
Residents who applauded the exercise testified that for once they could move freely on the pavements of Makola without winding their way through a dense forest of street hawkers. Motorists, including taxi and tro-tro drivers, were able to transport their passengers without any hindrance and apart from the street hawkers who had been uprooted from their strongholds, every other Ghanaian was pleased that Accra had regained its lost glory and dignity as the nation’s capital.
Just as Adjiri-Blankson’s decongestion and demolition squad was gathering steam and bracing up for more exercises in other parts of the capital, the political propaganda machinery went into motion discrediting the whole exercise. The story was that, the government was out to take food from the mouths of the ordinary people after they had voted the New Patriotic Party (NPP) into power.
Unfortunately for Nii Adjiri-Blankson, there was a forthcoming by-election at the Odododiodoo Constituency in the heart of Ga Mashie, which was already a bad zone for the NPP. You can call it blackmail. And it worked.
On the orders of some heavyweights in the party, the decongestive exercise was stopped and the madness returned to the streets of Accra. We were told the exercise would be repackaged with a human face (whatever that means) and ever since, Adjiri-Blankson managed to stay clear from controversy until his party bowed out of office. The NPP lost the Odododiodoo by-election anyway.
In 2007, an exercise was initiated with a lot of fanfare to demolish 25 unauthorised buildings built on land belonging to the Ghana Water Company Limited and which lie in the Weija Dam watercourses. After three houses went down, the human rights activists and those who read politics into everything went into action. The exercise came to an abrupt end. These two examples illustrate our frustration as a nation whenever we want to tackle a purely national problem.
The truth is, we are reaping the results of years of indiscipline and inaction. We are all talking today because we are still picking the dead and counting our losses. Let the sun dry up the flood waters and, we, like the vulture, shall go back to our evil ways.
We have building regulations that we do not adhere to, thus allowing structures to sprout at any empty space in our cities and towns, not necessarily on the blind side of the city authorities. Our poorly designed and constructed drains are reeling under garbage that blocks the free flow of water during heavy rains.
Warnings such as; ‘Stop Work and Produce Permit’ do not have meaning any longer. Most often, work never stops, not because a permit has been produced or the structure is located on an approved site. The maxim ‘man must live’ always holds sway and with a phone call here and a brief note there, watercourses have been turned into residential areas.
Accra has become flood-prone because over the years, several residential areas have developed without proper layout and those tasked to ensure that the right thing is done will tell you that they have been frustrated in their work by politicians and other powerful persons who should have known better.
It is the expectation of every Ghanaian that the inter-ministerial task force will discharge its mandate without fear or favour. Politicising every national issue should be discarded. That is why it is welcome news that two prominent politicians — Mr Peter Mac Manu, National Chairman of the NPP, and Mr Yaw Boateng-Gyan, Deputy National Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) — have called for a non-partisan approach to the decongestive exercise. Not only that. There are many other important matters that could be handled better in the national interest without undue heavy politicisation.
For now, we can only compare our case to that of the vulture, which always pledges to build a house after the first raindrops. We should aim at preventing disaster instead of making repairs after the harm has been done.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
Kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
The vulture in the Ghanaian
By Kofi Akordor
Suddenly we all know the source of the problem and the solutions. We have been waiting for disaster to strike then everybody begins to do something to save a bad situation.
Last week, Accra, the nation’s capital, once again came under heavy floods that claimed lives and property. The politicians were as usual busy doing what they know best — putting the blame where it should be and making promises — a process they are likely to repeat next year, since nature’s ways cannot be controlled.
We all know why even the slightest drizzle can cause flooding in certain parts of Accra but we have failed to act sometimes for the sake of cheap politics. Accra in particular and for that matter most of our towns and cities have problems of choked drains, poorly constructed roads and irresponsible construction of structures on watercourses. All these have something to do with human nature, which could be summed up in one word — indiscipline.
As had been the routine, government officials, while touring the disaster areas in the city, kept on warning those who had defied building regulations to obstruct the free flow of rainwater, thus causing the floods. They also did not have kind words for officials of the Town and Country Planning Department for sometimes looking the other way while these illegal structures were being erected in a haphazard manner all over the city.
Officials of the Town and Country Planning Department will also tell you that they sometimes bend the rules because of phone calls from powerful voices or notes in the handwriting of people in powerful positions in government.
We are in a crisis so the government must respond accordingly. We have been told an inter-ministerial committee has been set up to identify and demolish buildings and structures on watercourses to prevent further floods. That is well said, what about the implementation? The solution also goes beyond the demolition of a few buildings.
We all know the history of demolitions and decongestions in the country. Attempts in the past to decongest the city or dismantle illegal structures were sabotaged either through opportunism or political expediency.
In 2005 or so, Mr Stanley Nii Adjiri-Blankson, the then Metropolitan Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), did a wonderful job by decongesting the Central Business District of Accra with amazing alacrity. Residents who applauded the exercise testified that for once they could move freely on the pavements of Makola without winding their way through a dense forest of street hawkers. Motorists, including taxi and tro-tro drivers, were able to transport their passengers without any hindrance and apart from the street hawkers who had been uprooted from their strongholds, every other Ghanaian was pleased that Accra had regained its lost glory and dignity as the nation’s capital.
Just as Adjiri-Blankson’s decongestion and demolition squad was gathering steam and bracing up for more exercises in other parts of the capital, the political propaganda machinery went into motion discrediting the whole exercise. The story was that, the government was out to take food from the mouths of the ordinary people after they had voted the New Patriotic Party (NPP) into power.
Unfortunately for Nii Adjiri-Blankson, there was a forthcoming by-election at the Odododiodoo Constituency in the heart of Ga Mashie, which was already a bad zone for the NPP. You can call it blackmail. And it worked. On the orders of some heavyweights in the party, the decongestive exercise was stopped and the madness returned to the streets of Accra. We were told the exercise would be repackaged with a human face (whatever that means) and ever since, Adjiri-Blankson managed to stay clear from controversy until his party bowed out of office. The NPP lost the Odododiodoo by-election anyway.
In 2007, an exercise was initiated with a lot of fanfare to demolish 25 unauthorised buildings built on land belonging to the Ghana Water Company Limited and which lie in the Weija Dam watercourses. After three houses went down, the human rights activists and those who read politics into everything went into action. The exercise came to an abrupt end. These two examples illustrate our frustration as a nation whenever we want to tackle a purely national problem.
The truth is, we are reaping the results of years of indiscipline and inaction. We are all talking today because we are still picking the dead and counting our losses. Let the sun dry up the flood waters and, we, like the vulture, shall go back to our evil ways.
We have building regulations that we do not adhere to, thus allowing structures to sprout at any empty space in our cities and towns, not necessarily on the blind side of the city authorities. Our poorly designed and constructed drains are reeling under garbage that blocks the free flow of water during heavy rains.
Warnings such as; ‘Stop Work and Produce Permit’ do not have meaning any longer. Most often, work never stops, not because a permit has been produced or the structure is located on an approved site. The maxim ‘man must live’ always holds sway and with a phone call here and a brief note there, watercourses have been turned into residential areas.
Accra has become flood-prone because over the years, several residential areas have developed without proper layout and those tasked to ensure that the right thing is done will tell you that they have been frustrated in their work by politicians and other powerful persons who should have known better.
It is the expectation of every Ghanaian that the inter-ministerial task force will discharge its mandate without fear or favour. Politicising every national issue should be discarded. That is why it is welcome news that two prominent politicians — Mr Peter Mac Manu, National Chairman of the NPP, and Mr Yaw Boateng-Gyan, Deputy National Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) — have called for a non-partisan approach to the decongestive exercise. Not only that. There are many other important matters that could be handled better in the national interest without undue heavy politicisation.
For now, we can only compare our case to that of the vulture, which always pledges to build a house after the first raindrops. We should aim at preventing disaster instead of making repairs after the harm has been done.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
Kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Suddenly we all know the source of the problem and the solutions. We have been waiting for disaster to strike then everybody begins to do something to save a bad situation.
Last week, Accra, the nation’s capital, once again came under heavy floods that claimed lives and property. The politicians were as usual busy doing what they know best — putting the blame where it should be and making promises — a process they are likely to repeat next year, since nature’s ways cannot be controlled.
We all know why even the slightest drizzle can cause flooding in certain parts of Accra but we have failed to act sometimes for the sake of cheap politics. Accra in particular and for that matter most of our towns and cities have problems of choked drains, poorly constructed roads and irresponsible construction of structures on watercourses. All these have something to do with human nature, which could be summed up in one word — indiscipline.
As had been the routine, government officials, while touring the disaster areas in the city, kept on warning those who had defied building regulations to obstruct the free flow of rainwater, thus causing the floods. They also did not have kind words for officials of the Town and Country Planning Department for sometimes looking the other way while these illegal structures were being erected in a haphazard manner all over the city.
Officials of the Town and Country Planning Department will also tell you that they sometimes bend the rules because of phone calls from powerful voices or notes in the handwriting of people in powerful positions in government.
We are in a crisis so the government must respond accordingly. We have been told an inter-ministerial committee has been set up to identify and demolish buildings and structures on watercourses to prevent further floods. That is well said, what about the implementation? The solution also goes beyond the demolition of a few buildings.
We all know the history of demolitions and decongestions in the country. Attempts in the past to decongest the city or dismantle illegal structures were sabotaged either through opportunism or political expediency.
In 2005 or so, Mr Stanley Nii Adjiri-Blankson, the then Metropolitan Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), did a wonderful job by decongesting the Central Business District of Accra with amazing alacrity. Residents who applauded the exercise testified that for once they could move freely on the pavements of Makola without winding their way through a dense forest of street hawkers. Motorists, including taxi and tro-tro drivers, were able to transport their passengers without any hindrance and apart from the street hawkers who had been uprooted from their strongholds, every other Ghanaian was pleased that Accra had regained its lost glory and dignity as the nation’s capital.
Just as Adjiri-Blankson’s decongestion and demolition squad was gathering steam and bracing up for more exercises in other parts of the capital, the political propaganda machinery went into motion discrediting the whole exercise. The story was that, the government was out to take food from the mouths of the ordinary people after they had voted the New Patriotic Party (NPP) into power.
Unfortunately for Nii Adjiri-Blankson, there was a forthcoming by-election at the Odododiodoo Constituency in the heart of Ga Mashie, which was already a bad zone for the NPP. You can call it blackmail. And it worked. On the orders of some heavyweights in the party, the decongestive exercise was stopped and the madness returned to the streets of Accra. We were told the exercise would be repackaged with a human face (whatever that means) and ever since, Adjiri-Blankson managed to stay clear from controversy until his party bowed out of office. The NPP lost the Odododiodoo by-election anyway.
In 2007, an exercise was initiated with a lot of fanfare to demolish 25 unauthorised buildings built on land belonging to the Ghana Water Company Limited and which lie in the Weija Dam watercourses. After three houses went down, the human rights activists and those who read politics into everything went into action. The exercise came to an abrupt end. These two examples illustrate our frustration as a nation whenever we want to tackle a purely national problem.
The truth is, we are reaping the results of years of indiscipline and inaction. We are all talking today because we are still picking the dead and counting our losses. Let the sun dry up the flood waters and, we, like the vulture, shall go back to our evil ways.
We have building regulations that we do not adhere to, thus allowing structures to sprout at any empty space in our cities and towns, not necessarily on the blind side of the city authorities. Our poorly designed and constructed drains are reeling under garbage that blocks the free flow of water during heavy rains.
Warnings such as; ‘Stop Work and Produce Permit’ do not have meaning any longer. Most often, work never stops, not because a permit has been produced or the structure is located on an approved site. The maxim ‘man must live’ always holds sway and with a phone call here and a brief note there, watercourses have been turned into residential areas.
Accra has become flood-prone because over the years, several residential areas have developed without proper layout and those tasked to ensure that the right thing is done will tell you that they have been frustrated in their work by politicians and other powerful persons who should have known better.
It is the expectation of every Ghanaian that the inter-ministerial task force will discharge its mandate without fear or favour. Politicising every national issue should be discarded. That is why it is welcome news that two prominent politicians — Mr Peter Mac Manu, National Chairman of the NPP, and Mr Yaw Boateng-Gyan, Deputy National Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) — have called for a non-partisan approach to the decongestive exercise. Not only that. There are many other important matters that could be handled better in the national interest without undue heavy politicisation.
For now, we can only compare our case to that of the vulture, which always pledges to build a house after the first raindrops. We should aim at preventing disaster instead of making repairs after the harm has been done.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
Kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
PARTY SOLIDARITY AND NATIONAL INTEREST (JUNE 23, 2009)
IT started a few years ago when busloads of party supporters were transported to the courts whenever former ministers and functionaries of the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) government were to make an appearance on various charges.
We saw it during the infamous Quality Grain trial. Heavy party presence was always felt during the trial of the former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, and others over the divestiture and purchase of the Nsawam Cannery and during the trial and conviction of Mr Tsatsu Tsikata, former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC).
Similarly, an ‘invitation’ extended to former President J. J. Rawlings by National Security to come and assist in certain investigations saw hundreds of NDC supporters besieging the premises of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).
In all cases, the conclusion was that the personalities who were either on trial or had been invited for questioning were victims of political persecution or victimisation. That opened the gates for a new phenomenon to creep into our political culture. That is, any attempt to question the conduct of a former public office holder with clear identifiable political leaning is a victim who is being sacrificed on behalf of the political party he/she belongs to and must, therefore, be seen as such and given party support.
While the NDC played the game very well to draw public sympathy for the “cruel and inconsiderate” actions of the government under the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Kufuor administration was always on the defensive trying to convince Ghanaians that its actions were purely in the public interest and there was nothing vindictive about the cases that were before the law courts or under investigation.
Whether this worked in favour of the NDC or not is another matter. However, the NPP suffered greatly when, in one of those moments of indiscretion, Mr J. H. Mensah, a stalwart of the NPP, stated publicly that by the time they had finished jailing top functionaries of the NDC, the party would not be able to stand on its feet again. That naturally gave strength to the NDC to raise its voice to the highest decibel, shouting political persecution anytime any of its former ministers or party functionaries was mentioned in connection with any malfeasance.
Whether we like it or not, a party that had been threatened with extinction was always the winner whenever one of its members was being dragged to the courts. At least that was the case in the eyes of a gullible public that lacked the ability to make fair and independent judgement.
The order has changed and the NPP is now in opposition. Having taken a cue from the NDC strategy, the NPP is always quick to complain of harassment and persecution.
In their case too, and just as Mr Mensah’s overzealous and careless statement strengthened the NDC’s case of persecution, the early days of the Mills administration, during which the security apparatus faltered in executing some of its mandate, created in the minds of a section of the people, especially NPP fanatics, that the NDC was out to outdo the NPP in political vindictiveness.
That was why even those former public office holders, who genuinely knew that they had not fulfilled the conditions to take home official vehicles and other state property, were quick to react with complaints of political persecution. For a party that is still nursing wounds that were inflicted on it by its painful defeat in the last elections, it is easy for its officers to attract sympathy from disillusioned supporters whenever the signals are given.
So it came to pass that when Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, the former Chief of Staff and Minister for Presidential Affairs, was invited by the BNI to answer certain questions, the response from certain hard-core party supporters, including former ministers and current Members of Parliament, was to besiege the premises of the BNI because one of them who happened to be the most powerful person, apart from former President J.A. Kufuor, was, as it may be described, under ‘captivity’ by the enemy.
The matter of Mr Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, the former Information Minister, is another clear case in which heroes could be made out of people who, otherwise, would only be seen as having genuine questions to answer. The arms, ears and eyes of National Security are very powerful.
Surely, that national apparatus had foreknowledge of Mr Asamoah-Boateng’s travel and, therefore, could have alerted him about the impending invitation to him. National Security could even have made a public announcement to that effect. If that had been done, Mr Asamoah-Boateng would have been seen as somebody trying to run away from justice if he had been arrested at the airport about to board an aircraft.
Suddenly, the persecution chorus has reached a crescendo of amazing cadences because we failed to do certain basic things. All further explanations in a quicksand manner only add to the murky waters and give voice to people who otherwise should have been silent.
In our part of the world, nobody could discount political persecution or vindictiveness. All governments that come to power, including those which imposed themselves on the people through illegal means, always find nothing good about their predecessors. They always inherit empty coffers and collapsed economies. Incidentally, their lifestyles sometimes surpass those of their predecessors and they ultimately go home with bigger articulated trucks filled with ‘spoils’ of war.
That is why we should be able to separate party and government from the national interest. Even though a party may have a big support base, those who actually benefit from the activities are the front liners — the national, regional, constituency and ward executives in that descending order and those who are privileged to be close to them.
In same way we can say that for the government, it is the principal officers, from the President and the Vice President, ministers of state, metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives, to those who, through their linkages and connections, found themselves in certain public positions who are in government.
As for the rest of us, we are the citizens of this country who have ceded our power to our party leaders, especially when that party forms the government and the principal officers of the government, to do what is best for us. We are at their mercy after we have stood for hours in the tropical sun or a heavy downpour to cast the ballot to elect our President.
It is, therefore, naïve, bordering on foolhardiness, for ordinary members of a party to troop to the police station or the courts in sympathy with a former minister who is being questioned for wrongdoing or for amassing wealth through illegal means while in public office. Why should I subject myself to such humiliation?
What many Ghanaians, including those party fanatics, should know is that this country called Ghana is where it is today, still poor in the midst of abundant resources, because of the actions and inaction of politicians who begged us for our mandate but turned round to fill their pockets.
Our children continue to squat under trees for their lessons while we drive on muddy, pothole-filled roads because some politicians have colluded with faceless contractors to misuse our national resources for their personal aggrandisement.
Our national capital, Accra, is an eyesore compared to others (spare me the comparison between some African countries) because people given the mandate to take certain decisions have failed in that regard but made sure they went home with a good chunk of our national wealth. The traffic lights in Accra and other places are not functioning not because we lack the resources. Our young men and women are leaving in droves for destinations they hardly know; not because they enjoy separating from their relatives and friends.
Our schools are overcrowded, our health facilities are poorly equipped and manned, and in most cases have become transit camps for the final destination, our public servants continue to cry for living wages to no avail. These and many other problems confronting this nation are the result of the ineptitude of our political leaders who always cry ‘No Fund’, but are able to save enough to live in opulence. Some could even afford a vacation in foreign lands but whenever the trumpet is sounded for accountability, they quickly invoke the persecution theory to attract sympathy.
Mr Mpiani was a very powerful person who did not leave office poorer. He commanded executive powers almost comparable to what the Constitution gave to the President of the Republic. He presided over several national projects and programmes which involved huge sums of national revenue. These include the Ghana @ 50 Celebrations and the construction of the Jubilee Mansion.
In all cases, his responses to queries about the monies involved when he appeared before Parliament, our House of Representatives, were at best snobbish.
You cannot talk to the Americans, the British, the French, the Japanese or citizens of any of those countries making perfect movement in the right direction when questioned about how you are expending their national revenue and expect a multitude of party supporters to be chanting war songs threatening the Office of Accountability for demanding from you an account of how you disburse state funds.
This can only happen in a land where the people do not know what they want and, therefore, can be fooled and swindled by those they claim are their chosen messiahs and heroes. Take the Jubilee Mansion, for example. In the beginning, it was to cost the nation US$45 million, with part grant of US$30 million from the Government of India. We have crossed the US$100 million mark and the completion of the project is nowhere in sight.
There is something called variation in the construction industry. This refers to an additional cost arising either out of minor additions or certain minor things that were overlooked in the original design or contract.
But tell me, where on earth, can the cost of the variation be more than double the cost of the original project? So nobody should offer an explanation for this, when it is the poor people of this country who are going to pay the excess amount?
We have always been mentioning countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Brazil, South Korea, Turkey, Indonesia, Thailand and all other emerging economies which could not have reached where they are today, if they had allowed their public office holders to walk away without being made to account for the national wealth placed in their custody.
By all means, people should not suffer because they have served in a particular government. There must be due diligence when probing public officials whether active or previous. The rights of individuals must be recognised and respected as prescribed by law or as enshrined in our national constitution.
As much as possible, nothing should be done to give any semblance of political persecution or vindictiveness in matters that are of national interest. We should be careful not to make heroes out of people who have greatly contributed to our impoverishment and forced us deeper into underdevelopment.
Those who stood between us and our forward march to glory should not be shielded in any way. We should not give a second laugh to people who exploited our collective authority vested in them to deny us our right to good life.
We cannot move forward and join those galloping ahead of us if we continue to allow public office holders to mix in the crowd with their booty. The grains must be separated from the chaff and in executing this assignment, there should not be room for mistakes or compromise.
Party supporters must also know that it is in their own interest to push forward the national interest instead of pandering to the whims and caprices of a few former ministers. If Ghana has good roads, good medical facilities, good educational facilities and other social infrastructure in place, the country will be good for everybody, not a few party or government supporters.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
We saw it during the infamous Quality Grain trial. Heavy party presence was always felt during the trial of the former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, and others over the divestiture and purchase of the Nsawam Cannery and during the trial and conviction of Mr Tsatsu Tsikata, former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC).
Similarly, an ‘invitation’ extended to former President J. J. Rawlings by National Security to come and assist in certain investigations saw hundreds of NDC supporters besieging the premises of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).
In all cases, the conclusion was that the personalities who were either on trial or had been invited for questioning were victims of political persecution or victimisation. That opened the gates for a new phenomenon to creep into our political culture. That is, any attempt to question the conduct of a former public office holder with clear identifiable political leaning is a victim who is being sacrificed on behalf of the political party he/she belongs to and must, therefore, be seen as such and given party support.
While the NDC played the game very well to draw public sympathy for the “cruel and inconsiderate” actions of the government under the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Kufuor administration was always on the defensive trying to convince Ghanaians that its actions were purely in the public interest and there was nothing vindictive about the cases that were before the law courts or under investigation.
Whether this worked in favour of the NDC or not is another matter. However, the NPP suffered greatly when, in one of those moments of indiscretion, Mr J. H. Mensah, a stalwart of the NPP, stated publicly that by the time they had finished jailing top functionaries of the NDC, the party would not be able to stand on its feet again. That naturally gave strength to the NDC to raise its voice to the highest decibel, shouting political persecution anytime any of its former ministers or party functionaries was mentioned in connection with any malfeasance.
Whether we like it or not, a party that had been threatened with extinction was always the winner whenever one of its members was being dragged to the courts. At least that was the case in the eyes of a gullible public that lacked the ability to make fair and independent judgement.
The order has changed and the NPP is now in opposition. Having taken a cue from the NDC strategy, the NPP is always quick to complain of harassment and persecution.
In their case too, and just as Mr Mensah’s overzealous and careless statement strengthened the NDC’s case of persecution, the early days of the Mills administration, during which the security apparatus faltered in executing some of its mandate, created in the minds of a section of the people, especially NPP fanatics, that the NDC was out to outdo the NPP in political vindictiveness.
That was why even those former public office holders, who genuinely knew that they had not fulfilled the conditions to take home official vehicles and other state property, were quick to react with complaints of political persecution. For a party that is still nursing wounds that were inflicted on it by its painful defeat in the last elections, it is easy for its officers to attract sympathy from disillusioned supporters whenever the signals are given.
So it came to pass that when Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, the former Chief of Staff and Minister for Presidential Affairs, was invited by the BNI to answer certain questions, the response from certain hard-core party supporters, including former ministers and current Members of Parliament, was to besiege the premises of the BNI because one of them who happened to be the most powerful person, apart from former President J.A. Kufuor, was, as it may be described, under ‘captivity’ by the enemy.
The matter of Mr Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, the former Information Minister, is another clear case in which heroes could be made out of people who, otherwise, would only be seen as having genuine questions to answer. The arms, ears and eyes of National Security are very powerful.
Surely, that national apparatus had foreknowledge of Mr Asamoah-Boateng’s travel and, therefore, could have alerted him about the impending invitation to him. National Security could even have made a public announcement to that effect. If that had been done, Mr Asamoah-Boateng would have been seen as somebody trying to run away from justice if he had been arrested at the airport about to board an aircraft.
Suddenly, the persecution chorus has reached a crescendo of amazing cadences because we failed to do certain basic things. All further explanations in a quicksand manner only add to the murky waters and give voice to people who otherwise should have been silent.
In our part of the world, nobody could discount political persecution or vindictiveness. All governments that come to power, including those which imposed themselves on the people through illegal means, always find nothing good about their predecessors. They always inherit empty coffers and collapsed economies. Incidentally, their lifestyles sometimes surpass those of their predecessors and they ultimately go home with bigger articulated trucks filled with ‘spoils’ of war.
That is why we should be able to separate party and government from the national interest. Even though a party may have a big support base, those who actually benefit from the activities are the front liners — the national, regional, constituency and ward executives in that descending order and those who are privileged to be close to them.
In same way we can say that for the government, it is the principal officers, from the President and the Vice President, ministers of state, metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives, to those who, through their linkages and connections, found themselves in certain public positions who are in government.
As for the rest of us, we are the citizens of this country who have ceded our power to our party leaders, especially when that party forms the government and the principal officers of the government, to do what is best for us. We are at their mercy after we have stood for hours in the tropical sun or a heavy downpour to cast the ballot to elect our President.
It is, therefore, naïve, bordering on foolhardiness, for ordinary members of a party to troop to the police station or the courts in sympathy with a former minister who is being questioned for wrongdoing or for amassing wealth through illegal means while in public office. Why should I subject myself to such humiliation?
What many Ghanaians, including those party fanatics, should know is that this country called Ghana is where it is today, still poor in the midst of abundant resources, because of the actions and inaction of politicians who begged us for our mandate but turned round to fill their pockets.
Our children continue to squat under trees for their lessons while we drive on muddy, pothole-filled roads because some politicians have colluded with faceless contractors to misuse our national resources for their personal aggrandisement.
Our national capital, Accra, is an eyesore compared to others (spare me the comparison between some African countries) because people given the mandate to take certain decisions have failed in that regard but made sure they went home with a good chunk of our national wealth. The traffic lights in Accra and other places are not functioning not because we lack the resources. Our young men and women are leaving in droves for destinations they hardly know; not because they enjoy separating from their relatives and friends.
Our schools are overcrowded, our health facilities are poorly equipped and manned, and in most cases have become transit camps for the final destination, our public servants continue to cry for living wages to no avail. These and many other problems confronting this nation are the result of the ineptitude of our political leaders who always cry ‘No Fund’, but are able to save enough to live in opulence. Some could even afford a vacation in foreign lands but whenever the trumpet is sounded for accountability, they quickly invoke the persecution theory to attract sympathy.
Mr Mpiani was a very powerful person who did not leave office poorer. He commanded executive powers almost comparable to what the Constitution gave to the President of the Republic. He presided over several national projects and programmes which involved huge sums of national revenue. These include the Ghana @ 50 Celebrations and the construction of the Jubilee Mansion.
In all cases, his responses to queries about the monies involved when he appeared before Parliament, our House of Representatives, were at best snobbish.
You cannot talk to the Americans, the British, the French, the Japanese or citizens of any of those countries making perfect movement in the right direction when questioned about how you are expending their national revenue and expect a multitude of party supporters to be chanting war songs threatening the Office of Accountability for demanding from you an account of how you disburse state funds.
This can only happen in a land where the people do not know what they want and, therefore, can be fooled and swindled by those they claim are their chosen messiahs and heroes. Take the Jubilee Mansion, for example. In the beginning, it was to cost the nation US$45 million, with part grant of US$30 million from the Government of India. We have crossed the US$100 million mark and the completion of the project is nowhere in sight.
There is something called variation in the construction industry. This refers to an additional cost arising either out of minor additions or certain minor things that were overlooked in the original design or contract.
But tell me, where on earth, can the cost of the variation be more than double the cost of the original project? So nobody should offer an explanation for this, when it is the poor people of this country who are going to pay the excess amount?
We have always been mentioning countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Brazil, South Korea, Turkey, Indonesia, Thailand and all other emerging economies which could not have reached where they are today, if they had allowed their public office holders to walk away without being made to account for the national wealth placed in their custody.
By all means, people should not suffer because they have served in a particular government. There must be due diligence when probing public officials whether active or previous. The rights of individuals must be recognised and respected as prescribed by law or as enshrined in our national constitution.
As much as possible, nothing should be done to give any semblance of political persecution or vindictiveness in matters that are of national interest. We should be careful not to make heroes out of people who have greatly contributed to our impoverishment and forced us deeper into underdevelopment.
Those who stood between us and our forward march to glory should not be shielded in any way. We should not give a second laugh to people who exploited our collective authority vested in them to deny us our right to good life.
We cannot move forward and join those galloping ahead of us if we continue to allow public office holders to mix in the crowd with their booty. The grains must be separated from the chaff and in executing this assignment, there should not be room for mistakes or compromise.
Party supporters must also know that it is in their own interest to push forward the national interest instead of pandering to the whims and caprices of a few former ministers. If Ghana has good roads, good medical facilities, good educational facilities and other social infrastructure in place, the country will be good for everybody, not a few party or government supporters.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Party solidarity and national interest
By Kofi Akordor
IT started a few years ago when busloads of party supporters were transported to the courts whenever former ministers and functionaries of the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) government were to make an appearance on various charges.
We saw it during the infamous Quality Grain trial. Heavy party presence was always felt during the trial of the former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, and others over the divestiture and purchase of the Nsawam Cannery and during the trial and conviction of Mr Tsatsu Tsikata, former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC).
Similarly, an ‘invitation’ extended to former President J. J. Rawlings by National Security to come and assist in certain investigations saw hundreds of NDC supporters besieging the premises of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).
In all cases, the conclusion was that the personalities who were either on trial or had been invited for questioning were victims of political persecution or victimisation. That opened the gates for a new phenomenon to creep into our political culture. That is, any attempt to question the conduct of a former public office holder with clear identifiable political leaning is a victim who is being sacrificed on behalf of the political party he/she belongs to and must, therefore, be seen as such and given party support.
While the NDC played the game very well to draw public sympathy for the “cruel and inconsiderate” actions of the government under the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Kufuor administration was always on the defensive trying to convince Ghanaians that its actions were purely in the public interest and there was nothing vindictive about the cases that were before the law courts or under investigation.
Whether this worked in favour of the NDC or not is another matter. However, the NPP suffered greatly when, in one of those moments of indiscretion, Mr J. H. Mensah, a stalwart of the NPP, stated publicly that by the time they had finished jailing top functionaries of the NDC, the party would not be able to stand on its feet again. That naturally gave strength to the NDC to raise its voice to the highest decibel, shouting political persecution anytime any of its former ministers or party functionaries was mentioned in connection with any malfeasance.
Whether we like it or not, a party that had been threatened with extinction was always the winner whenever one of its members was being dragged to the courts. At least that was the case in the eyes of a gullible public that lacked the ability to make fair and independent judgement.
The order has changed and the NPP is now in opposition. Having taken a cue from the NDC strategy, the NPP is always quick to complain of harassment and persecution. In their case too, and just as Mr Mensah’s overzealous and careless statement strengthened the NDC’s case of persecution, the early days of the Mills administration, during which the security apparatus faltered in executing some of its mandate, created in the minds of a section of the people, especially NPP fanatics, that the NDC was out to outdo the NPP in political vindictiveness.
That was why even those former public office holders, who genuinely knew that they had not fulfilled the conditions to take home official vehicles and other state property, were quick to react with complaints of political persecution. For a party that is still nursing wounds that were inflicted on it by its painful defeat in the last elections, it is easy for its officers to attract sympathy from disillusioned supporters whenever the signals are given.
So it came to pass that when Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, the former Chief of Staff and Minister for Presidential Affairs, was invited by the BNI to answer certain questions, the response from certain hard-core party supporters, including former ministers and current Members of Parliament, was to besiege the premises of the BNI because one of them who happened to be the most powerful person, apart from former President J. A. Kufuor, was, as it may be described, under ‘captivity’ by the enemy.
The matter of Mr Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, the former Information Minister, is another clear case in which heroes could be made out of people who, otherwise, would only be seen as having genuine questions to answer. The arms, ears and eyes of National Security are very powerful. Surely, that national apparatus had foreknowledge of Mr Asamoah-Boateng’s travel and, therefore, could have alerted him about the impending invitation to him. National Security could even have made a public announcement to that effect. If that had been done, Mr Asamoah-Boateng would have been seen as somebody trying to run away from justice if he had been arrested at the airport about to board an aircraft.
Suddenly, the persecution chorus has reached a crescendo of amazing cadences because we failed to do certain basic things. All further explanations in a quicksand manner only add to the murky waters and give voice to people who otherwise should have been silent.
In our part of the world, nobody could discount political persecution or vindictiveness. All governments that come to power, including those which imposed themselves on the people through illegal means, always find nothing good about their predecessors. They always inherit empty coffers and collapsed economies. Incidentally, their lifestyles sometimes surpass those of their predecessors and they ultimately go home with bigger articulated trucks filled with ‘spoils’ of war.
To convince the public that they are a better bunch of people, they need to paint members of the previous administration black and through that also cover their inadequacies and deficiencies. Notwithstanding that, it should be accepted that members of previous governments are not angels and, therefore, they could be called upon for their stewardship when the need arises.
That is why we should be able to separate party and government from the national interest. Even though a party may have a big support base, those who actually benefit from the activities are the front liners — the national, regional, constituency and ward executives in that descending order and those who are privileged to be close to them.
In same way we can say that for the government, it is the principal officers, from the President and the Vice President, ministers of state, metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives, to those who, through their linkages and connections, found themselves in certain public positions who are in government.
As for the rest of us, we are the citizens of this country who have ceded our power to our party leaders, especially when that party forms the government and the principal officers of the government, to do what is best for us. We are at their mercy after we have stood for hours in the tropical sun or a heavy downpour to cast the ballot to elect our President.
It is, therefore, naïve, bordering on foolhardiness, for ordinary members of a party to troop to the police station or the courts in sympathy with a former minister who is being questioned for wrongdoing or for amassing wealth through illegal means while in public office. Why should I subject myself to such a humiliation?
What many Ghanaians, including those party fanatics, should know is that this country called Ghana is where it is today, still poor in the midst of abundant resources, because of the actions and inaction of politicians who begged us for our mandate but turned round to fill their pockets.
Our children continue to squat under trees for their lessons while we drive on muddy, pothole-filled roads because some politicians have colluded with faceless contractors to misuse our national resources for their personal aggrandisement.
Our national capital, Accra, is an eyesore compared to others (spare me the comparison between some African countries) because people given the mandate to take certain decisions have failed in that regard but made sure they went home with a good chunk of our national wealth. The traffic lights in Accra and other places are not functioning not because we lack the resources. Our young men and women are leaving in droves for destinations they hardly know; not because they enjoy separating from their relatives and friends.
Our schools are overcrowded, our health facilities are poorly equipped and manned, and in most cases have become transit camps for the final destination, our public servants continue to cry for living wages to no avail. These and many other problems confronting this nation are the result of the ineptitude of our political leaders who always cry ‘No Fund’, but are able to save enough to live in opulence. Some could even afford a vacation in foreign lands but whenever the trumpet is sounded for accountability, they quickly invoke the persecution theory to attract sympathy.
Mr Mpiani was a very powerful person, who did not live office poorer. He commanded executive powers almost comparable to what the Constitution gave to the President of the Republic. He presided over several national projects and programmes which involved huge sums of national revenue. These include the Ghana @ 50 Celebrations and the construction of the Jubilee Mansion.
In all cases, his responses to queries about the monies involved when he appeared before Parliament, our House of Representatives, were at best snobbish. You cannot talk to the Americans, the British, the French, the Japanese or citizens of any of those countries making perfect movement in the right direction when questioned about how you are expending their national revenue and expect a multitude of party supporters to be chanting war songs threatening the Office of Accountability for demanding from you an account of how you disburse state funds.
This can only happen in a land where the people do not know what they want and, therefore, can be fooled and swindled by those they claim are their chosen messiahs and heroes. Take the Jubilee Mansion, for example. In the beginning, it was to cost the nation US$45 million, with part grant of US$30 million from the Government of India. We have crossed the US$100 million mark and the completion of the project is nowhere in sight.
There is something called variation in the construction industry. This refers to an additional cost arising either out of minor additions or certain minor things that were overlooked in the original design or contract. But tell me, where on earth, can the cost of the variation be more than double the cost of the original project? So nobody should offer an explanation for this, when it is the poor people of this country who are going to pay the excess amount?
We have always been mentioning countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Brazil, South Korea, Turkey, Indonesia, Thailand and all other emerging economies which could not have reached where they are today, if they had allowed their public office holders to walk away without being made to account for the national wealth placed in their custody.
By all means, people should not suffer because they have served in a particular government. There must be due diligence when probing public officials whether active or previous. The rights of individuals must be recognised and respected as prescribed by law or as enshrined in our national constitution.
We cannot move forward and join those galloping ahead of us if we continue to allow public office holders to mix in the crowd with their booty. The grains must be separated from the chaff and in executing this assignment, there should not be room for mistakes or compromise.
Party supporters must also know that it is in their own interest to push forward the national interest instead of pandering to the whims and caprices of a few former ministers. If Ghana has good roads, good medical facilities, good educational facilities and other social infrastructure in place, the country will be good for everybody, not to a few party or government supporters.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
IT started a few years ago when busloads of party supporters were transported to the courts whenever former ministers and functionaries of the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) government were to make an appearance on various charges.
We saw it during the infamous Quality Grain trial. Heavy party presence was always felt during the trial of the former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, and others over the divestiture and purchase of the Nsawam Cannery and during the trial and conviction of Mr Tsatsu Tsikata, former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC).
Similarly, an ‘invitation’ extended to former President J. J. Rawlings by National Security to come and assist in certain investigations saw hundreds of NDC supporters besieging the premises of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).
In all cases, the conclusion was that the personalities who were either on trial or had been invited for questioning were victims of political persecution or victimisation. That opened the gates for a new phenomenon to creep into our political culture. That is, any attempt to question the conduct of a former public office holder with clear identifiable political leaning is a victim who is being sacrificed on behalf of the political party he/she belongs to and must, therefore, be seen as such and given party support.
While the NDC played the game very well to draw public sympathy for the “cruel and inconsiderate” actions of the government under the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Kufuor administration was always on the defensive trying to convince Ghanaians that its actions were purely in the public interest and there was nothing vindictive about the cases that were before the law courts or under investigation.
Whether this worked in favour of the NDC or not is another matter. However, the NPP suffered greatly when, in one of those moments of indiscretion, Mr J. H. Mensah, a stalwart of the NPP, stated publicly that by the time they had finished jailing top functionaries of the NDC, the party would not be able to stand on its feet again. That naturally gave strength to the NDC to raise its voice to the highest decibel, shouting political persecution anytime any of its former ministers or party functionaries was mentioned in connection with any malfeasance.
Whether we like it or not, a party that had been threatened with extinction was always the winner whenever one of its members was being dragged to the courts. At least that was the case in the eyes of a gullible public that lacked the ability to make fair and independent judgement.
The order has changed and the NPP is now in opposition. Having taken a cue from the NDC strategy, the NPP is always quick to complain of harassment and persecution. In their case too, and just as Mr Mensah’s overzealous and careless statement strengthened the NDC’s case of persecution, the early days of the Mills administration, during which the security apparatus faltered in executing some of its mandate, created in the minds of a section of the people, especially NPP fanatics, that the NDC was out to outdo the NPP in political vindictiveness.
That was why even those former public office holders, who genuinely knew that they had not fulfilled the conditions to take home official vehicles and other state property, were quick to react with complaints of political persecution. For a party that is still nursing wounds that were inflicted on it by its painful defeat in the last elections, it is easy for its officers to attract sympathy from disillusioned supporters whenever the signals are given.
So it came to pass that when Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, the former Chief of Staff and Minister for Presidential Affairs, was invited by the BNI to answer certain questions, the response from certain hard-core party supporters, including former ministers and current Members of Parliament, was to besiege the premises of the BNI because one of them who happened to be the most powerful person, apart from former President J. A. Kufuor, was, as it may be described, under ‘captivity’ by the enemy.
The matter of Mr Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, the former Information Minister, is another clear case in which heroes could be made out of people who, otherwise, would only be seen as having genuine questions to answer. The arms, ears and eyes of National Security are very powerful. Surely, that national apparatus had foreknowledge of Mr Asamoah-Boateng’s travel and, therefore, could have alerted him about the impending invitation to him. National Security could even have made a public announcement to that effect. If that had been done, Mr Asamoah-Boateng would have been seen as somebody trying to run away from justice if he had been arrested at the airport about to board an aircraft.
Suddenly, the persecution chorus has reached a crescendo of amazing cadences because we failed to do certain basic things. All further explanations in a quicksand manner only add to the murky waters and give voice to people who otherwise should have been silent.
In our part of the world, nobody could discount political persecution or vindictiveness. All governments that come to power, including those which imposed themselves on the people through illegal means, always find nothing good about their predecessors. They always inherit empty coffers and collapsed economies. Incidentally, their lifestyles sometimes surpass those of their predecessors and they ultimately go home with bigger articulated trucks filled with ‘spoils’ of war.
To convince the public that they are a better bunch of people, they need to paint members of the previous administration black and through that also cover their inadequacies and deficiencies. Notwithstanding that, it should be accepted that members of previous governments are not angels and, therefore, they could be called upon for their stewardship when the need arises.
That is why we should be able to separate party and government from the national interest. Even though a party may have a big support base, those who actually benefit from the activities are the front liners — the national, regional, constituency and ward executives in that descending order and those who are privileged to be close to them.
In same way we can say that for the government, it is the principal officers, from the President and the Vice President, ministers of state, metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives, to those who, through their linkages and connections, found themselves in certain public positions who are in government.
As for the rest of us, we are the citizens of this country who have ceded our power to our party leaders, especially when that party forms the government and the principal officers of the government, to do what is best for us. We are at their mercy after we have stood for hours in the tropical sun or a heavy downpour to cast the ballot to elect our President.
It is, therefore, naïve, bordering on foolhardiness, for ordinary members of a party to troop to the police station or the courts in sympathy with a former minister who is being questioned for wrongdoing or for amassing wealth through illegal means while in public office. Why should I subject myself to such a humiliation?
What many Ghanaians, including those party fanatics, should know is that this country called Ghana is where it is today, still poor in the midst of abundant resources, because of the actions and inaction of politicians who begged us for our mandate but turned round to fill their pockets.
Our children continue to squat under trees for their lessons while we drive on muddy, pothole-filled roads because some politicians have colluded with faceless contractors to misuse our national resources for their personal aggrandisement.
Our national capital, Accra, is an eyesore compared to others (spare me the comparison between some African countries) because people given the mandate to take certain decisions have failed in that regard but made sure they went home with a good chunk of our national wealth. The traffic lights in Accra and other places are not functioning not because we lack the resources. Our young men and women are leaving in droves for destinations they hardly know; not because they enjoy separating from their relatives and friends.
Our schools are overcrowded, our health facilities are poorly equipped and manned, and in most cases have become transit camps for the final destination, our public servants continue to cry for living wages to no avail. These and many other problems confronting this nation are the result of the ineptitude of our political leaders who always cry ‘No Fund’, but are able to save enough to live in opulence. Some could even afford a vacation in foreign lands but whenever the trumpet is sounded for accountability, they quickly invoke the persecution theory to attract sympathy.
Mr Mpiani was a very powerful person, who did not live office poorer. He commanded executive powers almost comparable to what the Constitution gave to the President of the Republic. He presided over several national projects and programmes which involved huge sums of national revenue. These include the Ghana @ 50 Celebrations and the construction of the Jubilee Mansion.
In all cases, his responses to queries about the monies involved when he appeared before Parliament, our House of Representatives, were at best snobbish. You cannot talk to the Americans, the British, the French, the Japanese or citizens of any of those countries making perfect movement in the right direction when questioned about how you are expending their national revenue and expect a multitude of party supporters to be chanting war songs threatening the Office of Accountability for demanding from you an account of how you disburse state funds.
This can only happen in a land where the people do not know what they want and, therefore, can be fooled and swindled by those they claim are their chosen messiahs and heroes. Take the Jubilee Mansion, for example. In the beginning, it was to cost the nation US$45 million, with part grant of US$30 million from the Government of India. We have crossed the US$100 million mark and the completion of the project is nowhere in sight.
There is something called variation in the construction industry. This refers to an additional cost arising either out of minor additions or certain minor things that were overlooked in the original design or contract. But tell me, where on earth, can the cost of the variation be more than double the cost of the original project? So nobody should offer an explanation for this, when it is the poor people of this country who are going to pay the excess amount?
We have always been mentioning countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Brazil, South Korea, Turkey, Indonesia, Thailand and all other emerging economies which could not have reached where they are today, if they had allowed their public office holders to walk away without being made to account for the national wealth placed in their custody.
By all means, people should not suffer because they have served in a particular government. There must be due diligence when probing public officials whether active or previous. The rights of individuals must be recognised and respected as prescribed by law or as enshrined in our national constitution.
We cannot move forward and join those galloping ahead of us if we continue to allow public office holders to mix in the crowd with their booty. The grains must be separated from the chaff and in executing this assignment, there should not be room for mistakes or compromise.
Party supporters must also know that it is in their own interest to push forward the national interest instead of pandering to the whims and caprices of a few former ministers. If Ghana has good roads, good medical facilities, good educational facilities and other social infrastructure in place, the country will be good for everybody, not to a few party or government supporters.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
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