GHANAIANS MUST BE TOLD EXACTLY WHY THERE'S A SHORTAGE OF LP GAS!

Looking at the long line of cars queuing up to fill up with liquefied petroleum gas at a sales point in Awudome, and the anxious people massed up there waiting to fill their gas cylinders, with fed-up looks on their faces, as we drove past this afternoon, I simply felt that I had to write, complete and post this article before the end of the day (whiles being driven round Accra on my rounds).

One wonders whether our current rulers actually realise the untold harm being done to their re-election chances, by the recurrent gas shortages. Ditto the frequent power outages currently being experienced by many around the country.


If those who now rule our nation want a fair people like the good citizens of Ghana, to be fair to them on election day, then they would do well to ensure that the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) gives Ghanaians a detailed explanation of the actual causes of the unavailability of this essential product - vital for the smooth running of the homes of countless families, the survival of scores of small businesses and above all, the well-being of a large chunk of the transport sector of the Ghanaian economy.

Every discerning and well-meaning Ghanaian knows that it is not the government that is directly responsible for the day to day management of TOR - but it is in the nature of the rough and tumble of politics that the blame for the shortages will be laid directly at the doorstep of the government.

Every one of the utility service providers ought to be obligated by their sector ministries, to give detailed explanations when things go wrong and they are temporarily unable to serve the public - and in doing so, they ought to tell Ghanaians what is being done to ensure that such disruptions become a thing of the past: and state clearly what time-frame that will be achieved.

That, at least, gives fair-minded and discerning Ghanaians some hope, that old infrastructure is gradually being renewed - and lessens their sense of frustration occasioned by the challenges wrought by over-aged infrastructure: that needs replacing.

Instead of threatening public officials with dismissal for not engaging in boot-licking, and cracking inane 'jokes' with those selfsame officials they hold "durbars" with, Ghanaians expect their leaders to focus on such quality-of-life enhancing measures, which help lessen the frustration of having to put up with irritants like LP gas shortages and power outages.

How many of those queuing to buy LP gas up and down the country, are aware, for example, that a new Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC) has come into being? And would it not be prudent to ensure that the GNGC does not focus solely on producing gas for supplying the power sector - important though that is - but also provides gas for families and caterers to cook with, and for fuelling the nation's growing numbers of gas-powered vehicles too?

Why are a majority of ordinary Ghanaians still unaware of the hard work that this regime has done to fast-track future production of gas from the jubilee oilfield to ensure that in the near-term, it can supply the power sector with gas for cheaper energy to electricity consumers: and the record time that that great leap forward will be achieved in, I ask, dear reader? And will that not give some hope about the future to ordinary folk hearing it for the first time?

There is a real need for more political astuteness on the part of this regime - if the Mills administration is to be returned to power in December 2012. And as we all know, time is not their side either.

Even those of us who know a great deal of the many dreadful things that actually went on behind closed doors, when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) regime of President Kufuor was in power, and know that the honest and humble President Mills is a real blessing for our country in comparison, are beginning to worry about the appearance of what looks like a lack of political nous, amongst a group of politicians, who seem to have completely forgotten that they suffered for eight long years in the political wilderness.

Perhaps those who constantly ask whether it is not time that that perfect gentleman and decent human being, Mr. Martey Newman, the chief of staff at the Osu Castle, was given an ambassadorial position and posted abroad - and an astute politician appointed in his stead to be minister of presidential affairs and chief of staff to the president - do actually have a point, after all.

With respect, Mr Newman is not a politician and his administrative genius is in effect a road block politically in terms of access to the president - and it is beginning to tell where it matters most: the public's general perception of the government, and the unfortunate conclusion that many of them seem to have come to, that this is a weak and inept regime.

Those in his party who can tell the president what the pulse of the nation is, don't have access to him when it matters most. Running a country requires not just administrative genius, but political nous too, above all - and the sooner the most powerful individuals in the Mills regime understand that, the better things will be for their party, come December 2012.

Anyone aware of the depths to which our nation sunk, and who still remembers the NPP-era hell-on-earth of corruption, unbridled tribalism, unfathomable elite-greed and massive corruption, which ordinary Ghanaians finally freed themselves from in December 2008, and who also knows what a fantastic job of managing the economy the Mills regime has succeeded in doing thus far, knows that that perception is totally unfair, of course - but it exists nonetheless, and President Mills and his inner circle must take cognisance of it.

It is important that active steps are taken to address it and repair the untold damage it does to the image of the government, amongst the generality of the Ghanaian populace. The NDC regime of President Mills must not make the mistake of sleepwalking to an electoral disaster in December 2012. The question is: Why is it giving many the unfortunate impression that it is has become complacent, I ask?

Finally, they must get TOR to give Ghanaians a full explanation as to why exactly Ghanaians continue to experience shortages of LP gas from time to time. Above all, this administration must wake up - before it becomes too late for it to do so! A word to the wise...

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