PRESIDENT MILLS & HIS APPOINTEES MUST PUBLICLY PUBLISH THEIR ASSETS - AND THOSE OF THEIR SPOUSES TOO, NOW!

An article entitled "Britain backs 'publish what you pay' rule for oil and mining firms in Africa", which was written by Heather Stewart, and published in the Sunday, 20 February, 2011 edition, of the UK newspaper, The Observer, made very interesting reading.

It made one wonder, why, to ensure that the hundreds of bullions of dollars, which are earned from the export of: oil, natural gas and assorted minerals from the continent (worth as much as some US $393bn in 2008, apparently - as against the US$44 bullions, received in international aid by African countries, that year!), civil society groups in resource-rich African nations like Ghana, for example, aren't demanding laws, which force all government appointees, such as ministers and their spouses, to publicly publish their net worth - as an anti-corruption measure.

As a contribution to that campaign to get Ghana's leaders to set the example for the rest of Africa, by publicly publishing the assets of all government appointees, from the president down to the district chief executive of the smallest district in the country, and their spouses, today, I am posting the said article by Heather Stewart, which is culled from The Observer, on my blog. Please read on:

"Britain backs 'publish what you pay' rule for oil and mining firms in Africa


George Osborne and Vince Cable come out in support of proposal by Nicolas Sarkozy at G20 meeting

Heather Stewart

The Observer, Sunday 20 February 2011

Britain is throwing its weight behind European efforts to force oil and mining companies to publish details of every penny they pay to governments in poor countries where they operate.

George Osborne told his fellow G20 finance ministers in Paris on Saturday that the coalition was keen to support an effort by the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, to throw open the operations of the extractive industries in the developing world to public scrutiny.

"As we enter a new decade when the resources of Africa are going to be heavily developed, I strongly believe it's in everyone's interests that mining companies and others operate to the highest standards," said Osborne. "That's the way to ensure some of the world's poorest benefit from the wealth that lies in the ground beneath them."

When multinational resources firms move into African states they often bring the promise of economic development, but campaigners say the result is all too often a bonanza for a tiny elite, while most of the population sees few benefits. In oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, for example, GDP per head is $30,000, equivalent to that of Italy or Spain, but most of the population still live on less than $1 a day. Exports of oil, gas and minerals from Africa were worth $393bn in 2008, while the continent received $44bn in international aid, and natural resources accounted for almost a quarter of Africa's growth between 2000 and 2008.

The long-running Publish What You Pay campaign, supported by a coalition of civil society groups worldwide, argues that if the scale of the payouts to host-country governments were revealed, voters would hold their leaders to account.

Jane Allen, UK co-ordinator for the campaign, said: "Too often the potential for growth and development in countries rich in natural resources is squandered as vast sums of money are misused by governments and individuals.

"By committing to legally binding measures that will make these payments open to scrutiny, the UK and Europe can play a critical role in reversing this 'resource curse' by fighting corruption and poverty."

Gordon Brown promoted a voluntary approach, known as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, launched in 2002; but US politicians have now legislated to force American firms to be more transparent. Sarkozy wants Europe to follow suit.

The business secretary, Vince Cable, will lead the government's push to secure a European agreement on the issue. A business department source said that legitimate firms had nothing to fear. "For businesses, it's something that they should support as well, in terms of creating a level playing-field," she said. A Treasury spokesman said: "George and Vince are working together on this."

The One campaign's Bob Geldof recently met Osborne to urge the government to support a new law. Sarkozy has asked the European Commission to report by September on the best way to legislate at European level, and British backing will be critical, because many of the firms that would be affected, including the mining giant Anglo-American and Tullow Oil, are listed in London.

Cable is keen to mend the government's reputation for ethics after its controversial decision to delay implementation of the anti-bribery bill, passed with cross-party agreement before the election, which would make UK companies liable for corrupt actions by their staff anywhere in the world.

Sarkozy has put the future of Africa at the heart of his aims for France's chairmanship of the G20 this year. He announced on Friday that he has appointed Bill Gates to carry out a study of alternative ways of raising cash for development, including a so-called Robin Hood tax on financial trading. At the G20 meeting, finance ministers also discussed the health of the global economy, and agreed the warning signs they will use to determine whether so-called "global imbalances", such as trade deficits, have reached a point that risks triggering a world financial crisis."

End of culled article from The Observer, by Heather Stewart.


Well, there it is, dear reader. Makes one wonder whether the cynics amongst us, aren't right, in questioning what the motives of oil companies listing on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), really are.

Perhaps to protect our nation's best interests, the time has come for the same disclosure rules demanded by regulators of stock exchanges in London, New York and the other financial capitals of the West, to be put in place, by regulators here, too.

And the same anti-bribery laws now being enforced there, such as the UK Anti-Bribery Act, should be passed here too, as soon as it is practicable to do so (adapting it for our particular circumstances, and more or less word for word!).

One hopes our hard-of-hearing leaders will listen to the clarion call to publicly publish their net worth, and that of their spouses, as evidence that they are committed to the fight against corruption in Ghana.

President Mills and his National Democratic Congress (NDC) regime, have a historic opportunity, to change the face of Ghanaian politics forever, by publicly publishing their assets, as well as that of their spouses.

It will be recalled that President Kufuor promised to do same, at the Independence Square, when he first came to power in January 2009, but never kept his word (as was usual with that ace-hypocrite and dissimulator-in-chief!).

And as we all know, by the end of his tenure, some members of his family clan, previously not known for their astuteness and business acumen, and hitherto not amongst the stars and high flyers of the Ghanaian business world (including a son who was a declared bankrupt in America, who made a killing - successfully collecting a margin of over some US$2 millions: profiteering in a contract to supply pre-paid meters to the Electricity Company of Ghana!), had become some of the wealthiest individuals in Ghana.

President Mills, who is widely acknowledged to be the humblest, most honest and sincerest individual to lead Ghana since the overthrow of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in February 1966, and the members of his regime, must not repeat Kufuor & Co.'s perfidy.

However, it must be pointed out, that there is absolutely no point being the most honest Ghanaian leader, thus far, since Nkrumah, if the president cannot persuade members of his regime to publicly publish their assets, and those of their spouses - in order to take governance to a higher level, and to show ordinary Ghanaians the difference between their regime and that of the corrupt and perfidious Kufuor regime.

Apart from earning President Mills a place in the Pantheon of great African leaders, it will also literally force every government that follows the Mills administration to do same. And, above all, it will show ordinary people in Ghana that the NDC regime of President Mills, did not come to power - to paraphrase an infamous pidgin English phrase - "to chop an oil-rich Ghana small!". A word to the wise...

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