Most interesting story from today's edition of The Enquirer.
Hmm, Ghana – eyeasem o. It appears that a majority of the most vociferous of the supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), are individuals who benefitted materially, from the patronage of those who controlled that party when it held power.
The question is: Are they now engaged in NPP propaganda for purely self-serving reasons?
Perchance are they using love of country as a cloak to hide past perfidy in joining in the brutal gang-rape of Mother Ghana - during the greed-filled golden age of business for Kufour & Co?
Wonders will never end: Amazingly, it now emerges that even “Little-Miss-Perfect”, Ursula Owusu, also bought a Ghana Airways property, too.
Is that why she is currently working so hard disseminating NPP propaganda on the airwaves of FM radio stations - in order, no doubt, to get her party back in power again: and perhaps be in a position to increase her personal net worth yet further, again?
Yet another example of such self-seeking-deviousness, dressed up as patriotism, is Mr. Asamoah-Boateng, the former information minister.
He has conveniently forgotten his unbriddled nepotism whiles he was a minister in President Kufuor's NPP regime - that has today landed him in the law courts: over a renovation contract awarded to an entity in which his wife apparently had an interest whiles he was at the information ministry.
No doubt, if that most loquacious of NPP politicians, had succeeded in escaping to the UK, as he had wanted to, not too long after his party lost power, he would have sought political asylum there.
And today, he too would doubtless be shouting himself hoarse on the airwaves of FM radio stations from his base in faraway Britain, shamelessly criticizing President Mills’ regime unfairly - like all the other NPP self-seekers of old.
Such is life in today’s Ghana. Hmmm, Ghana – enti ye ewieye paa, enie? Asem ebaba debi ankasa!
Tel (powered by Tigo – the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
Monday, 31 May 2010
OPEN LETTER TO THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE EPA
Sir, over the past two years, we have sought the help of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in halting the activities of Solar Mining Limited, which is operating illegally in Akim Abuakwa Juaso. Despite the personal intervention of the deputy minister at the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology, and the fact that officers from your mining department have twice ordered the company to cease operating, that company continues to defy the authority of the Ghanaian nation-state.
Knowing how delicate the ecology of an area that has been designated a Globally Significant Biodiversity Area (GSBA), is, we do not see how any environmental impact assessment carried out in the area, can possibly result in the issuance of a mining permit to Solar Mining Limited, or any other gold mining entity. We therefore appeal to you to act to prosecute the company for destroying part of an area that is ecologically sensitive, and provides valuable ecosystem services necessary for the well-being of our nation and its people, at a time of global climate change.
We hope that through your good offices, we will finally see the end of what is the environmental equivalent of a dreadful nightmare - and that an area that contains the headwaters of the threee river systems (the Ayensu River; the Densu River; and the Birim River) on which most of urban Ghana depends on for its driking-water supply, is fully protected. We look forward to hearing from you soon – and thank you in advance for your help in resolving this urgent matter. Best wishes and regards.
Knowing how delicate the ecology of an area that has been designated a Globally Significant Biodiversity Area (GSBA), is, we do not see how any environmental impact assessment carried out in the area, can possibly result in the issuance of a mining permit to Solar Mining Limited, or any other gold mining entity. We therefore appeal to you to act to prosecute the company for destroying part of an area that is ecologically sensitive, and provides valuable ecosystem services necessary for the well-being of our nation and its people, at a time of global climate change.
We hope that through your good offices, we will finally see the end of what is the environmental equivalent of a dreadful nightmare - and that an area that contains the headwaters of the threee river systems (the Ayensu River; the Densu River; and the Birim River) on which most of urban Ghana depends on for its driking-water supply, is fully protected. We look forward to hearing from you soon – and thank you in advance for your help in resolving this urgent matter. Best wishes and regards.
Sunday, 9 May 2010
Cheating The Good People Of Ghana Has Consequences!
I was flabbergasted by the breathtaking arrogance displayed by Mr. Sammy Crabbe, during a radio discussion programme on Choice FM, broadcast on the evening of Saturday, 8th May, 2010, and hosted by a Mr. Carlos von Brazi.
Apparently he was reacting to something Dr. Tony Aidoo had said earlier that day on Radio Gold.
I did not listen to Dr. Tony Aidoo on Radio Gold – but it will be recalled that rather than invite reputable international carriers, such as Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Airlines, to partner Ghana in setting up a new national carrier, to replace Ghana Airways, the Kufour regime rather chose a group of Americans who neither owned a scheduled airline, nor possessed a single aircraft.
Many discerning minds predicted at the time that the venture would end in tears – as it simply did not make commercial sense.
I am pretty sure that no patriotic Ghanaian who opposed that daft deal, which brought Ghana International Airlines (GIA) into being, and who had the misfortune of listening to that Choice FM programme, would have failed to be outraged by the arrogance of Mr. Sammy Crabbe, on the aforementioned Saturday.
Incredibly, it seemed to escape him completely that the good people of Ghana would never have allowed the New Patriotic Party (NPP) regime to liquidate Ghana Airways, if they had had the slightest inkling, that by the end of the tenure of the Kufuor regime, taxpayers would be subsidizing the airline by as much as US$1.5 millions per month.
That is why many today find it intolerable that a genius like him, participating in a radio discussion programme, as “a minority shareholder” of GIA, can have the effrontery to taunt some of the people of Bunkpuruguyoyo; show utter contempt for the government of the day, and seek to give the false impression that has gained currency abroad that businesspeople in Ghana are being harassed by the present regime - all because he is standing trial as a result of his alleged underhand dealings in connection with the selfsame GIA.
Perhaps it is time someone told people of that ilk a few home truths. First of all, during the run-off of the December 2008 presidential election, we all heard a tape-recording played on Radio Gold FM, of a conversation in which Mr. Atta Akyea and Alhaji Malik Yakubu Alhassan, talked about the importance of having a "right judge" sit in a case that was of interest to their party, then.
I do not recall ever hearing him complaining that it was not right that that sort of thing went on, throughout the period his party held power. Just where is principle in all that, I ask, dear reader?
Secondly, it is a fact that leading capitalist nations such as the U.K. and the U.S.A., always prosecute even errant blue-chip companies such as Goldman Sachs, Daimler-Benz, and British Aerospace - in order to ensure the integrity of free markets and maintain confidence in the capitalist system.
In the same vein, far from making Ghana unattractive to reputable foreign investors, the prosecution of corrupt and dishonest businesspeople in our country, whose business activities are not underpinned by corporate good governance principles, and are at variance with the concept and ethos of transparency, will rather send a clear signal to the international community that the people and government of Ghana, are serious about eradicating corruption from our national life.
The Sammy Crabbes of this world must also know that it is no secret that some individuals in Ghana’s financial services sector (who prospered mightily during the golden age of business for Kufuor & Co.!), are the very sources whose input is sought by overseas analysts and results in most of those negative stories about Ghana that appear in the Western media (one of which the smug Mr. Crabbe took great pleasure in mentioning on Choice FM).
No one who “chopped Ghana small” during the tenure of the NPP, will succeed in getting away with the crime of exploiting our national economy for their personal benefit. That is called justice – not witch-hunting.
Cheating the people of Ghana has consequences – and all the members of our political class must understand that clearly. Period.
If Mr. Sammy Crabbe knows that he has a clear conscience, he should hold his peace – and let the law take its course: and be cleared of the charges against him in the law courts.
Finally, he accused his critics of being envious of his "success." The trouble about Ghana's the-end-justifies-the-means-brigade - whose blinkered world-view created the dog-eat-dog selfishness culture of the Kufuor era: with greed-for-money as its common currency - is that they forget that not every one is driven by unfathomable greed.
The question is: With so many well-bred individuals who hail from Chorkor, around town (and whose salt-of-the-earth goodness can inspire one, so), why would anyone envy a quintessential philistine like him?
Let him learn to be a tad more humble – if he wants the world's sympathy. Above all, he must understand clearly that cheating the good people of Ghana, definitely has consequences.
Tel (powered by Tigo – the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works! ): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
Apparently he was reacting to something Dr. Tony Aidoo had said earlier that day on Radio Gold.
I did not listen to Dr. Tony Aidoo on Radio Gold – but it will be recalled that rather than invite reputable international carriers, such as Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Airlines, to partner Ghana in setting up a new national carrier, to replace Ghana Airways, the Kufour regime rather chose a group of Americans who neither owned a scheduled airline, nor possessed a single aircraft.
Many discerning minds predicted at the time that the venture would end in tears – as it simply did not make commercial sense.
I am pretty sure that no patriotic Ghanaian who opposed that daft deal, which brought Ghana International Airlines (GIA) into being, and who had the misfortune of listening to that Choice FM programme, would have failed to be outraged by the arrogance of Mr. Sammy Crabbe, on the aforementioned Saturday.
Incredibly, it seemed to escape him completely that the good people of Ghana would never have allowed the New Patriotic Party (NPP) regime to liquidate Ghana Airways, if they had had the slightest inkling, that by the end of the tenure of the Kufuor regime, taxpayers would be subsidizing the airline by as much as US$1.5 millions per month.
That is why many today find it intolerable that a genius like him, participating in a radio discussion programme, as “a minority shareholder” of GIA, can have the effrontery to taunt some of the people of Bunkpuruguyoyo; show utter contempt for the government of the day, and seek to give the false impression that has gained currency abroad that businesspeople in Ghana are being harassed by the present regime - all because he is standing trial as a result of his alleged underhand dealings in connection with the selfsame GIA.
Perhaps it is time someone told people of that ilk a few home truths. First of all, during the run-off of the December 2008 presidential election, we all heard a tape-recording played on Radio Gold FM, of a conversation in which Mr. Atta Akyea and Alhaji Malik Yakubu Alhassan, talked about the importance of having a "right judge" sit in a case that was of interest to their party, then.
I do not recall ever hearing him complaining that it was not right that that sort of thing went on, throughout the period his party held power. Just where is principle in all that, I ask, dear reader?
Secondly, it is a fact that leading capitalist nations such as the U.K. and the U.S.A., always prosecute even errant blue-chip companies such as Goldman Sachs, Daimler-Benz, and British Aerospace - in order to ensure the integrity of free markets and maintain confidence in the capitalist system.
In the same vein, far from making Ghana unattractive to reputable foreign investors, the prosecution of corrupt and dishonest businesspeople in our country, whose business activities are not underpinned by corporate good governance principles, and are at variance with the concept and ethos of transparency, will rather send a clear signal to the international community that the people and government of Ghana, are serious about eradicating corruption from our national life.
The Sammy Crabbes of this world must also know that it is no secret that some individuals in Ghana’s financial services sector (who prospered mightily during the golden age of business for Kufuor & Co.!), are the very sources whose input is sought by overseas analysts and results in most of those negative stories about Ghana that appear in the Western media (one of which the smug Mr. Crabbe took great pleasure in mentioning on Choice FM).
No one who “chopped Ghana small” during the tenure of the NPP, will succeed in getting away with the crime of exploiting our national economy for their personal benefit. That is called justice – not witch-hunting.
Cheating the people of Ghana has consequences – and all the members of our political class must understand that clearly. Period.
If Mr. Sammy Crabbe knows that he has a clear conscience, he should hold his peace – and let the law take its course: and be cleared of the charges against him in the law courts.
Finally, he accused his critics of being envious of his "success." The trouble about Ghana's the-end-justifies-the-means-brigade - whose blinkered world-view created the dog-eat-dog selfishness culture of the Kufuor era: with greed-for-money as its common currency - is that they forget that not every one is driven by unfathomable greed.
The question is: With so many well-bred individuals who hail from Chorkor, around town (and whose salt-of-the-earth goodness can inspire one, so), why would anyone envy a quintessential philistine like him?
Let him learn to be a tad more humble – if he wants the world's sympathy. Above all, he must understand clearly that cheating the good people of Ghana, definitely has consequences.
Tel (powered by Tigo – the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works! ): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
Saturday, 8 May 2010
THE NPP MUST CHANGE FOR THE BETTER!
A.E.B. Danquah, who later became the Okyenhene, Nana Ofori Atta 1, in 1912, was a sergeant in the British volunteer force that defeated the Asantes, when the British finally subjugated and colonized the Asante Confederacy in 1900.
Years later, however, when Nkrumah appeared on the scene during the struggle for independence, the Akyem Abuakwa State struck an alliance with its Asante rival – to ensure that the pre-colonial feudal elite, not Nkrumah, would eventually replace the departing colonial occupiers of the Gold Coast.
Consequently, they took the side of the British colonial administration, against Nkrumah, during the fight for independence.
When the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) finally fell apart, after Nkrumah left it, and helped set up the Convention People's Party (CPP), their followers eventually established the National Liberation Movement (NLM) – and used it as the new vehicle to continue the fight against Nkrumah and his followers.
It was a marriage of convenience between two traditional rivals, with the sole objective of physically eliminating Nkrumah and removing him from the political scene - to enable the pre-colonial ruling elite dominate Ghanaian society in a post-independence federation of sovereign tribal entities.
It appears that nothing has changed – as tribal-supremacist hardliners in both Manhyia and Ofori Panin Fie, maneuvere in a high-stakes political-poker game, to put their anointed candidate in pole position for the race to elect the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) candidate for the December 2012 presidential election.
It has revived a bitter ancient rivalry that is dividing the NPP – as both sides seek a return to the Kufuor-era days of feudal-privilege that will benefit their side!
Readers will recall that under President Kufuor, the old NLM agenda of the revival of the feudal power of the pre-colonial ruling elite, was finally achieved by stealth through the backdoor - and the entire machinery of state of Nkrumah’s Ghana was used to fan the considerable egos of traditional rulers afflicted by megalomania and driven by unfathomable greed.
The de-tribalized and cosmopolitan Asantes and Akyems in the NNP must put their foot down. Luckily, they outnumber their bigoted fellow-tribesmen in the NPP. Thank God!
They also understand perfectly that inherited privilege is the greatest enemy of meritocracy - and that Ghanaians must therefore not tolerate it under any circumstances: in a nation that aspires to become an African equivalent of the egalitarian societies of Scandinavia.
That is why they must wrest control of the NPP from the clutches of the small but powerful group of Akan tribal-supremacists that now dominates the NPP, and think that dominating Ghana permanently, is their birthright. Pure nonsense on bamboo stilts .
The NPP's de-tribalized Asantes and Akyems must work hard to find a suitable non-Akan compromise candidate, who will be proof to all Ghanaians that the NPP is not a vehicle for a few Akan tribal-supremacists (and their lackeys) to win power, and use it to exploit our national economy for themselves, their family clans, and their cronies - as happened during the years of corruption and nepotism that became the golden age of business for Kufuor & Co.
One hopes that they will have the courage to do so – and ignore the absurd inanities of Dr. Nyaho Tamakloe about the critics of Akan tribal-supremacists. Does that well-educated sod not understand that tribal-supremacists exist in all the palaces of traditional rulers across our country, I ask, dear reader?
The NPP must rid itself of the baleful influence of the Akan tribal-supremacists who now dominate it - if it wants to win power again in Ghana. A word to the wise…
Tel (powered by Tigo – the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
Years later, however, when Nkrumah appeared on the scene during the struggle for independence, the Akyem Abuakwa State struck an alliance with its Asante rival – to ensure that the pre-colonial feudal elite, not Nkrumah, would eventually replace the departing colonial occupiers of the Gold Coast.
Consequently, they took the side of the British colonial administration, against Nkrumah, during the fight for independence.
When the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) finally fell apart, after Nkrumah left it, and helped set up the Convention People's Party (CPP), their followers eventually established the National Liberation Movement (NLM) – and used it as the new vehicle to continue the fight against Nkrumah and his followers.
It was a marriage of convenience between two traditional rivals, with the sole objective of physically eliminating Nkrumah and removing him from the political scene - to enable the pre-colonial ruling elite dominate Ghanaian society in a post-independence federation of sovereign tribal entities.
It appears that nothing has changed – as tribal-supremacist hardliners in both Manhyia and Ofori Panin Fie, maneuvere in a high-stakes political-poker game, to put their anointed candidate in pole position for the race to elect the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) candidate for the December 2012 presidential election.
It has revived a bitter ancient rivalry that is dividing the NPP – as both sides seek a return to the Kufuor-era days of feudal-privilege that will benefit their side!
Readers will recall that under President Kufuor, the old NLM agenda of the revival of the feudal power of the pre-colonial ruling elite, was finally achieved by stealth through the backdoor - and the entire machinery of state of Nkrumah’s Ghana was used to fan the considerable egos of traditional rulers afflicted by megalomania and driven by unfathomable greed.
The de-tribalized and cosmopolitan Asantes and Akyems in the NNP must put their foot down. Luckily, they outnumber their bigoted fellow-tribesmen in the NPP. Thank God!
They also understand perfectly that inherited privilege is the greatest enemy of meritocracy - and that Ghanaians must therefore not tolerate it under any circumstances: in a nation that aspires to become an African equivalent of the egalitarian societies of Scandinavia.
That is why they must wrest control of the NPP from the clutches of the small but powerful group of Akan tribal-supremacists that now dominates the NPP, and think that dominating Ghana permanently, is their birthright. Pure nonsense on bamboo stilts .
The NPP's de-tribalized Asantes and Akyems must work hard to find a suitable non-Akan compromise candidate, who will be proof to all Ghanaians that the NPP is not a vehicle for a few Akan tribal-supremacists (and their lackeys) to win power, and use it to exploit our national economy for themselves, their family clans, and their cronies - as happened during the years of corruption and nepotism that became the golden age of business for Kufuor & Co.
One hopes that they will have the courage to do so – and ignore the absurd inanities of Dr. Nyaho Tamakloe about the critics of Akan tribal-supremacists. Does that well-educated sod not understand that tribal-supremacists exist in all the palaces of traditional rulers across our country, I ask, dear reader?
The NPP must rid itself of the baleful influence of the Akan tribal-supremacists who now dominate it - if it wants to win power again in Ghana. A word to the wise…
Tel (powered by Tigo – the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.
Thursday, 6 May 2010
THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA MUST BE FIRM IN DEALING WITH UNRULY STUDENTS!
I was astounded to hear a student from the University of Ghana issuing threats to Ghana’s president, during a news report on Peace FM, a few days ago. Not being ashamed that he speaks in that excruciating Ghanaian English that so many of the semi-literates our universities now churn out, speak, that young "3-D buffoon" also went on to issue threats to the authorities of the institution seeking to educate him – because they had decided to turn Commonwealth Hall, currently a male-only hall of residence, into a hall of residence for post-graduate students of both sexes. Do those arrogant young people (many of whom can hardly string a decent sentence in English together, sadly) not realize that they are free to leave the University of Ghana for a tertiary institution more to their liking – if they do not like the new arrangements being made by the university’s authorities for Commonwealth Hall?
It is appears that the sense of entitlement that so many of our educated elite have, has even permeated our tertiary institutions. Do students in tertiary institutions in Ghana not realize that they are privileged to be attending the universities they are currently enrolled in? Do they think that undergraduate students in Princeton University; Harvard University; or any of the colleges in Oxford University; would dare question any arrangements their universities’ authorities had made concerning halls of residence in those world-famous institutions? What impudence.
The authorities of the University of Ghana must be firm – and stick to their decision to turn Commonwealth Hall into a hall of residence for post-graduate students of both sexes. It is time they made all students on the campus of the University of Ghana sign an undertaking to obey all the regulations and decisions of the university.Who wants leaders who are not disciplined, well-mannered, and thoughtful individuals, I ask, dear reader? Above all, those in charge of our premiere university must not tolerate uncouth behaviour by any student on the campus – because they are being trained at great cost to the taxpayers of Ghana to become the future leaders of our country. A word to the wise…
Tel (powered by Tigo – the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109 & the not-so-hot and clueless Vodafone wireless smartfone: + 233 (0) 30 2976238.
It is appears that the sense of entitlement that so many of our educated elite have, has even permeated our tertiary institutions. Do students in tertiary institutions in Ghana not realize that they are privileged to be attending the universities they are currently enrolled in? Do they think that undergraduate students in Princeton University; Harvard University; or any of the colleges in Oxford University; would dare question any arrangements their universities’ authorities had made concerning halls of residence in those world-famous institutions? What impudence.
The authorities of the University of Ghana must be firm – and stick to their decision to turn Commonwealth Hall into a hall of residence for post-graduate students of both sexes. It is time they made all students on the campus of the University of Ghana sign an undertaking to obey all the regulations and decisions of the university.Who wants leaders who are not disciplined, well-mannered, and thoughtful individuals, I ask, dear reader? Above all, those in charge of our premiere university must not tolerate uncouth behaviour by any student on the campus – because they are being trained at great cost to the taxpayers of Ghana to become the future leaders of our country. A word to the wise…
Tel (powered by Tigo – the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109 & the not-so-hot and clueless Vodafone wireless smartfone: + 233 (0) 30 2976238.
Saturday, 1 May 2010
AN OPEN LETTER TO MR. ANDREW AWUNI
Massa, I gather you now intend to devote your life to fighting for private enterprise (and one presumes the concept of “free markets”) in Ghana. As a believer in individual liberty myself, I wish you well in your endeavours – but you have your work cut out for you: as most Ghanaian entrepreneurs, sadly, are even more corrupt than the members of our political class (and that is saying something, is it not?). Yet, the plain truth is that the private sector can only become the engine of growth in our economy, if Ghanaian entrepreneurs use cutting-edge ideas that make their businesses innovative and competitive entities, which are truly world-class – because they are underpinned by corporate good governance principles: and, at a time of global climate change, guided by a “green” ethos.
I do not know just how well-versed you are in the subject of economics, but one does not need to be a genius to know that far from having a “free-market” economy, over the years (particularly during the golden age of business for Kufuor & Co.!), Ghana has been a neo-liberal welfare-state in which the rich hijack the power of the Ghanaian nation-state after each regime-change: and use it as the key strategic building-block in their personal wealth-creation agenda. It has enabled sundry crooks send their personal net worth to stratospheric heights – every time their hirelings win power. As we all know, over ninety percent of those who made large fortunes under President Kufuor, for example, acquired their wealth by leveraging the patronage of a small and powerful cabal in the presidency. An infamous example was the incredible story of the offspring of one of our leaders, who was a declared bankrupt in the United States of America. He came back to Ghana to make a fresh start – and using what amounted to insider-information, secured a contract to supply electricity meters to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
That lucky golden-prince of the Kufuor-era made a cool US$2 millions profit from that egregious example of profiteering – facilitated by nepotism of the very worst kind. His facilitator-in-chief was clearly guilty of conflict of interest and abuse of power. The so-called “free-market” had nothing to do with his sudden wealth. Perhaps you were too busy during the period in Ghana’s history when your New Patriotic Party (NPP) held power, to know that our second city, for example, was turned into the tax-evading capital of our nation – as over the years greedy and dishonest businesspeople, succeeded in offloading container upon container (falsely manifested as goods in transit) there: with the active connivance of bad nuts within the Customs, Excise and Preventative Service (CEPS). The sad thing is that precious few of such well-heeled individuals even have the decency to pay their fair share of taxes to help in the development of our nation.Pity.
Another case in point, and example of the lack of ethics in the Ghanaian business world, is the unfortunate story of your Mr. Okudzato – who was apparently fulminating against those he believes were unfair to him (by ousting him from the board of the Bank of Ghana after your party lost power), when you launched your latest project. Perhaps the question we need to ask in his case is: How was it possible, that a gentleman who had been a member of the board of directors of the defunct Bonte Gold, which was an integral part of the shabby story of those monstrous Canadian carpetbaggers, became a board member of the Bank of Ghana – when in any civilized nation, such a record would probably have got him banned for life from being a company director, let alone serve as a member of the board of the nation’s central bank? Do you recall how those perfidious Canadians turned the village of Bonte into hell on earth for its hapless inhabitants – and also left a trail of debt when they departed our shores unceremoniously? Alas, Mr. Awuni, I am only an old fool who is gradually growing senile, and is further limited by a lack of formal education – but as a result of that tragedy, my head, luckily for me, is not filled with the “book-long-chew-and-pour” text-book theories that so constrict the thought-processes of so many of our educated elite. As a result, original thinking has helped guide me through the minefield, which life in our Byzantine society has become.
So take this piece of free advice from this senile old fool, Mr. Awuni: concentrate on fighting for the creation of a business environment in our country, in which dishonest practices are frowned upon throughout corporate Ghana – and above all, help our country fight those whose greedy ambitions threaten the well-being of our country and the welfare of its people: because they seek to appropriate the resources of our homeland Ghana, for themselves. In your quiet moments, ponder how it came about, for example, that Ghana Airways, which belonged to all of us, and had real potential (if only political interference had not been allowed to hamper it so!), was deliberately killed off, so that the airline industry equivalent of a Dodo, Ghana International Airlines (GIA) – whose real ownership, according to the conspiracy theorists in our midst, is hidden in a web of opaque offshore entities – came into being, just to enrich a powerful and politically well-connected few.
Do you realize that the madam-air-bottom-power lady who runs it has never ever run an airline in her charmed life before - and that she superintended over her last employers' business with such 'care' that the accountant made hundreds of thousands of US dollars literally disappear from the business? Why did GIA not even ask for something as basic as references - and make inquiries about her employment history in Ghana, for example? Such was the perfidy of some of your colleagues, when your party held power in Nkrumah's Ghana. Please also ask yourself how a few private individuals, fellow citizens, both, came to own part of one of the oilfields off our coastline. Thank God we were rescued from the clutches of your regime before further harm was done to our country by such unparalleled selfishness and unfathomable greed. Were we not definitely heading for a “Nigerian oil-experience” by stealth, under your regime, Mr. Awuni? Please fight with all your strength to prevent such a tragedy from ever befalling Mother Ghana – if you truly want to fight the good fight, that is. A word to the wise…
Tel (powered by Tigo – the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109 & the not-so-hot and clueless Vodafone wireless smartfone: + 233 (0) 30 2976238.
I do not know just how well-versed you are in the subject of economics, but one does not need to be a genius to know that far from having a “free-market” economy, over the years (particularly during the golden age of business for Kufuor & Co.!), Ghana has been a neo-liberal welfare-state in which the rich hijack the power of the Ghanaian nation-state after each regime-change: and use it as the key strategic building-block in their personal wealth-creation agenda. It has enabled sundry crooks send their personal net worth to stratospheric heights – every time their hirelings win power. As we all know, over ninety percent of those who made large fortunes under President Kufuor, for example, acquired their wealth by leveraging the patronage of a small and powerful cabal in the presidency. An infamous example was the incredible story of the offspring of one of our leaders, who was a declared bankrupt in the United States of America. He came back to Ghana to make a fresh start – and using what amounted to insider-information, secured a contract to supply electricity meters to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
That lucky golden-prince of the Kufuor-era made a cool US$2 millions profit from that egregious example of profiteering – facilitated by nepotism of the very worst kind. His facilitator-in-chief was clearly guilty of conflict of interest and abuse of power. The so-called “free-market” had nothing to do with his sudden wealth. Perhaps you were too busy during the period in Ghana’s history when your New Patriotic Party (NPP) held power, to know that our second city, for example, was turned into the tax-evading capital of our nation – as over the years greedy and dishonest businesspeople, succeeded in offloading container upon container (falsely manifested as goods in transit) there: with the active connivance of bad nuts within the Customs, Excise and Preventative Service (CEPS). The sad thing is that precious few of such well-heeled individuals even have the decency to pay their fair share of taxes to help in the development of our nation.Pity.
Another case in point, and example of the lack of ethics in the Ghanaian business world, is the unfortunate story of your Mr. Okudzato – who was apparently fulminating against those he believes were unfair to him (by ousting him from the board of the Bank of Ghana after your party lost power), when you launched your latest project. Perhaps the question we need to ask in his case is: How was it possible, that a gentleman who had been a member of the board of directors of the defunct Bonte Gold, which was an integral part of the shabby story of those monstrous Canadian carpetbaggers, became a board member of the Bank of Ghana – when in any civilized nation, such a record would probably have got him banned for life from being a company director, let alone serve as a member of the board of the nation’s central bank? Do you recall how those perfidious Canadians turned the village of Bonte into hell on earth for its hapless inhabitants – and also left a trail of debt when they departed our shores unceremoniously? Alas, Mr. Awuni, I am only an old fool who is gradually growing senile, and is further limited by a lack of formal education – but as a result of that tragedy, my head, luckily for me, is not filled with the “book-long-chew-and-pour” text-book theories that so constrict the thought-processes of so many of our educated elite. As a result, original thinking has helped guide me through the minefield, which life in our Byzantine society has become.
So take this piece of free advice from this senile old fool, Mr. Awuni: concentrate on fighting for the creation of a business environment in our country, in which dishonest practices are frowned upon throughout corporate Ghana – and above all, help our country fight those whose greedy ambitions threaten the well-being of our country and the welfare of its people: because they seek to appropriate the resources of our homeland Ghana, for themselves. In your quiet moments, ponder how it came about, for example, that Ghana Airways, which belonged to all of us, and had real potential (if only political interference had not been allowed to hamper it so!), was deliberately killed off, so that the airline industry equivalent of a Dodo, Ghana International Airlines (GIA) – whose real ownership, according to the conspiracy theorists in our midst, is hidden in a web of opaque offshore entities – came into being, just to enrich a powerful and politically well-connected few.
Do you realize that the madam-air-bottom-power lady who runs it has never ever run an airline in her charmed life before - and that she superintended over her last employers' business with such 'care' that the accountant made hundreds of thousands of US dollars literally disappear from the business? Why did GIA not even ask for something as basic as references - and make inquiries about her employment history in Ghana, for example? Such was the perfidy of some of your colleagues, when your party held power in Nkrumah's Ghana. Please also ask yourself how a few private individuals, fellow citizens, both, came to own part of one of the oilfields off our coastline. Thank God we were rescued from the clutches of your regime before further harm was done to our country by such unparalleled selfishness and unfathomable greed. Were we not definitely heading for a “Nigerian oil-experience” by stealth, under your regime, Mr. Awuni? Please fight with all your strength to prevent such a tragedy from ever befalling Mother Ghana – if you truly want to fight the good fight, that is. A word to the wise…
Tel (powered by Tigo – the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109 & the not-so-hot and clueless Vodafone wireless smartfone: + 233 (0) 30 2976238.
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