President Mills, knowing full well how the herculean task of dealing with the huge deficit left behind by the profligate and fiscally irresponsible regime of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has retarded his administration's progress in bringing about the better Ghana he promised Ghanaians, designated this year, 2011, as the government of his National Democratic Congress' (NDC) "year of action".
I am publishing a series of letters that speak for themselves. They were all delivered to the designated ministers they are addressed to, between 2009 and 2011. Incredibly, not once did I receive a reply to any of those letters. But I do not blame any of the ministers concerned. Perhaps the replies to the letters may very well be in the post - as I was informed by a civil servant in room 29, at the local government and rural development ministry, when I went to follow up after my most recent missive to that ministry's political head, about two weeks or so ago. She very kindly showed me a filed copy of the said reply, as a matter of fact. I trust it will eventually be delivered by Ghana Post. But that is only one out of so many letters to officialdom I have written over the years - but none of which have been replied to. Extraordinary. No wonder we never seem to achieve our potential as a people.
There are two main reasons why I have chosen to publish a few of the many letters to various state entities over the years: to begin with, I hope that some of the more responsible sections of the media will take up the idea of letting ordinary people know about the development going on nationwide, in the various districts. It is the right of every Ghanaian to be kept abreast with the state of the nation at the grass-roots level, countrywide. I also believe that it helps preserve national cohesion. My second purpose, is to alert those at the presidency, whose job it is to ensure that government machinery works properly - so as to enable the government of the day achieve its set developmental agenda, in what is supposed to be this regime's "action year". They would be wise to be wary of the public servants they are relying on to help make a success of the president's "action year". I doubt if many of them wish this regime well, quite frankly - judging from my own interaction with some of them. Inaction on their part, seems largely to be a deliberate tactic, to help make the NPP's Enkoyie propaganda more successful! Please read on, dear reader:
30th September, 2009
The Deputy Minister
Ministry of Environment, Science, and Technology
Accra .
Dear Minister,
Re: High Forest Biodiversity Conservation Project Alternative Income-generation Training Courses for Community Affected by Illegal Logging and Surface Gold Mining without EPA Permit - Akim Abuakwa Juaso
We wish to change the land-use focus of our freehold high forest property at Akim Abuakwa Juaso, where we are farming cocoa organically - and preserve our private off-reserve land: by turning it into a nature resource reserve and eco-tourism destination.
Consequently, we are writing formally to seek your assistance, to enable cocoa farmers on our land (and others from the village, who have been affected by Sola Mining Limited’s surface gold mining operations, being carried out without a valid EPA mining permit), leverage the alternative income-generation training courses under the ministry of local government’s High Forest Biodiversity Conservation Project (HFBCP).
The window for the training courses closes this coming December, and if the minister for local government and rural development agrees to treat our application as an emergency case, all the cocoa farmers of Akim Abuakwa Juaso, who seek more sustainable alternative sources of income, than the rampant illegal logging and ruinous surface gold mining that goes on there, will be able to learn bee keeping, grasscutter-rearing, and snail-farming, under the HFBCP. We have attached a copy of our HFBCP application letter for your perusal.
We are sure that your interceding on our behalf with the minister for local government and rural development, will enable him to intervene immediately in the matter, and lead to him asking that our case be treated as an emergency one, which ought to be handled with dispatch - in view of the status of that section of the Atiwa Range upland evergreen rain forest: which has been designated a Globally Significant Biodiversity Hotspot.
We do hope that you will come to the aid once more, of those in Akim Abuakwa Juaso, who care deeply about the Atiwa Range upland evergreen rain forest (both the reserve and off-reserve rain forest) - and want it preserved for future generations of Ghanaians. Thank you for your kindness to us on a previous occasion, once more, minister. We do hope that this intervention will also lead to a positive outcome.
Yours faithfully,
Kofi Thompson
Director
30th September. 2009
The Minister
Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development
Accra Dear Minister,
Re: High Forest Biodiversity Conservation Project Alternative Income-generation Training Courses for Community Affected by Illegal Logging and Surface Gold Mining without EPA Permit - Akim Abuakwa Juaso
We wish to change the land-use focus of our freehold high forest property at Akim Abuakwa Juaso, where we are farming cocoa organically - and preserve our private off-reserve land: by turning it into a nature resource reserve and eco-tourism destination.
Consequently, we are writing formally to seek your assistance, to enable cocoa farmers on our land (and others from the village, who have been affected by Sola Mining Limited’s surface gold mining operations, being carried out without a valid EPA mining permit), leverage the alternative income-generation training courses under the ministry of local government’s High Forest Biodiversity Conservation Project (HFBCP).
The window for the training courses apparently closes this coming December, and if you intervene on our behalf, in view of the status of that section of the Atiwa Range upland evergreen rain forest: which has been designated a Globally Significant Biodiversity Hotspot, and ask that our application be treated as an emergency case, all the cocoa farmers of Akim Abuakwa Juaso, who seek more sustainable alternative sources of income, than the rampant illegal logging and ruinous surface gold mining that goes on there, will be able to learn beekeeping, grasscutter-rearing, and snail-farming, under the HFBCP. We have attached a copy of our HFBCP application letter for your perusal.
We do hope that this missive to you, will lead to a positive outcome for the environmentally and socially responsible farmers of Akim Abuakwa Juaso, who are keen to benefit from the training courses under the HFBCP - and that all those in Akim Abuakwa Juaso who care deeply about the Atiwa Range upland evergreen rain forest (both the reserve and off-reserve rain forest land), and want it preserved for future generations of Ghanaians, will be thus rewarded for being law-abiding and productive citizens of Ghana. Thank you in advance for your kindness, minister.
Yours faithfully,
Kofi Thompson
Director
21st January 2011
The Hon. Minister
Ministry of Information
Accra
Dear Minister,
RE: FEATURING WORK OF DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES IN THE NATIONAL REVIEW NEWSPAPER
We applied to the National Media Commission (NMC), for The National Review to be registered as a newspaper, on 15/11/2010. The paper's mission, is to foster the cohesion of our nation; protect the national interest; promote democracy and ensure the rights of all Ghanaians, at all material times - through ethical journalism.
A key aspect of the paper, is that it will feature the work of District Assemblies in its pages, on a regular basis. This is because it is our belief that it is the right of all Ghanaians, to be kept abreast of the state of the nation, in terms of the physical development of their country, such as the provision of infrastructure at the grass-roots level, nationwide.
This is crucial if national cohesion is to be maintained, Minister. We feel that the more responsible sections of the media ought to take this up. We want to set the example, and seek your assistance in that direction.
Consequently, we would be most grateful if you could link us up with all the District Assemblies, and facilitate their providing us with content for publication, on a weekly basis - for both the print and online editions of The National Review.
We hope to be out before the end of the first half of this year, all things being equal. We thank you in advance for your help, Minister - and per this letter, solicit your help in securing an interview with the new local government and rural development minister, Hon. Samuel Ofosu-Ampofu, at some point, going forward: so that he can share his vision for his new brief, with our readers, in the paper's regular interview features page.
Naturally, we understand that he can only grant an interview, when he is properly settled in his new portfolio. From time to time, we shall also approach you, to facilitate same with your other colleague ministers, to that end.
Happy New Year,
Minister. We do wish you and your deputies, every success in the year designated by the president, H.E. President Mills, as his administration's year of action.
Yours faithfully,
Kofi Thompson
(Managing Editor)
So there we are, dear reader, a few examples of the glacial pace at which government business is conducted in our homeland Ghana. The most perplexing of all, is the tardiness of the information ministry. You would think that a vital public relations organ of a regime with such a bad press (most of it unfair!), would be more proactive. Hmmm, Ghana - eyeasem oo! But I digress.
At this rate, one wonders, for example, when Parliament will pass legislation, which will ensure that no spillage by any oil company operating off our shores, or inland, is left unpunished - and that all spillages are dealt with in exactly the same fashion that the Obama administration dealt with BP, after the disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil spillage.
We must never allow the apocalyptic scenes of the most egregious kind of environmental pollution, which we see in the Niger Delta, to occur here too. Why must we allow shareholders of oil companies in America and elsewhere to grow super-rich, whiles the oil companies they own, create a hell on earth for our coastal communities and other inland areas in the landmass of Ghana, where oil in commercial quantities may be discovered in future? The question is: Will our largely-complacent ruling elites act to put legislation in place to prevent that from being repeated here too by arrogant oil companies like Kosmos Oil? President Mills and his team, have their work cut out to ensure that his year of action is not derailed. The question is: Will he be tough with those public servants who do not want it to be a success? Those who wish him well, hope he will. A word to the wise...
Tel (powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0)2
7 745 3109.
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