EMAIL TO A FRIEND (RE: JUDGEMENT DAY FOR GHANA'S RULING ELITES NEARER THAN THEY THINK!)

My dear Yaw,

Yes, let's keep our fingers crossed. I am still working on the funding. Massa, my goal, when deciding to publish "The National Review," was to hold our ruling elites, particularly members of our political class (and the senior public servants who advise them!), accountable to the people of Ghana - by constantly questioning them.

Take the spillage of toxic material into the Atlantic Ocean by Kosmos Oil, for instance. What exactly is officialdom doing to ensure that when the next spillage occurs, there will be unambiguous legislation in place, that will enable our nation exact a level of financial compensation, on the scale of that which the Obama administration forced BP to pay into an escrow account, in the early stages of the Gulf of Mexico oil spillage disaster ?

Part of today's economic difficulties, stem from the pile of debt left behind, as a result of the reckless borrowing that the Kufuor administration engaged in during its tenure. Which media house has pointed out to the present government, for example, the danger of obtaining loans from the financial markets of the West - particularly when a case can be made to the Chinese to treat the funding of infrastructure projects in Ghana, as being in China's long-term strategic interest in Africa?

If China were to do so, when they are criticised for exploiting Africa and not putting anything positive back in return (for the raw materials it is hovering up out of the continent), could they not point to their funding, in Ghana and elsewhere, of various infrastructure projects?

Rather than resorting to commercial loans, should we not leverage the bond of friendship existing between Ghana and China, dating back to the Nkrumah regime's period in office, to get concessionary Chinese state funding to construct: roads; well-designed and well-built affordable public housing nationwide; railways (to all the regional capitals!); airports (again in all regional capitals!); cocoa processing plants (in sufficient numbers to create tens of thousands of jobs, and also make it possible to flood the entire continent with dark Ghanaian chocolate and other cocoa products!); oil
refineries (in numbers sufficient to make Ghana Africa's refining capital!); fund the merger of the GNPC, GOIL and some of the refineries that will be built, to create an oil giant, to refine and market petroleum products in petrol filling stations across Africa: using GOIL as the vehicle; etc. etc.?

The tragedy of our nation, is that we are lumbered with ruling elites full of the intellectual equivalent of pygmies - who lack vision on account of their inability to see far ahead into the future. Are you surprised that instead of engaging in a battle of ideas, our two major parties talk endlessly about which of them is more violent in nature - and is scheming to steal the December 2012 elections: through the use of violence?

Which of them have you heard outlining a detailed plan for the transformation of our society (outside of election campaign periods), and debating aspects of it with a political opponent, for the benefit of the public, I ask? In the 21st century, how can any civilised African fight for political power, and think of using violent means for achieving that purpose? Why do such politicians not rather urge their supporters to out-think their opponents - and come up with foolproof methods of preventing poll rigging: such as using the video and camera " applications" of mobile phones to record the voting process in polling stations nationwide?

Massa, don't be surprised if you woke up one morning, to hear that young people in Ghana were leading "people power" demonstrations nationwide, calling for the abolishing of the 4th Republic and its corrupt system - and its replacement by a 5th Republic with a new constitution that underpins a new system that is equitable and all-embracing.

They are fed up with a situation akin to a world of gangsters, in which a set of rules (the 1992 constitution), drawn up by one set of gangsters, and designed to protect the most powerful of their group, is then exploited to the hilt by their opponents, who succeeded them in office from January 2001 to January 2009, to enable them protect themselves from having to pay for their crimes against Mother Ghana, after relinquishing power. The young people of today simply want crooked politicians (across the spectrum!) who steal hapless taxpayers' money whiles in office, to be prosecuted and jailed for their crimes. Period.

How many politicians do you hear demanding that all politicians, regardless of their party affiliation, who steal from the national treasury ought to be tried quickly, jailed for their crimes - and stripped of their ill-gotten wealth? It is as if our ruling elites think ordinary people are dim-wits - who will put up with being ripped off, till the very end of time: because they have the mentality of serfs written into their DNA. Well, actually, Ghana's ordinary folk aren't daft - if truth be told. And one day they will seek their revenge, as sure as day follows night - and there will be no stopping them either. Massa, the day of judgement for our ruling elites is nearer than they think! Hmmm, Ghana - eyeasem oo: asem ebeba debi ankasa!

Yours in the service of Ghana,

Kofi.

PS Nana Akufo-Addo is simply doing what politicians the world over do - he is playing the Machiavellian game, known as "the-end-justifies-the-means". It is an old game. If the 1992 constitution stipulated that candidates vying for the presidency had to win a majority of the ten regions to become president, I doubt if tribal-supremacists (Akan or otherwise!) would remain relevant in Ghanaian politics.

In any case, ordinary Ghanaians of Akan descent are not fools. They have finely-honed survival instincts - and are not about to die for anyone born with a golden spoon in his or her mouth. Mark my words - the December 2012 elections will pass off peacefully: regardless of the machinations of the ruthless men and women who would rule us: be they Akan tribal-supremacists or otherwise!