There are many who believe that Ghana's younger generation hold the key
to securing victory for candidates in the upcoming December
presidential and parliamentary elections.
Idealism and youth often go together. For that reason, in the days,
weeks and months following the burial of President Mills, to enable it
win the youth vote, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) ought to put
aside the cynicism of the older generation, in any post-Mills
election strategy it adopts, going forward.
There is no doubt that high-level corruption is destructive. It sets our
country back and is an insidious cancer - slowly eating away at, and
killing, the vitality of our people at all levels of Ghanaian
society.
There is not a single young Ghanaian who does not want his or her
country to become an efficient and prosperous society - in which
those who hard work and are honest, can always succeed.
Corruption - accompanied by its handmaidens of nepotism and tribalism -
saps the creative energy of our nation and prevents it moving forward.
That is why there must be the political will to deal with it in the most
ruthless of fashions. In that regard, former President Rawlings was
right in saying that punishing the crooks in the NDC by prosecuting and
jailing them, ought to be the priority in the fight against high-level
corruption in Ghana.
It is only after that has been done that going after the New Patriotic Party (NPP) crooks who repeatedly
gang-raped Mother Ghana during the tenure of the Kufuor regime, can then
be taken up in earnest.
Such an even-handed approach to ridding Ghana of corrupt politicians and
public servants, will find approval amongst younger generation
Ghanaians.
The NDC must understand clearly that it will put itself on the path to
winning the upcoming December elections, only if it reinvents itself
as the political party most determined to rid Ghana of high-level
corruption.
President Mahama can take the important first step to that goal, by
publicly publishing his assets, as well as those of his dear wife. He can then go on to find a suitable ambassadorial position for Mr. Martey Newman - and replace him with a new chief of staff and minister for presidential affairs.
A consensus politician who believes that the job of politicians is to
work together across party lines to protect the national interest -
such as the Hon. Alban Bagbin - would be ideal for that position.
And a return to the cabinet, as Attorney General and Minister for
Justice, by Martin Amidu - after a reshuffle - will send a clear signal to the nation that
the fight against high-level corruption, is back on track
That selfsame reshuffle ought to be an opportunity for the president to also weed out all the disrespectful Mills appointees, who have gained notoriety for insulting their opponents publicly.
Examples that come readily to mind are: Kobby Acheampong; Nii Lantey Vanderpuije; and Hanna Bissiw. Their departure will show that we now have a leader who will not hesitate to discipline government appointees who become purveyors of abusive language in the public domain.
Having unexpectedly reached the pinnacle in Ghanaian politics,
President Mahama would also be wise to choose to make the ultimate personal
sacrifice for the sake of Mother Ghana - by immediately declaring,
after the burial of President Mills, that he will not be a candidate
in the upcoming presidential election.
That will give him a free hand to deal with high-level crooks in his party ruthlessly - and make it possible for him to concentrate on working together
with Martin Amidu and other like-minded politicians (from across the
spectrum), to do what has to be done to put the whole machinery of
state on a war-footing to deal with high-level corruption.
Progressives in Ghana now have an opportunity to take steps to protect the resources of our nation from sundry white-collar criminals.
President Mahama would be wise to choose to leave a legacy as the
president who brought back Martin Amidu to start a cross-party
house-cleaning process designed to rid Ghana of high-level
corruption. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
Saturday, 28 July 2012
Friday, 27 July 2012
The Greedy Incompetents Still Rule OK in the NDC?
When Providence gave the National Democratic Congress (NDC) an
eleventh-hour reprieve, by giving it a game-changing opportunity, the
same self-seekers who used and abused President Mills so ruthlessly, yet
again put collective self-interest above that of their party's
well-being and long-term survival.
Johnson Asiedu-Nketia's body-language was just so revealing, when he announced that the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the NDC, had decided to endorse President Mahama as the party's candidate at an emergency national delegates congress, for the December presidential election.
Indeed his body language spoke volumes. The man who in any society underpinned by an ethical ethos would have been forced to resign his position - when it came to light that he, a board member, was supplying concrete blocks to the very entity whose supervisory board he sat on - was so eager to maintain the chop-chop status quo that he forgot that he was actually mourning Ghana's fallen leader, President Mills.
Perhaps Asiedu-Nketia & Co. thought they were being terribly clever by taking advantage of the cessation of hostilities in the propaganda war between the NDC and NPP, occasioned by President Mills' demise, to avoid controversy erupting over their Machiavellian ploy to impose President Mahama on their party.
(Well, since I am not beholden to any political party - because unlike so many others in the Ghanaian media, I refuse to sell my conscience at any price - I shall speak my mind freely in this matter, and at this particular point in time, regardless. Public opprobrium in a nation full of spineless fence-sitting hypocrites is like water off a duck's back to me. But I digress - so back to topic, dear reader.)
That undemocratic outrage, is a grave error of judgement, which Johnson Asiedu-Nketia's hard-of-hearing faction-of-greed in their confounded party will come to rue on election day. As sure as day follows night.
Someone with a conscience in the NDC, ought to go to court immediately to stop this Soviet-style cover-of-the-night tactic, designed to prevent a democratic choice being made, in selecting a replacement for President Mills, as the party's presidential candidate.
With respect, President Mahama is not a suitable choice as the NDC's presidential candidate for the December election.
If truth be told, with all his baggage, he will be an even easier target for the NPP's elite propaganda special force's blunderbuss weapon-of-mass-destruction, than President Mills (May his soul rest in peace) ever was.
The shameful attempt by those who ruthlessly exploited President Mills, to do same with the new president, will guarantee defeat for their party in the upcoming December presidential election.
The NDC's powerful rogues have seen an opportunity to continue keeping the lid firmly on the corruption and abuse of power, which they got away with, under a sick and dying man they refused to release from their vice-like grip - till death laid its icy hands on him: and finally freed him.
Their latest self-interest-manipulation will enable them remain super-wealthy NDC Godfathers and lords and masters of the Osu Castle, for only a few more months, at best.
With respect, foisting President Mahama on the NDC as the party's presidential candidate, is the height of folly. It will simply guarantee the party heading straight for the political wilderness.
It will only enable the opposition New Patriotic Party to maintain its vote-winning narrative of ridding our country of a corrupt regime dominated by "greedy bastards" busy milking Mother Ghana dry.
Having secured a replacement marionette, alas, it would appear that the greedy incompetents still rule OK in the NDC. Pity.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
Johnson Asiedu-Nketia's body-language was just so revealing, when he announced that the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the NDC, had decided to endorse President Mahama as the party's candidate at an emergency national delegates congress, for the December presidential election.
Indeed his body language spoke volumes. The man who in any society underpinned by an ethical ethos would have been forced to resign his position - when it came to light that he, a board member, was supplying concrete blocks to the very entity whose supervisory board he sat on - was so eager to maintain the chop-chop status quo that he forgot that he was actually mourning Ghana's fallen leader, President Mills.
Perhaps Asiedu-Nketia & Co. thought they were being terribly clever by taking advantage of the cessation of hostilities in the propaganda war between the NDC and NPP, occasioned by President Mills' demise, to avoid controversy erupting over their Machiavellian ploy to impose President Mahama on their party.
(Well, since I am not beholden to any political party - because unlike so many others in the Ghanaian media, I refuse to sell my conscience at any price - I shall speak my mind freely in this matter, and at this particular point in time, regardless. Public opprobrium in a nation full of spineless fence-sitting hypocrites is like water off a duck's back to me. But I digress - so back to topic, dear reader.)
That undemocratic outrage, is a grave error of judgement, which Johnson Asiedu-Nketia's hard-of-hearing faction-of-greed in their confounded party will come to rue on election day. As sure as day follows night.
Someone with a conscience in the NDC, ought to go to court immediately to stop this Soviet-style cover-of-the-night tactic, designed to prevent a democratic choice being made, in selecting a replacement for President Mills, as the party's presidential candidate.
With respect, President Mahama is not a suitable choice as the NDC's presidential candidate for the December election.
If truth be told, with all his baggage, he will be an even easier target for the NPP's elite propaganda special force's blunderbuss weapon-of-mass-destruction, than President Mills (May his soul rest in peace) ever was.
The shameful attempt by those who ruthlessly exploited President Mills, to do same with the new president, will guarantee defeat for their party in the upcoming December presidential election.
The NDC's powerful rogues have seen an opportunity to continue keeping the lid firmly on the corruption and abuse of power, which they got away with, under a sick and dying man they refused to release from their vice-like grip - till death laid its icy hands on him: and finally freed him.
Their latest self-interest-manipulation will enable them remain super-wealthy NDC Godfathers and lords and masters of the Osu Castle, for only a few more months, at best.
With respect, foisting President Mahama on the NDC as the party's presidential candidate, is the height of folly. It will simply guarantee the party heading straight for the political wilderness.
It will only enable the opposition New Patriotic Party to maintain its vote-winning narrative of ridding our country of a corrupt regime dominated by "greedy bastards" busy milking Mother Ghana dry.
Having secured a replacement marionette, alas, it would appear that the greedy incompetents still rule OK in the NDC. Pity.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
Wednesday, 25 July 2012
President Mills Dedicated Himself To Serving Ordinary Ghanaians - May His Soul Rest In Peace
Like most Ghanians I was shocked and saddened when told President Mills
had passed away. And, as is the case with Ghanaians everywhere, at this
trying time, my thoughts are with his widow, Dr. Naadu Mills, our
former First Lady, and the extended families of our former first couple.
In time, history will come to judge President Mills as an honest and decent man, who though not a strong leader in the classic African sense, dedicated himself to serving ordinary people and the country he loved.
Despite being handicapped by a terminal illness that dogged him throughout his tenure, he worked tirelessly to make Ghanaian democracy work.
Few Ghanaians understood his refusal to interfere with the work of the other arms of government and the institutions under them - and even that became a reason for abuse being heaped upon him. The famous "....not a policeman..." statement being an example.
And the shabby treatment he received from his political opponents, who used character assassination as a political weapon to destroy him, marked a new low in Ghanaian politics.
It is unfortunate that an African leader, who turned down an opportunity to enrich himself, by declining an offered secret deal from corrupt foreign oil company executives, was somehow made out to be a corrupt politician, by his political opponents - lesser men (and their female colleagues) who themselves would never have turned down such a bribe from respectable-looking crooked-foreigners running an American oil company with interests in Ghana.
Despite all the accusations and insults, President Mills was a decent and honest man. His tragedy, was that he was used by those he relied on in his own party for their own selfish ends - and deliberately insulted on a daily basis by ruthless, sly and dishonest rogues: who felt that destroying his credibility was essential, if they were to dislodge Mills and his party from power in the December 2012 presidential election.
Perhaps President Mills should have thought of himself first, and resigned from office on health grounds, long ago - but he was unable to do so because he had decided to dedicate himself to serving ordinary Ghanaians. May his soul rest in peace.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
In time, history will come to judge President Mills as an honest and decent man, who though not a strong leader in the classic African sense, dedicated himself to serving ordinary people and the country he loved.
Despite being handicapped by a terminal illness that dogged him throughout his tenure, he worked tirelessly to make Ghanaian democracy work.
Few Ghanaians understood his refusal to interfere with the work of the other arms of government and the institutions under them - and even that became a reason for abuse being heaped upon him. The famous "....not a policeman..." statement being an example.
And the shabby treatment he received from his political opponents, who used character assassination as a political weapon to destroy him, marked a new low in Ghanaian politics.
It is unfortunate that an African leader, who turned down an opportunity to enrich himself, by declining an offered secret deal from corrupt foreign oil company executives, was somehow made out to be a corrupt politician, by his political opponents - lesser men (and their female colleagues) who themselves would never have turned down such a bribe from respectable-looking crooked-foreigners running an American oil company with interests in Ghana.
Despite all the accusations and insults, President Mills was a decent and honest man. His tragedy, was that he was used by those he relied on in his own party for their own selfish ends - and deliberately insulted on a daily basis by ruthless, sly and dishonest rogues: who felt that destroying his credibility was essential, if they were to dislodge Mills and his party from power in the December 2012 presidential election.
Perhaps President Mills should have thought of himself first, and resigned from office on health grounds, long ago - but he was unable to do so because he had decided to dedicate himself to serving ordinary Ghanaians. May his soul rest in peace.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
Tuesday, 24 July 2012
An Open Letter To All Presidential Candidates In Ghana's December 2012 Election
Gentlemen,
I am writing to bring to your attention the urgent need to protect the Atewa Range upland evergreen rain forest - and its huge eco-tourism potential that could be the basis for a thriving local green economy: as well as a shining example of sustainable development that truly benefits ordinary people.
An acquaintance of mine, aware of my relationship with Greenheart Conservation and Carbon Trading & Trust, upon hearing the ordeal some residents of Akyem Saamang had had to go through recently - when they were assaulted by men from what is effectively a private army for the promoters of Solar Mining Limited - asked me whether the government of Ghana was actually serious about tourism in Ghana.
It is a question you must all ponder over, gentlemen - and provide answers for the good people of Ghana: in the speeches you make during your election campaign rallies across our nation.
Incidentally, I also write to you on behalf of all those in the fringe-forest communities of Juaso, Saamang and Osino, in Akyem Abuakwa, who are too terrified to speak out openly, against the powerful and wealthy rogues behind Solar Mining Limited - which has reversed into the bankrupt Kibi Goldfields of Ambassador Budu Saaka's in the most duplicitous of fashions, in order to have perfect legal cover to enable it continue with, and get away successfully, with its perfidy and contumacy.
Gentlemen, at a time when global climate change is impacting our nation so negatively, the political will to preserve the Atewa Range upland evergreen rain forest needs to be clearly demonstrated by all the political parties in our country.
Designated a Globally Significant Biodiversity Area (GSBA), and from whence the headwaters of the three major river systems which provide a large part of southern urban Ghana with its drinking-water supply, take their source and flow, life as we know it will not be possible in future, were we to lose Atewa - as a result of the actions and inaction of Ghana's politicians.
Gold (and the proposed bauxite) mining, as well as illegal chainsaw logging and hunting, pose the greatest risks to the continued existence of this vital and unique upland evergreen rain forest.
If preserved, the Atewa Range upland evergreen rain forest could be the basis for a thriving eco-tourism destination without compare, in all of our homeland Ghana.
Indeed, as we speak, the global leaders in the fabrication and erection of ziplines and the building of forest canopy walkways, Greenheart Conservation, and its partners, Carbon Trading & Trust - and a number of angel investors they have brought on board - are preparing to come to Akyem Abuakwa Juaso.
Due here between the end of August and early September 2012, the purpose of their trip, is to prepare for the start of a privately-funded project to turn part of the P. E. Thompson Estate's private freehold nature-resource reserve into a world-class eco-tourism destination, with centrepiece attractions that include tree-house eco-lodges; ziplines; and a forest canopy walkway.
When completed, it will be a shining example of how large private landowners in rural Ghana, can partner the local communities they are an integral and vital part of, to alleviate poverty, and create wealth that benefits local people on a sustainable basis.
Gentlemen, the question the ordinary people of Akyem Abuakwa, who still care about what remains of their natural heritage, and want it preserved as a climate-change amelioration measure, to ensure their long-term survival, want you to answer, is: Will a government led by the one amongst you who emerges as the winner of the upcoming December presidential election, protect the Atewa Range upland evergreen rain forest - by making sure that all the recommendations made by the Conservation International Rapid Assessment Programme (RAP) Bulletin No. 47, for the management of an area designated a Globally Significant Biodiversity Area (GSBA), are fully implemented during his regime's tenure?
Above all, given the vital eco-system services the area provides a vast swathe of southern urban Ghana, including providing our nation's capital with its drinking-water, do you all agree that the Atewa Range upland evergreen rain forest, ought to be preserved for present and future generations of Ghanaians - by making sure that all mining is prohibited in the area and community-based eco-tourism becomes Akyem Abuakwa's main source of income: underpinning a new green local economy?
I wish you all well in December. And may the one with the best intentions for our country, and all its people - not just a powerful and well-connected few with greedy intentions - emerge victorious in the presidential election.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
I am writing to bring to your attention the urgent need to protect the Atewa Range upland evergreen rain forest - and its huge eco-tourism potential that could be the basis for a thriving local green economy: as well as a shining example of sustainable development that truly benefits ordinary people.
An acquaintance of mine, aware of my relationship with Greenheart Conservation and Carbon Trading & Trust, upon hearing the ordeal some residents of Akyem Saamang had had to go through recently - when they were assaulted by men from what is effectively a private army for the promoters of Solar Mining Limited - asked me whether the government of Ghana was actually serious about tourism in Ghana.
It is a question you must all ponder over, gentlemen - and provide answers for the good people of Ghana: in the speeches you make during your election campaign rallies across our nation.
Incidentally, I also write to you on behalf of all those in the fringe-forest communities of Juaso, Saamang and Osino, in Akyem Abuakwa, who are too terrified to speak out openly, against the powerful and wealthy rogues behind Solar Mining Limited - which has reversed into the bankrupt Kibi Goldfields of Ambassador Budu Saaka's in the most duplicitous of fashions, in order to have perfect legal cover to enable it continue with, and get away successfully, with its perfidy and contumacy.
Gentlemen, at a time when global climate change is impacting our nation so negatively, the political will to preserve the Atewa Range upland evergreen rain forest needs to be clearly demonstrated by all the political parties in our country.
Designated a Globally Significant Biodiversity Area (GSBA), and from whence the headwaters of the three major river systems which provide a large part of southern urban Ghana with its drinking-water supply, take their source and flow, life as we know it will not be possible in future, were we to lose Atewa - as a result of the actions and inaction of Ghana's politicians.
Gold (and the proposed bauxite) mining, as well as illegal chainsaw logging and hunting, pose the greatest risks to the continued existence of this vital and unique upland evergreen rain forest.
If preserved, the Atewa Range upland evergreen rain forest could be the basis for a thriving eco-tourism destination without compare, in all of our homeland Ghana.
Indeed, as we speak, the global leaders in the fabrication and erection of ziplines and the building of forest canopy walkways, Greenheart Conservation, and its partners, Carbon Trading & Trust - and a number of angel investors they have brought on board - are preparing to come to Akyem Abuakwa Juaso.
Due here between the end of August and early September 2012, the purpose of their trip, is to prepare for the start of a privately-funded project to turn part of the P. E. Thompson Estate's private freehold nature-resource reserve into a world-class eco-tourism destination, with centrepiece attractions that include tree-house eco-lodges; ziplines; and a forest canopy walkway.
When completed, it will be a shining example of how large private landowners in rural Ghana, can partner the local communities they are an integral and vital part of, to alleviate poverty, and create wealth that benefits local people on a sustainable basis.
Gentlemen, the question the ordinary people of Akyem Abuakwa, who still care about what remains of their natural heritage, and want it preserved as a climate-change amelioration measure, to ensure their long-term survival, want you to answer, is: Will a government led by the one amongst you who emerges as the winner of the upcoming December presidential election, protect the Atewa Range upland evergreen rain forest - by making sure that all the recommendations made by the Conservation International Rapid Assessment Programme (RAP) Bulletin No. 47, for the management of an area designated a Globally Significant Biodiversity Area (GSBA), are fully implemented during his regime's tenure?
Above all, given the vital eco-system services the area provides a vast swathe of southern urban Ghana, including providing our nation's capital with its drinking-water, do you all agree that the Atewa Range upland evergreen rain forest, ought to be preserved for present and future generations of Ghanaians - by making sure that all mining is prohibited in the area and community-based eco-tourism becomes Akyem Abuakwa's main source of income: underpinning a new green local economy?
I wish you all well in December. And may the one with the best intentions for our country, and all its people - not just a powerful and well-connected few with greedy intentions - emerge victorious in the presidential election.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
Ghana's Road Traffic Regulations Law Must Apply To All Road Users - Including Motorcycle Riders
One doubts not, dear reader, that there are many Ghanaians who might
share the opinion of the Regional Minister in charge of the Greater
Accra Region, the Hon. Nii Afotey Agbo, that the enforcement of the
new Road Regulations Law - which, amongst other edicts contained in it,
bans the use of motorcycles for commercial purposes - should be
suspended.
However, the question those of us who support the enforcement of the new law, ought to pose to them, is: Why do they not also consider the plight of the many victims (dead and alive) of the Okada motorcycle riders' reckless disregard for the laws governing the use of roads and highways in Ghana?
Instead of asking for the suspension of the enforcement of laws meant to bring some sanity amongst road users - and help end the carnage on those selfsame roads and highways - why do they not instead ask for all motorcycle riders to be required by law to undergo training in accredited driving schools?
Will that not ensure that at least they learn to ride their sodden Okada motorcycles more responsibly, and follow all road regulations - such as not riding on pavements meant for pedestrians, and stopping when traffic lights turn red?
Above all, why does the Hon. Nii Afotey Agbo not do some lateral thinking for a change - and suggest, for example, that the Local Enterprise Skills Development and Employment Programme (LESDEP) initiative adds gas-powered motorised rickshaws to the range of vehicles it provides those it trains for self-employment?
The green type of motorised rickshaw, now used in the Indian capital of New Delhi to lessen air pollution, can easily be assembled here by the company responsible for the LESDEP initiative.
They can then be sold on hire-purchase terms to Okada riders who undergo training with them - to use for commercial purposes.
If the Ghana Police Service also seeks accreditation for its own motorcycle despatch riders training section, would it not derive some income training motorcycle riders nationwide, I ask?
And would that not mean an outcome that offers a win-win solution all round - one that provides revenue for the police; ditto employment for Okada riders; and also lessens the amount of vehicular emissions now polluting the air in our towns and cities?
In the meantime, whiles we wait for such innovative solutions for dealing with the menace that Okada riders on our roads represent, to materialise, the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service must vigorously enforce all the regulations and laws governing the use of roads and highways, in the Republic of Ghana.
As responsible citizens, in a nation of laws, none of us - particularly government ministers - must encourage others to break the laws of our country: For therein lies the path to chaos and disorder - the very last thing we need in our young democracy.
For the avoidance of doubt, let the Ghana Police Service's PR departments nationwide, use the media to make it absolutely clear, that the new road traffic regulations law will be strictly applied to all road users, including Okada motorcycle riders. Period.
Hmm, Ghana - eyeasem o. Enti ye awieaye paa eniea? Asem kesie ebaba debi ankasa.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
However, the question those of us who support the enforcement of the new law, ought to pose to them, is: Why do they not also consider the plight of the many victims (dead and alive) of the Okada motorcycle riders' reckless disregard for the laws governing the use of roads and highways in Ghana?
Instead of asking for the suspension of the enforcement of laws meant to bring some sanity amongst road users - and help end the carnage on those selfsame roads and highways - why do they not instead ask for all motorcycle riders to be required by law to undergo training in accredited driving schools?
Will that not ensure that at least they learn to ride their sodden Okada motorcycles more responsibly, and follow all road regulations - such as not riding on pavements meant for pedestrians, and stopping when traffic lights turn red?
Above all, why does the Hon. Nii Afotey Agbo not do some lateral thinking for a change - and suggest, for example, that the Local Enterprise Skills Development and Employment Programme (LESDEP) initiative adds gas-powered motorised rickshaws to the range of vehicles it provides those it trains for self-employment?
The green type of motorised rickshaw, now used in the Indian capital of New Delhi to lessen air pollution, can easily be assembled here by the company responsible for the LESDEP initiative.
They can then be sold on hire-purchase terms to Okada riders who undergo training with them - to use for commercial purposes.
If the Ghana Police Service also seeks accreditation for its own motorcycle despatch riders training section, would it not derive some income training motorcycle riders nationwide, I ask?
And would that not mean an outcome that offers a win-win solution all round - one that provides revenue for the police; ditto employment for Okada riders; and also lessens the amount of vehicular emissions now polluting the air in our towns and cities?
In the meantime, whiles we wait for such innovative solutions for dealing with the menace that Okada riders on our roads represent, to materialise, the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service must vigorously enforce all the regulations and laws governing the use of roads and highways, in the Republic of Ghana.
As responsible citizens, in a nation of laws, none of us - particularly government ministers - must encourage others to break the laws of our country: For therein lies the path to chaos and disorder - the very last thing we need in our young democracy.
For the avoidance of doubt, let the Ghana Police Service's PR departments nationwide, use the media to make it absolutely clear, that the new road traffic regulations law will be strictly applied to all road users, including Okada motorcycle riders. Period.
Hmm, Ghana - eyeasem o. Enti ye awieaye paa eniea? Asem kesie ebaba debi ankasa.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
Friday, 20 July 2012
An Opportunity For Ghana To Help Coca-Cola Of America Prevent Damage To Its Iconic Brand's Global Reputation?
Dear Captain Nkrabea Effah-Darteh,
Re: An Opportunity For Ghana To Help Coca-Cola Of America Prevent Damage To Its Iconic Brand's Global Reputation?
I shall go straight to the point: This could be a case that eventually attracts global media scrutiny. For, if all fails, I shall get the global activist group, Avaaz.Org, to take this matter up.
You must therefore take it seriously and fight a good fight - so that you and your client will prevail in the end.
It is also a rare opportunity for you and the law courts in Ghana to help a victim, made ill and ruined financially, as a direct result of the effects of the bad corporate governance practices at Coca-Cola Ghana Limited.
Sir, Coca-Cola of America would thank you profusely, if, as a result of your efforts, the damaging allegations made in sections of the Ghanaian media, by some workers of Coca-Cola Ghana Limited - during their last confrontation with the company's management, over pay and bonuses - was indeed confirmed to them by the court's decision in the matter now before it.
It is vital that an end is brought to the totally unacceptable situation, in which the local subsidiary of an iconic American corporate brand, is apparently producing soft drinks that are sometimes unwholesome, and are said to end up making some of those who ingest them seriously ill.
That shambles is the direct result of a company culture in which some of the management practices at Coca-Cola Ghana Limited are clearly mafia-like and Byzantine in nature - to the extent that raw materials near their sell-by date are alleged to be purchased and routinely used in the production of the company's soft drinks, sold nationwide in Ghana.
You and the court must help the Coca-Cola Company of America to purge its Ghanaian subsidiary of the local mafia into whose corrupt hands an iconic American brand with a global footprint has now apparently fallen.
And, above all, the court must finally enable an innocent Ghanaian lady - who purchased and drank their product only to fall so gravely ill that she is lucky to have survived - to get justice from those at Coca-Cola Ghana Limited, whose criminally negligent conduct made her ill and nearly caused her death.
That unfortunate Ghanaian lady must now have some closure, to a nightmare and ordeal she did not have to go through, if some elements in the management of Coca-Cola Ghana Limited had not so blatantly ignored the corporate good governance principles that guide its world-famous parent company, headquartered in the United States of America.
And it is to the United States of America that you may have to take your legal fight next, Sir - in the unlikely event that the law courts in Ghana too, succumb to the pervasive power and baleful influence, of the local mafia, into the hands of which Coca-Cola Ghana Limited has apparently fallen.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
Re: An Opportunity For Ghana To Help Coca-Cola Of America Prevent Damage To Its Iconic Brand's Global Reputation?
I shall go straight to the point: This could be a case that eventually attracts global media scrutiny. For, if all fails, I shall get the global activist group, Avaaz.Org, to take this matter up.
You must therefore take it seriously and fight a good fight - so that you and your client will prevail in the end.
It is also a rare opportunity for you and the law courts in Ghana to help a victim, made ill and ruined financially, as a direct result of the effects of the bad corporate governance practices at Coca-Cola Ghana Limited.
Sir, Coca-Cola of America would thank you profusely, if, as a result of your efforts, the damaging allegations made in sections of the Ghanaian media, by some workers of Coca-Cola Ghana Limited - during their last confrontation with the company's management, over pay and bonuses - was indeed confirmed to them by the court's decision in the matter now before it.
It is vital that an end is brought to the totally unacceptable situation, in which the local subsidiary of an iconic American corporate brand, is apparently producing soft drinks that are sometimes unwholesome, and are said to end up making some of those who ingest them seriously ill.
That shambles is the direct result of a company culture in which some of the management practices at Coca-Cola Ghana Limited are clearly mafia-like and Byzantine in nature - to the extent that raw materials near their sell-by date are alleged to be purchased and routinely used in the production of the company's soft drinks, sold nationwide in Ghana.
You and the court must help the Coca-Cola Company of America to purge its Ghanaian subsidiary of the local mafia into whose corrupt hands an iconic American brand with a global footprint has now apparently fallen.
And, above all, the court must finally enable an innocent Ghanaian lady - who purchased and drank their product only to fall so gravely ill that she is lucky to have survived - to get justice from those at Coca-Cola Ghana Limited, whose criminally negligent conduct made her ill and nearly caused her death.
That unfortunate Ghanaian lady must now have some closure, to a nightmare and ordeal she did not have to go through, if some elements in the management of Coca-Cola Ghana Limited had not so blatantly ignored the corporate good governance principles that guide its world-famous parent company, headquartered in the United States of America.
And it is to the United States of America that you may have to take your legal fight next, Sir - in the unlikely event that the law courts in Ghana too, succumb to the pervasive power and baleful influence, of the local mafia, into the hands of which Coca-Cola Ghana Limited has apparently fallen.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
Can Ordinary Ghanaians Snatch Their Country Back - From The Grasping Hands of The Powerful Rogues Who Dominate Its Politics?
If, like me, you often wonder what sort of nation older generation Ghanaians will bequeath to the younger generation, you tend to feel outraged, by the actions and inactions of the few bad nuts, in the midst of our political class - which impact Ghanaian society negatively and hold back our nation's progress, so.
To a large extent our educated urban elites are basically decent and hard-working individuals. Unfortunately, somehow, it is invariably the most unprincipled ones amongst them, who end up becoming the most powerful members of our political class.
Perhaps they succeed - as a young university student suggested to me - in dominating their parties and our nation, as a result of the unfortunate Ghanaian habit of not speaking out openly and boldly, about the misdeeds of individuals in important positions in society.
Could that unfortunate collective failing be a hangover from the societal hypocrisy that was said to underpin the ethos of governance systems in virtually all our pre-colonial traditional tribal entities, one wonders?
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) lost power in the December 2008 elections, mainly because of the widespread perception amongst ordinary Ghanaians, that it had become a very corrupt regime.
The impression most discerning, apolitical and independent-minded Ghanaians had gained, towards the end of its second term in office, was that a golden age of business was being enjoyed by a powerful and ruthless few, in the NPP regime, who were exploiting the national economy for their personal enrichment; that of their favourite blood-relations as well as their dearest "bottom-power" lady friends; and their regime's cronies in the Ghanaian business world.
It therefore did not come as a surprise to many political analysts, when the NPP's presidential candidate, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, was beaten by the narrowest of margins by the candidate of the then main opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Professor Mills.
Sworn into office on the 7th January, 2009, President Mills came into office with a lot of goodwill amongst a majority of ordinary Ghanaians, for him - mainly because of his well-earned reputation as a peace-loving, honest and humble gentleman.
Yet, true to form, some of the most dishonest individuals in his NDC party, have somehow succeeded in becoming powerful members of his administration.
And with just a few months to go for the end of President Mills' tenure, the deadly troika-combination of dishonesty, unfathomable greed and unpunished misdemeanours - associated with the powerful rogues in his regime - have succeeded in alienating a majority of ordinary people in Ghana from his NDC regime.
Today, the general consensus amongst most voters, is that nothing short of a miracle will save the Mills regime from certain defeat, in the upcoming December presidential and parliamentary elections.
Personally, I don't for a moment doubt President Mills' personal integrity - and neither do I that of the NPP's Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo.
However, if, as its harshest critics insist, it is true that like the NDC, the NPP is also still dominated by the same selfish and dishonest politicians of yesteryear (now apparently operating from the shadows - deftly pulling strings because of the quantum of resources they control) whose greed gave the party such a negative image in the past, then our nation has a huge potential governance problem.
Without a shadow of doubt, dear reader, the powerful and ruthless rogues in their midst, will definitely end up dominating the next NPP regime, too. This, despite the fact that Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo is an honest gentleman.
It is obvious that the biggest two political parties in Ghana are evenly matched, in terms of the numbers of voters they can depend on.
Alas, there are millions of "My-party-my-tribe-right-or-wrong" myrmidon-types, who will cast their votes for each of them, as sure as day follows night, regardless.
And it is that blinkered support-base of both parties that is slowly destroying Ghanaian democracy.
It is led by their small army of paid erstwhile "serial-callers" - now re-branded and grandly designated "communications team-members" - with their fanaticism and dim-witted blindness - who spend most of their days either calling into, or participating, in radio and television current affairs phone-in programmes, to spread each party's negative propaganda, on our nation's airwaves.
However, hope, they say, springs eternal. So perhaps the question the rest of us must ask is: Will the discerning individuals whose crucial swing-votes now decide who wins presidential elections in Ghana (the so-called floating-voters) take a chance and convince enough ordinary people to try a new set of politicians from a party other than the two dominant parties, the NDC and the NPP - and somehow miraculously enable the good people of Ghana to snatch their country back, from the grasping hands of the powerful rogues, who dominate the two largest parties in their homeland Ghana?
Hmm, Ghana - eyeasem o: asem kesie ebaba debi, ankasa!
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
To a large extent our educated urban elites are basically decent and hard-working individuals. Unfortunately, somehow, it is invariably the most unprincipled ones amongst them, who end up becoming the most powerful members of our political class.
Perhaps they succeed - as a young university student suggested to me - in dominating their parties and our nation, as a result of the unfortunate Ghanaian habit of not speaking out openly and boldly, about the misdeeds of individuals in important positions in society.
Could that unfortunate collective failing be a hangover from the societal hypocrisy that was said to underpin the ethos of governance systems in virtually all our pre-colonial traditional tribal entities, one wonders?
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) lost power in the December 2008 elections, mainly because of the widespread perception amongst ordinary Ghanaians, that it had become a very corrupt regime.
The impression most discerning, apolitical and independent-minded Ghanaians had gained, towards the end of its second term in office, was that a golden age of business was being enjoyed by a powerful and ruthless few, in the NPP regime, who were exploiting the national economy for their personal enrichment; that of their favourite blood-relations as well as their dearest "bottom-power" lady friends; and their regime's cronies in the Ghanaian business world.
It therefore did not come as a surprise to many political analysts, when the NPP's presidential candidate, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, was beaten by the narrowest of margins by the candidate of the then main opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Professor Mills.
Sworn into office on the 7th January, 2009, President Mills came into office with a lot of goodwill amongst a majority of ordinary Ghanaians, for him - mainly because of his well-earned reputation as a peace-loving, honest and humble gentleman.
Yet, true to form, some of the most dishonest individuals in his NDC party, have somehow succeeded in becoming powerful members of his administration.
And with just a few months to go for the end of President Mills' tenure, the deadly troika-combination of dishonesty, unfathomable greed and unpunished misdemeanours - associated with the powerful rogues in his regime - have succeeded in alienating a majority of ordinary people in Ghana from his NDC regime.
Today, the general consensus amongst most voters, is that nothing short of a miracle will save the Mills regime from certain defeat, in the upcoming December presidential and parliamentary elections.
Personally, I don't for a moment doubt President Mills' personal integrity - and neither do I that of the NPP's Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo.
However, if, as its harshest critics insist, it is true that like the NDC, the NPP is also still dominated by the same selfish and dishonest politicians of yesteryear (now apparently operating from the shadows - deftly pulling strings because of the quantum of resources they control) whose greed gave the party such a negative image in the past, then our nation has a huge potential governance problem.
Without a shadow of doubt, dear reader, the powerful and ruthless rogues in their midst, will definitely end up dominating the next NPP regime, too. This, despite the fact that Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo is an honest gentleman.
It is obvious that the biggest two political parties in Ghana are evenly matched, in terms of the numbers of voters they can depend on.
Alas, there are millions of "My-party-my-tribe-right-or-
And it is that blinkered support-base of both parties that is slowly destroying Ghanaian democracy.
It is led by their small army of paid erstwhile "serial-callers" - now re-branded and grandly designated "communications team-members" - with their fanaticism and dim-witted blindness - who spend most of their days either calling into, or participating, in radio and television current affairs phone-in programmes, to spread each party's negative propaganda, on our nation's airwaves.
However, hope, they say, springs eternal. So perhaps the question the rest of us must ask is: Will the discerning individuals whose crucial swing-votes now decide who wins presidential elections in Ghana (the so-called floating-voters) take a chance and convince enough ordinary people to try a new set of politicians from a party other than the two dominant parties, the NDC and the NPP - and somehow miraculously enable the good people of Ghana to snatch their country back, from the grasping hands of the powerful rogues, who dominate the two largest parties in their homeland Ghana?
Hmm, Ghana - eyeasem o: asem kesie ebaba debi, ankasa!
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
We Must Halt The Destruction Of The Natural Environment By Illegal Gold Mining
Every time the price of gold goes up, my heart sinks - for it means
further intensification of the destruction of what is left, of our
natural heritage, by illegal surface gold miners.
The cost to society, at a time when global climate change is impacting Ghanaian agriculture so negatively, of the activities of illegal surface gold miners, is incalculable.
To compound the problem, many illegal surface gold miners often work in tandem with illegal loggers in some forest-belt areas of Ghana.
They are causing great harm to the natural environment, in a vast swathe of the Ghanaian countryside - depleting the remainder of Ghana's forest cover; poisoning soils; compromising the quality of the underground water table; and silting up streams and rivers.
If illegal gold miners and loggers are not forced to stop degrading the Ghanaian countryside, we might very well end up spending most of the wealth we generate as a people today, repairing the harm caused by those potentially dangerous and mostly lawless individuals, driven by unfathomable greed, tomorrow.
The time has come for officialdom to act firmly. We must halt the wanton destruction of the natural environment by illegal gold mining, once and for all.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
The cost to society, at a time when global climate change is impacting Ghanaian agriculture so negatively, of the activities of illegal surface gold miners, is incalculable.
To compound the problem, many illegal surface gold miners often work in tandem with illegal loggers in some forest-belt areas of Ghana.
They are causing great harm to the natural environment, in a vast swathe of the Ghanaian countryside - depleting the remainder of Ghana's forest cover; poisoning soils; compromising the quality of the underground water table; and silting up streams and rivers.
If illegal gold miners and loggers are not forced to stop degrading the Ghanaian countryside, we might very well end up spending most of the wealth we generate as a people today, repairing the harm caused by those potentially dangerous and mostly lawless individuals, driven by unfathomable greed, tomorrow.
The time has come for officialdom to act firmly. We must halt the wanton destruction of the natural environment by illegal gold mining, once and for all.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
Monday, 16 July 2012
Ghana's Oil: Questions Raised By Think-tank Imani Are In The National Interest
If like Botswana the self-interest of our ruling elites wouldn't enter
the equation, Ghana could prosper by signing the kind of equal
partnership win-win agreement, which Botswana has with De Beers - to
exploit its natural resources: especially Ghana's oil and natural gas
deposits.
If that had been done when what some critics describe as "those one-sided oil agreements" were signed with companies like Tullow Oil and Kosmos Energy, would Ghana not be earning more from what after all are depleting assets?
It is instructive that Tullow Oil, for example, was happy to sign the "monkey-dey-work-baboon-dey-chop" agreement it has with the Canadian energy company, Africa Oil, in East Africa. Perhaps Ghana can learn a thing or two from that particular agreement - and make sure that in future it demands similar terms too from oil companies.
In the light of all the above, Ghanaians must thank the think-tank IMANI, for raising questions about the Jubilee oilfield's production figures and revenue projections that are far below actuals. (http://mobile.ghanaweb.com/
They are right to do so - and are showing their sense of patriotism in so doing. They are helping to protect the national interest - and definitely deserve our gratitude.
Those who now rule our country must shed more light on all the issues raised by IMANI. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
If that had been done when what some critics describe as "those one-sided oil agreements" were signed with companies like Tullow Oil and Kosmos Energy, would Ghana not be earning more from what after all are depleting assets?
It is instructive that Tullow Oil, for example, was happy to sign the "monkey-dey-work-baboon-dey-chop" agreement it has with the Canadian energy company, Africa Oil, in East Africa. Perhaps Ghana can learn a thing or two from that particular agreement - and make sure that in future it demands similar terms too from oil companies.
In the light of all the above, Ghanaians must thank the think-tank IMANI, for raising questions about the Jubilee oilfield's production figures and revenue projections that are far below actuals. (http://mobile.ghanaweb.com/
They are right to do so - and are showing their sense of patriotism in so doing. They are helping to protect the national interest - and definitely deserve our gratitude.
Those who now rule our country must shed more light on all the issues raised by IMANI. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
Time To Start Planning For A New 5th Republic For Ghana?
Listening to a group of young artisans - made up of carpenters, masons,
steel-benders and plumbers, all below the age of 30 - discussing the
current state of our nation, was just so revealing.
That the vast majority of ordinary people have become disillusioned with our political class is obvious.
Less obvious, is their feeling that Ghanaian democracy is a sham designed to provide perfect legal cover, for a thieving and greedy ruling elite (across the spectrum).
The honest and principled individuals amongst our educated urban elites, ought to begin speaking out against the perfidy of the rogues in their midst, whose greed has given their class such a bad name - as a self-preservation measure.
That unfathomable greed, is digging, what in extreme circumstances - if our nation were to descend into chaos, for example - might very well eventually turn out to be the middle class's mass grave.
What members of our political class don't seem to realise, is that the watering hole they are drinking in, with such gusto, is actually the Last Chance Saloon.
Alas, ordinary people appear to have come to the rather painful conclusion that whiles politicians, members of their family clans, as well as their cronies, are prospering mightily in the 4th Republic, the so-called democracy dividend, after years of sacrifice upon sacrifice on their part, has eluded them. And they are pretty angry about it.
Asked for their views about the state of the Ghanaian polity, this is the consensus arrived at, by the aforementioned group of young artisans: the 4th Republic appears to be underpinned by a system designed to provide tailor-made legal protection, for one set of our educated urban elites - which rose to power after the overthrow of an elected constitutional regime, in December 1981.
The system then subsequently fell into the hands of yet another set of clever politicians - who won the votes of ordinary people in December 2000 to get into power, by telling them that they had already made their fortunes, and were coming to make Ghana a better place for its long-suffering people.
After a short while, ordinary Ghanaians were astonished to discover some of the same people, then turning round to ruthlessly exploit the system too.
And as a golden age of business blossomed for a powerful and greedy few - and those they favoured - those elected self-seekers prospered mightily, from January 2001 to January 2009.
Today, they are witnessing yet another set of clever self-seekers from our political class - who for three and a half years, instead of labouring to make Ghana the better place they promised voters in December 2008, have rather worked hard to find what they thought (until the wily Kennedy Adjapong popped up with Woyomegate) was a fail-proof method of siphoning off taxpayers' money into private pockets by stealth.
The lucrative wheeze they apparently hit upon, was lobbying for judgement-debt payment orders, awarded to claimants who had sued the Republic of Ghana, by the law courts, to be paid promptly by the state.
What apparently triggered off the aforementioned group of young artisans' survey of the political landscape, was the reported kettle-calling-the-pot-black comments made by a former minister of information in the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP)administration, Mr Stephen Asamoah Boateng - accusing the present administration of making some US$9millions disappear.
Yet, he himself is on trial in the law courts as we speak, accused, with others, of ignoring proper procurement procedures, in awarding a refurbishment contract for work to be carried out in the information ministry, while serving as minister there. Astonishing.
Perhaps the best way for the smaller opposition parties to defeat the two biggest parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the NPP, which dominate our nation's politics so completely, is to call for a fresh start for Ghana - by promising to abolish the corrupt and patently inefficient 4th Republic: and set up a new 5th Republic.
They must ensure that that 5th Republic will be underpinned by a constitution designed to make Ghana a fair and honest society, which demands that all elected office holders, from the president down, as well as the higher echelons of the public sector, and their spouses, publicly publish their assets - immediately before assuming office, and immediately after their tenure ends.
Given the newly-revealed oil industry smoke-and-mirrors shenanigans (revealed by the think-tank IMANI), indeed, the smaller parties would be wise to start planning for a new 5th Republic now - to give Ghana a fresh start and ordinary people a real stake in the governance of their nation. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
That the vast majority of ordinary people have become disillusioned with our political class is obvious.
Less obvious, is their feeling that Ghanaian democracy is a sham designed to provide perfect legal cover, for a thieving and greedy ruling elite (across the spectrum).
The honest and principled individuals amongst our educated urban elites, ought to begin speaking out against the perfidy of the rogues in their midst, whose greed has given their class such a bad name - as a self-preservation measure.
That unfathomable greed, is digging, what in extreme circumstances - if our nation were to descend into chaos, for example - might very well eventually turn out to be the middle class's mass grave.
What members of our political class don't seem to realise, is that the watering hole they are drinking in, with such gusto, is actually the Last Chance Saloon.
Alas, ordinary people appear to have come to the rather painful conclusion that whiles politicians, members of their family clans, as well as their cronies, are prospering mightily in the 4th Republic, the so-called democracy dividend, after years of sacrifice upon sacrifice on their part, has eluded them. And they are pretty angry about it.
Asked for their views about the state of the Ghanaian polity, this is the consensus arrived at, by the aforementioned group of young artisans: the 4th Republic appears to be underpinned by a system designed to provide tailor-made legal protection, for one set of our educated urban elites - which rose to power after the overthrow of an elected constitutional regime, in December 1981.
The system then subsequently fell into the hands of yet another set of clever politicians - who won the votes of ordinary people in December 2000 to get into power, by telling them that they had already made their fortunes, and were coming to make Ghana a better place for its long-suffering people.
After a short while, ordinary Ghanaians were astonished to discover some of the same people, then turning round to ruthlessly exploit the system too.
And as a golden age of business blossomed for a powerful and greedy few - and those they favoured - those elected self-seekers prospered mightily, from January 2001 to January 2009.
Today, they are witnessing yet another set of clever self-seekers from our political class - who for three and a half years, instead of labouring to make Ghana the better place they promised voters in December 2008, have rather worked hard to find what they thought (until the wily Kennedy Adjapong popped up with Woyomegate) was a fail-proof method of siphoning off taxpayers' money into private pockets by stealth.
The lucrative wheeze they apparently hit upon, was lobbying for judgement-debt payment orders, awarded to claimants who had sued the Republic of Ghana, by the law courts, to be paid promptly by the state.
What apparently triggered off the aforementioned group of young artisans' survey of the political landscape, was the reported kettle-calling-the-pot-black comments made by a former minister of information in the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP)administration, Mr Stephen Asamoah Boateng - accusing the present administration of making some US$9millions disappear.
Yet, he himself is on trial in the law courts as we speak, accused, with others, of ignoring proper procurement procedures, in awarding a refurbishment contract for work to be carried out in the information ministry, while serving as minister there. Astonishing.
Perhaps the best way for the smaller opposition parties to defeat the two biggest parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the NPP, which dominate our nation's politics so completely, is to call for a fresh start for Ghana - by promising to abolish the corrupt and patently inefficient 4th Republic: and set up a new 5th Republic.
They must ensure that that 5th Republic will be underpinned by a constitution designed to make Ghana a fair and honest society, which demands that all elected office holders, from the president down, as well as the higher echelons of the public sector, and their spouses, publicly publish their assets - immediately before assuming office, and immediately after their tenure ends.
Given the newly-revealed oil industry smoke-and-mirrors shenanigans (revealed by the think-tank IMANI), indeed, the smaller parties would be wise to start planning for a new 5th Republic now - to give Ghana a fresh start and ordinary people a real stake in the governance of their nation. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
Saturday, 14 July 2012
District Assemblies: Tap The Talent For Innovation & Harness Energies Of Ghana's Middle Class
A project to cover the access road leading from their very expensive
homes, unto the portion of the Accra-Cape Coast road near Jayee
University College, with concrete, by my neighbours, is nearing
completion.
It is an example of how the talent for innovation and considerable energies of middle class Ghanaians, can be harnessed by District Assemblies, to develop many neighbourhoods across urban Ghana.
To complete the project, my neighbours urgently need to raise more money - in addition to the Ghc1000 they have each contributed thus far.
Mulling over the question of finding an innovative way for them to fund the completion of the final phase of their project, I wondered precisely what catastrophe would befall the Ga South District Assembly, if it stepped in to help them complete it.
Perhaps an innovative way to fund such community self-help projects to improve neighbourhoods in urban areas, would be for the Ga South District Assembly to cede the money those neighbours of mine will have to pay in property rates next year, to them, for doing what the District Assembly ought to have done in the first place, if it were fully alive to its responsibilities.
If property rates paid annually by homeowners, who undertake community projects to improve the neighbourhoods they live in, could be waived by District Assemblies as a tax incentive to help improve those neighbourhoods, would the quality of life for residents of such areas not improve dramatically across urban Ghana?
District Assemblies ought to seriously consider this approach as an option available to them, to improve roads and other infrastructure in the areas they administer.
They must encourage partnerships with resident associations formed by those living in neighbourhoods like the one I currently reside in - as a way of sharing the burden of developing residential areas under their jurisdiction.
Perhaps a visit to our neighbourhood by the District Chief Executive of the Ga South District Assembly, could show him what such an innovative approach to developing urban Ghana, could achieve.
District Assemblies ought to seriously consider tapping the talent for innovation, and harnessing the considerable energies, of Ghana's burgeoning middle class. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
It is an example of how the talent for innovation and considerable energies of middle class Ghanaians, can be harnessed by District Assemblies, to develop many neighbourhoods across urban Ghana.
To complete the project, my neighbours urgently need to raise more money - in addition to the Ghc1000 they have each contributed thus far.
Mulling over the question of finding an innovative way for them to fund the completion of the final phase of their project, I wondered precisely what catastrophe would befall the Ga South District Assembly, if it stepped in to help them complete it.
Perhaps an innovative way to fund such community self-help projects to improve neighbourhoods in urban areas, would be for the Ga South District Assembly to cede the money those neighbours of mine will have to pay in property rates next year, to them, for doing what the District Assembly ought to have done in the first place, if it were fully alive to its responsibilities.
If property rates paid annually by homeowners, who undertake community projects to improve the neighbourhoods they live in, could be waived by District Assemblies as a tax incentive to help improve those neighbourhoods, would the quality of life for residents of such areas not improve dramatically across urban Ghana?
District Assemblies ought to seriously consider this approach as an option available to them, to improve roads and other infrastructure in the areas they administer.
They must encourage partnerships with resident associations formed by those living in neighbourhoods like the one I currently reside in - as a way of sharing the burden of developing residential areas under their jurisdiction.
Perhaps a visit to our neighbourhood by the District Chief Executive of the Ga South District Assembly, could show him what such an innovative approach to developing urban Ghana, could achieve.
District Assemblies ought to seriously consider tapping the talent for innovation, and harnessing the considerable energies, of Ghana's burgeoning middle class. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
Friday, 13 July 2012
Will A Gold-backed Ghana Cedi Ever Be Possible In The Republic Of Ghana?
After the financial crisis of 2008, it was said by analysts and
academics with expertise in economics, that the old economic
certainties no longer held true - and that the only certainty was
uncertainty.
It is a dictum that still holds true - as can be seen in the Euroland debt crisis, and the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) gloomy global economic outlook.
It is because the old certainties no longer apply that an acquaintance and I took it upon ourselves to listen to, and read, public pronouncements on the economy by the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) last-word in economics, Dr. Bawumia - from the time he was picked to be the running mate of the party's presidential candidate, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, to date.
At this point in that tracking exercise, alas, l shall have to agree with my acquaintance, who insists that Dr. Bawumia talks like a man who forgets that the old certainties no longer apply. He is not impressed by him at all, unfortunately.
There has been occasion when some of the members of his party have mentioned the redenomination of the cedi, for example, as one of the "achievements" of his time at the Bank of Ghana.
Well, I remember poking fun at President Kufuor, when he proudly boasted that the new Ghana cedi had parity with the U.S. dollar - and saying to my acquaintance that a new currency used in an economy with the kind of structural imbalances ours was lumbered with, would soon experience a crisis of confidence - and fall freely.
It was not long before Kufuor & Co. were raiding our foreign reserves for cash in hard currency to shore it up. Daft. Millions of dollars was spent in that exercise in futility. And I actually had an interesting dream once, around that time, as it happens.
In it, I remember wondering to myself, what would have been the outcome, if the bright sparks at the Bank of Ghana (where Bawumia was serving as Deputy Governor, incidentally) had thought outside the box - in an age of uncertainty - and instead of recommending redomination and the issuance of a new currency, rather dared to recommend the adoption of the U.S. dollar as a transition currency for Ghana - or, better still, asked Kufuor & Co. to link the new Ghana cedi with gold: and made our nation one on the gold standard with a gold-backed Ghana cedi.
Would that not have been a sure-fire means of ensuring stable value for money - with all its attendant benefits, I ask? Perhaps the question we must ask is: In a nation with a political class not famous for imaginative thinking, will adopting the gold standard and having a gold-backed Ghana cedi, ever be possible in the Republic of Ghana?
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
It is a dictum that still holds true - as can be seen in the Euroland debt crisis, and the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) gloomy global economic outlook.
It is because the old certainties no longer apply that an acquaintance and I took it upon ourselves to listen to, and read, public pronouncements on the economy by the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) last-word in economics, Dr. Bawumia - from the time he was picked to be the running mate of the party's presidential candidate, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, to date.
At this point in that tracking exercise, alas, l shall have to agree with my acquaintance, who insists that Dr. Bawumia talks like a man who forgets that the old certainties no longer apply. He is not impressed by him at all, unfortunately.
There has been occasion when some of the members of his party have mentioned the redenomination of the cedi, for example, as one of the "achievements" of his time at the Bank of Ghana.
Well, I remember poking fun at President Kufuor, when he proudly boasted that the new Ghana cedi had parity with the U.S. dollar - and saying to my acquaintance that a new currency used in an economy with the kind of structural imbalances ours was lumbered with, would soon experience a crisis of confidence - and fall freely.
It was not long before Kufuor & Co. were raiding our foreign reserves for cash in hard currency to shore it up. Daft. Millions of dollars was spent in that exercise in futility. And I actually had an interesting dream once, around that time, as it happens.
In it, I remember wondering to myself, what would have been the outcome, if the bright sparks at the Bank of Ghana (where Bawumia was serving as Deputy Governor, incidentally) had thought outside the box - in an age of uncertainty - and instead of recommending redomination and the issuance of a new currency, rather dared to recommend the adoption of the U.S. dollar as a transition currency for Ghana - or, better still, asked Kufuor & Co. to link the new Ghana cedi with gold: and made our nation one on the gold standard with a gold-backed Ghana cedi.
Would that not have been a sure-fire means of ensuring stable value for money - with all its attendant benefits, I ask? Perhaps the question we must ask is: In a nation with a political class not famous for imaginative thinking, will adopting the gold standard and having a gold-backed Ghana cedi, ever be possible in the Republic of Ghana?
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
Thursday, 12 July 2012
Tribal-supremacist Politicians' Narrow-mindedness Rob Ghana's Younger Generation Of Their Future
We must aim to build a Ghana in which all who work hard can realise
their full potential - regardless of the tribal antecedents of their
Ghanaian citizenship.
It is for that reason that whenever I get the opportunity to interact with younger generation Ghanaians, I try and impress upon them the importance of not allowing narrow-minded older-generation politicians (from across the spectrum), who lack the imagination to move our country to the next level, to deceive them.
They must not allow such politicians to trick them into locking themselves into a mindset, akin to imprisoning one's self in a dark single-room, full of calcified-thinking, and enclosed in four walls built out of concrete blocks-of-prejudice.
What will take Ghana to the next level, is cutting-edge thinking by a leadership that understands clearly that Ghana must become a genuine meritocracy, in order to achieve its full potential.
The Kokofu-football troika-bedfellows of tribalism, nepotism and inherited privilege, are the greatest enemies of meritocracy in Ghana.
The vast majority of educated young people in Ghana, simply want to live in a well-run nation in which merit amply rewards, and tribal considerations don't enter the equation in achieving success.
At all costs we must free our country from the vice-like grip of the clever tribal-supremacist self-seekers, who now dominate Ghanaian society - and are so incredibly powerful and influential within our political class.
To secure the younger generation's future, we must sideline those hypocritical individuals whose limiting narrow-mindedness holds back our nation, so.
The negativity of their thought processes - based on a world-view mired in ancient tribal glories, underpins their endless scheming to impose a parallel-system dominated by today's descendants of our pre-colonial tribal societies' ruling elites, on our modern African nation-state.
They must not be allowed to succeed in their aim. Their nation-wrecking goal is an affront to common decency. And, worse of all, it poses an existential threat to our ethnically-diverse and united nation-state.
They must not be allowed to break the binding-bond of national unity, made possible by the fact that virtually all Ghana's extended family clans have been enriched by inter-tribal marriage.
We must not allow such negative individuals to hold back Ghana's march forward, as a united people striving to create a modern, liberal democratic society devoid of the evils spawned by tribalism - one in which all who work hard can realise their full potential, regardless of the tribal antecedents of their Ghanaian citizenship.
We must end the impunity of the powerful and well-connected tribal-supremacist and elitist politicians, who think that somehow they are above the law.
No one in Ghana must be above the law, if we truly want our nation to progress.
Rooting out such dangerous individuals from all the political parties in our homeland Ghana, is a must.
Tribal-supremacist politicians are worst than even the most dangerous of armed robbers - for the consequences of their narrow-mindedness rob Ghana's younger generation of their future.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
It is for that reason that whenever I get the opportunity to interact with younger generation Ghanaians, I try and impress upon them the importance of not allowing narrow-minded older-generation politicians (from across the spectrum), who lack the imagination to move our country to the next level, to deceive them.
They must not allow such politicians to trick them into locking themselves into a mindset, akin to imprisoning one's self in a dark single-room, full of calcified-thinking, and enclosed in four walls built out of concrete blocks-of-prejudice.
What will take Ghana to the next level, is cutting-edge thinking by a leadership that understands clearly that Ghana must become a genuine meritocracy, in order to achieve its full potential.
The Kokofu-football troika-bedfellows of tribalism, nepotism and inherited privilege, are the greatest enemies of meritocracy in Ghana.
The vast majority of educated young people in Ghana, simply want to live in a well-run nation in which merit amply rewards, and tribal considerations don't enter the equation in achieving success.
At all costs we must free our country from the vice-like grip of the clever tribal-supremacist self-seekers, who now dominate Ghanaian society - and are so incredibly powerful and influential within our political class.
To secure the younger generation's future, we must sideline those hypocritical individuals whose limiting narrow-mindedness holds back our nation, so.
The negativity of their thought processes - based on a world-view mired in ancient tribal glories, underpins their endless scheming to impose a parallel-system dominated by today's descendants of our pre-colonial tribal societies' ruling elites, on our modern African nation-state.
They must not be allowed to succeed in their aim. Their nation-wrecking goal is an affront to common decency. And, worse of all, it poses an existential threat to our ethnically-diverse and united nation-state.
They must not be allowed to break the binding-bond of national unity, made possible by the fact that virtually all Ghana's extended family clans have been enriched by inter-tribal marriage.
We must not allow such negative individuals to hold back Ghana's march forward, as a united people striving to create a modern, liberal democratic society devoid of the evils spawned by tribalism - one in which all who work hard can realise their full potential, regardless of the tribal antecedents of their Ghanaian citizenship.
We must end the impunity of the powerful and well-connected tribal-supremacist and elitist politicians, who think that somehow they are above the law.
No one in Ghana must be above the law, if we truly want our nation to progress.
Rooting out such dangerous individuals from all the political parties in our homeland Ghana, is a must.
Tribal-supremacist politicians are worst than even the most dangerous of armed robbers - for the consequences of their narrow-mindedness rob Ghana's younger generation of their future.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
No Tribe Is Superior Or Inferior To Another In Our Homeland Ghana
A wag I know, observed the other day, that there is something
particularly obnoxious about the miserable atavists, who go online to social media websites such as Facebook.com, and
new media websites like www.ghanaweb.com, and insult others - merely on account of the part of Ghana they hail from.
Worst of all, are those who live overseas in foreign lands, where on a daily basis, they themselves are at the receiving end of soul-destroying racial prejudice: on account of their skin colour.
You would think that such individuals would be more tolerant and sensitive in their interaction with others - as a result of the daily humiliation they themselves suffer because of their hue.
Is it the case, perhaps, dear reader, that such individuals - some of whom hide behind multiple monikers to insult others on websites like www.ghanaweb.com - might perhaps actually be terribly unhappy souls in their private lives, one wonders?
It must be so limiting not being able to see others as individuals, but instead constantly resort to using derogatory language online, to denigrate them, because one lacks the humanity and the imagination to see beyond banal stereotypes.
Being lucky to be cosmopolitan in outlook myself, because of a background that blessed me with blood-relatives from many tribal groupings, I feel terribly sorry for those individuals who are obsessed with the issue of where an accident of birth placed their fellow human beings, who become the object of their boorish narrow-mindedness and tribal-supremacist venom - just for not sharing the same tribal background with them.
If the reality, dear reader, is that there is ample empirical evidence that proves beyond doubt, that we more or less share the same DNA, and if it is also the case that when one goes back thousands of years, the reality is that we actually share the same origins, too, what justifies the absurd feelings of superiority that some have - in what is a scientific age in which we know that no matter what yardstick is used, no tribe is superior or inferior to another, in our homeland Ghana?
Worst of all, are those who live overseas in foreign lands, where on a daily basis, they themselves are at the receiving end of soul-destroying racial prejudice: on account of their skin colour.
You would think that such individuals would be more tolerant and sensitive in their interaction with others - as a result of the daily humiliation they themselves suffer because of their hue.
Is it the case, perhaps, dear reader, that such individuals - some of whom hide behind multiple monikers to insult others on websites like www.ghanaweb.com - might perhaps actually be terribly unhappy souls in their private lives, one wonders?
It must be so limiting not being able to see others as individuals, but instead constantly resort to using derogatory language online, to denigrate them, because one lacks the humanity and the imagination to see beyond banal stereotypes.
Being lucky to be cosmopolitan in outlook myself, because of a background that blessed me with blood-relatives from many tribal groupings, I feel terribly sorry for those individuals who are obsessed with the issue of where an accident of birth placed their fellow human beings, who become the object of their boorish narrow-mindedness and tribal-supremacist venom - just for not sharing the same tribal background with them.
If the reality, dear reader, is that there is ample empirical evidence that proves beyond doubt, that we more or less share the same DNA, and if it is also the case that when one goes back thousands of years, the reality is that we actually share the same origins, too, what justifies the absurd feelings of superiority that some have - in what is a scientific age in which we know that no matter what yardstick is used, no tribe is superior or inferior to another, in our homeland Ghana?
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Public Sector Pensioners Who Have Served Ghana Deserve Better In The Evening Of Their Lives
At some point, we all have to retire from active work - particularly if
we serve the Ghanaian nation-state and reach the statutory retirement
age.
It is fitting and proper that as a nation we have decided that the president, his ministers and Ghana's legislators - amongst others in a select group of those who serve our nation in the three branches of government - must be allowed to retire on generous retirement packages.
That is as it should be. Those in positions of responsibility who serve Mother Ghana honestly and diligently, protecting the national interest, must know that at the end of their stewardship, they will be well taken care of by the people of Ghana and the Ghanaian nation-state.
There are also those pensioners who served their country faithfully away from the spotlight, in various capacities in the public sector, who deserve the gratitude of Ghanaians and the Republic of Ghana too, for their hard work serving the public day in day out, five days a week, without fail, during their working lives: on active duty for our homeland Ghana.
By and large the public servants who deal with pensioners show empathy in serving them. And such professionals are to be commended.
I have had to interact with those hard-working public servants recently, as I have endeavoured to help an 86-year old pensioner, who is trying to rectify an anomaly in her pension benefit payment.
I was mostly impressed by the efficiency of the treasury officers of the Accountant General's Department that I dealt with.
However, I was also appalled by the callousness of a few of those I encountered there, and in the Ministry of Health. I shall neither mention their names nor where exactly they work, but there's no doubt that such public sector employees need to undergo some re-orientation urgently.
They do great harm to those vulnerable pensioners they deal with in their work - elderly men and women who served Ghana so diligently for decades before retiring and who are now in the evening of their lives. These retired patriots deserve better.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
Post Script
Finally, dear reader, it would be an egregious example of ingratitude on my part, if one ended this piece without mentioning the humanity shown by the following: the Minister of Health, the Hon. Alban Bagbin; Dr. Appiah-Denkyira (Director, Human Resource Division, Ministry of Health) and his colleagues as well as their secretariat; Mr. Bruce (a retired Chief Petty Officer Class1, Ghana Navy) and Mr Lartey (retired Chief Petty Officer Class11, Ghana Navy) both of the Pensioners Association; and, finally, the Registrar and staff of the Nurses and Midwives Council.
They are all extraordinary individuals serving our country, who when they did not have to, still went out of their way to try and help end the nightmare of an 86-year old retired public servant.
That remarkable retired nurse-administrator, left a legacy of innovation and high standards, throughout her distinguished nursing career.
Paid a pension two steps below her retiring rank heading a Ministry of Health statutory body, the Nurses and Midwives Council as Registrar since 1983, today, even at her age, she is doing what old Achimotans know best: fighting injustice.
The difference this time for her, is that she is not fighting to make improvements in the conditions of service for nurses and seeking their welfare, but fighting to obtain what is due her: so that others who come after her, don't have to suffer what she has been and is going through. Its a matter of principle for her - and to that I say bravo Nana Abakomahemaa!
It is fitting and proper that as a nation we have decided that the president, his ministers and Ghana's legislators - amongst others in a select group of those who serve our nation in the three branches of government - must be allowed to retire on generous retirement packages.
That is as it should be. Those in positions of responsibility who serve Mother Ghana honestly and diligently, protecting the national interest, must know that at the end of their stewardship, they will be well taken care of by the people of Ghana and the Ghanaian nation-state.
There are also those pensioners who served their country faithfully away from the spotlight, in various capacities in the public sector, who deserve the gratitude of Ghanaians and the Republic of Ghana too, for their hard work serving the public day in day out, five days a week, without fail, during their working lives: on active duty for our homeland Ghana.
By and large the public servants who deal with pensioners show empathy in serving them. And such professionals are to be commended.
I have had to interact with those hard-working public servants recently, as I have endeavoured to help an 86-year old pensioner, who is trying to rectify an anomaly in her pension benefit payment.
I was mostly impressed by the efficiency of the treasury officers of the Accountant General's Department that I dealt with.
However, I was also appalled by the callousness of a few of those I encountered there, and in the Ministry of Health. I shall neither mention their names nor where exactly they work, but there's no doubt that such public sector employees need to undergo some re-orientation urgently.
They do great harm to those vulnerable pensioners they deal with in their work - elderly men and women who served Ghana so diligently for decades before retiring and who are now in the evening of their lives. These retired patriots deserve better.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
Post Script
Finally, dear reader, it would be an egregious example of ingratitude on my part, if one ended this piece without mentioning the humanity shown by the following: the Minister of Health, the Hon. Alban Bagbin; Dr. Appiah-Denkyira (Director, Human Resource Division, Ministry of Health) and his colleagues as well as their secretariat; Mr. Bruce (a retired Chief Petty Officer Class1, Ghana Navy) and Mr Lartey (retired Chief Petty Officer Class11, Ghana Navy) both of the Pensioners Association; and, finally, the Registrar and staff of the Nurses and Midwives Council.
They are all extraordinary individuals serving our country, who when they did not have to, still went out of their way to try and help end the nightmare of an 86-year old retired public servant.
That remarkable retired nurse-administrator, left a legacy of innovation and high standards, throughout her distinguished nursing career.
Paid a pension two steps below her retiring rank heading a Ministry of Health statutory body, the Nurses and Midwives Council as Registrar since 1983, today, even at her age, she is doing what old Achimotans know best: fighting injustice.
The difference this time for her, is that she is not fighting to make improvements in the conditions of service for nurses and seeking their welfare, but fighting to obtain what is due her: so that others who come after her, don't have to suffer what she has been and is going through. Its a matter of principle for her - and to that I say bravo Nana Abakomahemaa!
Let Ghana's Political Parties Nominate Candidates For Election To The Position Of District Chief Executive - Not The President
It is unfortunate that every time they are presented with a rare
historic opportunity to effect lasting change - which will benefit
present and future generations - so many members of our political class
allow short-term political considerations to cloud their judgement -
leading them to forgo the opportunity to impact society positively,
and, above all, to be on the right side of history.
Recent news that District Chief Executives (DCE) are to be elected in the not too distant future - when the constitution is finally amended - must be welcomed by all Ghanaians who believe in multi-party constitutional democracy.
That local-community-empowering decision, is a golden opportunity for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), to redeem itself.
Alas, it failed Mother Ghana terribly, when it had a historic opportunity to make a real difference in the fight against corruption, at the time it assumed power in January 2009, but failed to seize it.
Like the New Patriotic Party (NPP) regime of President Kufuor before it, the NDC regime of President Mills missed an opportunity to make a difference in the fight against corruption, when it first came into office in January 2009 - by failing to establish a convention in which the president, his ministers and other high-level appointees, such as District Chief Executives (DCE), and their spouses, publicly publish their assets before assuming office, and immediately after leaving office.
It now has yet another historic opportunity that this time it should not miss - as the election of DCE's will help deepen the roots of Ghanaian democracy yet further.
If the constitution is to be amended to allow the election of DCE's, it is far better that political parties, rather than a sitting president, are allowed to nominate candidates for election to the position of District Chief Executive (DCE).
One of the many benefits, in so doing, is that it will enable us lower the political temperature in our country considerably - as it is probable that candidates of all the parties in Ghana will win elections for DCE's in some of the districts across the country.
That will definitely make the opposition parties feel that they too have a stake in the running of the country.
And above all, they will be able to demonstrate to Ghanaians at the grassroots-level, in a practical manner, their suitability for being entrusted with leadership at the national level - by the performance of their parties' elected DCE's in running the District Assemblies they control around the country.
If DCE's are elected on a party political basis, they will be responsive to the needs of local people - whose welfare will be at the centre of the general scheme of things in districts across Ghana.
That cannot be a bad development for the Ghanaian polity - especially as the running of District Assemblies will be suitable training for leadership at the national level, for those elected as DCE's.
That is why the NDC regime of President Mills must be farsighted enough to seize what is a golden opportunity to bring democracy to the doorsteps of local communities across Ghana.
Such a development is bound to turn out to be a coveted legacy, that will forever be associated with their party, in the minds of the Ghanaian electorate - and is one that they must strive to achieve.
For that, and the reasons mentioned above (amongst many others), instead of the President of the Republic of Ghana nominating candidates for election to the position of DCE, the NDC government of President Mills, would be wise to allow Ghana's political parties - as well as individuals electing to stand as independent candidates themselves - to nominate candidates for election to the position of District Chief Executive. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
Recent news that District Chief Executives (DCE) are to be elected in the not too distant future - when the constitution is finally amended - must be welcomed by all Ghanaians who believe in multi-party constitutional democracy.
That local-community-empowering decision, is a golden opportunity for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), to redeem itself.
Alas, it failed Mother Ghana terribly, when it had a historic opportunity to make a real difference in the fight against corruption, at the time it assumed power in January 2009, but failed to seize it.
Like the New Patriotic Party (NPP) regime of President Kufuor before it, the NDC regime of President Mills missed an opportunity to make a difference in the fight against corruption, when it first came into office in January 2009 - by failing to establish a convention in which the president, his ministers and other high-level appointees, such as District Chief Executives (DCE), and their spouses, publicly publish their assets before assuming office, and immediately after leaving office.
It now has yet another historic opportunity that this time it should not miss - as the election of DCE's will help deepen the roots of Ghanaian democracy yet further.
If the constitution is to be amended to allow the election of DCE's, it is far better that political parties, rather than a sitting president, are allowed to nominate candidates for election to the position of District Chief Executive (DCE).
One of the many benefits, in so doing, is that it will enable us lower the political temperature in our country considerably - as it is probable that candidates of all the parties in Ghana will win elections for DCE's in some of the districts across the country.
That will definitely make the opposition parties feel that they too have a stake in the running of the country.
And above all, they will be able to demonstrate to Ghanaians at the grassroots-level, in a practical manner, their suitability for being entrusted with leadership at the national level - by the performance of their parties' elected DCE's in running the District Assemblies they control around the country.
If DCE's are elected on a party political basis, they will be responsive to the needs of local people - whose welfare will be at the centre of the general scheme of things in districts across Ghana.
That cannot be a bad development for the Ghanaian polity - especially as the running of District Assemblies will be suitable training for leadership at the national level, for those elected as DCE's.
That is why the NDC regime of President Mills must be farsighted enough to seize what is a golden opportunity to bring democracy to the doorsteps of local communities across Ghana.
Such a development is bound to turn out to be a coveted legacy, that will forever be associated with their party, in the minds of the Ghanaian electorate - and is one that they must strive to achieve.
For that, and the reasons mentioned above (amongst many others), instead of the President of the Republic of Ghana nominating candidates for election to the position of DCE, the NDC government of President Mills, would be wise to allow Ghana's political parties - as well as individuals electing to stand as independent candidates themselves - to nominate candidates for election to the position of District Chief Executive. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
Thursday, 5 July 2012
Ghanaian Politicians: Only A Truly Competitive Ghana Will Bring Us Prosperity
The economy of Ghana finally got a chance to grow in consistent fashion, when a combination of fortuitous circumstances - a key factor being public opinion in the West turning against heavily indebted poor developing nations being forced to continue making interest payments to the wealthy Western nations they were indebted to - came together to finally make possible debt write-off by the developed nations of the West.
The political party that immediately benefited from this new policy initiative of the wealthy industrialised nations of the West, was the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in June 2001 - at the time a bewildered regime newly in office and at a loss as to how to fulfil its promises.
Joining the Highly Indebted Poor Country initiative (HIPC) in 2001, it reached the HIPC decision point in 2002 and advanced to the completion point in 2004.
As a result of that stroke of luck, during its tenure, what those of us who had long predicted would happen, once the regular interest payments on Ghana's debts - which were sucking the very lifeblood out of our country - ceased being made, came to pass: and the expansion of the real economy began to take place in earnest.
The irony of it all, is that prior to debt write-off by the wealthy industrialised nations, not a single leading member of the governing NPP, joined those of us whose thinking-out-of-the-box, as far back as the 90's, led us to demand that Ghana's debts be written off - to give our country a chance to grow and prosper, and provide its citizens with a better standard of living.
Like many of our mostly-unimaginative political class, I am pretty sure that the NPP's leading lights at the time, must have thought that we were mad to demand that Ghana's debts be written off, in order to give it a chance to grow.
Alas, the financial concept of "morale hazard" had made those "book-long" theory-lovers blind to the obvious - and paralysed their cognitive power to act to effect transformational change.
So, today, when some of us hear supposedly brilliant politicians like Dr. Bawumia and Co., who know fully well that the personal circumstances of the average Ghanaian family will not change for the better, any time soon - even when their party does succeed in coming to power again - making the same old dissembling arguments about the national economy, we weep for Mother Ghana.
It is extraordinary that such politicians have failed to realise that discerning and patriotic Ghanaians are fed up to the back teeth, with the endless finger-pointing and point-scoring in the blame-game played by politicians - especially when engaging in those tired old never-ending arguments we hear incessantly on the airwaves of the electronic media and read in the columns of the print media, which insult the intelligence of ordinary people, so.
Would it not benefit the enterprise Ghana more, if Dr. Bawumia & Co., for example, were out there criss-crossing the nation outlining imaginative and cutting-edge ideas, designed to make Ghana Africa's most competitive country?
And at a time of great uncertainty in the global economic outlook, would it not send positive signals to investors who aren't risk-averse, and interested in investing in emerging markets, if our nation's political class promised to abolish personal income tax and make Ghana the nation with the lowest corporate tax rate on the surface of the planet Earth?
Will that not place Ghana near the top of the list of the most competitive nations, globally, dear reader?
Surely, it is just that sort of pro-enterprise policy environment, which, over a period of say at least a decade, will create jobs and the accumulated wealth that will make Ghana prosperous - and eventually give the vast majority of ordinary people a better standard of living?
In failing to dare to do the kind of extraordinary and original-thinking, which produces policy initiatives that could make us a truly competitive nation, are Dr. Bawumia & Co., perchance - as their harshest critics insist - not revealing why they do not deserve to be returned to power again, any time soon?
As sure as day follows night, whichever party wins the December 2012 elections, life for ordinary people in Ghana will continue to be pretty tough-going - and will unfortunately, most probably remain so, for at least the next ten years.
Finally, dear reader, what Ghana's present crop of well-educated politicians ought to understand clearly, is that only a truly competitive Ghana will eventually bring us prosperity - and improve the living standards of ordinary Ghanaians. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
The political party that immediately benefited from this new policy initiative of the wealthy industrialised nations of the West, was the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in June 2001 - at the time a bewildered regime newly in office and at a loss as to how to fulfil its promises.
Joining the Highly Indebted Poor Country initiative (HIPC) in 2001, it reached the HIPC decision point in 2002 and advanced to the completion point in 2004.
As a result of that stroke of luck, during its tenure, what those of us who had long predicted would happen, once the regular interest payments on Ghana's debts - which were sucking the very lifeblood out of our country - ceased being made, came to pass: and the expansion of the real economy began to take place in earnest.
The irony of it all, is that prior to debt write-off by the wealthy industrialised nations, not a single leading member of the governing NPP, joined those of us whose thinking-out-of-the-box, as far back as the 90's, led us to demand that Ghana's debts be written off - to give our country a chance to grow and prosper, and provide its citizens with a better standard of living.
Like many of our mostly-unimaginative political class, I am pretty sure that the NPP's leading lights at the time, must have thought that we were mad to demand that Ghana's debts be written off, in order to give it a chance to grow.
Alas, the financial concept of "morale hazard" had made those "book-long" theory-lovers blind to the obvious - and paralysed their cognitive power to act to effect transformational change.
So, today, when some of us hear supposedly brilliant politicians like Dr. Bawumia and Co., who know fully well that the personal circumstances of the average Ghanaian family will not change for the better, any time soon - even when their party does succeed in coming to power again - making the same old dissembling arguments about the national economy, we weep for Mother Ghana.
It is extraordinary that such politicians have failed to realise that discerning and patriotic Ghanaians are fed up to the back teeth, with the endless finger-pointing and point-scoring in the blame-game played by politicians - especially when engaging in those tired old never-ending arguments we hear incessantly on the airwaves of the electronic media and read in the columns of the print media, which insult the intelligence of ordinary people, so.
Would it not benefit the enterprise Ghana more, if Dr. Bawumia & Co., for example, were out there criss-crossing the nation outlining imaginative and cutting-edge ideas, designed to make Ghana Africa's most competitive country?
And at a time of great uncertainty in the global economic outlook, would it not send positive signals to investors who aren't risk-averse, and interested in investing in emerging markets, if our nation's political class promised to abolish personal income tax and make Ghana the nation with the lowest corporate tax rate on the surface of the planet Earth?
Will that not place Ghana near the top of the list of the most competitive nations, globally, dear reader?
Surely, it is just that sort of pro-enterprise policy environment, which, over a period of say at least a decade, will create jobs and the accumulated wealth that will make Ghana prosperous - and eventually give the vast majority of ordinary people a better standard of living?
In failing to dare to do the kind of extraordinary and original-thinking, which produces policy initiatives that could make us a truly competitive nation, are Dr. Bawumia & Co., perchance - as their harshest critics insist - not revealing why they do not deserve to be returned to power again, any time soon?
As sure as day follows night, whichever party wins the December 2012 elections, life for ordinary people in Ghana will continue to be pretty tough-going - and will unfortunately, most probably remain so, for at least the next ten years.
Finally, dear reader, what Ghana's present crop of well-educated politicians ought to understand clearly, is that only a truly competitive Ghana will eventually bring us prosperity - and improve the living standards of ordinary Ghanaians. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
Are Ghana's Tema Oil Refinery & COCOBOD As Well As Other State-Owned Entities Possible Victims of UK Banking Industry Sharp Practice?
As public outrage grows in the UK, over the astonishing revelation that banks there had been rigging interest rates (by manipulating the London interbank offered rate - LIBOR -) and also engaged in the mis-selling of interest-rate hedging products, one hopes that officials of Ghana's Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the Bank of Ghana, will act quickly to find out whether state-owned entities, such as the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) and the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod), which are exposed to UK banks, have perchance fallen victim to the unethical practices of the UK banking sector's culture of greed.
Compensation ought to be demanded if that were the case. For its role in the scandal, last week, Barclays was fined a total of £290 million by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic - and other banks in the UK involved in the scandal, are also expected to pay heavy fines.
In all probability, TOR and Cocobod might very well have been charged too much for their overseas loans contracted in the UK - in the case of the Cocobod, as much as some US$200 millions (in fees and sundry charges - if I remember correctly) for the nearly US$2billion syndicated loan it arranged last year. And only heaven knows how much TOR is forking out for the total of US$940 millions or thereabouts it is also borrowing this year from overseas banks, including British ones.
At a time when ordinary Ghanaians are becoming more and more conscious of the shenanigans gotten up to by the powerful rogues amongst our educated urban elites, and now demand probity and accountability from those who rule Ghana, perhaps the question we should ask is: Are the Tema Oil Refinery and other Ghanaian state-owned entities, possible victims of UK banking industry sharp practice - and if they indeed are what will be done by those who govern our nation to seek redress for them?
Society Must End The Unspeakable Cruelty Suffered By Many Widows In Ghana
An acquaintance drew my attention to a drama-of-deceit being played out on Ghana Television, in the afternoon of Tuesday 3rd July 2012.
It turned out to be the live telecasting of the appearance before the Public Accounts Committee of Ghana's Parliament (PAC), of a widow whose husband died in police custody, and the nephew of her late husband, who had succeeded his uncle in accordance with Akan customary practice.
They were being cross-examined by the committee's members, who, as it happens, are currently taking a look at the circumstances surrounding the payment, by the present government, of judgement-debts secured by claimants in the law courts, against the Republic of Ghana.
Widowed with six children to take care of, she and her offspring, had apparently been abandoned by her husband's extended family - including the nephew.
It emerged, during questioning by members of the committee - all of whom could not hide their disapproval of the mistreatment of the poor widow - that the nephew had kept the fact that some compensation had indeed been paid to him by the authorities two years ago, from both his own extended family, as well as the widow and her children.
Sadly, the monstrous and shabby treatment of that poor widow by her late h
Sadly, the monstrous and shabby treatment of that poor widow by her late husband's extended family, is not an isolated case.
On the contrary, many widows across Ghana, still face such horrific abuse of their human rights by the families they marry into, at what are some of the lowest points in their lives - on top of having to deal with the unending emotional pain wrought by the tragedy of losing their husbands.
Perhaps the time has come for society to act to finally end the unspeakable cruelty that so many widows in Ghana suffer, when their husbands' predecease them - at the precise moment in their lives when they most need the sympathy of those they are related to by marriage.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Email: peakofi.thompson@gmail.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
