Not many of the residents of Ghana's capital city, Accra, are aware of the tenuousness of their drinking water supply. The unfathomable greed of gold miners (both legally registered ones and illegal operators) is slowly destroying the delicate ecology of the area that provides the headwaters of the three major river systems that a large part of urban southern Ghana, including Accra, relies on for its drinking water supply: the Densu, Birim and Ayensu rivers - and threatening its long-term sustainability.
To prevent an apocalyptic future, when no treated water runs through taps in homes, schools, offices and factories in Accra, from occurring, all mining must be banned immediately from the whole of the Atewa Range, in Akyem Abuakwa - so as to protect what is a designated Globally Significant Biodiversity Area (GSBA): and save it from from super-ruthless predators, who don't care one jot about the effect of their actions on others, and on the natural environment, in their selfish quest for gold.
Active steps must be taken as soon as practicable, to preserve what remains of the upland evergreen rainforest in the Atewa Range - gazetted as a forest reserve in the early 1920's. One doubts very much whether severe shortages of treated water will not become a permanent feature of life in Accra, in the not too distant future, if that extreme measure is not taken now. The situation on the ground is actually that bad.
To prevent what will be misery in Accra on a scale that is hard to imagine, from occurring, it is crucial that all the District Assemblies in Akyem Abuakwa are encouraged to embrace the low-carbon development model - by ensuring that they and the residents of the area benefit financially from the preservation of the remainder of the Atewa Range upland evergreen rainforest.
The ecosystem services that that important rainforest provides Accra's population are priceless - and devoting a small percentage of the amount paid by consumers in Accra to benefit the area financially, will guarantee the continued provision of those ecosystem services. It is indeed a small price for water consumers in Accra to pay, for a precious gift of nature, without which life on the planet Earth cannot be sustained.
The decision to turn the Atewa Forest Reserve - and the land bordering it - into a national park is in the right direction. The revenues derived from ecotourism will provide a sustainable future for the area's economy - and ensure a better quality of life for all who live there
Above all, it will help protect the source of Accra's drinking water supply: an important national security consideration that ought to attract the immediate attention of the powers that be. They must act now before it becomes too late to prevent a future catastrophe from occurring. A word to the wise...
Tuesday, 31 December 2013
Friday, 27 December 2013
Why All State-Owned Entities Must Insure With SIC And Bank With GCB
A major source of corruption amongst the upper echelons of the public sector, has apparently been lobbyists working for financial services sector entities, such as banks and insurance companies.
It is therefore not surprising that the industry-wide body, the Ghana Insurers Association, is up in arms over the edict by President Mahama that ministries, departments and agencies of the government of Ghana, insure only with wholly-owned or partially state-owned insurance companies, such as SIC.
According to bush-telegraph sources, senior public servants able to make it possible for state institutions and organisations to open accounts with private-sector banks, and insure with privately-owned insurance companies, get the public-private-partnership-equivalent of a golden handshake, for doing so.
President Mahama is closing a significant loophole that has made it possible for taxpayers' money to end up in the already-deep-pockets of crooked senior public servants, for years now, in taking this bold step.
He must resist any pressure that those greedy banks and insurance companies that have fed fat on taxpayers for so many years now, will put on his regime, to rescind his decision. The banks and insurance companies that the state has a stake in, pay dividends to the government - so why should they not be given the opportunity to improve their bottom-line by being given business by public-sector entities, I ask?
Any measure that lessens the propensity of the state to impose taxes on individuals and businesses is to be welcomed. Dividends from entities such as SIC and GCB, in which the state has a stake, lessen the burden on taxpayers - which is why we must all support the decision taken by the President that public-sector establishments must insure with SIC (and hopefully bank only with GCB too). At the very least it will lessen high-level corruption amongst senior public servants - a positive development that ought to be welcomed by every patriotic Ghanaian.
It is therefore not surprising that the industry-wide body, the Ghana Insurers Association, is up in arms over the edict by President Mahama that ministries, departments and agencies of the government of Ghana, insure only with wholly-owned or partially state-owned insurance companies, such as SIC.
According to bush-telegraph sources, senior public servants able to make it possible for state institutions and organisations to open accounts with private-sector banks, and insure with privately-owned insurance companies, get the public-private-partnership-equivalent of a golden handshake, for doing so.
President Mahama is closing a significant loophole that has made it possible for taxpayers' money to end up in the already-deep-pockets of crooked senior public servants, for years now, in taking this bold step.
He must resist any pressure that those greedy banks and insurance companies that have fed fat on taxpayers for so many years now, will put on his regime, to rescind his decision. The banks and insurance companies that the state has a stake in, pay dividends to the government - so why should they not be given the opportunity to improve their bottom-line by being given business by public-sector entities, I ask?
Any measure that lessens the propensity of the state to impose taxes on individuals and businesses is to be welcomed. Dividends from entities such as SIC and GCB, in which the state has a stake, lessen the burden on taxpayers - which is why we must all support the decision taken by the President that public-sector establishments must insure with SIC (and hopefully bank only with GCB too). At the very least it will lessen high-level corruption amongst senior public servants - a positive development that ought to be welcomed by every patriotic Ghanaian.
Monday, 23 December 2013
Let Us Resolve To Create A Truly Better Ghana In 2014
Being in the inside track of a regime trapped in a perfect storm of negativity, must be pretty challenging - if you are a politician who genuinely wants to see a truly better Ghana emerging unto the world stage.
One's prayer, therefore, is that the decent people in the current regime who want to make our nation a better place for all its people, will triumph over the crooks-in-high-places, in the new year.
As the year 2013 rolls to an end, many ordinary people in Ghana will doubtless take stock of their activities from the beginning of this year, and hope that the new year will be a better one for them - and their country.
Let all the members of our political class resolve to put the national interest - whatever benefits a majority of Ghanaians at any given point in time - ahead of personal ambition and party advantage. They must work closely together to help alleviate poverty in Ghana.
And, hopefully, the National Media Commission (NMC) will come to see, in the new year, why it must do all it can to prevent the consolidation of the media into the hands of a wealthy and powerful few.
Media consolidation today, might appear innocuous to many, but it provides tomorrow's tyranny with perfect working tools to undermine Ghanaian democracy with. The more responsible sections of the Ghanaian media, ought to wake up to this latent and insidious danger.
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it, and a happy and prosperous new year to all the good people of this marvelous but challenging place called Ghana. Let us all resolve to help create a truly better Ghana for all its people in 2014.
One's prayer, therefore, is that the decent people in the current regime who want to make our nation a better place for all its people, will triumph over the crooks-in-high-places, in the new year.
As the year 2013 rolls to an end, many ordinary people in Ghana will doubtless take stock of their activities from the beginning of this year, and hope that the new year will be a better one for them - and their country.
Let all the members of our political class resolve to put the national interest - whatever benefits a majority of Ghanaians at any given point in time - ahead of personal ambition and party advantage. They must work closely together to help alleviate poverty in Ghana.
And, hopefully, the National Media Commission (NMC) will come to see, in the new year, why it must do all it can to prevent the consolidation of the media into the hands of a wealthy and powerful few.
Media consolidation today, might appear innocuous to many, but it provides tomorrow's tyranny with perfect working tools to undermine Ghanaian democracy with. The more responsible sections of the Ghanaian media, ought to wake up to this latent and insidious danger.
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it, and a happy and prosperous new year to all the good people of this marvelous but challenging place called Ghana. Let us all resolve to help create a truly better Ghana for all its people in 2014.
Saturday, 14 December 2013
Use Google's Smartphone Policing Application To Fight Corruption At Ghana's Ports
An experiment by Google Ideas and the Rio de Janeiro-based
think thank, the Igarape Institute, in which a smartphone policing
application uploads encrypted video footage, of police on foot patrol in
the farvellas of Rio de Janeiro interacting with residents, to a cloud
server, ought to be studied by the Ghanaian authorities.
It could help eliminate most of the corruption in Ghana's ports and other entry points. As it improves oversight over
customs officers (and members of the other security agencies) on the
ground, who interact with the general public, by their commanders at
headquarters, it would also help protect those officers from false
allegations of unlawful conduct made against them by the public.
The fact that customs, police and immigration officers posted to even the remotest entry points along Ghana's borders, could be monitored in real time by their commanders at headquarters, could make the Google smartphone policing application a powerful and relatively inexpensive tool, to fight corruption at Ghana's ports and other entry points, along our country's borders. One hopes the powers that be will take this up with Google Ideas as soon as practicable. A word to the wise...
Wednesday, 30 October 2013
The NPP Needs A Totally New Leadership With A Cosmopolitan Outlook
Author's note: This piece was written on 13/10/2013 or thereabouts. It is being posted today, because I was unable to do so on the day. Please read on:
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) must not pass up the opportunity to reinvent itself - as a modern, one-nation political party that stands for businesspeople in the whole of Ghana: particularly small and medium-scale entrepreneurs.
It must rid its upper echelons of the narrow-minded and tribal-supremacist individuals - with mindsets set firmly in the Dark Ages - whose world-view is at variance with that of most ordinary people in Ghana.
The cosmopolitan nature of your average person in Ghana, is on display in the daily interactions that neighbours hailing from different parts of our country have with each other, year in year out, in compound-houses across the length and breadth of Ghana.
The tribal-supremacist nonsense-on-bamboo-stilts attitudes of those arrogant and self-important individuals in Nana Akufo-Addo's inner circle, who have succeeded in tearing the NPP apart - to the wonder of many in Ghana - doesn't have much traction in this Ghanaian demographic, thank goodness.
For the sake of those one-nation Ghanaians and their homeland Ghana, the NPP must be taken over by a new executive that understands clearly that genetically, Ghanaians are one people - and that no tribe in our country is inferior or superior to another.
The NPP needs a leadership that is genuinely cosmopolitan in outlook - and wants the enterprise Ghana to succeed: whether the NPP is in power or not, for the sake of the ordinary people of our nation.
The tragedy for the NPP of today, is that Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo was not chosen as the party's presidential candidate for the December 2000 presidential election.
He would have left a record that could have made a lasting difference for the NPP. That he
is one of the few who refused to loot state lands during the Kufuor-era, shows how selfless he would have been as a leader of Ghana, from January 2001 to January 2008, had he led the NPP then. Pity.
Above all, if it wants to succeed, the NPP must rid itself of the baleful influence of the greedy, hypocritical individuals, who talk endlessly about today's high-level corruption - but conveniently forget the unfathomable greed and utter selfishness that characterised the eight long years of the golden age of business for a well-connected and ruthless few: who grew super-rich during the kickback-filled Kufuor-era.
A totally new leadership of young and highly successful professionals, ready to publicly publish the sources of the party's funding, as well as their own personal assets, and that of their spouses - who have a cosmopolitan outlook and value ethical behaviour in those who elect to serve their people by going into politics - around the incorruptible and affable Nana Addo Danquah Akufo, as the party's presidential candidate, for the December 2016 presidential election, might very well win power for the NPP again. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
FIFA Must Change Return Match Venue For Ghana-Egypt World Cup Qualifier In Egypt
Author's note: This piece was written well before 28th October, 2013, the final date by which FIFA was supposed to have received a reply from the Egyptian football authorities about security arrangements put in place for the return match between Ghana and Egypt. Please read on:
The Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA), must change the venue for the return match for the Ghana-Egypt World Cup qualifying match scheduled to be played in Egypt on 19/11/2013.
There is no question that had Egypt been playing a European nation in a World Cup qualifying match, FIFA would never have countenanced Egypt using any stadium in that nation as their home ground.
Egypt is a nation in turmoil. Foreigners going there do so at their own risk.
Why should we allow what many football fans around the world insist amounts to an uncaring and irresponsible attitude on FIFA's part, in this particular instance, in putting the lives of Ghanaian footballers and supporters of the Black Stars at risk, by sanctioning a match in a nation in turmoil, and in which even in times of normalcy, black people are regarded as second-class citizens, and routinely treated with disdain by the majority Arab population?
Let us not give the Egyptian national team's football players, and their emotional and highly-strung supporters, the opportunity to exact their revenge for the humiliation they suffered in Kumasi - and then mourn and wail when tragedy strikes in Egypt: and Ghanaian lives are lost and many Ghanaians wounded as a result of violence by Egyptian football fans.
Who in Ghana missed the callousness and arrogance underlying the rough-house tactics employed by the Egyptian players who deliberately inflicted serious injuries on some of the players of the Black Stars?
The Ghana Football Association (GFA) must move swiftly to get FIFA to change the venue of the return match from Egyptian soil.
Surely, it will not be a disadvantage for the Egyptian national team, the Pharaohs, were the return match against Ghana, to be played in either Morocco or Qatar - both of which are Arab nations?
One is not being an alarmist, in saying that if we are to avoid certain tragedy in Egypt for our nation, FIFA must be forced by the GFA to change the return match venue, for the Ghana-Egypt World Cup qualifier scheduled to be played in Egypt on 19/11/2013. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Could Hon. Haruna Iddrisu Help Secure Future Of Ghana’s Cocoa Industry?
Author's note: This piece was written on 16/10/2013 or thereabouts. It is being posted today, because I was unable to do so on the day. Please read on:
Today, speaking as an organic cocoa farmer myself, I intend to grab an opportunity to point out to Ghana's current minister of trade and industry, the Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, how he could help secure the future of Ghana's all-important cocoa industry.
I will use a report I read online at www.ghanaweb.com, which was attributed to the business section of the Daily Graphic (http://mobile.ghanaweb.com/
For the Hon. Haruna Iddrisu's information, there are high-quality organic fertiliser pellets, such as those made by the Dutch company Fertical,
and natural folair fertilisers, such as Latvian-made BioDeposit, available in Ghana today, which, if allowed by the authorities to be used extensively by cocoa farmers, can replace all the cancer-causing fertilisers and pesticides currently imported and used in Ghana's cocoa industry - and help the industry convert to traceable organic cocoa production in record time.
As it happens, Fertical's excellent organic fertilisers are used by some EU organic farmers. BioDeposit has also made a huge difference to the incomes of many coffee producers in Kenya and Rwanda - some of whom have converted to traceable organic coffee-bean production thanks to the availability of BioDeposit in East Africa. (http://www.ghanaweb.com/
The minister for trade and industry's speech, which was delivered at the 12th Joint Session of the ACP-EU Ministerial Trade Committee in Brussels, was most unfortunate.
Doubtless it was written for him by officials, who like many in officialdom in our country today, daily pay obeisance, to the gods of the cult-of-the-mediocre.
By switching to certified organic cocoa production, Ghana can abandon the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, without endangering its position as the world's second biggest producer of cocoa beans, and impoverishing Ghanaian cocoa farmers (http://www.ghanaweb.com/
The Hon. Haruna Iddrisu's Brussels speech, illustrates perfectly how ill-informed the officials responsible for it are, about global trends in the world's markets for organic agricultural produce, including that for cocoa beans.
The Hon. Haruna Iddrisu must rest assured that if synthetic fertilisers and chemical pesticides were banned tomorrow from being imported into Ghana to be used in cocoa production, it will not impoverish Ghanaian cocoa farmers.
The fact of the matter, is that if we do not stop synthetic fertilisers and chemical pesticides from being imported into Ghana for use in the cocoa industry at some point, and if Ghana does not switch to certified organic cocoa production, in the long-term Ghana is bound to lose its share of the world market for cocoa beans - and cocoa farmers in Ghana will consequently miss the life-enhancing premium prices guaranteed producers of traceable organic cocoa beans. (http://www.ghanaweb.com/
Switching to traceable certified organic cocoa production will secure the future of Ghana's cocoa industry.
The Hon. Haruna Iddrisu can help secure that future, by working closely with the private sector players who can make that happen.
Let him end the malevolent influence of the vested interests that import the synthetic inputs that the international buyers of Ghana's cocoa beans no longer want used in producing the cocoa beans they purchase for making confectionery.
He should encourage the COCOBOD to allow the widespread use of organic fertilisers and natural pesticides in cocoa production in Ghana - and in so doing, be remembered by future generations, for helping to secure the future of Ghana’s cocoa industry: by encouraging a shift to organic cocoa farming. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Today, speaking as an organic cocoa farmer myself, I intend to grab an opportunity to point out to Ghana's current minister of trade and industry, the Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, how he could help secure the future of Ghana's all-important cocoa industry.
I will use a report I read online at www.ghanaweb.com, which was attributed to the business section of the Daily Graphic (http://mobile.ghanaweb.com/
For the Hon. Haruna Iddrisu's information, there are high-quality organic fertiliser pellets, such as those made by the Dutch company Fertical,
and natural folair fertilisers, such as Latvian-made BioDeposit, available in Ghana today, which, if allowed by the authorities to be used extensively by cocoa farmers, can replace all the cancer-causing fertilisers and pesticides currently imported and used in Ghana's cocoa industry - and help the industry convert to traceable organic cocoa production in record time.
As it happens, Fertical's excellent organic fertilisers are used by some EU organic farmers. BioDeposit has also made a huge difference to the incomes of many coffee producers in Kenya and Rwanda - some of whom have converted to traceable organic coffee-bean production thanks to the availability of BioDeposit in East Africa. (http://www.ghanaweb.com/
The minister for trade and industry's speech, which was delivered at the 12th Joint Session of the ACP-EU Ministerial Trade Committee in Brussels, was most unfortunate.
Doubtless it was written for him by officials, who like many in officialdom in our country today, daily pay obeisance, to the gods of the cult-of-the-mediocre.
By switching to certified organic cocoa production, Ghana can abandon the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, without endangering its position as the world's second biggest producer of cocoa beans, and impoverishing Ghanaian cocoa farmers (http://www.ghanaweb.com/
The Hon. Haruna Iddrisu's Brussels speech, illustrates perfectly how ill-informed the officials responsible for it are, about global trends in the world's markets for organic agricultural produce, including that for cocoa beans.
The Hon. Haruna Iddrisu must rest assured that if synthetic fertilisers and chemical pesticides were banned tomorrow from being imported into Ghana to be used in cocoa production, it will not impoverish Ghanaian cocoa farmers.
The fact of the matter, is that if we do not stop synthetic fertilisers and chemical pesticides from being imported into Ghana for use in the cocoa industry at some point, and if Ghana does not switch to certified organic cocoa production, in the long-term Ghana is bound to lose its share of the world market for cocoa beans - and cocoa farmers in Ghana will consequently miss the life-enhancing premium prices guaranteed producers of traceable organic cocoa beans. (http://www.ghanaweb.com/
Switching to traceable certified organic cocoa production will secure the future of Ghana's cocoa industry.
The Hon. Haruna Iddrisu can help secure that future, by working closely with the private sector players who can make that happen.
Let him end the malevolent influence of the vested interests that import the synthetic inputs that the international buyers of Ghana's cocoa beans no longer want used in producing the cocoa beans they purchase for making confectionery.
He should encourage the COCOBOD to allow the widespread use of organic fertilisers and natural pesticides in cocoa production in Ghana - and in so doing, be remembered by future generations, for helping to secure the future of Ghana’s cocoa industry: by encouraging a shift to organic cocoa farming. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Time To Pass Laws Banning Strikes By All Public-Sector Employees in Ghana?
Author's note: This piece was written on 22/10/2013. It is being posted today, because I was unable to do so on the day. Please read on:
One hopes that the controversy generated by retired Brigadier-General Mensah-Nunoo's plain-speaking, about the many strikes by public-sector employees, will lead to a national conversation about strikes by public-sector employees, and low productivity levels in Ghana's public-sector.
No one who has listened to what Brigadier-General Nunoo-Mensah actually said, will condemn him for saying what he did. Sadly, in a nation full of fence-sitting moral cowards, he is being condemned for saying something that needed to be said.
It is also instructive that few in the Ghanaian media are making the point that he was right to call for sacrifice on the part of those being allocated such a huge proportion of the national cake.
That as much as 70 percent of total national revenue generated from taxes, has to be used to pay public-sector employees - some of whom then refuse to work and embark on strike action because they are dissatisfied with their remuneration - is a recipe for disaster.
How can we ever be a competitive nation globally in such circumstances?
No nation can grow if it has to spend as much as 70 percent of total tax revenue just to pay public-sector employees. It is economic madness.
The question then is: in such straight-jacket economic circumstances, how do we fund healthcare facilities; educational institutions; expand and modernise our infrastructure, and save for the future as well? Somehow we must downsize the public sector.
It is not surprising that having direct knowledge of the negative impact that public-sector pay is having on the national economy, the plain-speaking Brigadier-General Nunoo-Mensah is incensed by the endless strikes by public-sector employees - who are apparently dissatisfied with the very aggregated remuneration that is gradually destroying the nation's economy.
There are many patriotic one-nation Ghanaians who also feel irritated by the many strikes by public-sector employees - who it appears are blithely unaware that paying about 500,000 Ghanaians 70 percent of total tax revenue is a real sacrifice on the part the rest of the population.
On top of that painful reality is the bald fact that that massive recurrent expenditure will gradually ruin Ghana's economy if nothing is done about getting value for it.
For patriotic one-nation Ghanaians, it is understandable that Brigadier-General Mensah-Nunoo should feel frustrated by the many strikes we are witnessing in the public sector.
The former Chief of Defence Staff is a man who is modest, disciplined and clearly loves his country - attributes that must make it pretty hard for him to understand why the very people whose pay is threatening the ability of the government to fund development projects, should not be satisfied with what they are paid.
The truth of the matter, is that there is only one solution to the intolerable problem of striking public-sector employees.
Ghana must simply follow the example of the 39 out of the 50 states in the United States of America, which ban strikes by all public-sector employees.
Throughout Ghana's post-independence era, there have been dedicated and productive public-sector employees. However, there is no question that productivity levels in the public-sector of today, leave much to be desired.
It is generally acknowledged by many independent-minded and discerning Ghanaians that if those working in the public sector, took the same attitude to work that one sees on display on a daily basis in government ministries, departments and agencies, to the private sector, they would not last very long in their jobs.
The time has now come for our political class to come together to protect the national interest in this matter - by passing new laws that ban strikes by all public-sector employees: and change the employment contracts of public-sector employees to reflect those new laws.
If that is not done now, no matter which political party is in power, public-sector employees with low productivity levels, and whom 70 percent of total tax revenue is used to compensate, will continue to hold our nation to ransom - and our nation's economy will steadily deteriorate because after paying them there will never be enough tax revenue left to invest in productive undertakings: such as building power plants and roads, which are vital for economic growth. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
One hopes that the controversy generated by retired Brigadier-General Mensah-Nunoo's plain-speaking, about the many strikes by public-sector employees, will lead to a national conversation about strikes by public-sector employees, and low productivity levels in Ghana's public-sector.
No one who has listened to what Brigadier-General Nunoo-Mensah actually said, will condemn him for saying what he did. Sadly, in a nation full of fence-sitting moral cowards, he is being condemned for saying something that needed to be said.
It is also instructive that few in the Ghanaian media are making the point that he was right to call for sacrifice on the part of those being allocated such a huge proportion of the national cake.
That as much as 70 percent of total national revenue generated from taxes, has to be used to pay public-sector employees - some of whom then refuse to work and embark on strike action because they are dissatisfied with their remuneration - is a recipe for disaster.
How can we ever be a competitive nation globally in such circumstances?
No nation can grow if it has to spend as much as 70 percent of total tax revenue just to pay public-sector employees. It is economic madness.
The question then is: in such straight-jacket economic circumstances, how do we fund healthcare facilities; educational institutions; expand and modernise our infrastructure, and save for the future as well? Somehow we must downsize the public sector.
It is not surprising that having direct knowledge of the negative impact that public-sector pay is having on the national economy, the plain-speaking Brigadier-General Nunoo-Mensah is incensed by the endless strikes by public-sector employees - who are apparently dissatisfied with the very aggregated remuneration that is gradually destroying the nation's economy.
There are many patriotic one-nation Ghanaians who also feel irritated by the many strikes by public-sector employees - who it appears are blithely unaware that paying about 500,000 Ghanaians 70 percent of total tax revenue is a real sacrifice on the part the rest of the population.
On top of that painful reality is the bald fact that that massive recurrent expenditure will gradually ruin Ghana's economy if nothing is done about getting value for it.
For patriotic one-nation Ghanaians, it is understandable that Brigadier-General Mensah-Nunoo should feel frustrated by the many strikes we are witnessing in the public sector.
The former Chief of Defence Staff is a man who is modest, disciplined and clearly loves his country - attributes that must make it pretty hard for him to understand why the very people whose pay is threatening the ability of the government to fund development projects, should not be satisfied with what they are paid.
The truth of the matter, is that there is only one solution to the intolerable problem of striking public-sector employees.
Ghana must simply follow the example of the 39 out of the 50 states in the United States of America, which ban strikes by all public-sector employees.
Throughout Ghana's post-independence era, there have been dedicated and productive public-sector employees. However, there is no question that productivity levels in the public-sector of today, leave much to be desired.
It is generally acknowledged by many independent-minded and discerning Ghanaians that if those working in the public sector, took the same attitude to work that one sees on display on a daily basis in government ministries, departments and agencies, to the private sector, they would not last very long in their jobs.
The time has now come for our political class to come together to protect the national interest in this matter - by passing new laws that ban strikes by all public-sector employees: and change the employment contracts of public-sector employees to reflect those new laws.
If that is not done now, no matter which political party is in power, public-sector employees with low productivity levels, and whom 70 percent of total tax revenue is used to compensate, will continue to hold our nation to ransom - and our nation's economy will steadily deteriorate because after paying them there will never be enough tax revenue left to invest in productive undertakings: such as building power plants and roads, which are vital for economic growth. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
How President Mahama Can Show He Is Serious About Fighting Corruption
Author's note: This piece was written on the 20th of October, 2013. It is being posted today, because I was unable to do so on the day. Please read on:
The only way to counter the widespread perception that there is rampant high-level corruption in the country, is for President Mahama to deal ruthlessly with all the powerful and influential individuals, who become embroiled in it, during his tenure.
Fortunately for the country, thus far, President Mahama has shown by his actions, that he is a leader who is prepared to fight high-level corruption when it is brought to his attention.
The ongoing investigations by law enforcement agencies into alleged corruption at the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA) being a case in point.
What President Mahama also needs to do, is for him to publicly publish the assets of both himself and his spouse. That shining example is likely to be followed by many of his successors in office - a real boon for the fight against high-level corruption in Ghana.
And luckily for the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), plain-speaking former President Rawlings is alive and in good health, considering his age.
The NDC would be wise to let ex-President Rawlings take a leading role in the fight against corruption - by letting him spearhead it. He will provide the Mahama administration with the needed political will to fight high-level corruption.
There is nothing in the 1992 constitution that specifically prevents a former President being appointed, in an unpaid and advisory role, to oversee the work of an anti-corruption task force at the presidency, which will ensure that cases of corruption being investigated by law enforcement agencies in Ghana, are not derailed as a result of meddling by powerful and influential individuals to stop ongoing investigations.
And, if he is willing to return to the NDC administration again, President Mahama ought to bring back Mr. Martin Amidu to the government as Attorney General.
Extraordinary challenges demand unorthodox solutions. Co-opting former President Rawlings and Martin Amidu, into his administration to help fight high-level corruption, will send a clear signal to the country that President Mahama is indeed serious about tackling high-level corruption in Ghana. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Progressives In Africa Must Not Hold Brief For Africa's Despots
Author's note: This piece was written on 13/10/2013. It is being posted today, because I was unable to do so on the day. Please read on:
In an op-ed in the 10th October, 2013, edition of the online version of the New York Times, entitled: "In Africa, Seeking a License to Kill", former Anglican Archbishop of South Africa, Desmond Tutu,
appealed to people of conscience around the world, to act to stop Africa's leaders - meeting at an African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa - from recommending that nations in the continent leave the International Criminal Court (ICC).
I have always felt sad, whenever I have had to listen to African Progressives condemning the ICC - and labelling it a racist and neo-colonialist institution, which only focuses on African leaders.
Surely, instead of shielding the continent's cruel despots for ideological reasons, African Progressives ought to be more concerned about the plight of the millions of poor Africans victimised by the continent's most brutish leaders - and lead the fight to make all the leaders of the AU's member-nations more accountable to their people?
It is time today's Africans put aside the victim-mentality that makes so many in Africa blame colonialism and imperialism for the continent's failings. There is no longer any excuse for that in the rising giant that the Africa of today is.
Many of the nations in Africa have been independent entities for at least some fifty odd years now - and the blame for pogroms in places like western Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, must be laid squarely at the doorstep of the leaders of those nations in which unspeakable and unpardonable horrors take place regularly.
Former Anglican Archbishop of South Africa, Desmond Tutu, deserves our praise and respect for raising the alarm, and appealing to the international community to hold the mass-murderers amongst Africa's leaders accountable for their terrible and cruel actions.
I am sharing his New York Times op-ed, which I have culled for that purpose, with readers. Please read on:
"In Africa, Seeking a License to Kill
By DESMOND TUTU
Published: October 10, 2013
CAPE TOWN — MEMBERS of the African Union will meet in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, today to discuss recent calls by some African leaders to withdraw from the International Criminal Court. These calls must be resisted. The continent has suffered the consequences of unaccountable governance for too long to disown the protections offered by the I.C.C.
Those leaders seeking to skirt the court are effectively looking for a license to kill, maim and oppress their own people without consequence. They believe the interests of the people should not stand in the way of their ambitions of wealth and power; that being held to account by the I.C.C. interferes with their ability to achieve these ambitions; and that those who get in their way — the victims: their own people — should remain faceless and voiceless.
Most of all, they believe that neither the golden rule, nor the rule of law, applies to them.
But they know that they cannot say these things in public without repercussions. Instead, they conveniently accuse the I.C.C. of racism.
At first glance, the claim might seem plausible. The I.C.C., founded in 2002 and based in The Hague, has so far considered only cases against Africans. But this is partly because independent tribunals that were established to handle cases concerning the former Yugoslavia, Cambodia and other countries have naturally led to a reduction in the scope of the court’s activities.
So far, 32 people have been publicly indicted by the court, with only one conviction, of Thomas Lubanga, for war crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But many of the investigations were not initiated by the court or a foreign body; they were referred to the court by African governments themselves. The judges and investigators were invited in.
So the African focus of the court should not be seen as an indictment of its neutrality but of the quality of leadership and democracy in many African countries. When thousands of people are murdered and displaced in any country, as in Sudan, for instance, ideally the country’s own system of justice will redress the wrongs. That is not in dispute. But when that country is unwilling or unable to restore justice, as is the case in many African countries, who should represent the interests of the victims? Critics of the I.C.C. say, “Nobody.” They simply vilify the institution as racist and unjust, as Hermann Göring and his fellow Nazi defendants vilified the Nuremberg tribunals following World War II.
While some African leaders play both the race and colonial cards, the facts are clear. Far from being a so-called white man’s witch hunt, the I.C.C. could not be more African if it tried. More than 20 African countries helped to found the I.C.C. Of the 108 nations that initially joined the I.C.C., 30 are in Africa. Five of the court’s 18 judges are African, as is its vice president, Sanji Mmasenono Monageng of Botswana. The court’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, who has huge power over which cases are brought forward, is from Gambia. The I.C.C. is very clearly an African court.
Leaving the I.C.C. would be a tragedy for Africa, as leaders like the former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan, of Ghana, have noted. Without its deterrence, countries could and would attack their neighbors, or minorities in their own countries, with impunity. When Lubanga was arrested to face charges of enlisting and conscripting child soldiers, the threat of the I.C.C. undermined his support from other militias. After the Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo was taken to face justice in The Hague, the country was able to rebuild.
Without this court, there would be no brake on the worst excesses of these criminals. And these violent leaders continue to plague Africa: the Great Lakes, Mali, northern Nigeria and Egypt all give reason for concern. Perpetrators of violence must not be allowed to wriggle free.
Moreover, where justice and order are not restored, there can be no healing, leaving violence and hatred ticking like a bomb in the corner. We know too well that long, painful road to healing in South Africa, as do the people of Kenya. As Africa begins to find its voice in world affairs, it must strengthen its commitment to the rule of law, not undermine it. These principles are part of our global moral and legal responsibility, not items from a menu we can choose only when it suits us.
Along with thousands of others, I have joined a campaign by Avaaz, an international advocacy group, calling on Africa’s leaders to stay in the I.C.C. The alternatives are too painful: revenge, like what happened in Rwanda, Kosovo and Bosnia, or blanket amnesty and a national commitment to amnesia, like what happened in Chile. The only way any country can deal with its past is to confront it.
We need loud voices in Addis Ababa to deliver this message, to shout down those who want us to do nothing. We also need the continent’s heavyweights, Nigeria and South Africa, to exercise leadership and stop those who don’t like the rules from attempting to rewrite them. Far from a fight between Africa and the West, this is a fight within Africa, for its soul.
Desmond Tutu, the Anglican archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his contribution to opposing apartheid.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: October 11, 2013
An earlier version of this article misspelled, at one point, the surname of a warlord convicted by the International Criminal Court. He is Thomas Lubanga, not Lubunga. The article also misstated the year of Mr. Lubanga's arrest. It was in 2005, not two years ago."
End of culled New York Times op-ed piece by former Anglican Archbishop of South Africa, Desmond Tutu.
Saturday, 12 October 2013
President Mahama Must Sack Mr. Samuel Sarpong Immediately If Assault Allegation Is True
To quote one of my neighbours who spoke to me about it later that evening: "Kofi, I have no reason to doubt the tipper truck driver's testimony - as he did what for many in this superstition-ridden society is the ultimate test of the truth: demanded that each party be made to drop an egg on the floor - to show that they are speaking the truth or be cursed if the opposite is the case."
This is a democracy, and those appointed by the President as government ministers to serve the people of Ghana, must understand clearly that they are servants of the people - and are not in office to lord it over the ordinary people of Ghana.
Such egregious high-handedness by a minister of state is totally unacceptable in a democracy like ours.
If Mr. Owusu is telling the truth - something that can easily be ascertained by an independent enquiry by the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) - then Mr Samuel Sarpong has failed the President and must do the decent thing and resign from his position of his own accord: or be sacked by President Mahama.
Mr. Samuel Sarpong's response to an enquiry by CHRAJ, will be a test of his character - and will show Ghanaians whether he is fit to serve as a minister of state in our homeland Ghana or not.
No minister of state must assault anyone in the Ghana of today, and be allowed to get away with it. That would be totally unacceptable. President Mahama must sack Mr. Samuel Sarpong immediately - if the assault allegation against him turns out to be true.
A word to the wise...
Progressives In Africa Must Not Hold Brief For Africa's Despots
In an op-ed in the 10th October, 2013 edition of the online version of the New York Times, entitled: "In Africa, Seeking a License to Kill", former Anglican Archbishop of South Africa, Desmond Tutu,
appealed to people of conscience around the world, to act to stop Africa's leaders - meeting at an African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa - from recommending that nations in the continent leave the International Criminal Court (ICC).
I have always felt sad, whenever I have had to listen to African Progressives condemning the ICC - and labelling it a racist and neo-colonialist institution, which only focuses on African leaders.
Surely, instead of shielding the continent's cruel despots for ideological reasons, African Progressives ought to be more concerned about the plight of the millions of poor Africans victimised by the continent's most brutish leaders - and lead the fight to make all the leaders of the AU's member-nations more accountable to their people?
It is time today's Africans put aside the victim-mentality that makes so many in Africa blame colonialism and imperialism for the continent's failings. There is no longer any excuse for that in the rising giant that the Africa of today is.
Many of the nations in Africa have been independent entities for some fifty odd years now - and the blame for pogroms in places like western Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, must be laid squarely at the doorstep of the leaders of those nations in which unspeakable and unpardonable horrors take place regularly.
Former Anglican Archbishop of South Africa, Desmond Tutu, deserves our praise and respect for raising the alarm, and appealing to the international community to hold the mass-murderers amongst Africa's leaders accountable for their terrible and cruel actions.
I am sharing his New York Times op-ed, which I have culled for that purpose, with readers. Please read on:
"In Africa, Seeking a License to Kill
By DESMOND TUTU
Published: October 10, 2013
CAPE TOWN — MEMBERS of the African Union will meet in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, today to discuss recent calls by some African leaders to withdraw from the International Criminal Court. These calls must be resisted. The continent has suffered the consequences of unaccountable governance for too long to disown the protections offered by the I.C.C.
Those leaders seeking to skirt the court are effectively looking for a license to kill, maim and oppress their own people without consequence. They believe the interests of the people should not stand in the way of their ambitions of wealth and power; that being held to account by the I.C.C. interferes with their ability to achieve these ambitions; and that those who get in their way — the victims: their own people — should remain faceless and voiceless.
Most of all, they believe that neither the golden rule, nor the rule of law, applies to them.
But they know that they cannot say these things in public without repercussions. Instead, they conveniently accuse the I.C.C. of racism.
At first glance, the claim might seem plausible. The I.C.C., founded in 2002 and based in The Hague, has so far considered only cases against Africans. But this is partly because independent tribunals that were established to handle cases concerning the former Yugoslavia, Cambodia and other countries have naturally led to a reduction in the scope of the court’s activities.
So far, 32 people have been publicly indicted by the court, with only one conviction, of Thomas Lubanga, for war crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But many of the investigations were not initiated by the court or a foreign body; they were referred to the court by African governments themselves. The judges and investigators were invited in.
So the African focus of the court should not be seen as an indictment of its neutrality but of the quality of leadership and democracy in many African countries. When thousands of people are murdered and displaced in any country, as in Sudan, for instance, ideally the country’s own system of justice will redress the wrongs. That is not in dispute. But when that country is unwilling or unable to restore justice, as is the case in many African countries, who should represent the interests of the victims? Critics of the I.C.C. say, “Nobody.” They simply vilify the institution as racist and unjust, as Hermann Göring and his fellow Nazi defendants vilified the Nuremberg tribunals following World War II.
While some African leaders play both the race and colonial cards, the facts are clear. Far from being a so-called white man’s witch hunt, the I.C.C. could not be more African if it tried. More than 20 African countries helped to found the I.C.C. Of the 108 nations that initially joined the I.C.C., 30 are in Africa. Five of the court’s 18 judges are African, as is its vice president, Sanji Mmasenono Monageng of Botswana. The court’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, who has huge power over which cases are brought forward, is from Gambia. The I.C.C. is very clearly an African court.
Leaving the I.C.C. would be a tragedy for Africa, as leaders like the former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan, of Ghana, have noted. Without its deterrence, countries could and would attack their neighbors, or minorities in their own countries, with impunity. When Lubanga was arrested to face charges of enlisting and conscripting child soldiers, the threat of the I.C.C. undermined his support from other militias. After the Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo was taken to face justice in The Hague, the country was able to rebuild.
Without this court, there would be no brake on the worst excesses of these criminals. And these violent leaders continue to plague Africa: the Great Lakes, Mali, northern Nigeria and Egypt all give reason for concern. Perpetrators of violence must not be allowed to wriggle free.
Moreover, where justice and order are not restored, there can be no healing, leaving violence and hatred ticking like a bomb in the corner. We know too well that long, painful road to healing in South Africa, as do the people of Kenya. As Africa begins to find its voice in world affairs, it must strengthen its commitment to the rule of law, not undermine it. These principles are part of our global moral and legal responsibility, not items from a menu we can choose only when it suits us.
Along with thousands of others, I have joined a campaign by Avaaz, an international advocacy group, calling on Africa’s leaders to stay in the I.C.C. The alternatives are too painful: revenge, like what happened in Rwanda, Kosovo and Bosnia, or blanket amnesty and a national commitment to amnesia, like what happened in Chile. The only way any country can deal with its past is to confront it.
We need loud voices in Addis Ababa to deliver this message, to shout down those who want us to do nothing. We also need the continent’s heavyweights, Nigeria and South Africa, to exercise leadership and stop those who don’t like the rules from attempting to rewrite them. Far from a fight between Africa and the West, this is a fight within Africa, for its soul.
Desmond Tutu, the Anglican archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his contribution to opposing apartheid.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: October 11, 2013
An earlier version of this article misspelled, at one point, the surname of a warlord convicted by the International Criminal Court. He is Thomas Lubanga, not Lubunga. The article also misstated the year of Mr. Lubanga's arrest. It was in 2005, not two years ago."
End of culled New York Times op-ed piece by former Anglican Archbishop of South Africa, Desmond Tutu.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Tax-Free Renewable Power Systems Will Make Electricity Tariff Increases Bearable
As a people, we face a bleak future, if our nation does not make the
needed investments, to modernise the energy sector of our national
economy - and make it one of the most efficient in the world.
The only way to modernise Ghana's power sector, is to invest money in that area of Ghana's economy - and by so doing, eliminate the inefficiencies that have bedevilled it for decades.
The companies that produce power in Ghana, ought to be able to recover their costs and make a profit, to enable them stay in business - as is the case for all power-sector businesses the world over.
That is the only business model that will enable them survive in the long-term. That is a real-world cold fact of modern life that all Ghanaians must accept.
Yet, precious few in Ghana accept that it is unrealistic, in the 21st century, to continue expecting to have reliable power delivered by a modern and efficient energy sector, if consumers refuse to pay the true cost of producing electricity.
The fact of the matter - and surprising though it might be to many - is that consumers in Ghana can all cope with the increase in tariffs for water and electricity - by taking simple measures to eliminate wasteful use of water and electricity at the individual and household levels.
If they want a positive outcome to the furore created across the country, by the increase in electricity tariffs, our educated urban elites must see the crisis brought about by the increase in utility tariffs, as an opportunity to increase the share of renewable energy, in Ghana's power-generating mix.
As a people, we must aim to make it possible for households throughout Ghana, to be in a position to buy solar and other renewable energy systems - because they are affordable: and reasonably-priced consumer credit for their purchase, readily available nationwide.
Why do the powers that be not use that noble objective, as an opportunity to empower Ghana's leasing industry, for example - by making all income from leasing solar power and other renewable energy systems tax-free?
Will it also not help stabilise many of the shaky entities in the savings and loans industry too, if one of the areas they could focus on, was financing the purchase of renewable power systems by households, educational institutions, and commercial entities across Ghana - were the government to make income they derive from that tax-free?
The mounting public discontent over electricity tariff increases, and the lack of an imaginative and appropriate response to it from our ruling elites, illustrates perfectly the inability of so many amongst our educated urban elites, to turn seeming disasters into opportunities.
Surely, a more creative response to the crisis brought about by the increase in electricity tariffs, is for the government of the day to make the entire supply-chain for renewable energy systems in Ghana, tax-free?
Apart from the spurt in consumer demand in the national economy that that will engender, psychologically, that exciting green-economy prospect that also leverages the new global low-carbon development model, will make electricity tariff increases bearable for all in Ghana. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
The only way to modernise Ghana's power sector, is to invest money in that area of Ghana's economy - and by so doing, eliminate the inefficiencies that have bedevilled it for decades.
The companies that produce power in Ghana, ought to be able to recover their costs and make a profit, to enable them stay in business - as is the case for all power-sector businesses the world over.
That is the only business model that will enable them survive in the long-term. That is a real-world cold fact of modern life that all Ghanaians must accept.
Yet, precious few in Ghana accept that it is unrealistic, in the 21st century, to continue expecting to have reliable power delivered by a modern and efficient energy sector, if consumers refuse to pay the true cost of producing electricity.
The fact of the matter - and surprising though it might be to many - is that consumers in Ghana can all cope with the increase in tariffs for water and electricity - by taking simple measures to eliminate wasteful use of water and electricity at the individual and household levels.
If they want a positive outcome to the furore created across the country, by the increase in electricity tariffs, our educated urban elites must see the crisis brought about by the increase in utility tariffs, as an opportunity to increase the share of renewable energy, in Ghana's power-generating mix.
As a people, we must aim to make it possible for households throughout Ghana, to be in a position to buy solar and other renewable energy systems - because they are affordable: and reasonably-priced consumer credit for their purchase, readily available nationwide.
Why do the powers that be not use that noble objective, as an opportunity to empower Ghana's leasing industry, for example - by making all income from leasing solar power and other renewable energy systems tax-free?
Will it also not help stabilise many of the shaky entities in the savings and loans industry too, if one of the areas they could focus on, was financing the purchase of renewable power systems by households, educational institutions, and commercial entities across Ghana - were the government to make income they derive from that tax-free?
The mounting public discontent over electricity tariff increases, and the lack of an imaginative and appropriate response to it from our ruling elites, illustrates perfectly the inability of so many amongst our educated urban elites, to turn seeming disasters into opportunities.
Surely, a more creative response to the crisis brought about by the increase in electricity tariffs, is for the government of the day to make the entire supply-chain for renewable energy systems in Ghana, tax-free?
Apart from the spurt in consumer demand in the national economy that that will engender, psychologically, that exciting green-economy prospect that also leverages the new global low-carbon development model, will make electricity tariff increases bearable for all in Ghana. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Could Lawlessness On Roads In Ghana Be Exploited by Terrorists?
Author's note: This piece was written on 9/10/2013. It is being posted today, because I was unable to do so on the day. Please read on:
The phrase "Ghanaians don't like following laws and regulations" is one that is often heard, when blatant examples of law-breaking leads to some mishap or tragedy.
Most Ghanaians have seen and heard television and radio news reports of suicide bombers using motorcycles and vehicles to kill and maim scores of people in places like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.
The fact that that terrible tactic employed by terrorists elsewhere, could be employed here too, is one of the reasons why the authorities in Ghana must move quickly to bring to an end, the use of unregistered motorcycles and vehicles, on roads across the country.
Even on weekends, one sees unregistered vehicles with Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) trade plates - used to move such vehicles from one point to another, especially when cleared from the ports and land entry points at our borders - being used to attend funerals in cities, towns and villages around Ghana, by their occupants, who invariably number more than two: something that the law frowns on.
Terrorist organisations looking for a soft spot in Ghana's underbelly, are bound to exploit such egregious examples of lawlessness on roads in Ghana.
The Ghanaian media must help the security agencies to bring this outrageous practice to an end.
Were radio and television stations in Ghana to constantly point out the possible dangers posed to national security by such law-breaking on our roads, perhaps it would make the general public more aware of the dangers they pose to all Ghanaians: and elicit their support in bringing it swiftly to an end. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
The phrase "Ghanaians don't like following laws and regulations" is one that is often heard, when blatant examples of law-breaking leads to some mishap or tragedy.
Most Ghanaians have seen and heard television and radio news reports of suicide bombers using motorcycles and vehicles to kill and maim scores of people in places like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.
The fact that that terrible tactic employed by terrorists elsewhere, could be employed here too, is one of the reasons why the authorities in Ghana must move quickly to bring to an end, the use of unregistered motorcycles and vehicles, on roads across the country.
Even on weekends, one sees unregistered vehicles with Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) trade plates - used to move such vehicles from one point to another, especially when cleared from the ports and land entry points at our borders - being used to attend funerals in cities, towns and villages around Ghana, by their occupants, who invariably number more than two: something that the law frowns on.
Terrorist organisations looking for a soft spot in Ghana's underbelly, are bound to exploit such egregious examples of lawlessness on roads in Ghana.
The Ghanaian media must help the security agencies to bring this outrageous practice to an end.
Were radio and television stations in Ghana to constantly point out the possible dangers posed to national security by such law-breaking on our roads, perhaps it would make the general public more aware of the dangers they pose to all Ghanaians: and elicit their support in bringing it swiftly to an end. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Empower Diasporans To Run Businesses In Ghana From Overseas
Author's note: This piece was written on 7/10/2013. It is being posted today, because I was unable to do so on the day. Please read on:
Ghanaians in the Diaspora, represent a valuable source of know-how and capital, which could be harnessed for the transformation of our nation's economy.
The enterprise Ghana ought to find creative ways of making it easier for Diasporans to set up and operate businesses in Ghana from the nations around the globe that they reside in.
The E-governance initiative, for example, could be used to empower Diasporans wanting to set up and run businesses in Ghana from abroad.
It is also a step in the right direction that a dedicated office has apparently been set up in Ghana's foreign ministry, to address the concerns of Ghanaians in the Diaspora.
One of the things that should be of concern to that office - which one hopes is run by returnee-diasporans for Diasporans - is to make it possible for the Registrar General's Department's regulations governing the activities of companies, to be amended to make it possible for Diasporans to register companies in Ghana, from their bases abroad.
They should also be able to register for Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) TIN numbers from their overseas bases - and deal with the GRA from their bases abroad.
Ghanaians in the Diaspora should also be exempted from the regulation governing the activities of companies, which demands that at least one director of a registered limited liability company, be present in the country at all material times.
The fact of the matter, is that not all Diasporans are able to find suitable local partners for their companies.
It also ought to be possible for Diasporans to open cedi bank accounts in Ghana, from their overseas basis.
It simply does not make sense that they have to be physically present in Ghana to open bank accounts.
Surely, the banking industry is perfectly capable of designing systems in such fashion that Diasporans can go online to open bank accounts in Ghana?
If the government of the day wants to really help Diasporans make a meaningful contribution to the nation-building effort, it must make it possible for Diasporans to oversee all aspects of the operations of their businesses in Ghana from their overseas bases.
That means above all, that it ought to be possible for Diasporans to be in a position to take all the necessary steps, from wherever in the world they live, to make their businesses compliant with the various regulatory regimes governing the activities of limited liability companies in Ghana, by utilising the internet.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Ghanaians in the Diaspora, represent a valuable source of know-how and capital, which could be harnessed for the transformation of our nation's economy.
The enterprise Ghana ought to find creative ways of making it easier for Diasporans to set up and operate businesses in Ghana from the nations around the globe that they reside in.
The E-governance initiative, for example, could be used to empower Diasporans wanting to set up and run businesses in Ghana from abroad.
It is also a step in the right direction that a dedicated office has apparently been set up in Ghana's foreign ministry, to address the concerns of Ghanaians in the Diaspora.
One of the things that should be of concern to that office - which one hopes is run by returnee-diasporans for Diasporans - is to make it possible for the Registrar General's Department's regulations governing the activities of companies, to be amended to make it possible for Diasporans to register companies in Ghana, from their bases abroad.
They should also be able to register for Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) TIN numbers from their overseas bases - and deal with the GRA from their bases abroad.
Ghanaians in the Diaspora should also be exempted from the regulation governing the activities of companies, which demands that at least one director of a registered limited liability company, be present in the country at all material times.
The fact of the matter, is that not all Diasporans are able to find suitable local partners for their companies.
It also ought to be possible for Diasporans to open cedi bank accounts in Ghana, from their overseas basis.
It simply does not make sense that they have to be physically present in Ghana to open bank accounts.
Surely, the banking industry is perfectly capable of designing systems in such fashion that Diasporans can go online to open bank accounts in Ghana?
If the government of the day wants to really help Diasporans make a meaningful contribution to the nation-building effort, it must make it possible for Diasporans to oversee all aspects of the operations of their businesses in Ghana from their overseas bases.
That means above all, that it ought to be possible for Diasporans to be in a position to take all the necessary steps, from wherever in the world they live, to make their businesses compliant with the various regulatory regimes governing the activities of limited liability companies in Ghana, by utilising the internet.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Thursday, 3 October 2013
Revise The AMA's Hard-To-Fathom Edict On Accra's Taxis
I am yet to meet an official from the city authorities, who can explain
and justify the new Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) taxi regulations
- from a human rights perspective.
Many taxi drivers in Accra seem to feel the new AMA regulations are an imposition - and an abuse of basic rights guaranteed them under the constitution of Ghana.
From my perspective, if it really is true that as a result of those new AMA regulations for taxis, it will now be virtually impossible for someone to hail a taxi from Kasoa Amanfro, for example, and be dropped off at the centre of Accra by that selfsame taxi, then that is clearly untenable.
If, in practice, as a result of those new AMA regulations, a city-centre-bound passenger from Kasoa Amanfro will now have to take a series of taxi rides - changing taxis at imaginary borders, beyond which the various taxis he or she will now have to hail, cannot traverse - then something is seriously wrong with those new AMA regulations governing the operations of taxis in the capital: and the sooner those hard-to-fathom regulations are scrapped, the better it would be for the AMA, and, above all, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) regime of President Mahama, which is bound to get all the flack from this odd edict.
Why make life difficult for ordinary people with such curious regulations, I ask?
Why court such needless controversy for absolutely no political gain in return - and create an avoidable PR disaster for a government trying hard to rebalance the economy at such great cost to itself politically?
The bottom line, is that the ability to hail a taxi cab from any point in Accra, and be dropped off at one's chosen destination anywhere in the capital, must not be restricted by regulations of any kind.
Anything to the contrary would amount to infringing on the basic rights of Ghanaians who drive taxis in Accra and those who use their services - the freedom to go about their lawful business peacefully without let or hindrance.
The AMA must aim to be a more business-friendly local government establishment - not one that engages in needless restriction of business for Accra's hard-pressed entrepreneurs, including the city's hapless taxi operators.
Yes, let the AMA register taxi cabs in the city of Accra as a revenue-raising measure, if current circumstances force it to.
However, it must not restrict the city's taxis to operating only within the boundaries of particular areas in the city.
When a taxi picks a fare anywhere in Accra, the driver ought to be allowed to drop the passenger off, in any part of the city that that particular passenger wants to be taken to.
The AMA's new edict on taxis is hard to fathom - and must be quickly revised in consultation with the city's taxi operators. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Many taxi drivers in Accra seem to feel the new AMA regulations are an imposition - and an abuse of basic rights guaranteed them under the constitution of Ghana.
From my perspective, if it really is true that as a result of those new AMA regulations for taxis, it will now be virtually impossible for someone to hail a taxi from Kasoa Amanfro, for example, and be dropped off at the centre of Accra by that selfsame taxi, then that is clearly untenable.
If, in practice, as a result of those new AMA regulations, a city-centre-bound passenger from Kasoa Amanfro will now have to take a series of taxi rides - changing taxis at imaginary borders, beyond which the various taxis he or she will now have to hail, cannot traverse - then something is seriously wrong with those new AMA regulations governing the operations of taxis in the capital: and the sooner those hard-to-fathom regulations are scrapped, the better it would be for the AMA, and, above all, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) regime of President Mahama, which is bound to get all the flack from this odd edict.
Why make life difficult for ordinary people with such curious regulations, I ask?
Why court such needless controversy for absolutely no political gain in return - and create an avoidable PR disaster for a government trying hard to rebalance the economy at such great cost to itself politically?
The bottom line, is that the ability to hail a taxi cab from any point in Accra, and be dropped off at one's chosen destination anywhere in the capital, must not be restricted by regulations of any kind.
Anything to the contrary would amount to infringing on the basic rights of Ghanaians who drive taxis in Accra and those who use their services - the freedom to go about their lawful business peacefully without let or hindrance.
The AMA must aim to be a more business-friendly local government establishment - not one that engages in needless restriction of business for Accra's hard-pressed entrepreneurs, including the city's hapless taxi operators.
Yes, let the AMA register taxi cabs in the city of Accra as a revenue-raising measure, if current circumstances force it to.
However, it must not restrict the city's taxis to operating only within the boundaries of particular areas in the city.
When a taxi picks a fare anywhere in Accra, the driver ought to be allowed to drop the passenger off, in any part of the city that that particular passenger wants to be taken to.
The AMA's new edict on taxis is hard to fathom - and must be quickly revised in consultation with the city's taxi operators. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Ghanaian Elite Must Study Jeremy Rifkin's Alternative Energy Views
Author's note: This piece was written on 1/10/2013. It is being posted today, because I was unable to do so on the day. Please read on:
Today I am sharing an interview conducted by Dexter Roberts, who is Bloomberg Businessweek's Asia News Editor and head of its China bureau.
He interviewed
Jeremy Rifkin, author of the best-selling book entitled: "The Third Industrial Revolution: How Lateral Power is Transforming Energy, the Economy, and the World ".
The book's author, Jeremy Rifkin, is president of the Foundation on Economic Trends.
At a time when Ghanaians face an increase in tariffs for electricity, one hopes his interesting and eye-opening book will be read by many of our educated urban elites. Please read on:
"China and the Third Industrial Revolution
By Dexter Roberts September 26, 2013

China
Jeremy Rifkin, president of the Foundation on Economic Trends and best-selling author of The Third Industrial Revolution: How Lateral Power is Transforming Energy, the Economy, and the World, just finished a two-week-long first visit to China, where he met with local and national officials, laying out his vision of a post-petroleum, Internet-connected world.
Rifkin came to the attention of Chinese policymakers late last year, after the official Xinhua News Agency reported that Premier Li Keqiang is a fan of his writings; Li has instructed top economic planning and strategy officials to read Rifkin’s books.
The Third Industrial Revolution, whose Chinese edition sold more than 300,000 copies, predicts a future where renewable energy replaces fossil fuels, power is produced individually on millions of buildings on every continent, and transportation is converted to electric plug-in and fuel cell vehicles. Surplus energy will be exchanged over the Internet, cutting waste and boosting economic productivity, Rifkin writes. Bloomberg Businessweek caught up with the peripatetic author on Sept. 23 for an interview at Beijing’s Grand Hotel overlooking Tiananmen Square, just before his departure from China.
Can you explain the challenge the global economy is facing and what needs to be done?
The second industrial revolution is clearly in sunset. The fossil fuels energies have matured, and they are getting more expensive. The global markets for fossil fuels are completely volatile.
To exacerbate the problem, we are in these five-year cycles of growth and slowdown. [Last time] it started when oil hit $147 a barrel in July 2008. And what happened is purchasing power shut down all over the world because everything relies on oil. That was the earthquake and the shutdown in the global economy in 2008. The collapse of the financial markets 60 days later was the aftershock.
Now what has happened is the developing world has come into the game with a third of the human race. So every time we try to replenish inventories, we grow, and when we hit that zone of $122 to $140 per barrel, the price of oil forces all the other prices up, and purchasing power slows down. So we are in a second slowdown right now.
We need a new economic vision for the world. And it has to be compelling and a game plan that is deliverable. And it has to move as quickly in the developing countries as in the developed nations. We have to be off carbon in 30 years. The elephant is climate change. It is looking very dire at this point.
Can you describe a post-fossil-fuel third industrial revolution?
Renewable energies are found everywhere: the sun, the wind, heat under the ground, biomass, the ocean tides and waves. All of these energies are found in some frequency in every square inch of the planet, unlike coal, gas, or uranium, which are elite, require huge military and geopolitical investments, and a hell of a lot of capital.
Ten years from now we will have tens of millions of buildings around the world producing some small amount of green electricity. In 20 years we will have several hundred million buildings, and China will be the big player with Europe in this.
As the technology scales in [for renewables] it is getting cheaper and cheaper and cheaper, and it is following a similar build-out as computers and cell phones, in getting cheaper and cheaper.
Once you install the technology, the sun is free and the wind is free. So is the heat under the ground from the geothermal heat power. Just as we’ve gotten to near marginal zero cost [for information] with the Internet, as we move to these micro power plants, the actual energy is already at near zero marginal cost.
Why do you think your ideas resonate in China?
China has a number of agendas. China has to come up with a new economic reform plan under the new leadership. Secondly it has to urbanize the country. Third it has to bring western China up to par with its eastern part. And finally, it has to deal with the pollution that is literally killing its people.
To create a good Chinese Dream [a phrase popularized by Party Secretary Xi Jinping] for everyone, China has to knock out fossil fuels, because they are killing off this country. And China is now the largest emitter of greenhouse gases.
Many of the people I have spoken to said something along these lines: We missed the first industrial revolution totally. We missed almost all of the second industrial revolution. China came in during the last 15 years as it has sunsetted. So they have copied a revolution that is now on life support. China is determined to lead a third industrial revolution.
Why will China play a leading role in the third industrial revolution?
China has three assets that could position it, along with Europe, to be the leader of the third industrial revolution. Remember, Britain created the first industrial revolution because it had a lot of coal and it invented the steam engine to manage it. The United States created the second industrial revolution because it had lots of oil in Texas and Oklahoma, and we had the internal combustion engine and Henry Ford’s car.
China is ideally suited for the third industrial revolution because it has the most ample reserves of renewable energy resources in the world. It has the most solar radiance, most wind of any major country, off its coast. It has massive amounts of geothermal heat under the ground. It has massive amounts of biomass from its rural, agricultural areas. It is more than the Saudi Arabia of renewable energies. It can provide for every man, woman, and child here until kingdom come.
Asset No. 2, China has a social market economy like Europe. This is a huge asset. Infrastructure requires a social market economy. Infrastructure is something the government has to do and work with the business community to build it out. There is no example in the history of the world where infrastructure was put in by the private market.
The marketplace does not create public goods, so it is absurd to think companies will do it. You can not create the third industrial revolution if your entire business, investment, and financial community is focused on three-month quarterly statements. China is extremely comfortable with the government having this role and with long-term planning. In China they have five-year plans.
And the last asset: China has the cultural DNA to lead a third industrial revolution. In the West, our religious and philosophical tradition is that nature is the enemy, God has anointed us as masters, and we shall have dominion over nature. We exploit it.
Confucius completely parted with that. He said the meaning of the human journey is to extend empathy. And he said human beings are not separate from nature—we are part of nature. The key to the evolution of the human journey is finding a balance and harmony between humanity and nature.
This is China’s cultural DNA. It may not be practiced every day, but it is inside the DNA. And finally, no one wants in 30 to 40 years to be knee-deep in coal. If that is the case, they know they won’t be a great power.

Roberts is Bloomberg Businessweek's Asia News Editor and China bureau chief."
End of culled Bloomberg Businessweek article by Dexter Roberts.
Food for thought for our educated urban elites, perhaps?
One certainly hopes so - as Ghanaians need leaders who are imaginative, can see far into the future and understand the need for creative thinking in our society.
I'll end with an example: now that the era of cheap electricity is over in Ghana, is this not the time to make renewable power production a tax-free undertaking - so that average householders can afford to buy solar power systems?
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Today I am sharing an interview conducted by Dexter Roberts, who is Bloomberg Businessweek's Asia News Editor and head of its China bureau.
He interviewed
Jeremy Rifkin, author of the best-selling book entitled: "The Third Industrial Revolution: How Lateral Power is Transforming Energy, the Economy, and the World ".
The book's author, Jeremy Rifkin, is president of the Foundation on Economic Trends.
At a time when Ghanaians face an increase in tariffs for electricity, one hopes his interesting and eye-opening book will be read by many of our educated urban elites. Please read on:
"China and the Third Industrial Revolution
By Dexter Roberts September 26, 2013

China
Jeremy Rifkin, president of the Foundation on Economic Trends and best-selling author of The Third Industrial Revolution: How Lateral Power is Transforming Energy, the Economy, and the World, just finished a two-week-long first visit to China, where he met with local and national officials, laying out his vision of a post-petroleum, Internet-connected world.
Rifkin came to the attention of Chinese policymakers late last year, after the official Xinhua News Agency reported that Premier Li Keqiang is a fan of his writings; Li has instructed top economic planning and strategy officials to read Rifkin’s books.
The Third Industrial Revolution, whose Chinese edition sold more than 300,000 copies, predicts a future where renewable energy replaces fossil fuels, power is produced individually on millions of buildings on every continent, and transportation is converted to electric plug-in and fuel cell vehicles. Surplus energy will be exchanged over the Internet, cutting waste and boosting economic productivity, Rifkin writes. Bloomberg Businessweek caught up with the peripatetic author on Sept. 23 for an interview at Beijing’s Grand Hotel overlooking Tiananmen Square, just before his departure from China.
Can you explain the challenge the global economy is facing and what needs to be done?
The second industrial revolution is clearly in sunset. The fossil fuels energies have matured, and they are getting more expensive. The global markets for fossil fuels are completely volatile.
To exacerbate the problem, we are in these five-year cycles of growth and slowdown. [Last time] it started when oil hit $147 a barrel in July 2008. And what happened is purchasing power shut down all over the world because everything relies on oil. That was the earthquake and the shutdown in the global economy in 2008. The collapse of the financial markets 60 days later was the aftershock.
Now what has happened is the developing world has come into the game with a third of the human race. So every time we try to replenish inventories, we grow, and when we hit that zone of $122 to $140 per barrel, the price of oil forces all the other prices up, and purchasing power slows down. So we are in a second slowdown right now.
We need a new economic vision for the world. And it has to be compelling and a game plan that is deliverable. And it has to move as quickly in the developing countries as in the developed nations. We have to be off carbon in 30 years. The elephant is climate change. It is looking very dire at this point.
Can you describe a post-fossil-fuel third industrial revolution?
Renewable energies are found everywhere: the sun, the wind, heat under the ground, biomass, the ocean tides and waves. All of these energies are found in some frequency in every square inch of the planet, unlike coal, gas, or uranium, which are elite, require huge military and geopolitical investments, and a hell of a lot of capital.
Ten years from now we will have tens of millions of buildings around the world producing some small amount of green electricity. In 20 years we will have several hundred million buildings, and China will be the big player with Europe in this.
As the technology scales in [for renewables] it is getting cheaper and cheaper and cheaper, and it is following a similar build-out as computers and cell phones, in getting cheaper and cheaper.
Once you install the technology, the sun is free and the wind is free. So is the heat under the ground from the geothermal heat power. Just as we’ve gotten to near marginal zero cost [for information] with the Internet, as we move to these micro power plants, the actual energy is already at near zero marginal cost.
Why do you think your ideas resonate in China?
China has a number of agendas. China has to come up with a new economic reform plan under the new leadership. Secondly it has to urbanize the country. Third it has to bring western China up to par with its eastern part. And finally, it has to deal with the pollution that is literally killing its people.
To create a good Chinese Dream [a phrase popularized by Party Secretary Xi Jinping] for everyone, China has to knock out fossil fuels, because they are killing off this country. And China is now the largest emitter of greenhouse gases.
Many of the people I have spoken to said something along these lines: We missed the first industrial revolution totally. We missed almost all of the second industrial revolution. China came in during the last 15 years as it has sunsetted. So they have copied a revolution that is now on life support. China is determined to lead a third industrial revolution.
Why will China play a leading role in the third industrial revolution?
China has three assets that could position it, along with Europe, to be the leader of the third industrial revolution. Remember, Britain created the first industrial revolution because it had a lot of coal and it invented the steam engine to manage it. The United States created the second industrial revolution because it had lots of oil in Texas and Oklahoma, and we had the internal combustion engine and Henry Ford’s car.
China is ideally suited for the third industrial revolution because it has the most ample reserves of renewable energy resources in the world. It has the most solar radiance, most wind of any major country, off its coast. It has massive amounts of geothermal heat under the ground. It has massive amounts of biomass from its rural, agricultural areas. It is more than the Saudi Arabia of renewable energies. It can provide for every man, woman, and child here until kingdom come.
Asset No. 2, China has a social market economy like Europe. This is a huge asset. Infrastructure requires a social market economy. Infrastructure is something the government has to do and work with the business community to build it out. There is no example in the history of the world where infrastructure was put in by the private market.
The marketplace does not create public goods, so it is absurd to think companies will do it. You can not create the third industrial revolution if your entire business, investment, and financial community is focused on three-month quarterly statements. China is extremely comfortable with the government having this role and with long-term planning. In China they have five-year plans.
And the last asset: China has the cultural DNA to lead a third industrial revolution. In the West, our religious and philosophical tradition is that nature is the enemy, God has anointed us as masters, and we shall have dominion over nature. We exploit it.
Confucius completely parted with that. He said the meaning of the human journey is to extend empathy. And he said human beings are not separate from nature—we are part of nature. The key to the evolution of the human journey is finding a balance and harmony between humanity and nature.
This is China’s cultural DNA. It may not be practiced every day, but it is inside the DNA. And finally, no one wants in 30 to 40 years to be knee-deep in coal. If that is the case, they know they won’t be a great power.

Roberts is Bloomberg Businessweek's Asia News Editor and China bureau chief."
End of culled Bloomberg Businessweek article by Dexter Roberts.
Food for thought for our educated urban elites, perhaps?
One certainly hopes so - as Ghanaians need leaders who are imaginative, can see far into the future and understand the need for creative thinking in our society.
I'll end with an example: now that the era of cheap electricity is over in Ghana, is this not the time to make renewable power production a tax-free undertaking - so that average householders can afford to buy solar power systems?
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Vigilance At All Levels Will Keep Terrorists At Bay
Author's note: This piece was written on 27/9/2013. It is being posted today, because I was unable to do so on the day. Please read on:
It was refreshing listening to the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) youthful firebrand, Mr. Anthony Abayeefa Karbo, a few days ago.
He spoke in such responsible fashion on Peace FM's Kokrokoo morning show, about how important and urgent it was, for the security agencies in Ghana to be more vigilant - in light of Al-Shabaab's abominable inhumanity: seen during its appalling and senseless killing-spree at Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall on 21st September, 2013.
When a young politician, once alleged to be planning to destabalise Ghana, by recruiting ex-combatants in the civil wars in Liberia and the Ivory Coast, to cause mayhem across Ghana in pursuit of a secret political agenda, speaks so responsibly and shows such unalloyed patriotism - instead of being parochial in his thinking: as has usually been the case in the past - it is definitely a sign that there is heightened awareness amongst Ghanaians, of the potential danger posed to their nation by terrorists.
One hopes that the concerns expressed by Mr. Anthony Abaryeefa Karbo, on Peace FM's Kokrokoo morning show, about the capacity of Ghana's security agencies to foil terrorist attacks before they are launched, will be taken up by the powers that be in Ghana.
Perhaps the positive example of Mr. Anthony Karbo, is also an indication that it is now slowly sinking into the minds of many in Ghana's political class that it is indeed but a small step from pursuing a career as a hired-thug and violence-prone foot-soldier causing mayhem for political parties in Ghana, to becoming a terrorist in the employ of Al-Qaeda affiliates on African soil, planting bombs in vulnerable nations across the continent.
That our homeland Ghana is as vulnerable to terrorists as has been the case for Kenya and Uganda - both of which have fallen victim to terrorist attacks by Al-Shabaab - is no longer doubted by many Ghanaians. They have the terrible examples in northern Nigeria and northern Mali to guide them.
Our secret services ought to abandon their propensity for focusing almost exclusively on political opponents of governments of the day, and instead take steps to ensure that they are in a position to foil potential attacks on Ghanaian soil by terrorists.
One of the ways that that can be done, is through closer collaboration between Ghana's secret services, and those of the nations at the forefront of the global fight against terrorism.
Above all, by being constantly vigilant at the individual level, ordinary Ghanaians can help make it harder for terrorists to harm their nation and its people - and by so doing enable theirs to continue remaining a free and open society.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
It was refreshing listening to the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) youthful firebrand, Mr. Anthony Abayeefa Karbo, a few days ago.
He spoke in such responsible fashion on Peace FM's Kokrokoo morning show, about how important and urgent it was, for the security agencies in Ghana to be more vigilant - in light of Al-Shabaab's abominable inhumanity: seen during its appalling and senseless killing-spree at Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall on 21st September, 2013.
When a young politician, once alleged to be planning to destabalise Ghana, by recruiting ex-combatants in the civil wars in Liberia and the Ivory Coast, to cause mayhem across Ghana in pursuit of a secret political agenda, speaks so responsibly and shows such unalloyed patriotism - instead of being parochial in his thinking: as has usually been the case in the past - it is definitely a sign that there is heightened awareness amongst Ghanaians, of the potential danger posed to their nation by terrorists.
One hopes that the concerns expressed by Mr. Anthony Abaryeefa Karbo, on Peace FM's Kokrokoo morning show, about the capacity of Ghana's security agencies to foil terrorist attacks before they are launched, will be taken up by the powers that be in Ghana.
Perhaps the positive example of Mr. Anthony Karbo, is also an indication that it is now slowly sinking into the minds of many in Ghana's political class that it is indeed but a small step from pursuing a career as a hired-thug and violence-prone foot-soldier causing mayhem for political parties in Ghana, to becoming a terrorist in the employ of Al-Qaeda affiliates on African soil, planting bombs in vulnerable nations across the continent.
That our homeland Ghana is as vulnerable to terrorists as has been the case for Kenya and Uganda - both of which have fallen victim to terrorist attacks by Al-Shabaab - is no longer doubted by many Ghanaians. They have the terrible examples in northern Nigeria and northern Mali to guide them.
Our secret services ought to abandon their propensity for focusing almost exclusively on political opponents of governments of the day, and instead take steps to ensure that they are in a position to foil potential attacks on Ghanaian soil by terrorists.
One of the ways that that can be done, is through closer collaboration between Ghana's secret services, and those of the nations at the forefront of the global fight against terrorism.
Above all, by being constantly vigilant at the individual level, ordinary Ghanaians can help make it harder for terrorists to harm their nation and its people - and by so doing enable theirs to continue remaining a free and open society.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Ghanaian Politicians Must End Dalliance With Violent Types
Author's note:This piece was written on 24/9/2013. It is being posted today, because I was unable to do so on the day. Please read on:
The terrible events resulting in the murder of over seventy innocent people and injuries to over a hundred individuals in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, clearly show the indiscriminate nature of terrorism.
Africans of goodwill everywhere on the continent share the pain of the people of Kenya, at this tragic moment, in their nation's history.
Who would have thought that a leading poet and influential Ghanaian politician, in the person of the late Professor Kofi Awoonor (may his soul rest in peace), would one day be counted amongst the dead victims of the murderous Somalian terrorist group Al-Shabaab, and in faraway Kenya?
No matter where in Africa we live, we are all potential victims of the evil and unhinged criminals in our continent, who join terrorist groups such as Al-Shabaab, in order to impose their warped views on others, using indiscriminate violence of the type that resulted in the carnage at Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall in the Kenyan capital's suburb of Westlands.
There ought to be a concerted continent-wide effort to rid Africa of terrorist groups - such as those in northern Mali, Algeria, and in Central and East Africa.
They are dangerous and cancerous cells in the African polity. The time has come for all the nations in the African continent to work closely together to remove such terrorist groups from African soil.
One hopes that the tragic and dreadful events in Kenya, will lead to introspection amongst Ghana's ruling elites.
As a people, we must work towards narrowing the huge disparities in wealth between the well-off and the marginalised in Ghanaian society - lest those at the bottom strata of society become cannon fodder for terrorist groups.
Above all, the intolerant extremists amongst our political class, who have a penchant for hiring thugs and criminal types to do their dirty work for them - particularly at election time - must now understand that the step from being a paid hireling of ruthless and amoral African politicians and political parties, to becoming a paid agent of Al Qaeda planting bombs across nations in the continent, is a small one. They must end their dalliance with such violent and criminal types once and for all.
They must all refrain from the type of selfish politics that leads to their having to employ such violence-prone individuals in their quest for power. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
The terrible events resulting in the murder of over seventy innocent people and injuries to over a hundred individuals in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, clearly show the indiscriminate nature of terrorism.
Africans of goodwill everywhere on the continent share the pain of the people of Kenya, at this tragic moment, in their nation's history.
Who would have thought that a leading poet and influential Ghanaian politician, in the person of the late Professor Kofi Awoonor (may his soul rest in peace), would one day be counted amongst the dead victims of the murderous Somalian terrorist group Al-Shabaab, and in faraway Kenya?
No matter where in Africa we live, we are all potential victims of the evil and unhinged criminals in our continent, who join terrorist groups such as Al-Shabaab, in order to impose their warped views on others, using indiscriminate violence of the type that resulted in the carnage at Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall in the Kenyan capital's suburb of Westlands.
There ought to be a concerted continent-wide effort to rid Africa of terrorist groups - such as those in northern Mali, Algeria, and in Central and East Africa.
They are dangerous and cancerous cells in the African polity. The time has come for all the nations in the African continent to work closely together to remove such terrorist groups from African soil.
One hopes that the tragic and dreadful events in Kenya, will lead to introspection amongst Ghana's ruling elites.
As a people, we must work towards narrowing the huge disparities in wealth between the well-off and the marginalised in Ghanaian society - lest those at the bottom strata of society become cannon fodder for terrorist groups.
Above all, the intolerant extremists amongst our political class, who have a penchant for hiring thugs and criminal types to do their dirty work for them - particularly at election time - must now understand that the step from being a paid hireling of ruthless and amoral African politicians and political parties, to becoming a paid agent of Al Qaeda planting bombs across nations in the continent, is a small one. They must end their dalliance with such violent and criminal types once and for all.
They must all refrain from the type of selfish politics that leads to their having to employ such violence-prone individuals in their quest for power. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Ghanaians Deserve Better
Author's note: This piece was written on 20/9/2013. It is being posted today, because I was unable to do so on the day. Please read on:
Our ruling elites get a pretty good deal from the enterprise Ghana. They are paid well, enjoy many perks and when they retire, are given what some argue are overly-generous retirement benefits.
In exchange for such handsome compensation packages, Ghanaians expect leadership that is world-class.
Sadly, over the years since the overthrow of President Nkrumah in February 1966, some of the decisions made by our ruling elites have been hard to fathom.
The controversy generated by news that documents covering the sale of the Ghana National Petroleum Company Limited's (GNPC)drilling rig, Discoverer, apparently cannot be traced, illustrates this perfectly.
At the heart of that controversy, is the fact that for some extraordinary reason, those who were in charge of our nation at the time, decided to withdraw the GNPC's legal team in a case in which the company was being sued by Société Générale in a UK court - against the advice of the British lawyers acting for the GNPC.
The bizarre thing, is that prior to the withdrawal of the company's lawyers from the case, the GNPC had won a judgement in its favour in a similar case in the US.
The question is: Why did the regime in power then, choose to withdraw the GNPC's legal team representing the company in court - an action that paved the way for Société Générale to successfully obtain judgement in its favour: a decision clearly not in the national interest but obviously favourable to Société Générale?
One doubts very much that were the matter in the UK court that they chose to withdraw from, one that was of concern to their own private businesses, the very clever men and women then running Ghana, would have chosen to withdraw lawyers representing them from a similar case in the UK court - especially if, like the GNPC, they had secured a verdict in their favour in a US law court.
Yet, for some curious reason, the government of President Kufuor ignored the fact that the GNPC had won a similar case brought against it in a US law court by Société Générale - which in effect the GNPC counter
-sued for giving it bad hedging advice that led to the loss of substantial sums.
Why do our ruling elites take such strange decisions that are clearly not in the nation's interest in such instances, one wonders?
Why, for example, did the National Democratic Congress (NDC) regime of President Mills not consider asking the government of China for interest-free loans for infrastructure projects - instead of the billions of dollars in commercial loans it took from Chinese banks to fund such projects?
And would there not be a dramatic change for the better, in living standards in most of rural Ghana, for example, were ordinary Ghanaians able to elect district chief executives - as the concerns of those living in districts across the country, would have priority in the agenda of every district chief executive in Ghana: not what favours those at the centre of power in Accra?
Yet, our ruling elites continue to deprive grassroots people of the opportunity to elect district chief executives.
Clearly, if they are to justify their handsome compensation packages, our ruling elites must be more protecting of the national interest - which at any given point in time is what benefits a majority of the ordinary people in Ghana.
Our ruling elites must work harder and be more creative at all levels: so that Ghana's economic growth benefits a greater number of ordinary people in our country. Ghanaians deserve better.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Our ruling elites get a pretty good deal from the enterprise Ghana. They are paid well, enjoy many perks and when they retire, are given what some argue are overly-generous retirement benefits.
In exchange for such handsome compensation packages, Ghanaians expect leadership that is world-class.
Sadly, over the years since the overthrow of President Nkrumah in February 1966, some of the decisions made by our ruling elites have been hard to fathom.
The controversy generated by news that documents covering the sale of the Ghana National Petroleum Company Limited's (GNPC)drilling rig, Discoverer, apparently cannot be traced, illustrates this perfectly.
At the heart of that controversy, is the fact that for some extraordinary reason, those who were in charge of our nation at the time, decided to withdraw the GNPC's legal team in a case in which the company was being sued by Société Générale in a UK court - against the advice of the British lawyers acting for the GNPC.
The bizarre thing, is that prior to the withdrawal of the company's lawyers from the case, the GNPC had won a judgement in its favour in a similar case in the US.
The question is: Why did the regime in power then, choose to withdraw the GNPC's legal team representing the company in court - an action that paved the way for Société Générale to successfully obtain judgement in its favour: a decision clearly not in the national interest but obviously favourable to Société Générale?
One doubts very much that were the matter in the UK court that they chose to withdraw from, one that was of concern to their own private businesses, the very clever men and women then running Ghana, would have chosen to withdraw lawyers representing them from a similar case in the UK court - especially if, like the GNPC, they had secured a verdict in their favour in a US law court.
Yet, for some curious reason, the government of President Kufuor ignored the fact that the GNPC had won a similar case brought against it in a US law court by Société Générale - which in effect the GNPC counter
-sued for giving it bad hedging advice that led to the loss of substantial sums.
Why do our ruling elites take such strange decisions that are clearly not in the nation's interest in such instances, one wonders?
Why, for example, did the National Democratic Congress (NDC) regime of President Mills not consider asking the government of China for interest-free loans for infrastructure projects - instead of the billions of dollars in commercial loans it took from Chinese banks to fund such projects?
And would there not be a dramatic change for the better, in living standards in most of rural Ghana, for example, were ordinary Ghanaians able to elect district chief executives - as the concerns of those living in districts across the country, would have priority in the agenda of every district chief executive in Ghana: not what favours those at the centre of power in Accra?
Yet, our ruling elites continue to deprive grassroots people of the opportunity to elect district chief executives.
Clearly, if they are to justify their handsome compensation packages, our ruling elites must be more protecting of the national interest - which at any given point in time is what benefits a majority of the ordinary people in Ghana.
Our ruling elites must work harder and be more creative at all levels: so that Ghana's economic growth benefits a greater number of ordinary people in our country. Ghanaians deserve better.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
The Moderates In The NPP Must Take Over Their Party
Author's note: This piece was written on 12/9/2013. It is being posted today, because I was unable to do so on the day. Please read on:
Throughout the period that the Supreme Court heard the December 2012 presidential election petition, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) presidential candidate, who took the matter to court, kept a dignified silence.
When the verdict was announced, he made it clear that he disagreed with it, but would accept it nonetheless - and immediately did so. He also called President Mahama to congratulate him. In so doing, he has set a shining example for the rest of Africa's political elite.
In sharp contrast to Nana Akufo-Addo's statesmanlike and dignified silence, is the dishonourable conduct of the ruthless, arrogant and manipulative few in his inner circle - whose amoral nature has led them to demand that a solemn undertaking by Nana Akufo-Addo that he would accept the outcome of the presidential election petition he took to the Supreme Court, should be discarded by the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
That solemn undertaking cannot simply be discarded because of the deliberately engineered controversy that has sprung up around the Supreme Court's verdict.
The NPP must put the well-being of our nation and its people ahead of seeking narrow party advantage. A few selfish extremists must not be allowed to hijack the NPP and use it for their own dubious ends.
The party will be permanently damaged, if it allows the extremists in its upper echelons to give Ghanaians the impression that the NPP wants to win power at any cost - and will resort to every despicable trick in the book to achieve that end if need be.
The party's the-end-justifies-the-means extremists, who it appears do not know when to stop, are constantly shifting goalposts - and deploying mendacious argument after mendacious argument to justify the bad faith they are showing, in demanding that Nana Akufo-Addo's solemn promise to accept the verdict of the Supreme Court, ought to be discarded by the NPP.
The NPP must not discard a solemn undertaking given by an honourable gentleman who has kept his word to accept the verdict of the Supreme Court - for that would be a most dishonourable thing for a party full of honourable individuals to do.
To paraphrase the late J. B. Da Rocha, when those selfsame individuals tried the same tactic after losing the December 2008 presidential election, what the extremists are bent on doing - undermining the integrity of a number of Supreme Court judges to justify breaking a promise given by their party in order to enable them continue holding our nation to ransom - is neither in the interest of the NPP nor that of the Republic of Ghana.
To safeguard its long-term future, the NPP must not allow itself to be hijacked by a few selfish extremists. The party's moderates must take over their party as soon as practicable. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Throughout the period that the Supreme Court heard the December 2012 presidential election petition, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) presidential candidate, who took the matter to court, kept a dignified silence.
When the verdict was announced, he made it clear that he disagreed with it, but would accept it nonetheless - and immediately did so. He also called President Mahama to congratulate him. In so doing, he has set a shining example for the rest of Africa's political elite.
In sharp contrast to Nana Akufo-Addo's statesmanlike and dignified silence, is the dishonourable conduct of the ruthless, arrogant and manipulative few in his inner circle - whose amoral nature has led them to demand that a solemn undertaking by Nana Akufo-Addo that he would accept the outcome of the presidential election petition he took to the Supreme Court, should be discarded by the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
That solemn undertaking cannot simply be discarded because of the deliberately engineered controversy that has sprung up around the Supreme Court's verdict.
The NPP must put the well-being of our nation and its people ahead of seeking narrow party advantage. A few selfish extremists must not be allowed to hijack the NPP and use it for their own dubious ends.
The party will be permanently damaged, if it allows the extremists in its upper echelons to give Ghanaians the impression that the NPP wants to win power at any cost - and will resort to every despicable trick in the book to achieve that end if need be.
The party's the-end-justifies-the-means extremists, who it appears do not know when to stop, are constantly shifting goalposts - and deploying mendacious argument after mendacious argument to justify the bad faith they are showing, in demanding that Nana Akufo-Addo's solemn promise to accept the verdict of the Supreme Court, ought to be discarded by the NPP.
The NPP must not discard a solemn undertaking given by an honourable gentleman who has kept his word to accept the verdict of the Supreme Court - for that would be a most dishonourable thing for a party full of honourable individuals to do.
To paraphrase the late J. B. Da Rocha, when those selfsame individuals tried the same tactic after losing the December 2008 presidential election, what the extremists are bent on doing - undermining the integrity of a number of Supreme Court judges to justify breaking a promise given by their party in order to enable them continue holding our nation to ransom - is neither in the interest of the NPP nor that of the Republic of Ghana.
To safeguard its long-term future, the NPP must not allow itself to be hijacked by a few selfish extremists. The party's moderates must take over their party as soon as practicable. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Let The Brightest And Best Of Ghana's Younger Generation Take Over The Enterprise Ghana
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Whenever I talk to the brightest and most dynamic of the younger generation of Ghanaians, I invariably feel very hopeful for our nation's future.
For example, yesterday (Saturday 6/9/2013), I had a conversation with a young friend, who felt appalled that it was virtually impossible for banks in Ghana to know whether or not their clients were in compliance of a slew of regulatory requirements.
Now here is a world-class young Ghanaian, whose creative thinking, has enabled him to come up with a brilliant solution, to a problem with huge implications for corporate good governance in Ghana's business world.
What is depressing for me, is that their generation is not running Ghana - a potentially wealthy nation, hamstrung by a hidebound older generation - many of whose egregious selfishness and greed, has literally brought our nation to its knees.
Political parties in Ghana, would be wise to begin searching for brilliant and dynamic young people, like my young friend, to put into leadership positions - and effect a generational change as quickly as it is practicable for that to be done.
Older generation Ghanaians ought to focus on giving opportunities to high-flying individuals from the younger generation - particularly entrepreneurial types: including young Ghanaians in the diaspora who have done well and built profitable businesses overseas.
It is most unfortunate that radical ideas that could make a difference in the real world, and make our economy grow rapidly, are seldom considered by our ruling elites - so many of whom one gets the impression have calcified thought-processes and as a result are incapable of doing any original thinking.
Why else would piling on yet more taxes on individuals and businesses, be the knee-jerk reaction of the geniuses amongst our ruling elites who happen to be in charge of economic policy, as the best way to heal the economic equivalent of self-inflicted wounds, which their profligate election-time spending amounts to - no matter which political party happens to be in power at any given point in time?
In seeking to rebalance the national economy, and end the perennial crises resulting from the inexcusable election-time fiscal indiscipline we invariably experience for example, why do our ruling elites never once consider abolishing personal income tax, and making Ghana the nat
Would abolishing personal income tax not put more money into the pockets of working people - whose increased spending power would also result in increased profits for the businesses that serve them?
And what business in Ghana would be reluctant to pay its fair share of taxes - which pay for our nation's development - if our nation had the lowest corporate tax rates in the world, as well as its simplest tax system?
Would many of the international companies that have their African headquarters in places like South Africa, not move their African headquarters to Ghana, for example, were all the above the case?
Would such an innovative policy initiative not be a creative way to widen the tax net in Ghana, I ask?
And would the increase in tax revenues that that would result in, not make more funds for expanding Ghana's infrastructure, available to governments of the day? And would that not have a positive ripple-effect throughout the national economy, I ask?
My most recent conversation with my young friend, who brims with innovative ideas about making Ghana a business-friendly country - and agreed with my own unorthodox suggestions above - has reaffirmed my belief that the time has now come for the brightest and best of Ghana's younger generation, to be allowed to take control of the enterprise Ghana.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Friday, 30 August 2013
Halt Illegal Mining In Thompson Bomu At Akyem Abuakwa Juaso
Author's note: This piece was written on 27/8/2013. It is being posted today, because I was unable to do so on the day. Please read on:
Not too long ago (Saturday 16th of August, 2013 to be precise), I took an internationally-acclaimed Burkinabe architect with an architectural practice in the German capital of Berlin, Mr. Francis Kere, to see part of the P. E. Thompson Estate's freehold 14-square mile upland evergreen rainforest in the Atewa Range.
88 acres of what is one of the most beautiful places on the surface of the planet Earth - and part of an area designated a Globally Significant Biodiversity Area - has been set aside for a community-based eco-tourism project.
The planned eco-tourism-as-a-conservation-tool project, is a partnership between the Chiefs and people of Akyem Juaso, the P. E. Thompson Estate and Greenheart Conservation of Canada.
When completed, the community-based eco-tourism destination will have a forest canopy walkway; ziplines; tree-house and ground-level eco-lodges; a visitor-centre and hiking trails as centrepiece attractions.
It is meant to be an example to other large private landowners in the area, as a viable alternative to gold mining.
We were shocked to see the destruction going on in the area. The question is: Who owns the three 32-tonne excavators working in the area, and the gold mining accoutrements scattered in that section of the upland evergreen rainforest - and who gave the gold miners permission to enter the area?
I am appealing to the inter-ministerial anti-gallamsey task-force to act swiftly to arrest all those involved in the illegal activities going on at Thompson Bomu, in the P. E. Thompson Estate's property, at the Akyem Abuakwa Juaso section, of the Atewa Range upland evergreen rainforest.
The P. E. Thompson Estate, which is dedicated to the conservation of its entire landholding in the Eastern Region, has not authorised any mining activity on its property near the Akyem Abuakwa cocoa-farming fringe-forest village of Juaso, near Saamang (off Osino junction).
At a time of global warming, it is important that the inter-ministerial task force on gallamsey activities, clearly understands how delicate the nature of the area's ecology is.
They must also not forget that the area performs vital eco-system services for most of southern urban Ghana - a part of Ghana with a large population that depends on the three major river systems (the Densu, Birim and Ayensu rivers) that take their headwaters from the area, for its treated drinking-water supply.
The authorities must also note that 99.6 acres of the P. E. Thompson Estate's landholding in the area - to which it has officially sanctioned access as an admitted farm, and intends utilising as a community-based carbon sequestration project - lies inside the official government-owned Atewa Forest Reserve.
So, from a practical on-the-ground standpoint, we actually understand the gravity of the situation at hand that that ecological tragedy and crime against humanity going on in Thompson Bomu, represents.
Perhaps the time has now come for the Okyehene to consider asking the government to hand over the Atewa Forest Reserve to the Chiefs and people of Akyem Abuakwa.
Working through the Akyem Abuakwa State Council, the Atewa Forest Reserve could be effectively managed in a collaboration between the Akyem Abuakwa State Council and the Forestry Commission - with a view to partnering environmental NGO's and other conservation organisations that could help implement the recommendations contained in the Conservation International RAP Bulletin No. 47.
If the Dutch government is willing to fund an eco-tourism project to turn the Atewa Forest Reserve into a national park - on condition that the government of Ghana bans all mining and logging in the forest reserve and the surrounding slopes - why should it not be overseen by the Chiefs and people of Akyem Abuakwa, with expertise and guidance from the Forestry Commission and conservation NGO's, on behalf of the whole country?
Finally, the P. E. Thompson Estate appeals to the inter-ministerial task force on gallamsey - which was set up by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, the Hon. Innusah Fuseini, to prevent and end just such egregious examples of the ruthless plundering of the remainder of our nation's natural heritage by a selfish and greedy few - to act immediately and arrest all those (including Thompson family members and their assigns: as any such individuals have absolutely no legal rights whatsoever to do so) involved in the illegal gold mining and illegal logging going on at Thompson Bomu and its environs.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Not too long ago (Saturday 16th of August, 2013 to be precise), I took an internationally-acclaimed Burkinabe architect with an architectural practice in the German capital of Berlin, Mr. Francis Kere, to see part of the P. E. Thompson Estate's freehold 14-square mile upland evergreen rainforest in the Atewa Range.
88 acres of what is one of the most beautiful places on the surface of the planet Earth - and part of an area designated a Globally Significant Biodiversity Area - has been set aside for a community-based eco-tourism project.
The planned eco-tourism-as-a-conservation-tool project, is a partnership between the Chiefs and people of Akyem Juaso, the P. E. Thompson Estate and Greenheart Conservation of Canada.
When completed, the community-based eco-tourism destination will have a forest canopy walkway; ziplines; tree-house and ground-level eco-lodges; a visitor-centre and hiking trails as centrepiece attractions.
It is meant to be an example to other large private landowners in the area, as a viable alternative to gold mining.
We were shocked to see the destruction going on in the area. The question is: Who owns the three 32-tonne excavators working in the area, and the gold mining accoutrements scattered in that section of the upland evergreen rainforest - and who gave the gold miners permission to enter the area?
I am appealing to the inter-ministerial anti-gallamsey task-force to act swiftly to arrest all those involved in the illegal activities going on at Thompson Bomu, in the P. E. Thompson Estate's property, at the Akyem Abuakwa Juaso section, of the Atewa Range upland evergreen rainforest.
The P. E. Thompson Estate, which is dedicated to the conservation of its entire landholding in the Eastern Region, has not authorised any mining activity on its property near the Akyem Abuakwa cocoa-farming fringe-forest village of Juaso, near Saamang (off Osino junction).
At a time of global warming, it is important that the inter-ministerial task force on gallamsey activities, clearly understands how delicate the nature of the area's ecology is.
They must also not forget that the area performs vital eco-system services for most of southern urban Ghana - a part of Ghana with a large population that depends on the three major river systems (the Densu, Birim and Ayensu rivers) that take their headwaters from the area, for its treated drinking-water supply.
The authorities must also note that 99.6 acres of the P. E. Thompson Estate's landholding in the area - to which it has officially sanctioned access as an admitted farm, and intends utilising as a community-based carbon sequestration project - lies inside the official government-owned Atewa Forest Reserve.
So, from a practical on-the-ground standpoint, we actually understand the gravity of the situation at hand that that ecological tragedy and crime against humanity going on in Thompson Bomu, represents.
Perhaps the time has now come for the Okyehene to consider asking the government to hand over the Atewa Forest Reserve to the Chiefs and people of Akyem Abuakwa.
Working through the Akyem Abuakwa State Council, the Atewa Forest Reserve could be effectively managed in a collaboration between the Akyem Abuakwa State Council and the Forestry Commission - with a view to partnering environmental NGO's and other conservation organisations that could help implement the recommendations contained in the Conservation International RAP Bulletin No. 47.
If the Dutch government is willing to fund an eco-tourism project to turn the Atewa Forest Reserve into a national park - on condition that the government of Ghana bans all mining and logging in the forest reserve and the surrounding slopes - why should it not be overseen by the Chiefs and people of Akyem Abuakwa, with expertise and guidance from the Forestry Commission and conservation NGO's, on behalf of the whole country?
Finally, the P. E. Thompson Estate appeals to the inter-ministerial task force on gallamsey - which was set up by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, the Hon. Innusah Fuseini, to prevent and end just such egregious examples of the ruthless plundering of the remainder of our nation's natural heritage by a selfish and greedy few - to act immediately and arrest all those (including Thompson family members and their assigns: as any such individuals have absolutely no legal rights whatsoever to do so) involved in the illegal gold mining and illegal logging going on at Thompson Bomu and its environs.
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Second And Last Chance For President Mahama & The NDC
Author's note: This piece was written on 29/8/2013. It is being posted today, because I was unable to do so on the day. Please read on:
Now that the Supreme Court has finally delivered its verdict on the December 2012 presidential election petition, the job of building our country must become the focus of all Ghanaians.
The dismissal of the presidential election petition represents a second chance for all the parties involved, as well as our homeland Ghana and all its people.
For now, since he and his party are the ones currently in power, the spotlight must necessarily be on the President, and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
One hopes that President Mahama and the NDC will see the Supreme Court's verdict as a second chance and an opportunity to be successful.
Let them use it to swiftly root out the corrupt elements in their midst. If they fail to do so, they can forget about winning the December 2016 presidential election.
There is no question that the vast majority of Ghanaians now agree that corruption is killing our nation - denying Ghana of the much needed resources to fund the expansion and modernisation of our infrastructure.
That is why it cannot be business as usual - in an overtaxed nation whose people have made sacrifice after sacrifice: and still see no end to their suffering in sight either.
President Mahama must personally lead the fight against corruption. As a first step, let him ignore all his advisers, and publicly publish his assets, as well as those of his wife.
It will be a symbolic gesture of great significance and value, which will signal the beginning of a new era - and enable him occupy the moral high ground in Ghanaian politics: a must if he is to succeed in neutralising his political opponents and build up a worthwhile legacy.
Above all, publicly publishing his assets will enable him deny the most ruthless of his opponents, the oxygen to keep alive their never-ending propaganda - specifically designed to frustrate him, and create disaffection against him and his administration, in the minds of ordinary Ghanaians.
The NDC must never forget that after the December 2012 presidential elections, those super-ruthless political opponents of theirs, actively sought, and succeeded, in making Ghana appear rudderless and floundering.
They must not give those nation-wreckers yet another opportunity to destabalise their administration - now that the legitimacy of the Mahama presidency has been confirmed by the Supreme Court.
What some are describing as "divine intervention" today, is actually a second and last chance, for President Mahama and the NDC. One hopes they will have the political nous and gumption to seize it. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
Now that the Supreme Court has finally delivered its verdict on the December 2012 presidential election petition, the job of building our country must become the focus of all Ghanaians.
The dismissal of the presidential election petition represents a second chance for all the parties involved, as well as our homeland Ghana and all its people.
For now, since he and his party are the ones currently in power, the spotlight must necessarily be on the President, and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
One hopes that President Mahama and the NDC will see the Supreme Court's verdict as a second chance and an opportunity to be successful.
Let them use it to swiftly root out the corrupt elements in their midst. If they fail to do so, they can forget about winning the December 2016 presidential election.
There is no question that the vast majority of Ghanaians now agree that corruption is killing our nation - denying Ghana of the much needed resources to fund the expansion and modernisation of our infrastructure.
That is why it cannot be business as usual - in an overtaxed nation whose people have made sacrifice after sacrifice: and still see no end to their suffering in sight either.
President Mahama must personally lead the fight against corruption. As a first step, let him ignore all his advisers, and publicly publish his assets, as well as those of his wife.
It will be a symbolic gesture of great significance and value, which will signal the beginning of a new era - and enable him occupy the moral high ground in Ghanaian politics: a must if he is to succeed in neutralising his political opponents and build up a worthwhile legacy.
Above all, publicly publishing his assets will enable him deny the most ruthless of his opponents, the oxygen to keep alive their never-ending propaganda - specifically designed to frustrate him, and create disaffection against him and his administration, in the minds of ordinary Ghanaians.
The NDC must never forget that after the December 2012 presidential elections, those super-ruthless political opponents of theirs, actively sought, and succeeded, in making Ghana appear rudderless and floundering.
They must not give those nation-wreckers yet another opportunity to destabalise their administration - now that the legitimacy of the Mahama presidency has been confirmed by the Supreme Court.
What some are describing as "divine intervention" today, is actually a second and last chance, for President Mahama and the NDC. One hopes they will have the political nous and gumption to seize it. A word to the wise...
Tel: 027 745 3109.
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