By Kofi Akordor
Alhaji Asuma Banda might have touched raw nerves when he suggested a few months ago that the government should ban the importation of second-hand vehicles as a way of minimising the carnage on the roads.
From where he is coming from — a business magnate who is well-resourced to acquire any model of vehicle he wishes — it is easy for him to come to the conclusion that banning second-hand vehicles from the roads will provide an answer to the accident menace.
There is no doubt that old vehicles contribute to road accidents. Anything old cannot perform at optimum level. Therefore, it should be expected that a very old vehicle will experience frequent breakdowns and sometimes accidents. But, in our circumstances, it has been established that, in majority of cases, accidents are the result of human failure.
These include speeding, wrong overtaking, disregard of other road users and driving under the influence of alcohol and illegal drugs. Driving has been taken for granted and so there are many people behind the steering wheel who have not gone through any proper training but still managed to possess valid driving licences because of our corrupt nature. All these contribute 80 per cent or more to accident cases.
This means that no matter how new a vehicle is, unless we remove or reduce the above factors, the situation will not see any significant improvement.
But the greatest challenge to Alhaji Banda’s prescription is that majority of vehicles in the country are second-hand.
In the past, it was easy for any senior officer in the public service to acquire a brand new vehicle. Today, things are different. Apart from a few people who, because of their status or job specification, are given brand new vehicles by their organisations, the rest of us must go to the junk market.
At the ministries, departments and agencies, only the chief directors and a few privileged directors have access to brand new vehicles. Other officers have to fight for themselves with their meagre salaries. That was how the second-hand car business became a lucrative one.
Most of the banks have put up packages, in collaboration with the auto companies, to help workers purchase their own vehicles, but salary levels are so low that majority of workers cannot access big loans to go in for brand new vehicles.
So, as Alhaji Banda and others who share in his opinion will realise, it is not the wish of any person to purchase a used or second-hand vehicle. It is the economic status of majority of Ghanaians, including top grade professionals such as medical officers, lecturers, architects, engineers and pharmacists, that forces them onto the second-hand market.
Things are not so easy even on the second-hand market. A fairly good vehicle which is less than 10 years old, depending on the model and year of manufacture, ranges between GH¢12,000 and GH¢25,000.
The high cost of second-hand vehicles has been attributed to the excessive tax regime being applied by the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). So a vehicle that may cost, say, US$2,000 (equivalent to GH¢3,000) may end up costing more than GH¢10,000 at the point of purchase.
Any attempt to ban the importation of used vehicles will mean that the vast majority of Ghanaians will be without their personal vehicles for private, commercial or industrial use. With the present very poor public transportation system, the situation could well be imagined.
What is even more humiliating to our dignity and dangerous to driving is the fact that about 75 per cent of tyres used by vehicles in Ghana are second-hand. This was the conclusion of a research conducted by the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC).
According to the figures, in 2005, 2006 and 2007, about 6.6 million tyres were imported into the country, out of which about 5.1 million were used ones. That translates into the fact that three in every four tyres sold in Ghana are second-hand. It means the country is virtually driving on tyres used or rejected in other countries.
The same research showed that some imported tyres were not roadworthy, as their service lives had already expired. Other tyres, labelled snow tyres, have found their way into a tropical environment like ours. It is, therefore, not surprising that the research came to the conclusion that a third of accidents could be attributed to second-hand tyres.
The Ghana Standards Board, according to its Head of Marketing and Public Relations, Mr Kofi Amponsah-Bediako, said there were no immediate plans to ban second-hand tyres until there was a review of government’s trade policy on the importation of second-hand tyres.
In February, the Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, called for a national debate on the importation of second-hand spare parts and tyres. The question is, where will the debate lead us? Second-hand goods are not a choice. No one wants anything second-hand. Even in marriage, every person would want to go in for somebody fresh.
We have been forced by our miserable circumstances to go second-hand in everything — from pants, towels, handkerchiefs, cutlery, plates, glasses, saucepans to electronic goods that have been declared waste in other countries.
Sometimes one may see a truck loaded with junk which under normal circumstances should head for the dumping site. In all probability, that truck may he heading for Abossey Okai from the Tema Port.
In the absence of a manufacturing industry, the second-hand goods business has become a major income-generation and job-creation avenue in the country. So any government will have to calculate the economic and social consequences before coming up with a policy to ban some of the used goods that have choked our markets.
Our poverty level is also a clear indication that no matter how hard we try, for a very long time to come we will have to endure the indignity of consuming what others have used and thrown away.
Maybe our oil and gas will change things later. But since we are not likely to end the importation of second-hand vehicles and worn-out tyres so soon, we just have to advise ourselves, especially the commercial drivers who get excited on the wheels, to go slow on the road.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Africa and leadership deficit syndrome
By Kofi Akordor
Last week, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) set in motion events that adequately offer Ghanaians an idea of things to come next year when campaign for the Presidency and Parliament gathers steam and moves into top gear.
On Tuesday, May 3, 2011, a former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, paid a visit to the NDC headquarters to collect nomination forms in pursuit of her presidential ambitions.
She did not go there alone; she was joined by her cheering supporters. She followed it up with a press conference the following day at the Accra International Conference Centre to formally launch her campaign for the NDC flagbearership.
On Thursday, May 5, 2011, half of Accra came to a standstill when President John Evans Atta Mills visited the NDC headquarters to collect his nomination forms to begin another journey for the Presidency.
That should have been a simple event, but it took the form of a street carnival and it was obvious that official work in the ministries was abandoned for the day, since every minister was part of the presidential entourage in order not to be seen as part of the other camp.
In the few weeks before the Sunyani congress, we are going to witness a lot of activity from both the Nana Konadu and the President Mills camps to win the hearts of the delegates. Foul words may flow out. There may even be brawls, all in a desperate effort to win power at the party level and later at the national level.
The grand battle will be fought next year when the various presidential candidates gear up for the Presidency. A few loyalists have their fortunes intrinsically tied to those of their presidential candidates. Some will get political appointments, while others will witness breakthroughs in their business activities, hence the desperation in the campaign strategies, sometimes turning acrimonious and bloody.
But what is the gain for the country in general? Does political leadership bring about significant change in the lives of the people?
Surely, those committed to the development of this country will not waste their lives or those of others on their way to seeking the opportunity to serve their nation. The selfish motive is very strong, bringing out all the animalistic instincts in us.
That is the problem of Africa. The enthusiasm with which we approach the quest for political power wanes terribly after we get the power. Africa’s political leadership has become a subject for intense discussion at various international fora. Slavery and colonialism, which were the excuses we had been citing in the past for our poor performance in national development, have been mentioned so often that they have lost attraction.
Notwithstanding those two historical misfortunes, Africa’s underdevelopment remains a mystery, judging from the rich resources it has in abundance and which have gone to make other nations rich and powerful.
The focus is now on political leadership which has been identified as the weakest link in the continent’s quest for development. Addressing a World Economic Forum in South Africa, a former Secretary-General of the UN, Mr Kofi Annan, threw the searchlight on political leadership on the continent and said Africa risked squandering rapid economic growth because of poor leadership.
He criticised African leaders who wanted to cling on to power at all cost, instead of developing their economies. He also questioned the over-reliance on unprocessed commodities and insufficient investment in manufacturing and infrastructure.
Mr Annan is a Ghanaian and so he knew what he was talking about. We in Ghana know our situation very well, which fits into what Mr Annan described as “low-quality growth” where we have to import everything, including toothpick from China.
We pride ourselves as top exporters of cocoa beans, timber and bauxite. We have not been able to build industries revolving around these commodities to develop the country’s industrial base and offer employment to our youth.
The cocoa industry alone has the potential of offering jobs to hundreds of thousands of people if we make a deliberate policy to go beyond the production of raw cocoa beans and go into processing.
The case of Nestle is a clear example of what we can do with our natural resources. Nestle is a Swiss company. They do not grow cocoa in Switzerland but Nestle is one of the biggest manufacturers of chocolate and other cocoa products. Why should we be satisfied with being the farmers who produce the cocoa beans while others derive the full benefits?
The same can be said of timber. Why should we destroy our forests by cutting timber logs and exporting them and turn round to import furniture made from our timber for our offices?
We mine gold in Ghana, but, strangely, we do not have a gold refinery which will add value to the unrefined gold. Turkey does not mine gold or diamonds but it has one of the largest jewellery factories in the world.
We have fruits in abundance which go bad when they are in season, but almost all the fruit juices on the shelves of our supermarkets are imported.
It is sad to see tomato puree imported from China being advertised on local television as if they are the best things that could ever happen to a people.
These are serious deficiencies that cannot be blamed on slavery, colonialism, neo-colonialism or any world economic order. It is all about leadership and direction. These are serious challenges confronting us as a nation, and so when we pick nomination forms with fanfare, we should not forget that the real work is not just about talking and making promises.
It will be a good thing for our country if we pursue the goals of national development with the same vigour as we pursue the glory of political power.
We must change this country and we do not have any excuse for failure.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Last week, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) set in motion events that adequately offer Ghanaians an idea of things to come next year when campaign for the Presidency and Parliament gathers steam and moves into top gear.
On Tuesday, May 3, 2011, a former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, paid a visit to the NDC headquarters to collect nomination forms in pursuit of her presidential ambitions.
She did not go there alone; she was joined by her cheering supporters. She followed it up with a press conference the following day at the Accra International Conference Centre to formally launch her campaign for the NDC flagbearership.
On Thursday, May 5, 2011, half of Accra came to a standstill when President John Evans Atta Mills visited the NDC headquarters to collect his nomination forms to begin another journey for the Presidency.
That should have been a simple event, but it took the form of a street carnival and it was obvious that official work in the ministries was abandoned for the day, since every minister was part of the presidential entourage in order not to be seen as part of the other camp.
In the few weeks before the Sunyani congress, we are going to witness a lot of activity from both the Nana Konadu and the President Mills camps to win the hearts of the delegates. Foul words may flow out. There may even be brawls, all in a desperate effort to win power at the party level and later at the national level.
The grand battle will be fought next year when the various presidential candidates gear up for the Presidency. A few loyalists have their fortunes intrinsically tied to those of their presidential candidates. Some will get political appointments, while others will witness breakthroughs in their business activities, hence the desperation in the campaign strategies, sometimes turning acrimonious and bloody.
But what is the gain for the country in general? Does political leadership bring about significant change in the lives of the people?
Surely, those committed to the development of this country will not waste their lives or those of others on their way to seeking the opportunity to serve their nation. The selfish motive is very strong, bringing out all the animalistic instincts in us.
That is the problem of Africa. The enthusiasm with which we approach the quest for political power wanes terribly after we get the power. Africa’s political leadership has become a subject for intense discussion at various international fora. Slavery and colonialism, which were the excuses we had been citing in the past for our poor performance in national development, have been mentioned so often that they have lost attraction.
Notwithstanding those two historical misfortunes, Africa’s underdevelopment remains a mystery, judging from the rich resources it has in abundance and which have gone to make other nations rich and powerful.
The focus is now on political leadership which has been identified as the weakest link in the continent’s quest for development. Addressing a World Economic Forum in South Africa, a former Secretary-General of the UN, Mr Kofi Annan, threw the searchlight on political leadership on the continent and said Africa risked squandering rapid economic growth because of poor leadership.
He criticised African leaders who wanted to cling on to power at all cost, instead of developing their economies. He also questioned the over-reliance on unprocessed commodities and insufficient investment in manufacturing and infrastructure.
Mr Annan is a Ghanaian and so he knew what he was talking about. We in Ghana know our situation very well, which fits into what Mr Annan described as “low-quality growth” where we have to import everything, including toothpick from China.
We pride ourselves as top exporters of cocoa beans, timber and bauxite. We have not been able to build industries revolving around these commodities to develop the country’s industrial base and offer employment to our youth.
The cocoa industry alone has the potential of offering jobs to hundreds of thousands of people if we make a deliberate policy to go beyond the production of raw cocoa beans and go into processing.
The case of Nestle is a clear example of what we can do with our natural resources. Nestle is a Swiss company. They do not grow cocoa in Switzerland but Nestle is one of the biggest manufacturers of chocolate and other cocoa products. Why should we be satisfied with being the farmers who produce the cocoa beans while others derive the full benefits?
The same can be said of timber. Why should we destroy our forests by cutting timber logs and exporting them and turn round to import furniture made from our timber for our offices?
We mine gold in Ghana, but, strangely, we do not have a gold refinery which will add value to the unrefined gold. Turkey does not mine gold or diamonds but it has one of the largest jewellery factories in the world.
We have fruits in abundance which go bad when they are in season, but almost all the fruit juices on the shelves of our supermarkets are imported.
It is sad to see tomato puree imported from China being advertised on local television as if they are the best things that could ever happen to a people.
These are serious deficiencies that cannot be blamed on slavery, colonialism, neo-colonialism or any world economic order. It is all about leadership and direction. These are serious challenges confronting us as a nation, and so when we pick nomination forms with fanfare, we should not forget that the real work is not just about talking and making promises.
It will be a good thing for our country if we pursue the goals of national development with the same vigour as we pursue the glory of political power.
We must change this country and we do not have any excuse for failure.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Are we serious with tourism development?
By Kofi Akordor
Ghanaians are generally fun-loving people. That is why they take advantage of every national holiday or any special occasion to celebrate with food, drink and music. Even funerals which are supposed to be solemn occasions are fun as soon as the dead is buried.
Unfortunately, recreational spots are woefully limited, thereby compelling most residents of Accra to turn to the beaches for pleasure during holidays and special occasions. This always comes with its dangers as our beaches are not well-developed for mass use by holidaymakers.
This year’s Easter beach parties turned tragic when over nine deaths through drowning or stampede were recorded. Accidents do occur no matter the precautions but either way, fatalities could have been prevented or reduced if there were good management in place at the various beaches frequented by revellers.
Take the La Pleasure Beach for instance. Apart from the sea and sand, there is nothing pleasurable about the place. All the same, people are able to extort money from holidaymakers without providing for their needs, safety and security.
This brings in the question of how enterprising our tourism industry is, for which a whole ministry has been created. The creation of the Ministry of Tourism underscores the government’s acknowledgement of the importance of tourism in packaging the country for the international market and for revenue generation.
The country abounds in tourism potential from the coastal belt with its sandy beaches to the northern zone, which could be developed to attract not only international tourists but local ones who need to travel and appreciate the good things God has endowed this country with.
It is an obvious fact that it is the interest that local people show in their tourist sites that act as magnets to attract foreign visitors. In Ghana, apart from students and occasionally church and other social groups who organize group tours, many Ghanaians show very little interest in internal tourism.
The fault is not theirs. Tourism has seen very little development, if any at all, and, therefore, holds very little attraction to the generality of the population. Take the Aburi Botanical Gardens for example. This wonderful place opened in March 1890 on 64.8 hectares of land is only 35 kilometres away from Accra, the national capital.
Situated 460 metres above sea level, Aburi Botanical Gardens is one of the most beautiful, peaceful and fascinating places that many Ghanaians and foreign visitors would like to visit, for the sheer beauty of the place or to relax and kill stress because of the invigorating nature of the place. I mean this would happen under normal circumstances, but things are not normal at Aburi Botanical Gardens.
Since the colonialists handed over the place to us, we have done very little to add value to it. I will not be surprised if the people of Aburi no longer feel any sense of pride about the place. The visitor is left in awe at the beauty of nature. That is all. Other things that should complement the place and make it exciting and attractive are not there. By now, Aburi Botanical Gardens should have modern chalets that would attract writers, the religiously-inclined, the sick and even newly-wed couples who want a quiet but luxurious environment to spend a few days to work, meditate, convalesce or enjoy at a reasonable fee.
It needs good restaurants which serve local dishes for the sake of foreign guests who will want to savour some of our delicacies they cannot find in their home countries. It needs amusement parks where children, accompanied by their parents, could visit at weekends for educational tours and relaxation.
After more than 100 years of existence, Aburi Botanical Gardens has lost its ‘gardenness’ and is now more or less a forest reserve with very little attraction for those who love nature and the luxury of green vegetation. So even though Aburi Botanical Gardens is so close to Accra, the city dwellers do not frequent the place as expected. Foreigners who would want to escape the harsh winter conditions in their countries to spend days at Aburi Botanical Gardens may be disappointed for lack of the necessary facilities. That is the miserable story of Aburi Botanical Gardens.
The Mole Game Reserve in the Northern Region has a big name on the tourism map of Ghana. However, all excitement will be deflated when the visitor comes face-to-face with the game reserve. Mole Game Reserve is in shambles.
The game reserve is the largest national park and home to 93 mammalian species, 33 reptiles, nine amphibians and an estimated 300 bird species. With this rich collection of animals, Mole Game Park should be an attraction to both local and foreign visitors, but it is not. The roads are bad; the hospitality facility is very poor and inadequate. What nature has generously provided, we as human beings have failed to harness and add value to.
The overlord of the Gonja Traditional Area, Yagbonwura Tuntumka Boresa I, in desperation, called on the government to do something about the game reserve to save it from total collapse when he addressed his people at the recent Damba festival of the people.
Our beaches have been degraded to the extent that only we find it a suitable place for holidays. Beach fronts are prime zones in many places where many would like to spend their days and evenings. Ours have been turned into public toilets and dumping grounds for refuse.
Aburi Botanical Gardens and Mole Game Reserve are true reflections of how serious we have taken tourism development in the country over the years. The places are not accessible. When you manage to get there, you are quickly disappointed by what you see or what you do not see.
Even the castles and forts that we market widely for historical reasons have not been developed and repackaged as tourism attractions for both local and foreign visitors.
Tourism has the potential of bringing money not only into the national coffers, but also capable of changing the economy of our rural areas. The multiplier effect of tourism facilities are obvious and should be known to our political leaders who need to pursue an aggressive tourism development agenda and not the lip-service witnessed so far.
Employment generated in the tourism industry will be more long-lasting and not the short-term measures being pursued by our governments for some political advantage. The vast tourism potential of the Volta Lake, with its numerous islands, are being wasted away while we continue to beg others who know how to harness their natural resources for development for support. Dodi Island is another disappointment for those who were excited on hearing of the place and visited there.
Tourism is a money spinner and can transform our economy, especially the rural economy. But if we are to make it big, then tourism development counts. If we are serious then the plans must be taken away from the desks of bureaucrats and their political masters to the corporate world where firms and individual entrepreneurs will be prepared to make heavy investments in the industry.
Maybe if the Tourism Development Authority becomes real, it would generate more heat and put a fresh impetus into the sector. Aburi Botanical Gardens, the Mole Game Reserve and such other places must not die. And Ghanaians should not die at the beaches because of poor management practice.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Ghanaians are generally fun-loving people. That is why they take advantage of every national holiday or any special occasion to celebrate with food, drink and music. Even funerals which are supposed to be solemn occasions are fun as soon as the dead is buried.
Unfortunately, recreational spots are woefully limited, thereby compelling most residents of Accra to turn to the beaches for pleasure during holidays and special occasions. This always comes with its dangers as our beaches are not well-developed for mass use by holidaymakers.
This year’s Easter beach parties turned tragic when over nine deaths through drowning or stampede were recorded. Accidents do occur no matter the precautions but either way, fatalities could have been prevented or reduced if there were good management in place at the various beaches frequented by revellers.
Take the La Pleasure Beach for instance. Apart from the sea and sand, there is nothing pleasurable about the place. All the same, people are able to extort money from holidaymakers without providing for their needs, safety and security.
This brings in the question of how enterprising our tourism industry is, for which a whole ministry has been created. The creation of the Ministry of Tourism underscores the government’s acknowledgement of the importance of tourism in packaging the country for the international market and for revenue generation.
The country abounds in tourism potential from the coastal belt with its sandy beaches to the northern zone, which could be developed to attract not only international tourists but local ones who need to travel and appreciate the good things God has endowed this country with.
It is an obvious fact that it is the interest that local people show in their tourist sites that act as magnets to attract foreign visitors. In Ghana, apart from students and occasionally church and other social groups who organize group tours, many Ghanaians show very little interest in internal tourism.
The fault is not theirs. Tourism has seen very little development, if any at all, and, therefore, holds very little attraction to the generality of the population. Take the Aburi Botanical Gardens for example. This wonderful place opened in March 1890 on 64.8 hectares of land is only 35 kilometres away from Accra, the national capital.
Situated 460 metres above sea level, Aburi Botanical Gardens is one of the most beautiful, peaceful and fascinating places that many Ghanaians and foreign visitors would like to visit, for the sheer beauty of the place or to relax and kill stress because of the invigorating nature of the place. I mean this would happen under normal circumstances, but things are not normal at Aburi Botanical Gardens.
Since the colonialists handed over the place to us, we have done very little to add value to it. I will not be surprised if the people of Aburi no longer feel any sense of pride about the place. The visitor is left in awe at the beauty of nature. That is all. Other things that should complement the place and make it exciting and attractive are not there. By now, Aburi Botanical Gardens should have modern chalets that would attract writers, the religiously-inclined, the sick and even newly-wed couples who want a quiet but luxurious environment to spend a few days to work, meditate, convalesce or enjoy at a reasonable fee.
It needs good restaurants which serve local dishes for the sake of foreign guests who will want to savour some of our delicacies they cannot find in their home countries. It needs amusement parks where children, accompanied by their parents, could visit at weekends for educational tours and relaxation.
After more than 100 years of existence, Aburi Botanical Gardens has lost its ‘gardenness’ and is now more or less a forest reserve with very little attraction for those who love nature and the luxury of green vegetation. So even though Aburi Botanical Gardens is so close to Accra, the city dwellers do not frequent the place as expected. Foreigners who would want to escape the harsh winter conditions in their countries to spend days at Aburi Botanical Gardens may be disappointed for lack of the necessary facilities. That is the miserable story of Aburi Botanical Gardens.
The Mole Game Reserve in the Northern Region has a big name on the tourism map of Ghana. However, all excitement will be deflated when the visitor comes face-to-face with the game reserve. Mole Game Reserve is in shambles.
The game reserve is the largest national park and home to 93 mammalian species, 33 reptiles, nine amphibians and an estimated 300 bird species. With this rich collection of animals, Mole Game Park should be an attraction to both local and foreign visitors, but it is not. The roads are bad; the hospitality facility is very poor and inadequate. What nature has generously provided, we as human beings have failed to harness and add value to.
The overlord of the Gonja Traditional Area, Yagbonwura Tuntumka Boresa I, in desperation, called on the government to do something about the game reserve to save it from total collapse when he addressed his people at the recent Damba festival of the people.
Our beaches have been degraded to the extent that only we find it a suitable place for holidays. Beach fronts are prime zones in many places where many would like to spend their days and evenings. Ours have been turned into public toilets and dumping grounds for refuse.
Aburi Botanical Gardens and Mole Game Reserve are true reflections of how serious we have taken tourism development in the country over the years. The places are not accessible. When you manage to get there, you are quickly disappointed by what you see or what you do not see.
Even the castles and forts that we market widely for historical reasons have not been developed and repackaged as tourism attractions for both local and foreign visitors.
Tourism has the potential of bringing money not only into the national coffers, but also capable of changing the economy of our rural areas. The multiplier effect of tourism facilities are obvious and should be known to our political leaders who need to pursue an aggressive tourism development agenda and not the lip-service witnessed so far.
Employment generated in the tourism industry will be more long-lasting and not the short-term measures being pursued by our governments for some political advantage. The vast tourism potential of the Volta Lake, with its numerous islands, are being wasted away while we continue to beg others who know how to harness their natural resources for development for support. Dodi Island is another disappointment for those who were excited on hearing of the place and visited there.
Tourism is a money spinner and can transform our economy, especially the rural economy. But if we are to make it big, then tourism development counts. If we are serious then the plans must be taken away from the desks of bureaucrats and their political masters to the corporate world where firms and individual entrepreneurs will be prepared to make heavy investments in the industry.
Maybe if the Tourism Development Authority becomes real, it would generate more heat and put a fresh impetus into the sector. Aburi Botanical Gardens, the Mole Game Reserve and such other places must not die. And Ghanaians should not die at the beaches because of poor management practice.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Are we missing the fruits of democracy?
By Kofi Akordor
The politics of our democracy, it seems, is being driven by two powerful forces – the quest for power and the determination to remain in power. So powerful are these obsessions that all other things must fit into a grand design that goes to consolidate them.
In the process, we are unconsciously missing out on most of the good things that democracy offers countries that practise it. These include a very liberal environment that would engender free flow of ideas out of which will come consensus-building towards a common national development objective.
During election time, all the political parties and candidates use every available platform to market themselves and at the same time use every opportunity to discredit their opponents. This is tolerated in any multi-party environment since the more you can make your opponent appear weaker and less reliable, the better your chances of getting the support of the electorate.
Unfortunately, so consumed are we in our determination to win power that our campaigns become very acrimonious, unethical and antagonistic to the point of threatening national peace and stability. All said and done, one would have thought that the end of an election would signify the end of political campaign until another season, so that the party in power will address serious matters of state that will transform the country into a better place.
We are yet to come to that level in our political development. Right from day one, government officials do not know how to exit the campaign platform because their opponents, by some cunning way, have succeeded in keeping them there, thanks to a media that has found politics a profitable venture that should be exploited to the fullest advantage.
What that means is that the government’s focus is always distorted and its actions are virtually dictated by the opposition, whether internal or external, as the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government of Professor John Evans Atta Mills is experiencing now.
That is why the media, especially the electronic media, have become campaign platforms in which case on daily basis government officials must hop from one radio or television station to another, supported by party activists, justifying why they won the election and why the other party lost the election.
We are constantly being reminded of the past as if our whole national life is dependent on that and not the present and the future. A party in government rather than pursuing the agenda of national development becomes the party on the defensive, always trying to parry queries from the opposition or trying desperately to please its so-called grass roots supporters, who have become an army of hungry and frustrated foot-soldiers.
A big chunk of the population has turned every part of the city into a marketplace. City authorities want to act by enforcing the bye-laws. The traders let off the battle cry: “We shall not vote for you in 2012”. Party victory supersedes national development, so the government recoils to allow the illegality to continue. Opposition parties, especially those who are more likely to gain from any slip by the ruling party, know the truth and know that the city authorities are on the right track if there should be decency in the town we call our capital city but will join the chorus with the traders. “You see how callous the people you elected are?” they would ask with wicked smile on their faces. A national cause has been lost to political expediency.
A President comes under siege from within and without. He is reeling under a barrage of accusations – from leaving party loyalists to go hungry to failing to arrest and prosecute people perceived to have drained the national coffers for personal aggrandisement.
Out of desperation and without doing proper ground work, people are sent to court and later set free not necessarily because they are innocent but on technical grounds. Nothing can be more humiliating than to see a typical national wrecker laughing all the way to celebrate victory over haste and impropriety.
We know things that governments such as the ones that we have under the 1992 Constitution cannot do even if they wish to do so. We have gone beyond arbitrariness, so no matter how hard we may try, at the end of the day, the rule of law will prevail, no matter how people interpret it.
These realities are often lost to us when we are campaigning for political office. At the end of the day, we are held hostage by our own promises. The late Ya Na’s case is a national calamity that should be addressed so accordingly. But we have made it a political case to the extent that the effects have gone beyond the boundaries of Dagbon and are gradually pitting half of the country against the other, when that should not have been the case in the first place.
We must be bold and admit that our democracy is drifting. The party in government is spending a greater part of its time fending off accusations, while the major one in opposition is pushing the government on retreat. Both ways, the national cause is lost and it is all about how to remain in power or how to come back to power.
Meanwhile our national problems remain almost the same. Our educational system is still in a bad shape. To some of us the Capitation Grant and the School Feeding Programme that have become the song on the lips of government officials are not what we consider to be the solutions to a collapsing system. They are not answers for poor infrastructure, inadequate learning materials, lack of motivation for teachers and other workers in the education system and the poor examination results being recorded by our children.
We still have poor road network. It is strange and amazing that travelling between Accra and Kumasi, our two biggest and most important cities, cannot be an exhilarating experience, nearly 60 years after independence. Even a journey between Accra and Tema, a distance of about 30 kilometres, can be nightmarish.
With all the bureaucracy called the Ministry of Agriculture, we are not ashamed to receive maize donation from Japan, a country that is still trying to recover from the devastation of earthquake and the resultant tsunami and nuclear melt-down.
We still have serious challenges in several sectors, including health, water and sanitation, graduate unemployment and youth delinquency. These are serious challenges but which appear not to be of much concern to our politics. Ours is to win power, fair or foul, and do everything to remain there.
Very soon, four years will be over and the game will start all over. Government officials will tell us a million and one achievements they have chalked up while the rest of us struggle to see or come to terms with those achievements. The blame game will start as usual in the inordinate ambitious fight for supremacy in the political arena. But our country may not change for the better.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
The politics of our democracy, it seems, is being driven by two powerful forces – the quest for power and the determination to remain in power. So powerful are these obsessions that all other things must fit into a grand design that goes to consolidate them.
In the process, we are unconsciously missing out on most of the good things that democracy offers countries that practise it. These include a very liberal environment that would engender free flow of ideas out of which will come consensus-building towards a common national development objective.
During election time, all the political parties and candidates use every available platform to market themselves and at the same time use every opportunity to discredit their opponents. This is tolerated in any multi-party environment since the more you can make your opponent appear weaker and less reliable, the better your chances of getting the support of the electorate.
Unfortunately, so consumed are we in our determination to win power that our campaigns become very acrimonious, unethical and antagonistic to the point of threatening national peace and stability. All said and done, one would have thought that the end of an election would signify the end of political campaign until another season, so that the party in power will address serious matters of state that will transform the country into a better place.
We are yet to come to that level in our political development. Right from day one, government officials do not know how to exit the campaign platform because their opponents, by some cunning way, have succeeded in keeping them there, thanks to a media that has found politics a profitable venture that should be exploited to the fullest advantage.
What that means is that the government’s focus is always distorted and its actions are virtually dictated by the opposition, whether internal or external, as the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government of Professor John Evans Atta Mills is experiencing now.
That is why the media, especially the electronic media, have become campaign platforms in which case on daily basis government officials must hop from one radio or television station to another, supported by party activists, justifying why they won the election and why the other party lost the election.
We are constantly being reminded of the past as if our whole national life is dependent on that and not the present and the future. A party in government rather than pursuing the agenda of national development becomes the party on the defensive, always trying to parry queries from the opposition or trying desperately to please its so-called grass roots supporters, who have become an army of hungry and frustrated foot-soldiers.
A big chunk of the population has turned every part of the city into a marketplace. City authorities want to act by enforcing the bye-laws. The traders let off the battle cry: “We shall not vote for you in 2012”. Party victory supersedes national development, so the government recoils to allow the illegality to continue. Opposition parties, especially those who are more likely to gain from any slip by the ruling party, know the truth and know that the city authorities are on the right track if there should be decency in the town we call our capital city but will join the chorus with the traders. “You see how callous the people you elected are?” they would ask with wicked smile on their faces. A national cause has been lost to political expediency.
A President comes under siege from within and without. He is reeling under a barrage of accusations – from leaving party loyalists to go hungry to failing to arrest and prosecute people perceived to have drained the national coffers for personal aggrandisement.
Out of desperation and without doing proper ground work, people are sent to court and later set free not necessarily because they are innocent but on technical grounds. Nothing can be more humiliating than to see a typical national wrecker laughing all the way to celebrate victory over haste and impropriety.
We know things that governments such as the ones that we have under the 1992 Constitution cannot do even if they wish to do so. We have gone beyond arbitrariness, so no matter how hard we may try, at the end of the day, the rule of law will prevail, no matter how people interpret it.
These realities are often lost to us when we are campaigning for political office. At the end of the day, we are held hostage by our own promises. The late Ya Na’s case is a national calamity that should be addressed so accordingly. But we have made it a political case to the extent that the effects have gone beyond the boundaries of Dagbon and are gradually pitting half of the country against the other, when that should not have been the case in the first place.
We must be bold and admit that our democracy is drifting. The party in government is spending a greater part of its time fending off accusations, while the major one in opposition is pushing the government on retreat. Both ways, the national cause is lost and it is all about how to remain in power or how to come back to power.
Meanwhile our national problems remain almost the same. Our educational system is still in a bad shape. To some of us the Capitation Grant and the School Feeding Programme that have become the song on the lips of government officials are not what we consider to be the solutions to a collapsing system. They are not answers for poor infrastructure, inadequate learning materials, lack of motivation for teachers and other workers in the education system and the poor examination results being recorded by our children.
We still have poor road network. It is strange and amazing that travelling between Accra and Kumasi, our two biggest and most important cities, cannot be an exhilarating experience, nearly 60 years after independence. Even a journey between Accra and Tema, a distance of about 30 kilometres, can be nightmarish.
With all the bureaucracy called the Ministry of Agriculture, we are not ashamed to receive maize donation from Japan, a country that is still trying to recover from the devastation of earthquake and the resultant tsunami and nuclear melt-down.
We still have serious challenges in several sectors, including health, water and sanitation, graduate unemployment and youth delinquency. These are serious challenges but which appear not to be of much concern to our politics. Ours is to win power, fair or foul, and do everything to remain there.
Very soon, four years will be over and the game will start all over. Government officials will tell us a million and one achievements they have chalked up while the rest of us struggle to see or come to terms with those achievements. The blame game will start as usual in the inordinate ambitious fight for supremacy in the political arena. But our country may not change for the better.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping and Training Centre — A beacon of peace-building, conflict resolution
By Kofi Akordor
From the ashes of any major calamity sprouts monuments of peace and progress. That being the case, one can say the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) did not come by through accident.
Those who have followed the numerous political upheavals in the sub-region, some culminating in violent confrontations and civil wars, will admit that the KAIPTC was a consequence of the many conflicts which bedevilled the sub-region over the last two decades or so. It was conceived and nurtured by the desire to pre-determine coming events, proactively act to stem conflicts and, where they become unavoidable, put mechanisms in place to restore normalcy in conflict situations as quickly as possible and reduce to the barest minimum the carnage and social disintegration associated with such violent conflicts.
After the secessionist war between the short-lived Biafra and Nigeria between 1967 and 1970, the sub-region enjoyed relative peace, even though military coups were rampant in most of the countries. But when Charles Taylor led his fighters of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) to launch an attack on Samuel Doe’s forces on Christmas Eve, 1989, the situation in the sub-region changed.
For the next 10 years or so, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) had to intervene in the Liberian civil war until the return to civilian rule in 2003. That war and those in Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire and, to a limited extent, Cape Verde, might have brought it home to leaders of the sub-region the need to have an early-warning mechanism in place to engender proactive efforts to pre-empt violent confrontations, instead of waiting for the harm to be done before mobilising for peacekeeping operations.
The experiences gained mainly by Ghanaian soldiers in several peacekeeping operations in various parts of the world, including the Middle East, Bosnia, Rwanda, Darfur and other conflict zones where they saw the ravages and miseries brought about by wars, created the platform for the establishment of an institution that would serve as a forum for top military officers, leading politicians and civil society organisations committed to peacekeeping and conflict prevention and resolution to engage themselves on matters of peace-building and security challenges.
There was also the growing awareness that the wind of democracy blowing across the continent had brought in its wake election-related conflicts such as those witnessed in Kenya in 2007 and Cote d’Ivoire after the November 2010 elections. That demanded diplomacy and expertise in peace-building and conflict resolution to handle. The ground was, therefore, fertile for an institution such as the KAIPTC to sprout out of the debris of war and conflicts in the sub-region.
In January 2004, the KAIPTC became formally established, even though the records show that it started its programmes in 2003 as one of the three ECOWAS-designated training centres of excellence committed to undertaking research into conflict and issues of which appropriate training courses are developed and delivered for various military, police and civilian personnel involved in peace support operations not only in West Africa but also other parts of the world.
It was established by the Ministry of Defence Instruction (MDI) dated November 10, 1998, with Establishment Number MOD/03. The Ministry of Defence, in collaboration with the ministries of Foreign Affairs, the Interior and Finance, exercise limited supervision over the activities of the KAIPTC. It, however, has an independent governing board as its highest decision-making body.
For its vision, the KAIPTC aims: “To be an internationally preferred centre of excellence for research into and training for conflict prevention, management and resolution, and innovative thinking in integrated peace support operations and sustainable delivery of enhanced regional capacity building for peace support operations.”
It has as its mission: “To develop and deliver internationally recognized professional training courses and related programmes to equip personnel with selected skills and competencies required to meet Africa’s present and future complex peace and security challenges.”
At the end of the day, the strategic objectives of the KAIPTC include: Contributing to the development of regional and sub-regional capacity in the delivery of integrated peace support operations; Enhancing regional and sub-regional capacity for conflict prevention, management, resolution and peace-building; Enhancing understanding of critical peace and security issues in West Africa in particular and the continent as a whole; Creating effective, efficient and sustainable management and support arrangements for the centre.
These are laudable objectives and, seven years down the line, the research and training staff of the centre have collaborated with various development partners to deliver over 170 courses in diverse aspects of peace support operations for over 5,400 individuals and organisations from 87 countries across the world.
Within this short period of its existence, the KAIPTC has already attained recognition as a renowned international centre of excellence for education, training and research in peace support operations. It has, over the period, successfully engaged and collaborated effectively with national governments, regional and international organisations, diverse national and international institutions and others involved in research/training, governance, peace and security issues.
It has programmes in crisis information management; disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration; small arms and light weapons specialised course; conflict prevention; the rule of law and the media in peace support operations.
The centre has also been conducting research in areas such as regional peace and security, conflict prevention and peace-building and civil-military relations. Others are human trafficking, money laundering, maritime security, cross-border crimes and post-conflict peace-building.
As an indication of its development and progress, it has received accreditation from the National Accreditation Board as a tertiary institution. This has paved the way for the centre to run graduate programmes, including Master of Arts in Conflict, Peace and Security; Postgraduate Diploma in Development Diplomacy and Post-Certificate in Integrated Peace Support Operations.
The idea is to deliver peace and security training at an academically upgraded level, while at the same time providing an avenue for generating sustainable funds for the centre.
The centre has also established partnerships with some renowned international bodies and educational institutions, including the University of Pretoria in South Africa, the Fourah Bay College, the University of Sierra Leone, the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services and the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Conflict Prevention.
The KAIPTC’s journey this far would not have been possible without support from various international development partners, both governmental and non-governmental, from the US, Germany and the UK.
From the ashes of any major calamity sprouts monuments of peace and progress. That being the case, one can say the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) did not come by through accident.
Those who have followed the numerous political upheavals in the sub-region, some culminating in violent confrontations and civil wars, will admit that the KAIPTC was a consequence of the many conflicts which bedevilled the sub-region over the last two decades or so. It was conceived and nurtured by the desire to pre-determine coming events, proactively act to stem conflicts and, where they become unavoidable, put mechanisms in place to restore normalcy in conflict situations as quickly as possible and reduce to the barest minimum the carnage and social disintegration associated with such violent conflicts.
After the secessionist war between the short-lived Biafra and Nigeria between 1967 and 1970, the sub-region enjoyed relative peace, even though military coups were rampant in most of the countries. But when Charles Taylor led his fighters of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) to launch an attack on Samuel Doe’s forces on Christmas Eve, 1989, the situation in the sub-region changed.
For the next 10 years or so, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) had to intervene in the Liberian civil war until the return to civilian rule in 2003. That war and those in Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire and, to a limited extent, Cape Verde, might have brought it home to leaders of the sub-region the need to have an early-warning mechanism in place to engender proactive efforts to pre-empt violent confrontations, instead of waiting for the harm to be done before mobilising for peacekeeping operations.
The experiences gained mainly by Ghanaian soldiers in several peacekeeping operations in various parts of the world, including the Middle East, Bosnia, Rwanda, Darfur and other conflict zones where they saw the ravages and miseries brought about by wars, created the platform for the establishment of an institution that would serve as a forum for top military officers, leading politicians and civil society organisations committed to peacekeeping and conflict prevention and resolution to engage themselves on matters of peace-building and security challenges.
There was also the growing awareness that the wind of democracy blowing across the continent had brought in its wake election-related conflicts such as those witnessed in Kenya in 2007 and Cote d’Ivoire after the November 2010 elections. That demanded diplomacy and expertise in peace-building and conflict resolution to handle. The ground was, therefore, fertile for an institution such as the KAIPTC to sprout out of the debris of war and conflicts in the sub-region.
In January 2004, the KAIPTC became formally established, even though the records show that it started its programmes in 2003 as one of the three ECOWAS-designated training centres of excellence committed to undertaking research into conflict and issues of which appropriate training courses are developed and delivered for various military, police and civilian personnel involved in peace support operations not only in West Africa but also other parts of the world.
It was established by the Ministry of Defence Instruction (MDI) dated November 10, 1998, with Establishment Number MOD/03. The Ministry of Defence, in collaboration with the ministries of Foreign Affairs, the Interior and Finance, exercise limited supervision over the activities of the KAIPTC. It, however, has an independent governing board as its highest decision-making body.
For its vision, the KAIPTC aims: “To be an internationally preferred centre of excellence for research into and training for conflict prevention, management and resolution, and innovative thinking in integrated peace support operations and sustainable delivery of enhanced regional capacity building for peace support operations.”
It has as its mission: “To develop and deliver internationally recognized professional training courses and related programmes to equip personnel with selected skills and competencies required to meet Africa’s present and future complex peace and security challenges.”
At the end of the day, the strategic objectives of the KAIPTC include: Contributing to the development of regional and sub-regional capacity in the delivery of integrated peace support operations; Enhancing regional and sub-regional capacity for conflict prevention, management, resolution and peace-building; Enhancing understanding of critical peace and security issues in West Africa in particular and the continent as a whole; Creating effective, efficient and sustainable management and support arrangements for the centre.
These are laudable objectives and, seven years down the line, the research and training staff of the centre have collaborated with various development partners to deliver over 170 courses in diverse aspects of peace support operations for over 5,400 individuals and organisations from 87 countries across the world.
Within this short period of its existence, the KAIPTC has already attained recognition as a renowned international centre of excellence for education, training and research in peace support operations. It has, over the period, successfully engaged and collaborated effectively with national governments, regional and international organisations, diverse national and international institutions and others involved in research/training, governance, peace and security issues.
It has programmes in crisis information management; disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration; small arms and light weapons specialised course; conflict prevention; the rule of law and the media in peace support operations.
The centre has also been conducting research in areas such as regional peace and security, conflict prevention and peace-building and civil-military relations. Others are human trafficking, money laundering, maritime security, cross-border crimes and post-conflict peace-building.
As an indication of its development and progress, it has received accreditation from the National Accreditation Board as a tertiary institution. This has paved the way for the centre to run graduate programmes, including Master of Arts in Conflict, Peace and Security; Postgraduate Diploma in Development Diplomacy and Post-Certificate in Integrated Peace Support Operations.
The idea is to deliver peace and security training at an academically upgraded level, while at the same time providing an avenue for generating sustainable funds for the centre.
The centre has also established partnerships with some renowned international bodies and educational institutions, including the University of Pretoria in South Africa, the Fourah Bay College, the University of Sierra Leone, the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services and the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Conflict Prevention.
The KAIPTC’s journey this far would not have been possible without support from various international development partners, both governmental and non-governmental, from the US, Germany and the UK.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
NDC bleeding slowly internally
By Kofi Akordor
Whenever there is a cut on the body, blood oozes out to signal that there is damage that needs to be repaired. It is not always that we see blood where the body suffers an injury. There is something called internal bleeding and health professionals will tell you that it is very dangerous, since you are not likely detect any danger until it is too late.
I lost a colleague who suffered that fate. He had been involved in a motor accident and since there had been no wounds on the body, it was assumed that the injuries were minor and so he did not go for a thorough medical check-up. Two weeks later, the man was dead. He had woken up in the morning and prepared to go for a review of a broken limb which had been put in plaster of Paris (POP) when he collapsed.
Apparently, he had had a cruel knock on the head in the accident and suffered internal bleeding. Who knows, my friend would be alive by now if the damage had been detected through scan or something else.
Such is internal bleeding.
I do not think only the human body suffers internal bleeding, at least from the figurative sense. And I want to think that one organisation or institution which is suffering from what can be described as internal bleeding is the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the party that forms the present government led by President John Evans Atta Mills.
The NDC has gone that lane before and so apart from the fresh disciples, those who have been with the party for a long time know what I am referring to. The NDC has two serious ailments which keep recurring, with severe consequences. These are its inability to manage internal dissent and excessive hero-worshipping.
The party suffered its first major political defeat in 2000 mainly on account of these twin ailments. That does not take away credit from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) which went into the 2000 electoral battle fully prepared and well organised. But it confronted an opponent that was bleeding from self-inflicted wounds.
So at a time when the NDC needed its human and material resources most, it suffered a split and went into an election battling itself. It started in 1998 when the Founder and Leader, Jerry John Rawlings, breached party protocol and declared Professor Mills his chosen successor. That anointing episode became known as the Swedru Declaration.
As a man who brooked no challenge, Rawlings’s declaration blocked all appeals for a democratic means of choosing his successor and voices of dissent were actually silenced in a ruthless manner to compel some party members, especially a good chunk of youthful activists, led by Goosie Tandoh, to break away.
The wounds deepened and bled profusely when the leader and founder played a significant role in the choice of parliamentary candidates. The death blow came when Dr Obed Yao Asamoah, who had his eyes glued to the running mate slot, was swerved in the last minute and replaced by Mr Martin Amidu, Obed’s deputy at the Ministry of Justice. Not even the huge popularity of President Rawlings, who was exiting after two terms, could save the NDC in the 2000 elections.
No lessons were learnt, as later events proved. In 2002, at the International Trade Fair Centre at La, the party went into battle against itself again. That time, it was over the election of national officers. The founder and leader came out strongly against Dr Asamoah, one of the contestants for the chairmanship.
The contest became so acrimonious that by the end of it the NDC was so battered and bruised that unity was the last thing anyone would expect from disgruntled members.
The fragmentation continued. In 2003, the party went to congress at the University of Ghana to elect a flag bearer for the 2004 presidential election. The congress venue became a hostile turf for supporters of Dr Kwesi Botchway, the man who was contesting Prof Mills. It was more like a battle between two opposing forces than a party event to pick a presidential candidate to represent the party. There were even allegations of ball-squeezing at the congress to put more fear into those who dared to challenge the founder’s choice.
Things went so bad that by the time the party geared up for the presidential and parliamentary elections in 2004, the presidential candidate and the party chairman could not be seen on the same campaign platform.
The infamous Koforidua Congress to elect national officers for the party left deep scars which time has not been able to heal. That time the injuries went from bruises to gaping wounds. The formation of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) by Dr Asamoah, who lost his position as party chairman, was one of the fallout from that congress.
The Koforidua Congress and the experience gained from it informed the party leadership to prescribe a format for the election of a flag bearer for the 2008 presidential election which seemed to have worked and brought the NDC back to power.
In the past, all the battles were engineered and led by Rawlings in favour of Prof Mills, the man he had chosen against party wishes and who, he made sure, faced no obstacles on his path.
Today, Rawlings is preparing for another battle. Incidentally, by an irony of fate, the gun has been turned on Prof Mills, the man Rawlings claims has betrayed him and the party he founded. From day one when the man entered office as President of the Republic, he has had no peace and, for the first time since we entered the Fourth Republic, an incumbent President is to face challenge from his own party for nomination to contest a second time.
There is nothing wrong with that if some people think the ship of state is not being steered out of troubled waters and want a change of captain. After all, democracy is about choices. But the bitter and foul language being used by the game players and the ill-effects they are bound to leave behind make it necessary for some of us to appeal for moderation.
We can learn something from Mrs Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama. They fought one of the fiercest battles for nomination as the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party. But when it ended, they are still working together.
Mrs Clinton has not given any indication that she is going to challenge President Obama, who has declared his intention for a second term. Who knows — Mrs Clinton may be waiting for the end of Obama’s era before restaging her ambition for the presidency, apparently in reverence for the man who made her Secretary of State.
The NDC leadership is not unaware of the damage internal bleeding can cause to its fortunes and must, therefore, play it cool to avoid another electoral fiasco in 2012.
It is the prayer of many Ghanaians, I hope, that after July 10, 2011, things will return to normalcy in the NDC and President Mills will have the needed concentration to complete his term on a sound note for the sake of the millions of Ghanaians who want to see positive changes in their lives.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Whenever there is a cut on the body, blood oozes out to signal that there is damage that needs to be repaired. It is not always that we see blood where the body suffers an injury. There is something called internal bleeding and health professionals will tell you that it is very dangerous, since you are not likely detect any danger until it is too late.
I lost a colleague who suffered that fate. He had been involved in a motor accident and since there had been no wounds on the body, it was assumed that the injuries were minor and so he did not go for a thorough medical check-up. Two weeks later, the man was dead. He had woken up in the morning and prepared to go for a review of a broken limb which had been put in plaster of Paris (POP) when he collapsed.
Apparently, he had had a cruel knock on the head in the accident and suffered internal bleeding. Who knows, my friend would be alive by now if the damage had been detected through scan or something else.
Such is internal bleeding.
I do not think only the human body suffers internal bleeding, at least from the figurative sense. And I want to think that one organisation or institution which is suffering from what can be described as internal bleeding is the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the party that forms the present government led by President John Evans Atta Mills.
The NDC has gone that lane before and so apart from the fresh disciples, those who have been with the party for a long time know what I am referring to. The NDC has two serious ailments which keep recurring, with severe consequences. These are its inability to manage internal dissent and excessive hero-worshipping.
The party suffered its first major political defeat in 2000 mainly on account of these twin ailments. That does not take away credit from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) which went into the 2000 electoral battle fully prepared and well organised. But it confronted an opponent that was bleeding from self-inflicted wounds.
So at a time when the NDC needed its human and material resources most, it suffered a split and went into an election battling itself. It started in 1998 when the Founder and Leader, Jerry John Rawlings, breached party protocol and declared Professor Mills his chosen successor. That anointing episode became known as the Swedru Declaration.
As a man who brooked no challenge, Rawlings’s declaration blocked all appeals for a democratic means of choosing his successor and voices of dissent were actually silenced in a ruthless manner to compel some party members, especially a good chunk of youthful activists, led by Goosie Tandoh, to break away.
The wounds deepened and bled profusely when the leader and founder played a significant role in the choice of parliamentary candidates. The death blow came when Dr Obed Yao Asamoah, who had his eyes glued to the running mate slot, was swerved in the last minute and replaced by Mr Martin Amidu, Obed’s deputy at the Ministry of Justice. Not even the huge popularity of President Rawlings, who was exiting after two terms, could save the NDC in the 2000 elections.
No lessons were learnt, as later events proved. In 2002, at the International Trade Fair Centre at La, the party went into battle against itself again. That time, it was over the election of national officers. The founder and leader came out strongly against Dr Asamoah, one of the contestants for the chairmanship.
The contest became so acrimonious that by the end of it the NDC was so battered and bruised that unity was the last thing anyone would expect from disgruntled members.
The fragmentation continued. In 2003, the party went to congress at the University of Ghana to elect a flag bearer for the 2004 presidential election. The congress venue became a hostile turf for supporters of Dr Kwesi Botchway, the man who was contesting Prof Mills. It was more like a battle between two opposing forces than a party event to pick a presidential candidate to represent the party. There were even allegations of ball-squeezing at the congress to put more fear into those who dared to challenge the founder’s choice.
Things went so bad that by the time the party geared up for the presidential and parliamentary elections in 2004, the presidential candidate and the party chairman could not be seen on the same campaign platform.
The infamous Koforidua Congress to elect national officers for the party left deep scars which time has not been able to heal. That time the injuries went from bruises to gaping wounds. The formation of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) by Dr Asamoah, who lost his position as party chairman, was one of the fallout from that congress.
The Koforidua Congress and the experience gained from it informed the party leadership to prescribe a format for the election of a flag bearer for the 2008 presidential election which seemed to have worked and brought the NDC back to power.
In the past, all the battles were engineered and led by Rawlings in favour of Prof Mills, the man he had chosen against party wishes and who, he made sure, faced no obstacles on his path.
Today, Rawlings is preparing for another battle. Incidentally, by an irony of fate, the gun has been turned on Prof Mills, the man Rawlings claims has betrayed him and the party he founded. From day one when the man entered office as President of the Republic, he has had no peace and, for the first time since we entered the Fourth Republic, an incumbent President is to face challenge from his own party for nomination to contest a second time.
There is nothing wrong with that if some people think the ship of state is not being steered out of troubled waters and want a change of captain. After all, democracy is about choices. But the bitter and foul language being used by the game players and the ill-effects they are bound to leave behind make it necessary for some of us to appeal for moderation.
We can learn something from Mrs Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama. They fought one of the fiercest battles for nomination as the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party. But when it ended, they are still working together.
Mrs Clinton has not given any indication that she is going to challenge President Obama, who has declared his intention for a second term. Who knows — Mrs Clinton may be waiting for the end of Obama’s era before restaging her ambition for the presidency, apparently in reverence for the man who made her Secretary of State.
The NDC leadership is not unaware of the damage internal bleeding can cause to its fortunes and must, therefore, play it cool to avoid another electoral fiasco in 2012.
It is the prayer of many Ghanaians, I hope, that after July 10, 2011, things will return to normalcy in the NDC and President Mills will have the needed concentration to complete his term on a sound note for the sake of the millions of Ghanaians who want to see positive changes in their lives.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot.com
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Back to Okada debate
By Kofi Akordor
A friend once narrated a traumatic experience he had in one of those terrible traffic jams ravaging Accra. He was being driven to the Kotoka International Airport to catch a flight when he got caught in heavy traffic.
At one stage, he became desperate, as his mind was in turmoil. He knew that unless something miraculous happened, he was definitely going to miss his flight. Then it happened. A motor rider was passing by and without knowing why, he signalled him to stop. The rider obliged and my friend pleaded with him that he was on his way to the airport but, as things stood, he would need his assistance if he was to get to the airport in time to board his flight. The rider did not hesitate and so my friend bid his driver farewell and joined the rider with his suitcase at the back.
If there is anything such as divine intervention, that was one. My friend got to the airport on time to go through departure formalities. The motor rider even politely rejected the monetary ‘thank you’ my friend had offered him but gave my friend his phone number so that they could stay in touch.
In today’s scheme of things, that kind rider would have qualified as an Okada operator and possibly face prosecution for undertaking an illegal operation.
I cannot tell how the Okada business started. Maybe it began on a very low key with a few motorbike owners who wisely thought they could make a living out of the madness on the streets of Accra called traffic jams by ferrying desperate commuters through the jam to their destinations.
And who says the market is not saturated with willing passengers like my friend who can see their business opportunities slipping away as they get trapped in heavy traffic at Mallam, on the Spintex Road or Abeka-Lapaz.
That is how Okada operations has become part of our transportation system.
But, no matter the good purpose Okada serves, it is illegal. The law is quite explicit on that. Section 128, Part IV of the Road Traffic Regulations prevents the use of motorcycles for commercial purposes. The regulations also make the ownership and patronage of commercial motorcycles or tricycles for commercial purposes illegal. As a result, Okada operators occasionally suffer arrest and court fines upon conviction.
On Tuesday, February 1, 2011, the Okada operators decided to make a case for their business and to seek legal recognition. They, therefore, rode in convoy, about 300 of them, to present a petition to Parliament.
The operators, who parade under the umbrella of the Ghana Private Motorbike Operators Union, wanted legal recognition so that they could operate freely without arrest. They made a strong case for recognition because, apart from finding employment for themselves, the Okada system was also serving the travelling public to avoid heavy traffic or go to areas vehicles could not go.
The reception at Parliament House was cordial, as the Majority Leader, Mr Cletus Avoka, and the Deputy Minority Leader, Mr Ambrose Dery, gave the Okada leadership a good hearing and promised to push their petition to the appropriate quarters for consideration. They also praised them for the orderly manner in which they had organised themselves to the House.
However, the response of some members of the public was not positive for Okada operations. Some perceived Okada operators to be mostly criminals who snatch bags. Others also claimed that the Okada business, if legalised, would add to the chaos on the streets. Some, for environmental purposes, kicked against the Okada business because the bikes would pollute the atmosphere with their fumes.
These are all legitimate concerns. But can we say Okada has no positive sides? In the first place, who says everyone on a motorbike is a criminal? Don’t we have criminals driving some of the most expensive vehicles in town? If we take the case of the fumes, can we say that motorbikes emit more carbon monoxide than the jalopies we are compelled by scarce resources to allow into the country and which are polluting the atmosphere with dark smoke?
For a developing country confronted by many challenges, the best we can do is to look at the positive side of things. Secondly, the best way to manage a situation is to recognise its existence and the good things it can offer. Then we can be in a position to streamline its operations.
It is a fact that many Ghanaians patronise the services of Okada operators, not only in Accra and the big towns but also in the rural areas where roads are very bad or non-existent. We also know that Accra’s traffic problem is partly due to the large number of vehicles on our limited roads. So if there is a way we can reduce reliance on vehicles for intra-city movement, that opportunity must be exploited.
Remaining glued to the past, without relating to current trends and exigencies, will only lead to sabotaging our forward march. The law against the use of motorbikes for commercial purposes was made by man for man. At the time of making that law, it made sense because we had a smaller population, public transportation was not much of a problem and only a few vehicles were on the roads.
Today, the reality is that we have a bigger population and more vehicles are on the same few roads and so very often people get to their appointments very late or never make it. If we are not in the position to build vast flyovers in the city to reduce traffic, we can use our ingenuity to find other ways to solve an endemic problem.
So, as stated earlier, the law was made by man for man and, therefore, the law can be changed by man for the convenience of man. It should be possible to amend the law so that motorbikes that want to operate commercially will have special registration plates and insured appropriately. It should also be possible to organise Okada operators under a recognised body, just as the GPRTU is for commercial vehicles. To further protect patrons, other precautionary measures, such as special uniforms and personal identity tags, will be required of the riders.
As for criminalising Okada operations, the earlier that notion is discarded, the better. There are criminals among taxi drivers who rob their passengers; there are criminals who wear three-piece suits and drive expensive cars; there are criminals in our offices, in our communities. In fact, there are criminals everywhere and it should not be strange to find a few criminals in the Okada business.
But, surely, there are those in the majority who are committed to their job and are saving many on a daily basis the heartache of getting stuck in heavy traffic for hours.
It is for us, as a nation, to accept Okada as part of our transportation system and define the rules that will govern its operation. That is thinking positively.
It is, therefore, reassuring that Alhaji Collins Dauda, the Minister of Transport, has stated that the subject is not closed and that his ministry will consult various stakeholders to discuss the issue. I hope at the end of the day the positive things about Okada will see more light than the negatives to pave the way for legalising it.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot
A friend once narrated a traumatic experience he had in one of those terrible traffic jams ravaging Accra. He was being driven to the Kotoka International Airport to catch a flight when he got caught in heavy traffic.
At one stage, he became desperate, as his mind was in turmoil. He knew that unless something miraculous happened, he was definitely going to miss his flight. Then it happened. A motor rider was passing by and without knowing why, he signalled him to stop. The rider obliged and my friend pleaded with him that he was on his way to the airport but, as things stood, he would need his assistance if he was to get to the airport in time to board his flight. The rider did not hesitate and so my friend bid his driver farewell and joined the rider with his suitcase at the back.
If there is anything such as divine intervention, that was one. My friend got to the airport on time to go through departure formalities. The motor rider even politely rejected the monetary ‘thank you’ my friend had offered him but gave my friend his phone number so that they could stay in touch.
In today’s scheme of things, that kind rider would have qualified as an Okada operator and possibly face prosecution for undertaking an illegal operation.
I cannot tell how the Okada business started. Maybe it began on a very low key with a few motorbike owners who wisely thought they could make a living out of the madness on the streets of Accra called traffic jams by ferrying desperate commuters through the jam to their destinations.
And who says the market is not saturated with willing passengers like my friend who can see their business opportunities slipping away as they get trapped in heavy traffic at Mallam, on the Spintex Road or Abeka-Lapaz.
That is how Okada operations has become part of our transportation system.
But, no matter the good purpose Okada serves, it is illegal. The law is quite explicit on that. Section 128, Part IV of the Road Traffic Regulations prevents the use of motorcycles for commercial purposes. The regulations also make the ownership and patronage of commercial motorcycles or tricycles for commercial purposes illegal. As a result, Okada operators occasionally suffer arrest and court fines upon conviction.
On Tuesday, February 1, 2011, the Okada operators decided to make a case for their business and to seek legal recognition. They, therefore, rode in convoy, about 300 of them, to present a petition to Parliament.
The operators, who parade under the umbrella of the Ghana Private Motorbike Operators Union, wanted legal recognition so that they could operate freely without arrest. They made a strong case for recognition because, apart from finding employment for themselves, the Okada system was also serving the travelling public to avoid heavy traffic or go to areas vehicles could not go.
The reception at Parliament House was cordial, as the Majority Leader, Mr Cletus Avoka, and the Deputy Minority Leader, Mr Ambrose Dery, gave the Okada leadership a good hearing and promised to push their petition to the appropriate quarters for consideration. They also praised them for the orderly manner in which they had organised themselves to the House.
However, the response of some members of the public was not positive for Okada operations. Some perceived Okada operators to be mostly criminals who snatch bags. Others also claimed that the Okada business, if legalised, would add to the chaos on the streets. Some, for environmental purposes, kicked against the Okada business because the bikes would pollute the atmosphere with their fumes.
These are all legitimate concerns. But can we say Okada has no positive sides? In the first place, who says everyone on a motorbike is a criminal? Don’t we have criminals driving some of the most expensive vehicles in town? If we take the case of the fumes, can we say that motorbikes emit more carbon monoxide than the jalopies we are compelled by scarce resources to allow into the country and which are polluting the atmosphere with dark smoke?
For a developing country confronted by many challenges, the best we can do is to look at the positive side of things. Secondly, the best way to manage a situation is to recognise its existence and the good things it can offer. Then we can be in a position to streamline its operations.
It is a fact that many Ghanaians patronise the services of Okada operators, not only in Accra and the big towns but also in the rural areas where roads are very bad or non-existent. We also know that Accra’s traffic problem is partly due to the large number of vehicles on our limited roads. So if there is a way we can reduce reliance on vehicles for intra-city movement, that opportunity must be exploited.
Remaining glued to the past, without relating to current trends and exigencies, will only lead to sabotaging our forward march. The law against the use of motorbikes for commercial purposes was made by man for man. At the time of making that law, it made sense because we had a smaller population, public transportation was not much of a problem and only a few vehicles were on the roads.
Today, the reality is that we have a bigger population and more vehicles are on the same few roads and so very often people get to their appointments very late or never make it. If we are not in the position to build vast flyovers in the city to reduce traffic, we can use our ingenuity to find other ways to solve an endemic problem.
So, as stated earlier, the law was made by man for man and, therefore, the law can be changed by man for the convenience of man. It should be possible to amend the law so that motorbikes that want to operate commercially will have special registration plates and insured appropriately. It should also be possible to organise Okada operators under a recognised body, just as the GPRTU is for commercial vehicles. To further protect patrons, other precautionary measures, such as special uniforms and personal identity tags, will be required of the riders.
As for criminalising Okada operations, the earlier that notion is discarded, the better. There are criminals among taxi drivers who rob their passengers; there are criminals who wear three-piece suits and drive expensive cars; there are criminals in our offices, in our communities. In fact, there are criminals everywhere and it should not be strange to find a few criminals in the Okada business.
But, surely, there are those in the majority who are committed to their job and are saving many on a daily basis the heartache of getting stuck in heavy traffic for hours.
It is for us, as a nation, to accept Okada as part of our transportation system and define the rules that will govern its operation. That is thinking positively.
It is, therefore, reassuring that Alhaji Collins Dauda, the Minister of Transport, has stated that the subject is not closed and that his ministry will consult various stakeholders to discuss the issue. I hope at the end of the day the positive things about Okada will see more light than the negatives to pave the way for legalising it.
fokofi@yahoo.co.uk
kofiakordor.blogspot
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