HOW TO LOWER NORTH'S POLITICAL TENSIONS!

Opanin, a simple but effective solution would be to give power to the people at the grassroots level - by electing district chief executives (DCE) on a party political basis.

The tension and violence in the northern part of our country, illustrates perfectly, the many failings of the 1992 constitution. That self-serving document, was tailor-made specifically to enable a military junta metamorphose successfully into an elected civilian regime - and carry on blithely: exactly as they had before.

That is why it did not allow political parties to contest the election of DCE's and district assemblies. That outrage, now permanently ensures that all power in Ghana, still remains concentrated in the hands of the elected dictatorships, which we elect to govern us every four years.

The powers it confers on our presidents, allows them to do pretty much as they please, in between elections: regardless of how much discerning folk protest against government policies that are clearly inimical to the national interest; but which clearly benefits the powerful and dishonest few amongst our rulers: who are motivated solely by their greedy personal ambitions.

Naturally, they depend for their continued survival on the mostly unpatriotic and unprincipled "My-party-my-tribe-right-or-wrong" myrmidons in our nation: who permanently wear blinkers and don't give a damn how many crooks amongst our rulers line up to participate in the ongoing gang-rape of mother Ghana - as long as they too are allowed to take their turn, afterwards!

If we elected DCE's and the members of our district assemblies on a party political basis, it would make grassroots people feel that they have a stake in government, too.

It would also make the political leaders at the grassroots level, more responsive to the needs of ordinary grassroots people, and think of improving the quality of lives of local people - instead of using the power of the Ghanaian nation-state to empower their party's local structures and enrich their political acolytes across their district: regardless of the harm it causes to local people.

It is instructive that those politicians who only yesterday told us they would make DCE's electable on a party political basis in order to deepen the roots of our young democracy further, when they came to power, now amazingly shy away from it.

Typical of our mostly cynical political class, having held power they too want to monopolise power permanently now: just like Flt. Lt Rawlings and Co. before them - rather than share it with people at the grassroots level.

The trouble in those parts of the north where violence flares up frequently, is that local people feel that government does not represent them - and does not act in their best interests.

You can bet your last pesewa that if DCE's were elected on a party political basis, all the areas where violence has flared up in the north, would have elected DCE's from one of the opposition parties, rather than the ruling party - and peace would reign supreme across that potentially rich part of our country!

An added bonus for our country, is that it would enable our nation build up a pool of elected leaders with considerable experience in the art and science of leadership - and with solid track records, for all to see.

It would also make the other parties feel that they too have a stake in our country - and lessen the disaffection that makes our country's politics so fraught with tension.

Such a local government system, far from providing the parties in the opposition with a base to use to undermine the ruling regime at the centre in Accra, would rather make them aspire to develop their districts into prosperous and well-developed areas - to show Ghanaians what their party could do for the rest of the country: if they were elected into government at the national level.

Those who use national security as an excuse to justify the undemocratic status quo, must tell us just what is inimical to our country, in giving power to grassroots people - and precisely how that endangers our country's security.

It is an unworthy and self-serving argument, used by those who benefit greatly by the present system - which effectively permits the election of an elected dictatorship every four years: which then remembers all of a sudden, at election time (having ignored the voice of concerned Ghanaian patriots and nationalists throughout their tenure - like quintessential kleptocratic African dictators!), that this is actually supposed to be a constitutional democracy.

Incidentally, Opanin, have you seen the reckless way still more debt is being piled up by our current leaders? Yet, it was the unsustainable massive pre-HIPC debt of old that was sucking the very lifeblood out of our nation, during the tenure of the previous regime, was it not?

Incredibly, and much to the alarm of decent-minded Ghanaians, it is the self-same masters of the universe now running Nkrumah's Ghana, that have benefited enormously from debt relief (although they never had the nous or the gumption to advocate for debt relief in the 1990's, when some us were actively doing so), who are responsible for this most unsatisfactory state of affairs.

It is an outrage to many of us that they are ignoring all the principles of the so-called "debt sustainability framework" - and are busy fishing in the piranha-infested waters of the capital markets of the West: the greed- consumed incompetents. Hmmm, Ghana - ayeasem oo!

They, who only yesterday, were being swindled by the owners of Chinese hairdressing salons in the seedier backstreets of London - who were promising them they would loan them zillions to develop Ghana with: and help them hide the surefire kickbacks they would be getting, for bringing them "good business"!

Incredibly, this financial equivalent of madness, is being driven solely by the unfathomable greed of the crooks amongst our leaders - who are being given kickbacks in hard currency by the very well-connected regime-crony Titans, in Ghana's financial services industry: who are profiting mightily from the fat fees they are charging Ghana for the benefit of their "professional services" in our frequent forays unto the overseas capital markets.

Opanin, can you believe that a deputy finance minister is reported recently, to have stated that as much as US $72 millions out of a planned US$300 sovereign bond issue to pay for a US$ 288 millions variant of the self-same financial instrument issued at great cost to the Ghanaian taxpayer only yesterday, by Iroko (US$200 at the time, but now suddenly ballooned to a hefty US$288, apparently?) on GT 's behalf, is now going to be used to pay for "other costs"?

(And just how much will be paid as fees to the lucky shysters who will handle this latest US$ 300 sovereign bond issue to be used to pay for GT's old debt? Surely, that old GT debt is not that same US$200 millions corporate bond Iroko issued in London, on GT's behalf?)

What "other costs" again, I ask, Opanin? If those US$72millions "other costs" have anything to do with the GT corporate bond issued on its behalf by Iroko, then where in the Western world, would regulators and society at large, in the post-Enron world of corporate good governance, permit such financial skulduggery - and its perpetrators allowed to get away scot-free: with the ramifications of such criminal negligence and unimaginable incompetence?

No wonder we experienced the recent "debt distress" that made them organise that fire-sale of GT to Vodafone - a deal too far, that will certainly land all those involved in jail, for causing financial loss to the Ghanaian nation-state: despite the illegal indemnities they think are cast-iron, but actually aren't, as such a law is illegal under our constitution!

Well, one hopes that our supine and spineless parliamentarians on the minority benches will demand that that sum is broken down item by item, for all to see where precisely it is going to end up, eventually.

It will not surprise me in the slightest, if it wasn't ending up in the bank accounts of the same regime-crony Titans in the financial services sector of our economy; the fat-cat banker-oligarchs who are favoured today because they favoured the super-wealthy scion of the family clan of our hypocrite-in-chief; the well-connected and much sought-after discreet corporate lawyers, who know how to keep a stiff upper lip to hide the secrets of the powerful crooks amongst our rulers; and the sundry "blue-chip"accountancy firms that made zillions conducting "forensic audits" when the regime's main preoccupation then was finding "stolen monies" allegedly syphoned by crooks in the previous regime.

Nothing much has changed in our country really, has it? Hmmm, Ghana - asem abeba debi ankasa! May God bless and protect our homeland Ghana, always. Long live freedom! Long live Ghana!