WE DEMAND A NEW 5TH REPUBLIC FOR GHANAIANS!

Recently, an event took place, which illustrates just so perfectly, why we need to bring the 4th Republic to an end - and usher in a new 5th Republic, for the good people of Ghana: The New Patriotic Party (NPP) chose to carry out the vetting of those seeking to be that party's candidate, for the December 2008 presidential election, at the state-owned property, Australia House - a blatant disregard for propriety and a clear abuse of power, by politicians: now so contemptuous of ordinary Ghanaians, that today, they behave as if they actually owned our country.


The blatant misuse of government property, for the private business of the NPP, with such breathtaking arrogance, is similar to the cavalier manner, in which the National Democratic Congress (NDC) regime, decided to appropriate millions of US dollars of taxpayers' money, to renovate Australia House (complete with gold taps and a swimming pool!): with the sole object of presenting it as a retirement gift, from a "grateful nation", to the hypocritical hero of June 4th 1979.

The hero of June 4th 1979, had metamorphosed by then, into a spitting image, of the very elite Ghanaians, whom he railed against and punished so remorselessly, in his revolutionary days: to the extent that he was by then even enjoying their luxurious lifestyle - which he previously claimed to despise and was consequently so contemptuous of: except that now the ace hypocrite relished the luxury life, and indulged himself in it, with considerable aplomb and abandonment; complete with, amongst other possessions, an Akosombo river-front luxury holiday home and convertible Jaguar XJS!


Such has been the utter contempt of ordinary people and the interests of our homeland Ghana, by the two democratically elected regimes of the 4th Republic, led by our former president, ex-Flt. Lt. J.J. Rawlings, and his ever-lucky successor, President J.A. Kufuor - who, to the utter dismay of many a patriotic Ghanaian, has led what has turned out to be, the most hypocritical and tribalistic regime, thus far, in Ghana's history. And the question many ordinary people ask today is: what should ordinary people do, to ensure that our political elite do not squander the golden opportunity to have a second chance at nation-building, as a people, which the discovery of large quantities of high grade crude oil and natural gas, off our coastline, represents?


How can we ensure, dear reader, that when Ghana's oil revenues start pouring into our national treasury, no ordinary Ghanaian, will ever have to be heard muttering in quite anger and disgust (in condemnation of the clever crooks who often masquerade as believers in democracy to win elections, and invariably end up ruining our homeland Ghana, once they assume power: whiles succeeding in amassing untold wealth for themselves, their kith and kin, as well as their cronies!), that infamous and crass outburst, which so perfectly encapsulated the ill-educated vulgarity, of the arrogant semi-literate Lebanese buffoon, who uttered it: (they are) "chopping Ghana small"?

How can we ensure,dear reader, that Nkrumah's far-sighted vision of a united, modern and prosperous African nation-state, which is a beacon to all Africans and those of African descent world-wide, finally becomes a reality - thanks to the wise use of our anticipated oil wealth?


How can we ensure, dear reader, that the revenues from this windfall, are used wisely, to make possible, the desperately needed social transformation, of our nation - from one held back so frustratingly, because it is a society not much changed (if the patina of modernity is removed!), from that which for centuries in the pre-colonial days, was dominated by a traditional feudal ruling elite, with a superstition-ridden mindset, who made our societies stagnant and impotent, in the face of the onslaught of Western colonialism: because their near-absolute power, was effectively used to subjugate their subjects - whose creativity was inhibited by years of domination, by a greedy, corrupt, selfish and self-centred elite: for whom anything that had the slightest hint of innovation about it, was a taboo and an anathema.


The time has now come for a radical shift away from this backward "monkey dey work, baboon dey chop" paradigm of nation-building - in which our ruling elites constantly ask for sacrifices from ordinary people; but in the end, when those sacrifices yield economic benefits, those benefits are only enjoyed by our selfish elite: whose corruption and unfathomable greed, seems to know no bounds.


We must bring the 4th Republic, which is a creature of the dissimulating genius of the hero of June 4th 1979, and was specifically designed to enable him and his hangers-on ( his "Eye zu, eye za" crowd, of greedy and sycophantic hypocrites), hold on to power, in the post- Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), era. And not to be outdone, the NPP has incredibly, succeeded in surpassing the greed and hypocrisy of the Rawlings crowd - and the gang rape of mother Ghana, is now at its apogee: proceeding with a frenzy seldom seen in our country; as clever scheme after clever scheme is dreamt up, to rip Ghana off.

An example is the criminal foray into the capital markets of the Western world to raise money: which will eventually impose an impossible burden on the public purse (yearly interest payments of over sixty million US dollars) and will most likely mean massive cuts to investments in social programmes, like health care and education - and in ten years hence, would have finally cost ordinary Ghanaians a whopping 1.4 billion US dollars, to repay those clever foreigners, who bought the confounded sovereign bonds, which have already enriched Databank and the beleaguered Citibank (now in the doldrums as it is buffeted by the US sub-prime loans debacle), even as we speak.


It is rather curious that this irresponsible and heavy burden, now being placed on the public purse, was chosen by the masters of the universe, currently in charge of Ghana, at precisely the point in time, in the history of humankind, when China is able, and willing, to provide soft long-term loans, with minimal interest, as well as long moratoriums before payments on interest are due, to embark on this expensive folly. It is patently an illegal "loan" technically - yet the NDC has obviously not been clever and imaginative enough, to think of communicating with social democratic politicians in the EU and the democrats in the US, to force the regulators in London, Frankfurt and New York, to get Citibank and Databank, to divulge to Ghana's lawmakers, precisely how much commission, was paid to them: and the sundry fat-cats, who have also benefited (no doubt, handsomely!), from this national disaster.


It is interesting that the unimaginative leaders we now have and their too-clever-by- half praise singers in the media (who are so nauseatingly fulsome in their praise of today's myopic rulers of Ghana: whom we are so painfully currently lumbered with), have clearly not heard that not too long ago, Malaysia, was able to issue Islamic bonds (Sukuks), and raise 600 million US dollars, of more or less interest-free funds, for that sensible and hardworking nation's development. If even the UK government and super-conservative Japan are thinking of following in the footsteps of Malaysia and hope to issue sukuks soon too, then one can only hope that our hopelessly unimaginative Bank of Ghana, will also look in that direction - and help build institutional knowledge in the ministry of finance as well as within our banking system, about this very useful ethical financial instrument: instead of being beholden to greedy Ghanaian high net worth oligarchs, in self-imposed exile in South Africa, and who are selling our nation to South African interests, for tidy sums in percentages, as kickbacks, for arranging those inimical and dubious deals.


How come we have ended up, for example, with a management company (Rand Vittens Aqua ) that was supposed to change the Ghana Water Company by showing us super-efficient management; but which is today threatening to use the provident fund of the company's workers, to purchase company vehicles? Where in the civilised world, would this outrage be tolerated, I ask, dear reader? Why, have we become such an empty-headed people now, that we are forced by the incompetence of our crafty leaders, to put up with such pure nonsense on bamboo stilts? Is this really Nkrumah's Ghana? Oh God, help us!


And instead of wasting their energies protesting about energy prices that we really have no control over, ultimately (and which, in any case, will only encourage conservation of electricity and fuel by Ghanaian consumers, and discourage wasteful use of electric power and fuel!), the Committee for Joint Action (CJA), must rather focus its attention, and devote its considerable energies, to agitating for a new 5th Republic - which will be underpinned by a new 5th Republican Constitution, in which there is a clear separation of powers: an independent legislature with effective oversight powers over the executive; a truly independent judiciary; as well as effective anti-corruption and human rights agencies, like the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the Commission for Human Right and Administrative Justice (CRAJ): all of which will be funded from the consolidated fund, to ensure that they are truly independent entities, free from the hypocrites and greedy rogues who always end up running (and ruining!) our country.


In the new Ghanaian era, flush with our envisaged oil wealth, we must do creative things to unleash the enterprise of our people, by implementing imaginative policies, such as abolishing personal income tax; bringing down corporate tax rate to just 10 per cent; making the avoidance of tax a serious offence, punishable by a mandatory (minimum 5-year) prison sentence; and make drug trafficking as well as armed robbery, both carry mandatory death penalties: to help rid our society of those menaces, which are so detrimental to the well-being of ordinary Ghanaians and their nation. In short, dear reader, we must make the 5th Republic, an earthly paradise for law-abiding Ghanaians - and a hell on earth for all those who refuse to obey our nation's laws and regulations. Period.


We must also use some of our envisaged oil wealth, to ensure that the absurd and outdated practise of having our judges write the proceedings of court cases in longhand (in the 21st century ITC era!), ceases. How can we punish our judges like that, dear reader - and expect an efficient justice system? Is the justice system not the foundation on which our democratic way of life supposed to be built - and our human rights safeguarded?President Kufuor would have left a more lasting legacy, if he had had the presence of mind, to use the loan from India (and borrowed more from China too, if necessary!), to buy recording equipment for every court in the land, to relieve our judges of this intolerable burden: as well as renovated and embarked on a programme of building modern and well-equipped new law court buildings, throughout our homeland Ghana - rather than the vainglorious dream of leaving a presidential palace complex, as his legacy to an impoverished nation. Period. May God bless our homeland Ghana always. long live Ghana! Long live freedom! Kofi Thompson can be reached by email at: http://www.ghanaweb.com/ym/Compose?To=peakofithompson@yahoo.co.uk and by SMS text message on: (027) 745 3109.