The end is not in sight for the tortuous journey of the national identification exercise which was set in motion about three years ago. This is a very important national exercise which has in store a lot of benefits for the nation but it is always confronted with what otherwise could be surmountable obstacles.
The latest information released to the public about two weeks ago indicated that the exercise was to be suspended because of lack of funds, an addition to the catalogue of problems that had bedevilled this important national exercise.
Addressing the media in Kumasi, the Head of Public Affairs of the National Identification Authority (NIA), Ms Bertha Dzeble, mentioned that the deployment of field staff to the Brong Ahafo Region had been suspended because the NIA was unable to get supporting funds. She said funding was needed to fuel vehicles to transport field staff, logistics and mobile registration workstations (MRWs) to the Brong Ahafo Region.
The Head of Public Affairs conceded that the postponement would futher extend the exercise which was already behind schedule. What it meant was that the Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions were yet to be covered.
In 2007 or so, when the exercise began, it was the expectation of many Ghanaians that it would be executed early enough to serve as a back-up for the national electoral register in preparation towards the 2008 elections. Alas, that was not to be. Right from the onset, the exercise came against numerous obstacles including lack of logistics and funds to pay personnel recruited for the exercise.
At one stage, the exercise created confusion in the minds of the public because it was taking place alongside the revision of the voters register. In all considerations, Ghanaians were expecting that after Election 2008, enough time and resources would be committed to the national identification exercise to bring it to a fruitful conclusion. However, as things stand now, it is not likely that this exercise will come to an end in the immediate future. Already, the Electoral Commission has started preparation towards the re-opening of the voters register, which will grab its fair share of public funds in addition to the use of common facilities such as registration centres.
As would be expected, the government was likely to put more premium on the voters register at the expense of the identification exercise. But should that be the case? The benefits of a national identity card are numerous to be treated in this shabby manner. The most obvious is the establishment of nationality which will in turn help in the compilation of a voters register and registration under the national health insurance scheme which is already battling with many fraudulent deals.
A well-executed identification exercise should be able to help the government to have a reasonably fair idea about the national population, even better than a national census conducted every 10 years could provide. It would also provide all the demographics like gender, age, profession, distribution and others for the purposes of planning and making projections.
The exercise may not come out with a perfect result, but all the same, it may make it easier for the state to determine nationals from non-nationals, especially, in cases where citizens are entitled to certain reliefs such as subsidies on health, education and agricultural facilities.
The security benefits are many for the security agencies, the banks, other non-financial institutions and many other commercial and public bodies that transact business with the general public.
This is an exercise that should not be handled haphazardly under any circumstance and, therefore, should be given every official support to succeed. So far, government response to the requirements of the National Identification Authority (NIA) has not been the best. It gave the impression either rightly or wrongly that the government was not interested in the national identification register and, therefore, could afford to push its success to the background.
The national identification exercise is too important to be toyed with and no amount should be considered too much for its execution. We have spent more frivolously on less important things and the exercise should not suffer because of that common refrain of lack of funds. More than three years into a national registration exercise without an end in sight is not good.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
National identification exercise must not fai
By Kofi Akordor
The end is not in sight for the tortuous journey of the national identification exercise which was set in motion about three years ago. This is a very important national exercise which has in store, a lot of benefits for the nation but its always confronted with what otherwise could be, surmountable obstacles.
The latest information released to the public about two weeks ago indicated that the exercise was to be suspended because of lack of funds, an addition to the catalogue of problems that had bedevilled this important national exercise.
Addressing the media in Kumasi, the Head of Public Affairs of the National Identification Authority (NIA), Ms Bertha Dzeble mentioned that the deployment of field staff to the Brong Ahafo Region had been suspended because the NIA was unable to get supporting funds. She said funding was needed to fuel vehicles to transport field staff, logistics and mobile registration workstations (MRWs) to the Brong Ahafo Region.
The Head of Public Affairs conceded that the postponement would futher extend the exercise which was already behind schedule. What it meant was that the Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions were yet to be covered.
In 2007 or so, when the exercise began, it was the expectation of many Ghanaians that it would be executed early enough to serve as a back-up for the national electoral register in preparation towards the 2008 elections. Alas, that was not to be. Right from the onset, the exercise came against numerous obstacles including lack of logistics and funds to pay personnel recruited for the exercise.
At one stage, the exercise created confusion in the minds of the public because it was taking place alongside the revision of the voters’ register. In all considerations, Ghanaians were expecting that after Election 2008, enough time and resources would be committed to the national identification exercise to bring it to a fruitful conclusion. However, as things stand now, it is not likely that this exercise will come to an end in the immediate future. Already, the Electoral Commission has started preparation towards the re-opening of the voters’ register which will grab its fair share of public funds in addition to the use of common facilities such as registration centres.
As would be expected, the government was likely to put more premium on the voters’ register at the expense of the identification exercise. But should that be the case? The benefits of a national identity card are numerous to be treated in this shabby manner. The most obvious is the establishment of nationality which will in turn help in the compilation of voters’ register and registration under the national health insurance scheme which is already battling with many fraudulent deals.
A well-executed identification exercise should be able to help the government to have a reasonably fair idea about the national population, even better than a national census conducted at 10-year interval could provide. It would also provide all the demographics like gender, age, profession, distribution and others for the purposes of planning and making projections.
The exercise may not come out with a perfect result, but all the same, it may make it easier for the state to determine nationals from non-nationals, especially, in cases where citizens are entitled to certain reliefs such as subsidies on health, education and agricultural facilities.
The security benefits are many for the security agencies, the banks, other non-financial institutions and many other commercial and public bodies that transact business with the general public.
This is an exercise that should not be handled haphazardly under any circumstance and, therefore, should be given every official support to succeed. So far, government response to the requirements of the National Identification Authority (NIA) had not been the best. It gave the impression either rightly or wrongly that the government was not interested in the national identification register and therefore, could afford to push its success into the background.
The national identification exercise is too important to be toyed with and no amount should be considered too much for its execution. We have spent more frivolously on less important things and the exercise should not suffer because of that common refrain of lack of funds. More than three years into a national registration exercise without an end in sight is too much.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
The end is not in sight for the tortuous journey of the national identification exercise which was set in motion about three years ago. This is a very important national exercise which has in store, a lot of benefits for the nation but its always confronted with what otherwise could be, surmountable obstacles.
The latest information released to the public about two weeks ago indicated that the exercise was to be suspended because of lack of funds, an addition to the catalogue of problems that had bedevilled this important national exercise.
Addressing the media in Kumasi, the Head of Public Affairs of the National Identification Authority (NIA), Ms Bertha Dzeble mentioned that the deployment of field staff to the Brong Ahafo Region had been suspended because the NIA was unable to get supporting funds. She said funding was needed to fuel vehicles to transport field staff, logistics and mobile registration workstations (MRWs) to the Brong Ahafo Region.
The Head of Public Affairs conceded that the postponement would futher extend the exercise which was already behind schedule. What it meant was that the Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions were yet to be covered.
In 2007 or so, when the exercise began, it was the expectation of many Ghanaians that it would be executed early enough to serve as a back-up for the national electoral register in preparation towards the 2008 elections. Alas, that was not to be. Right from the onset, the exercise came against numerous obstacles including lack of logistics and funds to pay personnel recruited for the exercise.
At one stage, the exercise created confusion in the minds of the public because it was taking place alongside the revision of the voters’ register. In all considerations, Ghanaians were expecting that after Election 2008, enough time and resources would be committed to the national identification exercise to bring it to a fruitful conclusion. However, as things stand now, it is not likely that this exercise will come to an end in the immediate future. Already, the Electoral Commission has started preparation towards the re-opening of the voters’ register which will grab its fair share of public funds in addition to the use of common facilities such as registration centres.
As would be expected, the government was likely to put more premium on the voters’ register at the expense of the identification exercise. But should that be the case? The benefits of a national identity card are numerous to be treated in this shabby manner. The most obvious is the establishment of nationality which will in turn help in the compilation of voters’ register and registration under the national health insurance scheme which is already battling with many fraudulent deals.
A well-executed identification exercise should be able to help the government to have a reasonably fair idea about the national population, even better than a national census conducted at 10-year interval could provide. It would also provide all the demographics like gender, age, profession, distribution and others for the purposes of planning and making projections.
The exercise may not come out with a perfect result, but all the same, it may make it easier for the state to determine nationals from non-nationals, especially, in cases where citizens are entitled to certain reliefs such as subsidies on health, education and agricultural facilities.
The security benefits are many for the security agencies, the banks, other non-financial institutions and many other commercial and public bodies that transact business with the general public.
This is an exercise that should not be handled haphazardly under any circumstance and, therefore, should be given every official support to succeed. So far, government response to the requirements of the National Identification Authority (NIA) had not been the best. It gave the impression either rightly or wrongly that the government was not interested in the national identification register and therefore, could afford to push its success into the background.
The national identification exercise is too important to be toyed with and no amount should be considered too much for its execution. We have spent more frivolously on less important things and the exercise should not suffer because of that common refrain of lack of funds. More than three years into a national registration exercise without an end in sight is too much.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
A patriot on the wanted list
By Kofi Akordor
THE customs officer was loud and boastful, his voice resonating with excitement as he proclaimed to his listeners that the identity of a certain man they had been looking for had finally been exposed, with his photograph being widely circulated so that at first sight he should be eliminated. As he was talking, he dashed to his car and brought out photo-copies of what looked like a newspaper publication with a photograph on it.
Those desperately looking for the man in question, according to the officer, included some members of staff of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS).
I got interested, for, after all, who would want to have a criminal or nation wrecker roaming about freely in the system? And who knows, I could also help in tracking down the criminal who was on the wanted list of our security agencies.
Curiosity drew me closer as I tried to see what was on the poster. That was when I had the rudest shock of my life. There was this screaming headline: “ANAS-AREMEYAW EXPOSED”.
“So this is the man being wanted by CEPS, the police and the immigration authorities?” I said to myself.
Under normal circumstances, only criminal gangs such as smugglers, drug barons, armed robbers, money launderers, counterfeit syndicates and corrupt politicians would see an inquisitive and investigative journalist as an enemy and possibly put him on their wanted list.
That was why I was shocked that some members (at least not all of them) of state institutions entrusted with the protection of the security and sanctity of the state would declare a journalist enemy number one for exposing evils against the state, the same evils officers in these organisations are paid to curb.
It is recalled that about two months ago, one of the television networks showed a documentary on the illicit dealings at the country’s borders which were recorded clandestinely. That documentary exposed some officials of CEPS and the GIS who connived with business people to smuggle cocoa out of the country.
Seriously, the documentary did not come as a shock to many. If anything, it established something which is well-known but has not been easy to prove. That was how Anas-Aremeyaw, the engineer of that documentary, came to be an enemy to these powerful state institutions.
It is an undeniable fact that a lot of dubious things happen at the border posts and other points of entry such as the harbours and the airport and the operators include a network of business people, border officials and people in political office. Whichever way you look at it, the state loses revenue.
Apart from the loss of revenue, the safety of the people and the security of the state are compromised. For instance, products that are not supposed to come into the country, such as contaminated or poorly manufactured goods, find their way onto the domestic market, just the same way as weapons and other dangerous substances find their way into the country with the criminal connivance of state security agencies.
We all know that the security and law enforcement agencies, like all other human institutions, cannot be without their fair share of deviants. But should they be so proud and arrogant as to declare a patriot a wanted person? It can only be explained that the rogues have become boastful because the rot, instead of being the exception, is virtually the norm and that has strengthened those who engage in criminal activities and bolstered them to walk with chests out, instead of bowing down their heads in shame.
There are many honest, hardworking and dedicated men and women in the various services who, against all odds, are doing their best, as required of them, in the national interest. Incidentally, most of them go unrecognised and when they finally exit from active service, they have nothing to show for it. Some even suffer persecution from those who are bent on indulging in criminal activities to enrich themselves overnight, at state expense.
Elsewhere, people like Anas-Aremeyaw would be cultivated and nurtured by the security agencies to make their work easier and more effective. The police have always been appealing for support in the form of information on criminal suspects. What happens if these informants rather become the criminals who must be hounded and cut down?
The GIS and CEPS are also institutions whose work could be significantly enhanced with information from members of the public. But that will be only when they themselves are determined to achieve results and not be part of the problem.
We do not know how many more patriots like Anas-Aremeyaw are on the wanted list of the law enforcement agencies, but the wanted notice in circulation only confirms the depth of the rot in our public institutions, which also means the security of the state itself cannot be guaranteed.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
THE customs officer was loud and boastful, his voice resonating with excitement as he proclaimed to his listeners that the identity of a certain man they had been looking for had finally been exposed, with his photograph being widely circulated so that at first sight he should be eliminated. As he was talking, he dashed to his car and brought out photo-copies of what looked like a newspaper publication with a photograph on it.
Those desperately looking for the man in question, according to the officer, included some members of staff of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS).
I got interested, for, after all, who would want to have a criminal or nation wrecker roaming about freely in the system? And who knows, I could also help in tracking down the criminal who was on the wanted list of our security agencies.
Curiosity drew me closer as I tried to see what was on the poster. That was when I had the rudest shock of my life. There was this screaming headline: “ANAS-AREMEYAW EXPOSED”.
“So this is the man being wanted by CEPS, the police and the immigration authorities?” I said to myself.
Under normal circumstances, only criminal gangs such as smugglers, drug barons, armed robbers, money launderers, counterfeit syndicates and corrupt politicians would see an inquisitive and investigative journalist as an enemy and possibly put him on their wanted list.
That was why I was shocked that some members (at least not all of them) of state institutions entrusted with the protection of the security and sanctity of the state would declare a journalist enemy number one for exposing evils against the state, the same evils officers in these organisations are paid to curb.
It is recalled that about two months ago, one of the television networks showed a documentary on the illicit dealings at the country’s borders which were recorded clandestinely. That documentary exposed some officials of CEPS and the GIS who connived with business people to smuggle cocoa out of the country.
Seriously, the documentary did not come as a shock to many. If anything, it established something which is well-known but has not been easy to prove. That was how Anas-Aremeyaw, the engineer of that documentary, came to be an enemy to these powerful state institutions.
It is an undeniable fact that a lot of dubious things happen at the border posts and other points of entry such as the harbours and the airport and the operators include a network of business people, border officials and people in political office. Whichever way you look at it, the state loses revenue.
Apart from the loss of revenue, the safety of the people and the security of the state are compromised. For instance, products that are not supposed to come into the country, such as contaminated or poorly manufactured goods, find their way onto the domestic market, just the same way as weapons and other dangerous substances find their way into the country with the criminal connivance of state security agencies.
We all know that the security and law enforcement agencies, like all other human institutions, cannot be without their fair share of deviants. But should they be so proud and arrogant as to declare a patriot a wanted person? It can only be explained that the rogues have become boastful because the rot, instead of being the exception, is virtually the norm and that has strengthened those who engage in criminal activities and bolstered them to walk with chests out, instead of bowing down their heads in shame.
There are many honest, hardworking and dedicated men and women in the various services who, against all odds, are doing their best, as required of them, in the national interest. Incidentally, most of them go unrecognised and when they finally exit from active service, they have nothing to show for it. Some even suffer persecution from those who are bent on indulging in criminal activities to enrich themselves overnight, at state expense.
Elsewhere, people like Anas-Aremeyaw would be cultivated and nurtured by the security agencies to make their work easier and more effective. The police have always been appealing for support in the form of information on criminal suspects. What happens if these informants rather become the criminals who must be hounded and cut down?
The GIS and CEPS are also institutions whose work could be significantly enhanced with information from members of the public. But that will be only when they themselves are determined to achieve results and not be part of the problem.
We do not know how many more patriots like Anas-Aremeyaw are on the wanted list of the law enforcement agencies, but the wanted notice in circulation only confirms the depth of the rot in our public institutions, which also means the security of the state itself cannot be guaranteed.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
DISASTER ON THE VOLTA LAKE (JUNE 1, 2010)
When the Volta River Authority (VRA) came into existence through the promulgation of the Volta River Development Act (Act 46) of the Republic of Ghana on April 26, 1961, its core business of power generation and supply for industrial, commercial and domestic use was clearly spelt out.
Nonetheless, it had other additional responsibilities including the measurement of the environmental impact of the creation of the Volta Lake on the towns and people bordering the lake.
More importantly, the VRA had been mandated to develop the Volta Lake, which is the huge reservoir of water behind the Akosombo Dam stretching 520 kilometres between Akosombo and Yapei, its north most part mainly as a source of fishing and water transportation.
In 1970, the Volta Lake Transport Company (VLTC) was incorporated with the objective of providing safe, efficient and reliable ferry services on the lake. The idea was to facilitate the movement of passengers and industrial cargo and petroleum products from the south to the north and on their southward bound trip, bring agricultural produce from the north to the south in a cheaper and more convenient manner.
The lake which borders the Volta, Eastern, Western, Ashanti and Central regions also provides transport opportunities for farmers in the various settlements and communities along the lake who use canoes to convey their produce to market centres like Dzemeni, Kpando Torkor, Kete Krachi and Dambai in the Volta Region, Adawso in the Eastern Region and many others in the Afram Plains and parts of the Brong Ahafo and Northern regions.
The Volta Lake was also expected to be an effective link between Ghana and its landlocked neighbours like Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in the transportation of cargo discharged at the Tema Port.
While the VRA has been able to serve its mandate as the nation’s main power generator, the utilisation of the Volta Lake as a major artery between the north and the south received marginal attention. The operations of the VLTC had been inconsistent, irregular and limited to a few centres and, therefore, largely inadequate to meet the needs of the hundreds of thousands of people in the over 739 communities and settlements along the Volta Lake.
The huge vacuum created under these circumstances was filled by private boat owners and operators whose activities came under very little state control or supervision. The result had been the numerous accidents witnessed on the lake either due to overloading, poor navigation skills, badly designed boats or all of these. There is also the problem of tree stumps which have impeded smooth navigation on the lake and which are sometimes the cause of the accidents.
Any time these accidents occurred, the victims were mainly women and children who were either travelling to and from the market or schools. The news of these accidents is always received with promises to make travelling on the lake safer and more reliable.
The latest of these accidents occurred at Wusuta in the Volta Region where over 20 people, mostly women and children, lost their lives. Not that nothing was being done to stem the accidents which have become regular on the lake. Since 2006, the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA), in collaboration with other agencies including the VLTC and the Ghana Navy intensified efforts at implementing a number of safety measures. They included the stationing of a naval task force at six major lake stations, namely Yeji, Dzemeni, Kpando Torkor, Tapa Abotoase, Dambai and Kete Krachi to enforce safety measures including overloading, drunkenness, use of defective boats and other human abuses, among others.
Other interventions included the training of 872 operators and mechanics at the six major centres and a regular inspection of boats, especially, new entrants to mark and assign them with loadlines, while defective ones were banned from operating.
What promises to be a major boost to transportation on the Volta Lake is a new partnership between Zoil Services Limited, the Ministry of Transport, the Ghana Maritime Authority and the Ghana Navy. Under this partnership, Zoil Services, which is a subsidiary of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, will train lifeguards. These guards would patrol and monitor activities on the lake in order to reduce bad practices which result in accidents. Some of these bad practices which have been mentioned earlier include overloading, poorly- manufactured boats and lack of life jackets.
Under the project dubbed; “Promoting safe travel on the Volta Lake”, Zoil would provide 10,000 life jackets for boat operators and users in addition to the lifeguards who would be stationed at various points along the lake. According to a report dated February 22, 2010, lifeguards saved a driver and his two mates from drowning when their truck loaded with farm produce fell off the Dambai ferry into the lake.
It may not be humanly possible to eliminate accidents entirely on the Volta Lake, but with these latest interventions, it is the hope of many Ghanaians that accidents on the lake would be a thing of the past.
We also expect the government to continue to work hard to ensure that the lake provides the water transportation it was envisaged under the Volta River Development Project. Measures like removal of tree stumps and the provision of more modern and safer boats for passengers and goods would be necessary to make the lake, which has enormous potential for the country’s tourism, agricultural and commercial development, safer and attractive to more people.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Nonetheless, it had other additional responsibilities including the measurement of the environmental impact of the creation of the Volta Lake on the towns and people bordering the lake.
More importantly, the VRA had been mandated to develop the Volta Lake, which is the huge reservoir of water behind the Akosombo Dam stretching 520 kilometres between Akosombo and Yapei, its north most part mainly as a source of fishing and water transportation.
In 1970, the Volta Lake Transport Company (VLTC) was incorporated with the objective of providing safe, efficient and reliable ferry services on the lake. The idea was to facilitate the movement of passengers and industrial cargo and petroleum products from the south to the north and on their southward bound trip, bring agricultural produce from the north to the south in a cheaper and more convenient manner.
The lake which borders the Volta, Eastern, Western, Ashanti and Central regions also provides transport opportunities for farmers in the various settlements and communities along the lake who use canoes to convey their produce to market centres like Dzemeni, Kpando Torkor, Kete Krachi and Dambai in the Volta Region, Adawso in the Eastern Region and many others in the Afram Plains and parts of the Brong Ahafo and Northern regions.
The Volta Lake was also expected to be an effective link between Ghana and its landlocked neighbours like Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in the transportation of cargo discharged at the Tema Port.
While the VRA has been able to serve its mandate as the nation’s main power generator, the utilisation of the Volta Lake as a major artery between the north and the south received marginal attention. The operations of the VLTC had been inconsistent, irregular and limited to a few centres and, therefore, largely inadequate to meet the needs of the hundreds of thousands of people in the over 739 communities and settlements along the Volta Lake.
The huge vacuum created under these circumstances was filled by private boat owners and operators whose activities came under very little state control or supervision. The result had been the numerous accidents witnessed on the lake either due to overloading, poor navigation skills, badly designed boats or all of these. There is also the problem of tree stumps which have impeded smooth navigation on the lake and which are sometimes the cause of the accidents.
Any time these accidents occurred, the victims were mainly women and children who were either travelling to and from the market or schools. The news of these accidents is always received with promises to make travelling on the lake safer and more reliable.
The latest of these accidents occurred at Wusuta in the Volta Region where over 20 people, mostly women and children, lost their lives. Not that nothing was being done to stem the accidents which have become regular on the lake. Since 2006, the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA), in collaboration with other agencies including the VLTC and the Ghana Navy intensified efforts at implementing a number of safety measures. They included the stationing of a naval task force at six major lake stations, namely Yeji, Dzemeni, Kpando Torkor, Tapa Abotoase, Dambai and Kete Krachi to enforce safety measures including overloading, drunkenness, use of defective boats and other human abuses, among others.
Other interventions included the training of 872 operators and mechanics at the six major centres and a regular inspection of boats, especially, new entrants to mark and assign them with loadlines, while defective ones were banned from operating.
What promises to be a major boost to transportation on the Volta Lake is a new partnership between Zoil Services Limited, the Ministry of Transport, the Ghana Maritime Authority and the Ghana Navy. Under this partnership, Zoil Services, which is a subsidiary of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, will train lifeguards. These guards would patrol and monitor activities on the lake in order to reduce bad practices which result in accidents. Some of these bad practices which have been mentioned earlier include overloading, poorly- manufactured boats and lack of life jackets.
Under the project dubbed; “Promoting safe travel on the Volta Lake”, Zoil would provide 10,000 life jackets for boat operators and users in addition to the lifeguards who would be stationed at various points along the lake. According to a report dated February 22, 2010, lifeguards saved a driver and his two mates from drowning when their truck loaded with farm produce fell off the Dambai ferry into the lake.
It may not be humanly possible to eliminate accidents entirely on the Volta Lake, but with these latest interventions, it is the hope of many Ghanaians that accidents on the lake would be a thing of the past.
We also expect the government to continue to work hard to ensure that the lake provides the water transportation it was envisaged under the Volta River Development Project. Measures like removal of tree stumps and the provision of more modern and safer boats for passengers and goods would be necessary to make the lake, which has enormous potential for the country’s tourism, agricultural and commercial development, safer and attractive to more people.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Disaster on the Volta Lake: Is it a thing of the past?
By Kofi Akordor
When the Volta River Authority (VRA) came into existence through the promulgation of the Volta River Development Act (Act 46) of the Republic of Ghana on April 26, 1961, its core business of power generation and supply for industrial, commercial and domestic use was clearly spelt out. Nonetheless, it had other additional responsibilities including the measurement of the environmental impact of the creation of the Volta Lake on the towns and people bordering the lake.
More importantly, the VRA had been mandated to develop the Volta Lake, which is the huge reservoir of water behind the Akosombo Dam stretching 520 kilometres between Akosombo and Yapei, its north most part mainly as a source of fishing and water transportation.
In 1970, the Volta Lake Transport Company (VLTC) was incorporated with the objective of providing safe, efficient and reliable ferry services on the lake. The idea was to facilitate the movement of passengers and industrial cargo and petroleum products from the south to the north and on their southward bound trip, bring agricultural produce from the north to the south in a cheaper and more convenient manner.
The lake which borders the Volta, Eastern, Western, Ashanti and Central regions also provides transport opportunities for farmers in the various settlements and communities along the lake who use canoes to convey their produce to market centres like Dzemeni, Kpando Torkor, Kete Krachi and Dambai in the Volta Region, Adawso in the Eastern Region and many others in the Afram Plains and parts of the Brong Ahafo and Northern regions.
The Volta Lake was also expected to be an effective link between Ghana and its landlocked neighbours like Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in the transportation of cargo discharged at the Tema Port.
While the VRA has been able to serve its mandate as the nation’s main power generator, the utilisation of the Volta Lake as a major artery between the north and the south received marginal attention. The operations of the VLTC had been inconsistent, irregular and limited to a few centres and, therefore, largely inadequate to meet the needs of the hundreds of thousands of people in the over 739 communities and settlements along the Volta Lake.
The huge vacuum created under these circumstances was filled by private boat owners and operators whose activities came under very little state control or supervision. The result had been the numerous accidents witnessed on the lake either due to overloading, poor navigation skills, badly designed boats or all of these. There is also the problem of tree stumps which have impeded smooth navigation on the lake and which are sometimes the cause of the accidents.
Any time these accidents occurred, the victims were mainly women and children who were either travelling to and from the market or schools. The news of these accidents is always received with promises to make travelling of the lake safer and more reliable.
The latest of these accidents occurred at Wusuta in the Volta Region where over 20 people, mostly women and children, lost their lives. Not that nothing was being done to stem the accidents which have become regular on the lake. Since 2006, the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA), in collaboration with other agencies including the VLTC and the Ghana Navy intensified efforts at implementing a number of safety measures. They included the stationing of a naval task force at six major lake stations, namely Yeji, Dzemeni, Kpando Torkor, Tapa Abotoase, Dambai and Kete Krachi to enforce safety measures including overloading, drunkenness, use of defective boats and other human abuses, among others.
Other interventions included the training of 872 operators and mechanics at the six major centres and a regular inspection of boats, especially, new entrants to mark and assign them with loadlines, while defective ones were banned from operations.
What promises to be a major boost to transportation on the Volta Lake is a new partnership between Zoil Services Limited, the Ministry of Transport, the Ghana Maritime Authority and the Ghana Navy. Under this partnership, Zoil Services, which is a subsidiary of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, will train lifeguards. These guards would patrol and monitor activities on the lake in order to reduce bad practices which result in accidents. Some of these bad practices which have been mentioned earlier include overloading, poorly- manufactured boats and lack of life jackets.
Under the project dubbed; “Promoting safe travel on the Volta Lake”, Zoil would provide 10,000 life jackets for boat operators and users in addition to the lifeguards who would be stationed at various points along the lake. According to a report dated February 22, 2010, lifeguards saved a driver and his two mates from drowning when their truck loaded with farm produce fell off the Dambai ferry into the lake.
It may not be humanly possible to eliminate accidents entirely on the Volta Lake, but with these latest interventions, it is the hope of many Ghanaians that accidents on the lake would be a thing of the past.
We also expect government to continue to work hard to ensure that the lake provides the water transportation it was envisaged under the Volta River Development Project. Measures like removal of tree stumps and the provision of more modern and safer boats for passengers and goods would be necessary to make the lake, which has enormous potential for the country’s tourism, agricultural and commercial development, safer and attractive to more people.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
When the Volta River Authority (VRA) came into existence through the promulgation of the Volta River Development Act (Act 46) of the Republic of Ghana on April 26, 1961, its core business of power generation and supply for industrial, commercial and domestic use was clearly spelt out. Nonetheless, it had other additional responsibilities including the measurement of the environmental impact of the creation of the Volta Lake on the towns and people bordering the lake.
More importantly, the VRA had been mandated to develop the Volta Lake, which is the huge reservoir of water behind the Akosombo Dam stretching 520 kilometres between Akosombo and Yapei, its north most part mainly as a source of fishing and water transportation.
In 1970, the Volta Lake Transport Company (VLTC) was incorporated with the objective of providing safe, efficient and reliable ferry services on the lake. The idea was to facilitate the movement of passengers and industrial cargo and petroleum products from the south to the north and on their southward bound trip, bring agricultural produce from the north to the south in a cheaper and more convenient manner.
The lake which borders the Volta, Eastern, Western, Ashanti and Central regions also provides transport opportunities for farmers in the various settlements and communities along the lake who use canoes to convey their produce to market centres like Dzemeni, Kpando Torkor, Kete Krachi and Dambai in the Volta Region, Adawso in the Eastern Region and many others in the Afram Plains and parts of the Brong Ahafo and Northern regions.
The Volta Lake was also expected to be an effective link between Ghana and its landlocked neighbours like Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in the transportation of cargo discharged at the Tema Port.
While the VRA has been able to serve its mandate as the nation’s main power generator, the utilisation of the Volta Lake as a major artery between the north and the south received marginal attention. The operations of the VLTC had been inconsistent, irregular and limited to a few centres and, therefore, largely inadequate to meet the needs of the hundreds of thousands of people in the over 739 communities and settlements along the Volta Lake.
The huge vacuum created under these circumstances was filled by private boat owners and operators whose activities came under very little state control or supervision. The result had been the numerous accidents witnessed on the lake either due to overloading, poor navigation skills, badly designed boats or all of these. There is also the problem of tree stumps which have impeded smooth navigation on the lake and which are sometimes the cause of the accidents.
Any time these accidents occurred, the victims were mainly women and children who were either travelling to and from the market or schools. The news of these accidents is always received with promises to make travelling of the lake safer and more reliable.
The latest of these accidents occurred at Wusuta in the Volta Region where over 20 people, mostly women and children, lost their lives. Not that nothing was being done to stem the accidents which have become regular on the lake. Since 2006, the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA), in collaboration with other agencies including the VLTC and the Ghana Navy intensified efforts at implementing a number of safety measures. They included the stationing of a naval task force at six major lake stations, namely Yeji, Dzemeni, Kpando Torkor, Tapa Abotoase, Dambai and Kete Krachi to enforce safety measures including overloading, drunkenness, use of defective boats and other human abuses, among others.
Other interventions included the training of 872 operators and mechanics at the six major centres and a regular inspection of boats, especially, new entrants to mark and assign them with loadlines, while defective ones were banned from operations.
What promises to be a major boost to transportation on the Volta Lake is a new partnership between Zoil Services Limited, the Ministry of Transport, the Ghana Maritime Authority and the Ghana Navy. Under this partnership, Zoil Services, which is a subsidiary of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, will train lifeguards. These guards would patrol and monitor activities on the lake in order to reduce bad practices which result in accidents. Some of these bad practices which have been mentioned earlier include overloading, poorly- manufactured boats and lack of life jackets.
Under the project dubbed; “Promoting safe travel on the Volta Lake”, Zoil would provide 10,000 life jackets for boat operators and users in addition to the lifeguards who would be stationed at various points along the lake. According to a report dated February 22, 2010, lifeguards saved a driver and his two mates from drowning when their truck loaded with farm produce fell off the Dambai ferry into the lake.
It may not be humanly possible to eliminate accidents entirely on the Volta Lake, but with these latest interventions, it is the hope of many Ghanaians that accidents on the lake would be a thing of the past.
We also expect government to continue to work hard to ensure that the lake provides the water transportation it was envisaged under the Volta River Development Project. Measures like removal of tree stumps and the provision of more modern and safer boats for passengers and goods would be necessary to make the lake, which has enormous potential for the country’s tourism, agricultural and commercial development, safer and attractive to more people.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Nana Ampofo's big game
By Kofi Akordor
A friend narrated the experience he had with a neighbour with whom he shared a wall who was erecting a structure, quite contrary to the building code for their residential area in one of the communities of Tema. He said he made a friendly approach his neighbour to remind him of the anomaly but the neighbour retorted that once the plot belonged to him he could do anything on it.
My friend said having failed with his approach, he reported the matter to the authorities at the Tema Development Corporation (TDC), the managers of Tema lands, who confirmed the building code for their area and promised to ensure that the illegality ceased forthwith.
As of the time of writing this article, the officers at the TDC were yet to get the teeth to bite and apply the laws of their own making. Meanwhile, they have got the vigour and frenzy to be knocking down wooden and metal structures which they have allowed over the years to sprout all over the once beautiful port city of Tema, eroding it of its prestige and image.
Out of ignorance or arrogance on the part of developers and irresponsible behaviour on the part of mandated institutions of state, a pervasive culture of impudence and impunity has been allowed to creep into our building practices which has rendered our cities and towns not only an eyesore but also most parts have become disaster-prone areas.
As a result of the failure of our city authorities to react quickly to such infractions of the building code and draw attention to the illegalities, many developers and squatters have come to the conclusion that they were right and any belated attempt to correct the evils of the past is given various interpretations which, in the main, are not complementary.
That was why when the residents of Sakaman, a suburb of Accra, woke up to see bulldozers tearing down their structures built on watercourses and at other unauthorised places, their only conclusion was that they were being punished for voting overwhelmingly against the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC). Not that such arguments make any sense to many people, but in a country where we indulge in vicious politics, as against the national interest, such statements are likely to win sympathy from politicians with crooked and selfish ambitions.
Mr Stanley Nii Adjiri-Blankson, the Metropolitan Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) in the immediate past regime, was a victim of such a political opportunism when his attempts to restore sanity to certain parts of Accra came to a severe jolt. Others before him were similarly not lucky. This tradition went on over the years until Accra, our administrative capital and largest city, became a huge jungle of poorly developed communities.
Honestly, any objective person returning from most of the world capitals will admit that Accra, in its current form, does not represent the aspirations of the people of this country, nor does it express the desire of this country to attain a middle-income status in the nearest future.
The current MCE of the AMA, Mr Albert Nii Vanderpuije, has embarked on another brave and ambitious mission to undo the evils of the past and purge the national capital of iniquities, so far as the erection of structures at unauthorised places is concerned. As was expected, vilification and condemnation came from various quarters, including some members of his own government. So far, the AMA under Mr Vanderpuije has remained resolute and the exercise appears to be on course.
However, it has concentrated mainly on shacks and buildings belonging to those commonly described as the ordinary people. It, therefore, came as big news when the Daily Graphic published in its March 12, 2010 issue a declaration by Nana Adjei Ampofo, the Chairman of the Lands Commission, that there was going to be a major demolition of illegal structures along the Accra-Tema Motorway after March 31, 2010.
Affected structures included parts of the Accra Mall, Trassaco offices and some of its estate houses, Action Chapel International, Sidalco Limited and Metallic, a warehouse belonging to MTN, Grand Oak and OIC Vocational Institute.
There was excitement because, for once, Ghanaians were beginning to believe that the demolition exercise was going to assume a new dimension and the authorities were going to apply the rules fairly and firmly without regard to names and titles. That would also assure members of the public that the exercise was not selective and its motives were in the national interest.
There was also apprehension and scepticism, as some of these things are easier said than done. There was, therefore, a feeling of let-down among many Ghanaians and the confirmation of their fears when March 31, 2010 came and went by without Nana Adjei carrying out his threat. He assured the public, though, that there had been an extension of the deadline for affected companies and individuals to reorganise themselves and that the exercise would go into full gear in a month’s period. That gives us up to the middle of this month for the public to see Nana Ampofo’s squad in full blast.
It is too early yet to suspect that Nana Adjei would eat his own words and go down the path of others who made similar threats in the past. But the nation stands to lose greatly and the exercise will be seriously undermined if the impression is created that some people or institutions are above the law, while ordinary citizens become victims of an illegality which has become the norm instead of the exception.
Any failure on the part of Nana Adjei and the AMA to execute to the letter their mandate will also open the floodgates for another bout of illegalities and strengthen the argument among some politicians that decongesting and demolition exercises have more political undertones than the national interest.
We pray that we shall not be disappointed.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
A friend narrated the experience he had with a neighbour with whom he shared a wall who was erecting a structure, quite contrary to the building code for their residential area in one of the communities of Tema. He said he made a friendly approach his neighbour to remind him of the anomaly but the neighbour retorted that once the plot belonged to him he could do anything on it.
My friend said having failed with his approach, he reported the matter to the authorities at the Tema Development Corporation (TDC), the managers of Tema lands, who confirmed the building code for their area and promised to ensure that the illegality ceased forthwith.
As of the time of writing this article, the officers at the TDC were yet to get the teeth to bite and apply the laws of their own making. Meanwhile, they have got the vigour and frenzy to be knocking down wooden and metal structures which they have allowed over the years to sprout all over the once beautiful port city of Tema, eroding it of its prestige and image.
Out of ignorance or arrogance on the part of developers and irresponsible behaviour on the part of mandated institutions of state, a pervasive culture of impudence and impunity has been allowed to creep into our building practices which has rendered our cities and towns not only an eyesore but also most parts have become disaster-prone areas.
As a result of the failure of our city authorities to react quickly to such infractions of the building code and draw attention to the illegalities, many developers and squatters have come to the conclusion that they were right and any belated attempt to correct the evils of the past is given various interpretations which, in the main, are not complementary.
That was why when the residents of Sakaman, a suburb of Accra, woke up to see bulldozers tearing down their structures built on watercourses and at other unauthorised places, their only conclusion was that they were being punished for voting overwhelmingly against the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC). Not that such arguments make any sense to many people, but in a country where we indulge in vicious politics, as against the national interest, such statements are likely to win sympathy from politicians with crooked and selfish ambitions.
Mr Stanley Nii Adjiri-Blankson, the Metropolitan Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) in the immediate past regime, was a victim of such a political opportunism when his attempts to restore sanity to certain parts of Accra came to a severe jolt. Others before him were similarly not lucky. This tradition went on over the years until Accra, our administrative capital and largest city, became a huge jungle of poorly developed communities.
Honestly, any objective person returning from most of the world capitals will admit that Accra, in its current form, does not represent the aspirations of the people of this country, nor does it express the desire of this country to attain a middle-income status in the nearest future.
The current MCE of the AMA, Mr Albert Nii Vanderpuije, has embarked on another brave and ambitious mission to undo the evils of the past and purge the national capital of iniquities, so far as the erection of structures at unauthorised places is concerned. As was expected, vilification and condemnation came from various quarters, including some members of his own government. So far, the AMA under Mr Vanderpuije has remained resolute and the exercise appears to be on course.
However, it has concentrated mainly on shacks and buildings belonging to those commonly described as the ordinary people. It, therefore, came as big news when the Daily Graphic published in its March 12, 2010 issue a declaration by Nana Adjei Ampofo, the Chairman of the Lands Commission, that there was going to be a major demolition of illegal structures along the Accra-Tema Motorway after March 31, 2010.
Affected structures included parts of the Accra Mall, Trassaco offices and some of its estate houses, Action Chapel International, Sidalco Limited and Metallic, a warehouse belonging to MTN, Grand Oak and OIC Vocational Institute.
There was excitement because, for once, Ghanaians were beginning to believe that the demolition exercise was going to assume a new dimension and the authorities were going to apply the rules fairly and firmly without regard to names and titles. That would also assure members of the public that the exercise was not selective and its motives were in the national interest.
There was also apprehension and scepticism, as some of these things are easier said than done. There was, therefore, a feeling of let-down among many Ghanaians and the confirmation of their fears when March 31, 2010 came and went by without Nana Adjei carrying out his threat. He assured the public, though, that there had been an extension of the deadline for affected companies and individuals to reorganise themselves and that the exercise would go into full gear in a month’s period. That gives us up to the middle of this month for the public to see Nana Ampofo’s squad in full blast.
It is too early yet to suspect that Nana Adjei would eat his own words and go down the path of others who made similar threats in the past. But the nation stands to lose greatly and the exercise will be seriously undermined if the impression is created that some people or institutions are above the law, while ordinary citizens become victims of an illegality which has become the norm instead of the exception.
Any failure on the part of Nana Adjei and the AMA to execute to the letter their mandate will also open the floodgates for another bout of illegalities and strengthen the argument among some politicians that decongesting and demolition exercises have more political undertones than the national interest.
We pray that we shall not be disappointed.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
RELIGION AND PRODUCTIVITY (APRIL 6, 2010)
THE noise was a cacophonic blend of cymbals, drums, guitars, trumpets and human voices from a multitude of worshippers. It was in the afternoon, the peak of production for those tilling the land, working in the offices and factories or simply taking their lunch before going for the next and probably the last round of the day’s working schedule.
The day’s worship is often extended to evening hours, ending up in the wee hours of the next day in what they describe as all-night sessions. For days, weeks, months and years, this has become the standard practice of religious fanatics who have turned the productive hours and times of rest into a frenzy of noise-making, all in the name of worshipping God.
Whether it is God who has been cruel to us or our prayers have not reached the target audience, we all troop out of these prayer sessions more devastated and helpless, looking up to others for survival.
This was the message captured by Professor Max Assimeng of the Sociology Department of the University of Ghana, Legon, in his book: Religion and Social Change in West Africa.
In the 291-page book launched in Accra last week, Prof Assimeng observes that Ghana’s economic challenges have gained root because of the use of a greater part of our productive hours observing religious practices.
“In any country where there is too much religion, economic activity goes down,” he observes in the book, explaining that “all countries that are progressing are both religious and hardworking at the same time”.
Prof Assimeng, or for that matter any other person, has not spoken against religious worship. The issue is whether we have been able to separate religion from productivity and whether we have been able to programme ourselves to satisfy both needs.
We are not more religious than others. In Japan, almost every home is like a temple where families gather before what Christians will describe as idols to say prayers before the day’s activities. They do the same before retiring for the day. We are nowhere near the Japanese who inhabit a cluster of earthquake-prone islands.
The same could be said of Indians, Chinese, Koreans, Malaysians and Arabs whose religions were not imposed on them from outside through colonialism but are ancestral inheritance which were maintained, sustained and improved upon over the years.
These are people who have achieved a lot in their individual and national lives because they blend prayers and fasting with serious thinking and hard work. If, as a student, you devote all your time to praying, without learning, you will go to the examination hall and fail; it is very simple. Maybe if you pray hard and take your lessons seriously, God will open your mind and allow the stuff to sink in.
So, if, as a people, we spend a greater part of time praying without working, we will simply not make it, as is evident now. We have some of the best resources God can generously endow any nation. It is, therefore, sad that in spite of these resources, we have to make begging a national habit. Strangely, we beg for food from countries that do not have fertile land that comes close to what we have. If it is true that God made man in his own likeness, then we here or Blacks generally are not portraying God in his true image.
Otherwise, why should God be seen as a God of abundance, affluence and happiness in one part of the world and a God of poverty, disease and deprivation in another part?
The increasing presence of criminality such as rape, defilement, money doubling and robbery in the churches is a clear manifestation that many people do not rationalise in religious matters and, therefore, embrace any creature who emerges in a robe with a long cross dangling around his neck and proclaiming himself an evangelist, apostle or prophet.
We have tolerated religious fanaticism to such an extent that we have lost the peace in our homes which have been invaded by noisy religious fundamentalists.
As Prof Assimeng puts it in his book, religion will always remain important in the lives of humanity as, “human beings would have created God if He did not exist”. In other words, religion is and will remain part of man’s existence. However, in pursuit of our spiritual salvation, the needs of the body cannot be ignored. That is why prayers should only be seen as part of the requirements to fulfil man’s desires on earth. A good balance between prayers and hard work will make the total man in the true image of God.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
PS:
Your popular From my rooftop column will take a short break after today. It will return in full blast on Tuesday, May 18, 2010.
The day’s worship is often extended to evening hours, ending up in the wee hours of the next day in what they describe as all-night sessions. For days, weeks, months and years, this has become the standard practice of religious fanatics who have turned the productive hours and times of rest into a frenzy of noise-making, all in the name of worshipping God.
Whether it is God who has been cruel to us or our prayers have not reached the target audience, we all troop out of these prayer sessions more devastated and helpless, looking up to others for survival.
This was the message captured by Professor Max Assimeng of the Sociology Department of the University of Ghana, Legon, in his book: Religion and Social Change in West Africa.
In the 291-page book launched in Accra last week, Prof Assimeng observes that Ghana’s economic challenges have gained root because of the use of a greater part of our productive hours observing religious practices.
“In any country where there is too much religion, economic activity goes down,” he observes in the book, explaining that “all countries that are progressing are both religious and hardworking at the same time”.
Prof Assimeng, or for that matter any other person, has not spoken against religious worship. The issue is whether we have been able to separate religion from productivity and whether we have been able to programme ourselves to satisfy both needs.
We are not more religious than others. In Japan, almost every home is like a temple where families gather before what Christians will describe as idols to say prayers before the day’s activities. They do the same before retiring for the day. We are nowhere near the Japanese who inhabit a cluster of earthquake-prone islands.
The same could be said of Indians, Chinese, Koreans, Malaysians and Arabs whose religions were not imposed on them from outside through colonialism but are ancestral inheritance which were maintained, sustained and improved upon over the years.
These are people who have achieved a lot in their individual and national lives because they blend prayers and fasting with serious thinking and hard work. If, as a student, you devote all your time to praying, without learning, you will go to the examination hall and fail; it is very simple. Maybe if you pray hard and take your lessons seriously, God will open your mind and allow the stuff to sink in.
So, if, as a people, we spend a greater part of time praying without working, we will simply not make it, as is evident now. We have some of the best resources God can generously endow any nation. It is, therefore, sad that in spite of these resources, we have to make begging a national habit. Strangely, we beg for food from countries that do not have fertile land that comes close to what we have. If it is true that God made man in his own likeness, then we here or Blacks generally are not portraying God in his true image.
Otherwise, why should God be seen as a God of abundance, affluence and happiness in one part of the world and a God of poverty, disease and deprivation in another part?
The increasing presence of criminality such as rape, defilement, money doubling and robbery in the churches is a clear manifestation that many people do not rationalise in religious matters and, therefore, embrace any creature who emerges in a robe with a long cross dangling around his neck and proclaiming himself an evangelist, apostle or prophet.
We have tolerated religious fanaticism to such an extent that we have lost the peace in our homes which have been invaded by noisy religious fundamentalists.
As Prof Assimeng puts it in his book, religion will always remain important in the lives of humanity as, “human beings would have created God if He did not exist”. In other words, religion is and will remain part of man’s existence. However, in pursuit of our spiritual salvation, the needs of the body cannot be ignored. That is why prayers should only be seen as part of the requirements to fulfil man’s desires on earth. A good balance between prayers and hard work will make the total man in the true image of God.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
PS:
Your popular From my rooftop column will take a short break after today. It will return in full blast on Tuesday, May 18, 2010.
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