KENYAN LESSONS: THINK THE UNTHINKABLE?

Hello Ohemaa, thanks for your email. Hmmm, my dear friend, all we need do in Africa, in order to free ourselves, from domination by ill-intentioned foreigners, is simply to trade more amongst ourselves - and allow ordinary Africans to live anywhere they want to, on the continent. It will make a huge difference to the situation of Africa, believe me.

As regards our homeland Ghana, yes, the endless and obscene toadying to the West often engaged in by our clueless and forever-genuflecting leaders, is costing us dearly, indeed. For example, instead of striking joint-venture partnership deals between the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and China's largest state oil company - and going to ask Venezuela's Hugo Chavez to show us how to safely rid ourselves of the predatory oil firms from the West, the Oxford-educated master of the universe currently in charge here, is apparently looking to "Norway and the UK," "for best practise," to quote him.

Of course if one understands the code language deployed in such circumstance by our too-clever-by-half ruling elite, what it actually means, is that they are scheming to set up a sovereign wealth fund, into which the oil revenues will be put (reference to Norway!), and clever and super-greedy merchant bankers and hedge fund managers, from the City of London, asked to manage same for Ghana (reference to UK).

But of course, those masters of the universe in the City of London, reeling from the sub-prime debacle, and impoverished by evaporating values of esoteric financial instruments, such as SIV's (special investment vehicles) and CDS (credit default swaps), of the loosely regulated "shadow banking market" (the so-called "light touch" of the financial services authority FSA!), will make minced meat of us, in no time at all. Hmmmm, Ghana!

It goes without saying, of course, that huge kickbacks will go to those appointing the UK fund managers, courtesy their cronies amongst our super-greedy and hypocritical oligarchs: the favoured high net worth influence peddlers, who will secure for the foreign merchant bankers, the juicy role of "financial advisers to the Government of Ghana."

Well, our political class must be careful not to attempt to do a Kenya here, before, during, or after, the December 2008 elections. For, a Ghana with proven deposits of oil and gas, soon to come on stream, is perfect and ripe for plucking, by determined and super-intelligent military officers, cast in the AFRC-mould.

A strike by the military, against our largely kleptocratic political class, were there to be the slightest whiff of election-rigging or post-election violence, to ensure that our country remains peaceful and stable: and does not suffer the Ivory Coast and Kenyan tragedies too, will be welcomed by the vast majority of of ordinary people - especially were all our politicians to be promptly arrested and probed by the military.

A majority of Ghanaians will give everything, for Ghana's oil wealth, to be placed under the stewardship of truly honest and sincere idealists, determined to use it for social transformation, in Ghana.

And were they to hear, for example, that the state was going to build 1 million good quality housing at affordable rental rates, for ordinary people, by the establishment of a joint-venture between the State Housing Corporation (SHC) and China's biggest government-owned builder, as well as indigenous real estate developers, in a transparent public private partnership (PPP), between competent parties, would they ever pine for the clever rogues, who have looted Ghana over the years, under the 4th Republic? Ohemaa, I doubt it!

Personally, if I was to make a wish-list for Ghana's well-being, the following would be some of what I hope would be the policies of our next leaders: First of all, let them scrap the 4th Republic - for, it is a fraudulent creature established for the sole purpose of enabling those who overthrew an elected regime in 1982, to metamorphose from a military dictatorship, which answered to no one, into an elected democratic regime, which often acted with impunity. We must replace it with a new 5th Republic.

I would also hope that we would use our oil wealth to provide free education from kindergarten to university for all Ghanaian children; build well-equipped modern hospitals in all the nearly 120-plus districts.
And to make for a more secure nation, one would hope that they would increase the size of the armed forces to 500,000 men and women by making it a largely conscript military force, and expand the police into a paramilitary force of 150,000 men and women.

And by decreeing compulsory military service for 2 years, for youth aged between 19 and 21, discipline will be instilled in our youth, who are our future; and I would urge them to give free internet access to all Ghanaians - and ensure an explosion of young local talent in ICT, to effectively compete, with the rest of the world - and create yet more wealth for ordinary people.In addition I would also bring down corporate tax rate to 10% to encourage enterprise; abolish personal income tax, to enable working people to benefit from their sweat; scrap the 4th Republic, and try, on a charge of treason, and jail for life, the super-sly man, who overthrew an elected civilian regime in 1982.

And one would then proscribe the fraudulent vehicle set up by his clever acolytes, to enable both themselves and him, to metamorphose, from a military dictatorship unanswerable to no one, to an elected civilian democratically-elected regime, given to acting with impunity: something that today it conveniently forgets.

One would then order a probe of all public servants and elected officials: And set about ridding Ghana of corruption, by trying all politicians and public servants who are known to have stolen public money through corruption - after forensic audits; and one would also set up a constitutional commission to draft a new constitution in readiness for a new 5th Republic, in which there will be clear separation of powers between the three arms of government - each of them independent financially: and paid separately from the consolidated fund.

And I would also strengthen all the bodies set up to deal with corruption and white collar crime by big wigs; nationalise all land in Ghana held by traditional rulers in trust for their people (and pay those bloodsuckers and confusionists, fair compensation at prevailing market prices); and above all, abolish that tribalistic and anachronistic institution - for good!

For, it is an institution that has only succeeded in keeping a majority of our people, chained mentally, to that pre-colonial world-view, underpinned by superstition and an adherence to tradition, and which from time immemorial, has only encouraged the preservation of a social milieu that frowns on innovation - and which, today, has made ours, a stagnant society, bereft of original thinkers: and full of self-seeking sycophants.

And the incredible thing in all this, is that we are at precisely a point in time in Ghana, and in our history, when an honest, super-intelligent, and sincere military man, a philosopher-king type of soldier, can do for Ghana, what Kamel Attaturk, was able to do for modern Turkey - because we will have the wherewithal to transform Ghanaian society, for the benefit of all Ghanaians, not to enrich just a few well-connected individuals and their families.

The fact of the matter Ohemaa, is that today, even the most unintelligent child in the Ghana of today, knows, that because of our anticipated oil wealth, Ghanaians have, for the first time in their history, as a united and modern African nation-state, enough money, to enable badly needed social transformation, to be undertaken!

Hmmm, dear friend, it is such a pity I am no longer an angry young man.I shall support any super-intelligent and sincere soldier, who seizes power after the December 2008 elections - if that is what is needed to save mother Ghana from a fate similar to the tragedy that has befallen Kenya!

Indeed, one can argue that in such circumstances, our military have a patriotic duty to stop our greedy and hypocritical political class, from plunging our homeland Ghana, into civil war and chaos, after the December 2008 elections.

Who, in Ghana today, does not know that there is no real difference, between the policies pursued by the two major political parties, during their two-term tenures? One has done a little better economically, because it is the only regime to have had our previous large external debt cancelled.

It then set about to dissipate wealth in the most outrageous ways, ever imagined.We must never allow our political class to let what has happened to Kenya, to occur here, too. That is why we must think the unthinkable, if necessary - for mother Ghana's sake! May God bless and protect our homeland Ghana always. Long live Ghana! Long live freedom! Kofi Thompson can be reached by email at: peakofithompson@yahoo.co.uk and by SMS text message on: (233) 745 3109.