Nigeria Needs A Change Of Leadership

It appears that power is fast slipping from the grasp of President Goodluck Jonathan.

If he does actually lose the election, perhaps he can redeem himself in the eyes of the vast majority of ordinary Nigerians - who clearly feel that he has failed their country - by gracefully conceding defeat: so as to avoid widespread post-election violence.

If he does so, he will be remembered by posterity, for sparing Nigerians the ordeal of experiencing post-election violence, after a closely-contested national election for the federal presidency.

That millions across Nigeria's 36 states defied Boko Haram's threats, and queued patiently for hours to vote, is evidence of the determination of ordinary Nigerians to change the destiny of their country, at what is a defining moment in its history.

And, for the west African sub-region as a whole, a peaceful transfer of power from one party to another, in the sub-region's most populous nation, and its biggest economy, will bring a huge sigh of relief to many. It will be a much-welcomed development.

A stable and prosperous Nigeria, contributes significantly to the growth of cross-border trade in the sub-regional grouping, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

It has been obvious for some time now - as the extremist Islamist terror group, Boko Haram, has spread its terror-footprint both inside Nigeria, and across Nigeria's borders to its immediate neighbours, Niger and Cameroon - that President Goodluck Jonathan lacks the leadership qualities needed to stop Nigeria from being destabilised by Boko Haram's terrorism and ruined financially by high-level corruption.

As events unfold in Nigeria, it is vital that ECOWAS leaders are proactive in preventing hardliners in the ruling party, the People's Democratic Party (PDP), from rejecting the results of what many observers feel has been a mostly free and fair election.

They should counsel President Goodluck Jonathan and the leadership of the PDP to act like statesmen  - and remind them of the judgement of history awaiting them, and the need for them to think of the welfare of the long-suffering citizens of  Nigeria: instead of scheming to hang on to power.

Whiles the world  awaits the final results of the presidential election,  ECOWAS must move swiftly, and send a high-powered delegation led by Ghana's President Mahama, to Nigeria - to engage with the leadership of the PDP, and stress the importance of their accepting defeat for the greater good of both Nigeria and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa.

Victory for the incorruptible Muhammadu Buhari, the All Progressives Congress (APC) party's presidential candidate, will be good for a nation that is black Africa's only potential global power - which needs to tackle high-level corruption and defeat Boko Haram's terrorism simultaneously.

Nigeria definitely needs a change of leadership - and Muhammadu Buhari is the most suitable politician  amongst the country's current crop of politicians to provide the incorruptible and disciplined leadership that that sister nation so desperately needs.

The NPP Must Rid Itself Of The Small Number Of Akan Tribal-Supremacists In Its Midst

From comments he is reported to have made recently, it would appear that the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) member of Parliament for Nhyiaeso, Dr. Richard Anane, loses very little sleep over the tagging of the NPP as an Akan party, by some of its political opponents.

He is right not to be bothered by that accusation - as the NPP is definitely not an Akan party: regardless of what some of its opponents might say.

The NPP is in fact a Ghanaian political party - with a large following and a nationwide footprint. If it was an Akan party, it would have been proscribed a long time ago - as under our current system political parties are national in character: not tribal organisations.

However, such is the importance of clearing up that misconception, that we must always speak plainly when discussing it, in the interest  of our nation - and to promote the welfare of all its people.

Being what he is - a duplicitous man who broke his marriage vows to impregnate another woman whiles attending an international AIDS conference, who speaks with a forked-tongue: as philanderers are wont to - what Dr. Richard Anane, and politicians of his ilk, will not admit, is that a powerful and influential group, made up of a cabal of  Akan tribal-supremacist politicians within it, see the NPP as a perfect vehicle for realising a dream long held by some of the progeny of the pre-colonial ruling elites.

For such tribal bigots - many clever enough to successfully hide their real intentions in public behind good-natured banter when not with their own - the NPP is a political-tool-of-choice to enable them achieve their ultimate goal: dominating our nation till the very end of time. Pure nonsense on bamboo stilts in a nation of diverse ethnicity - which  is a unitary republic, not a federation of tribal entities.

Alas, fate let Yaw Osafo-Marfo down, terribly, when he revealed their secret: which was finally let out of the proverbial bag, not too long ago, when he was secretly recorded during a meeting he held with senior party figures, in the Eastern Region.

The point always needs to be made, when discussing the issue of  tribal bigotry in Ghanaian politics, that tribal bigots exist in all the tribes in Ghana - and in virtually all the other political parties too. Luckily for our homeland Ghana, they are few in number wherever they are to be found, in the country.

Like the white-supremacist politicians of the West - who incredibly consider people of colour inferior beings in the 21st century information age - tribal-supremacist politicians in Ghana regard other tribes as  inferior: for which reason their  indigenes  must never be allowed to rule Ghana.

That confounded arrogance is what is driving the super-charged campaign of vilification being conducted by those who demonise President Mahama - who is the most abused Ghanaian leader since independence in 1957. His crime, is simply that he is a northerner.

Yet, scientific research results show clearly that all Ghanaians, wherever in the country they hail from, basically share the same DNA: and are thus one and the same people.

All the ethnic groups in our country have an equal stake in the enterprise Ghana - and no tribe is inferior or superior to another in this nation.

Furthermore, there is virtually not a single extended family clan in Ghana, which is not multi-ethnic in composition - as a result of ties of consanguinity and marriage.

Those relatively few bigoted Akan politicians, who seek to exploit the justifiable sense of pride that ordinary Akans have in their rich cultural heritage - and take advantage of the collective sense of identity that many ordinary Ghanaians of Akan extraction share -  to enable them achieve the dubious ends they seek, will never succeed in their aim.

Tribal bigotry is underpinned by an atavastic mentality and a Dark Ages worldview. It has no place in Ghanaian politics - as it endangers national cohesion. Above all, it poses an existential threat, to the Ghanaian nation-state.

And, lest we forget,  tribal bigotry nearly destroyed a number of sister African nations. Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya and the Ivory Coast, all descended into violence and chaos, in which nearly a million people lost their lives - as a result of the  bigotry of the tribal-supremacists amongst their ruling elites.

The time has now come for the NPP to rid itself of the baleful influence of the party's  small number of Akan tribal-supremacists.  They have become a liability for the party. -  and are damaging its image amongst fair-minded and apolitical Ghanaians: who are just the type of independent-minded voters that the party needs to attract in the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections.

Would Ghana Be A Better Place If Its Leaders Were Genuinely Honourable Men And Women?

All the established democracies in the West place a high premium on personal honour and ethical behaviour amongst those at the top strata of society. Honourable conduct is therefore expected from all Establishment figures.

That is why high-ranking public officials in the West, including politicians, usually resign from their positions, when they become embroiled in scandal. An example is  former U.S. President Richard M. Nixon - who had to resign from office, on August 9, 1974, as a  result of the Watergate scandal.

Now that an increasing number of individuals and civil society organisations, regularly demand accountability from public officials in Ghana, Ghanaian democracy seems to be finally entering  its own age of accountability.

It is the reason why Mr. Martin Amidu has become a folk hero today - and civil society organisations like #Occupy Ghana have gained the trust of many Ghanaians. Ghanaians now find high-level corruption intolerable - and understand that it actually harms ordinary people in diverse ways.

Perhaps one of the ways we can halt the erosion of society's moral fabric, is to ensure that when exposed, amoral individuals involved in corruption (including sexual misconduct), do not continue to hold leadership positions in society.

The question then is: should those involved in white collar  crime,  as well as philandering males and women guilty of cuckolding their husbands, who hold important positions in the public-sector, be required to resign from their positions - once such conduct becomes public knowledge?

Those who take that stand, make the point that  if by definition those involved in various forms of corruption (including white collar crime and sexual misconduct -  cheating on partners: whether married or cohabiting),  are duplicitous, amoral and irresponsible, then Ghana should never be  left in the hands of such individuals -  since their actions clearly prove that they are unreliable.

The probability of individuals with such character traits engaging in high-level c!orruption, is quite high,  in their view.

But, are those who say that Ghana would be a far better place than it is today, if its leaders were genuinely honourable men and women, actually right in what they say? Possibly.

Obviously, sundry scoundrels,  would not have the  ability to successfully engage in create-loot-and-share scams, by taking the government to court, to obtain judgement debt orders, if honourable conduct actually mattered to many in the top strata of Ghanaian society.

Mr. Woyome, for one, would never have collected the Ghc51 millions or so that he was paid, if that was indeed the case. Food for thought.

At any rate, the question as to whether or not Ghana would be a better place if its   leaders were genuinely honourable men and women, is one that should exercise the minds of  Ghana's MPs,  whenever agreements that are inimical to the national interest, are brought to Parliament, for approval.

If they acted honourably, in all such instances - by passing laws that benefit society at large, and sanctioning only  agreements that benefit the generality of the Ghanaian populace, instead of enriching a powerful and greedy few - our homeland Ghana will definitely become a better place tomorrow, than it is today.

An Old Man's Ruminations

THE DANGERS FOR THE NPP OF IGNORING THE PERFIDY OF ITS SMALL BAND OF RUTHLESS HARDLINERS

A very shrewd young acquaintance of mine, who loves Ghana passionately, pointed out a danger that many of the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) fair-minded supporters, seem to have overlooked.

He believes that the party could lose an election many observers believe it will win handsomely, if held today, if the NPP's leadership allow the destructive activities of the small band of ruthless hardliners - the hypocritical Kwadjo Owusu-Afriyies and Bernard Antwi-Boasiakos: with their scorched-earth-warrior-complex - to continue unabated.

Those ruthless individuals seem to think that if they literally lay Ghana to waste, it will guarantee victory for the NPP, in the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections - and are therefore busy sabotaging the nation-building effort.

Yet, they couldn't be more wrong. What they forget, is that one characteristic that civilised and fair-minded people, in every part of the globe, share,  is that once they come to the realisation that gross unfairness is taking place, and that someone who is innocent is being deliberately vilified and victimised, they immediately become offended by it - and swiftly rally round the victim and offer him or her their support.

Alas, in the world of politics, it is but a small step from that sense of outrage, to going on to cast a sympathy vote, in a national election, for the perceived victim of such unfairness and vilification - as a practical demonstration of solidarity with him or her.

It will only take one particularly egregious example of such vilification of President Mahama, to turn off fair-minded ordinary Ghanaians, in droves, and prevent them from voting for the NPP in 2016.

 In that sense, Kwabena Adjei Adjapong, the NPP's general secretary, strikes the right chord, in refusing to join the rabble-rouser-types, who regularly denigrate the presidency, by referring to President Mahama as a "thief". It is instructive that he himself has come under sustained attack by hirelings of the NPP's perfidious hardliners, since that declaration.

 Incidents of unfairness meted out to innocent individuals, elicit the same response in all societies - sympathy for the victim: and outrage amongst decent people  at the conduct  of the perpetrators.

It has something to do with the indomitable nature of the human spirit. Amongst all the different  races that make up the one human race, wherever in the world one ventures, most people abhor unfairness  - and consequently adamantly refuse to bend to the will of unjust and oppressive individuals and groups that are guilty of such abominable and unspeakable behaviour.

Those rouble-rouser-types in the NPP are bound to go too far, one day, in their demonisation of President Mahama - and finally offend the sensibilities of fair-minded Ghanaians. That will end up ensuring that the NPP is painfully defeated again in 2016.

The party's members will then finally come to the realisation that the Kwadjo Owusu-Afriyies and  Bernard Antwi-Boasiakos actually belong to an era of Ghanaian politics that is past.

Ghanaians now want to put the divisiveness of the NDC/NPP duopoly's intense and destructive rivalry behind them - and embrace a new era of uniting to transform Ghana into an African equivalent of the egalitarian societies of Scandinavia: with the nation's best brains from across the political spectrum in the vanguard.

GHANAIAN WOMEN SHOULD BE ALLOCATED HALF THE SEATS IN GHANA'S PARLIAMENT

Figures from the last census conducted in Ghana, revealed that women in Ghana, make up a majority of the total population.

There are many ordinary people  who believe that one of the reasons why our homeland Ghana remains such an unfair society, is that Ghanaian women more or less are treated as second class citizens - in 21st century Africa.

Yet as mothers, wives and single parents, Ghanaian women make a huge difference to many families - and often shoulder the burden of providing for the upkeep of children in most homes in our country.

They also contribute significantly to the growth of industry and the expansion of commerce in Ghana - and have done so since time immemorial: long before the first Europeans set foot on our shores, creating jobs for many fellow citizens in the process.

Ghana will definitely be a better place for all its people, if the constitut:ion was amended to guarantee women half the seats in Parliament.

When that finally happens, they will bring their wisdom and practical nature to bear on its deliberations, and make Parliament a true bulwark against tyranny - by keeping the executive in check: through their dispassionate contributions as members of various parliamentary select committees.

If even a cantankerous old man like Kofi Thompson (who in the war of the sexes is in the camp of the female of the species, incidentally),  supports such an enlightened development in our national life, then one is sure that most young males amongst  the younger generation in Ghana will also welcome it.

 WILL THE POWER OUTAGES IMPACT AIR-QUALITY NEGATIVELY IN URBAN GHANA?

 Only heaven knows what pollutants are being  emitted into the air, in towns and cities across Ghana, by generators working at full tilt,  during power outages.

From my own personal experience,  whenever one of my neighbours switches on his generator, for example, depending on wind-direction, my bedroom is filled with fumes.

Being someone who is acutely aware of his state of health at any given moment  (as is often the case amongst most vegetarians and the health-conscious - who strive to lead healthy lifestyles), alas, one immediately notices the pain one feels in one's chest region, when fumes from that particular neighbour's generator fill the room.

For that reason, I'll certainly be glad, when we finally move from that rented property, in a year's time.

If the power outages continue, air-quality in towns and cities across Ghana, is bound to deteriorate - and, sadly, the incidence of respiratory ailments amongst both  the elderly and young children who are urban dwellers, is bound to increase. Pity.

FIFA's CUNNING SEPP BLATTER BOOSTS THE RE-ELECTION CHANCES OF THE GFA'S SLY KWESI NYANTAKYI

How typical of the Alice-in-wonderland world of Fifa, that the cunning Sepp Blatter, decided to act to boost the re-election chances of the president of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), the sly Kwesi Nyantakyi  - by sending him to Kenya: when Blatter knows perfectly well that between the perfidious Nyantakyi, and the president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF),  Issa Hayatou, it is the CAF president who has more knowledge of, and experience of  Kenyan football, and its evolution, as well as its current difficulties.

In the final analysis, the proud Kenyans, will of course ignore the advice of the smug and self-satisfied Nyantakyi  - and in the end CAF will step in to resolve the crisis in Kenyan football.

Nyantakyi is a typical Ghanaian professional - third rate, evasive and opaque: all appearance and absolutely no substance.  And always on the lookout for number one.

The dreadful state of the local soccer league in Ghana, is ample testimony to his incompetence and abject failure, as a sports administrator. Only in a nation full of incompetents, who worship at the alter of the  cult-of-the-mediocre, will someone like him parade himself as a success.

The opaqueness surrounding the details of the 'donation' of the 30 Jeep Grand Cherokees by Tanink Motors,  illustrates perfectly, the self-seeking and nest-feathering, which has characterised the tenure of Nyantakyi at the GFA.

One dares him to be completely open and honest about what many believe was a clever ruse to enable Tanink Motors successfuly offload 30 expensive SUVs - which they would otherwise never have sold in a million years in one go.

For a lawyer, his past evasiveness on the issue, is very significant.

The question is: When exactly will Kwesi Nyantakyi give Ghanaian taxpayers the full list of the 30 recipients of those SUVs - since Tanink Motors secured tax exemptions to enable Mr. Roger Klogo's generous "partners" to purchase them?

Kwesi Nyantakyi is precisely the type of bootlicker in the global game that Sepp Blatter relies on to hold on to his position in Fifa. How unfortunate that Ghanaian soccer is lumbered with people of his ilk. Why on earth do the Abedi Peles not take this incompetent on - and run against him, in the upcoming GFA election, one wonders?

Is The Importation Of Finished Petroleum Products Ghana's Biggest Create-Loot-And-Share Scam?

Shorn of all the complexity deliberately used in explaining industry  issues, simply put, what the so-called bulk oil distributors who  import finished petroleum products into Ghana, seek, is that taxpayers bear the risks involved in their business - whiles they pocket the vast profits they make importing dodgy products from companies like Trafigura: with abominable pasts and company cultures full of criminal conduct and total disregard for their fellow human beings.

 It might very well be that as  currently structured, the business of importing  finished petroleum products in bulk shipload parcels into Ghana, is the biggest create-loot-and-share scam, in Ghana's history, thus far. And it has powerful vested interests profiting handsomely from it.

 Who ever heard of traders importing goods into Ghana to sell for a profit, demanding that the government should reimburse them for foreign exchange losses incurred in their business?

As far as we can tell, no one in government forced the so-called bulk oil distributors into the business of importing finished petroleum products into Ghana - so why should those arch-dissemblers be treated any differently?

The question is: should we not end this pure nonsense on bamboo stilts - by merging the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR): so that they produce all the petroleum products Ghana needs?

The so-called bulk oil distributors can then buy them without incurring any foreign exchange losses - and we can then all be sure that the finished petroleum products sold at the forecourts of petrol filling stations across Ghana meet the highest international standards: and won't slowly destroy the engines of millions of vehicles across the country.

#OccupyGhana and other civil society groups that care about our nation ought to pay more attention to the scandalous demands being made on the government by the bulk oil distributors - and thoroughly scrutinise the figures involved in what now appears to be never-ending debt ballooning on a quarterly basis.

They must engage the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) on the matter.

Those demands are outrageous and totally unacceptable. For all we know, we may be dealing with what could turn out to be a create, loot and share scam far bigger than all the dubious judgements paid out so far, combined -  including the Ghc51 million that Woyome was able to collect from the national treasury.

Those who say that the importation of finished petroleum products, as currently structured, is definitely the biggest create, loot and share scam going, may be right in what they say. Whatever the case might be, we must bring it to an end swiftly - and merging the GNPC and TOR holds the key to doing so successfully.

Why does The Ghana Water Company Limited Not Partner Michael W. Pritchard's LIFESAVER Systems?

Yesterday was World Water Day. Alas, like millions of homes across Ghana, the taps in the house where I live, were dry, on the day.  Pity.

58 years after gaining our independence, the lack of regularly available treated water, is hard to accept,  in 21st century Ghana.

As a matter of fact, we have not had any water from the distribution pipeline network of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), flowing through our taps, for three solid days now.

Yet, we are luckier where we live than most families in Accra - as we do  have treated water from the GWCL almost daily: living as we do  just a few kilometres from its main water treatment plant at Weija, in a part of McCarthy Hill just about 200 metres or so off the path of its main distribution pipeline to the centre of Accra.

Still, it is an intolerable and unacceptable situation, in this day and age.

In a nation whose diverse traditional cultures and educational system neither encourage original thinking, nor cultivate a sense of curiosity, in children and young people, it is not surprising that despite complaining about the ever-increasing cost of treating water, the GWCL's management does not actively seek new, less expensive and cost-effective ways of treating water.

Fortunately, there actually is a past example in Ghana, of  creative thinking in action in the production of potable water:  the 5-town experiment in which Coca-Cola sponsored the inventor Dean Kamen, to  produce pure and safe water by evaporation in 5 towns in Ghana, using his invention, 'Slingshot".

Slingshot produces its own electricity from biomass feedstock, as part of the process of producing potable water by evaporation - and can produce safe water from even contaminated sources. And from  sea water, too, incidentally - which would be beneficial to rural communities along our coastline.

It is perfect for producing potable water in cost-effective fashion in a cash-strapped nation experiencing a power crisis. Surely, the GWCL could take a second look at the impact made by this all-important experiment, cost-wise?

The GWCL could also adopt the use of  nano-technology filtration systems.

With illegal gold miners polluting most of the rivers and water bodies that the GWCL relies on across the country with toxic chemicals and heavy metals, it is vital, from a public health standpoint, to ensure that the water the GWCL supplies the public with, throughout the nation, is actually safe to drink and meets global standards.

Yet, if the GWCL is to lower the cost of producing water, one of the measures it needs to take, is to decrease the amount of imported chemicals it uses to purify water.

The question then is: if the chemicals it uses cannot remove heavy metals, for example, why does the GWCL not rely more on purifying water using a combination of Dean Kamen's Slingshot's evaporation method and nano-technology filtration, to enable it  remove those health-damaging heavy metals and toxic chemicals, as well as other contaminants?

The nano-tech filtration could be  deployed both in its large distribution pipelines, and at the point where water is delivered to the premises of its customers, from its distribution pipeline network.

Already familiar with Dean Kamen's Slingshot, surely, a public private partnership (PPP) with a reputable global leader in nano-tech water filtration, such as LIFESAVER Systems, of the UK, would be beneficial to the GWCL, and to water users across the country, too?

Such a partnership, could enable the GWCL to work with Michael W. Pritchard, the inventor and founder of LIFESAVER Systems, to develop in-situ replaceable large pipeline  filtration systems - and smaller ones for use  at the point just past the meter where treated water from its distribution pipeline network is piped into customers' premises.

Will that not help eliminate pipeline contamination, including that arising from damaged and newly-repaired sections of the distribution pipeline network, for instance?

Above all, a partnership with LIFESAVER Systems, would make its different water filtration products readily available in Ghana - and ensure that all water users in both rural and urban Ghana can have safe water to drink: even if it is sourced directly from contaminated water.

Naturally, it will also earn the GWCL a commission, each time one is sold here.

A partnership with Michael W. Pritchard's LIFESAVER Systems will be a real boon for the GWCL - and for water users nationwide.

Should SIC Insurance Appeal Against Judgement Debt Order Obtained By Ivory Finance Against It?

The Business and Financial Times recently published a story containing startling revelations in a lawsuit brought against Ivory Finance by Ital Construct International Limited.

It illustrates perfectly the perfidy of the many amoral individuals and  corporate entities that pepper the landscape in Ghana's financial services sector.

It is a shabby story devoid of any uplifting examples of corporate good governance principles in action, which also lacks any inspiring displays of commendable professionalism that is evidence of  a company culture with ethical  underpinnings.

Simply put, it is a horrific tale of unparalleled greed and egregious duplicity - that even super-inventive Hollywood would have found difficult to come up with as a plot for a film.

Where in the world but Ghana, would lawyers of a financial services company get their employer's clients  to sign an agreement - regarding a court judgment debt order they had obtained in their employer's favour, which was prepared by the said financial services company - without requesting that their client first show the said agreement to their own company's lawyers before signing it?

Surely, that unethical tactic Ivory Finance's lawyers apparently adopted, if proven to be true in court, warrants their being  disbarred by the General Legal Council?

Yet, that is precisely what Ital Construct International Limited's executives are apparently accusing Ivory Finance's corporate lawyers of perpetrating.

Clearly, taking a dip in Ghana's financial services sector, appears to be akin to swimming in shark-infested waters - and one needs to have one's wits about one, when dealing with professionals and corporate entities, in the industry.

The astonishing claim has also been made in open court that a client seeking a loan, apparently informed the company  advancing the loan to it, that a possible impact of the failure by a party it had a contract with, to honour the terms of the said breached  contract, was that it would affect their ability to repay the said loan - yet, instead of refusing to advance the loan for that reason, the financial services company simply asked it to seek a bond from the insurance industry as loan insurance: after which it went ahead to  advance the loan.

Did greed blind them, to their fiduciary obligations, one wonders?

If true, did such unethical conduct, not constitute bad faith - as it meant that relevant due diligence information that would have prompted SIC Insurance to refuse the request for it to issue the bond to insure the loan was hidden from it?

Reading the Business and Financial Times story, one could not help feeling that ruthless financial services sector companies, and unethical professionals, have successfully  ganged up to destroy the partially state-owned  SIC Insurance - and perhaps get their fat-cat cronies in the insurance industry to take over its valuable share of Ghana's insurance market.

There are some who would say that SIC Insurance ought to appeal the judgment debt order obtained by Ivory Finance against it, and take it right up to the highest levels in the courts system, if need be  - as they believe that it can be successfully argued that Ivory Finance and Ital Construct International Limited in effect colluded to defraud it.

Let Us Innovate Our Way Out Of Our Present Difficulties

There are a number of reasons why our present leaders must always welcome the contributions of creative individuals and civil society organisations, such as #OccupyGhana, to the nation-building effort.

For a start, many of the ideas generated by such individuals and civil society groups,  are often innovative.

Taking the heads of public-sector organisations to court for failing to discharge their constitutionally-mandated duties, is bound to have a positive effect on public-sector productivity in the long-term, for instance.

That is why we must commend #OccupyGhana for taking the Auditor General to court - they have started a trend, which will make the top echelons of the entities that make up Ghana's public-sector, more conscious of their obligations to society.

We must innovate our way out of our present economic difficulties. Those difficulties, will make Ghanaian businesses that survive the present power crisis and the economic downturn following in its wake,  leaner and better at adapting to change, going forward.

Why, for example, do our leaders not take the innovative approach of going to the Ghana Stock Exchange to raise the money state institutions  and organisations owe the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) - and pay off the entire public-sector debt to the ECG that way?

President Mahama's administration could float 45 percent of the government's shares in the ECG in an initial public offering  (IPO), give 5 percent of its shares to the management and staff of the company, and hold on to the remaining 50 percent shares.

Will that not kill two birds with one stone: make the ECG more or less  debt-free and provide it with interest-free capital,  as well as give Ghanaian investors an opportunity to acquire a stake in a company with huge potential?

Because we have entered the age of cheap satellites deployed by companies like Urthecast, although it might sound esoteric now, we must not dismiss the possibility that in the not too distant future, the ECG could one day leverage the wires it has to millions of building across Ghana.

There is indeed no reason why someday the ECG could not  become a market leader harnessing the data generated by the internet of things and also deliver super-fast internet packages into those selfsame buildings - perhaps using its own optic-fibre network to deliver connectivity to the "last mile" to empower rural Ghana.

Instead of wasting its energies chasing hawkers from Accra, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (as well other metropolitan and district assemblies across Ghana), ought to see them as a potential source of revenue.

They can be sold uniforms that will make them easy to identify and to monitor,  and be encouraged to pay taxes regularly - either to revenue collectors with the type of point of sale devices used by the banks, or with their smartphones to mobile money accounts the metropolitan and district assemblies hold with the telcos. Will that not help cut down youth unemployment numbers dramatically across the nation?

There is an energy in the activities of those hawkers that makes our towns and cities pulsate with life - so why not harness that energy and generate additional revenues for metropolitan and district assemblies countrywide?

With the astronomical prices that redwood logs command in India and China,  instead of continuing to remain cash-strapped because of the paucity of funds it receives from the government,  why does the Forestry Service of the Forestry Commission not  sell the hundreds of redwood logs in containers it has seized from illegal loggers attempting to ship them out of Ghana, directly to reputable and well-resourced importers in China and India - who can come here to ship them from Tema port at their own expense: after paying the Forestry Commission the prevailing market prices in U.S. dollars for the logs in their home markets?

The Forestry Service of the Forestry Commission must resist the maneuverings of the criminal syndicates involved in the unlawful felling of redwood trees, who are desperately trying to get the logs released to them, by claiming that the redwood logs in the seized containers predate the export ban.

It is a moot point as to whether or not any of the logs would meet the strict-proof burden of being legally felled in a court of law. At any rate, technically, not a single one of those seized containers predates the export ban. And that is a verifiable fact.
  
Finally, if invited here by the government, between them, the U.S. company SolarCity and the Kenyan company, M-Kopa, have free-market business models that will make solar power systems affordable for all income brackets in Ghana. They could partner the ECG to roll out their respective financing plans for accessing power from rooftop solar power systems across Ghana.

One hopes the powers that be will talk to them asap.

Let us  innovate our way out of our present economic difficulties - instead of surrendering to the nation-wrecking negativism of the doomsayers in our midst: who lack the imagination to see the very bright future this wonderful African nation (blessed with such a talented, mostly well-educated and dynamic young generation), has awaiting it.

Ceding Tax Revenues To Destination Inspection Companies No Longer Makes Sense

If we are to realise the full potential of our homeland Ghana - at a time when we need to raise sufficient revenues to develop Ghana with - we must make it impossible for any individual to put his or her personal interest above the national interest,  in negotiating and signing agreements, on our nation's behalf.

Agreements that are inimical to Ghana, but which redound to the benefit of some of our ruling elites, can cause endless problems for society at large, in the long run.

The agreement with destination inspection companies is an example. An agreement that is the financial equivalent of a bleeding wound hemorrhaging tax revenues is intolerable at this point in time in our national life.

Today, importers and exporters, overburdened with taxes and sundry levies,  are up in arms against the authorities. Key amongst targets of their ire, are the destination inspection companies - which they believe are trying to create new business opportunities to enable them continue milking Mother Ghana dry: at their expense.

The question is: instead of crippling the businesses of individuals and companies, exporting and importing goods in and out of the country, with additional taxes and charges, why do the authorities not end the foolish policy of giving a percentage of the total amount collected in taxes from our ports, to destination inspection companies - to which work that can be efficiently and easily done by the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), has been outsourced?

The only Ghanaians who benefit from this unconscionable drain on the public purse, are the fat-cats whose well-rewarded influence-peddling, ensures the protection of the destination inspection companies in Ghana - and guarantees that what is an arrangement that is of no real value to our national economy, continues to remain in place.

Apparently, a key factor in their winning business here, was their ability to  install X-ray scanners at the ports. Yet, those in the import-export trade, who are against the continued presence of destination inspection companies in Ghana, say that the scanners are unable to distinguish between new and secondhand goods, for example.

Neither can they tell the true invoice values of goods in the containers they scan - nor can they reveal whether or not those goods pose a danger to consumers.

In the view of critics of the destination inspection companies, if the scanners have any value at all, it lies not in revenue generation and protection, but perhaps in detecting (when they work) contraband that could compromise national security.

In any case, the scanners have been paid for many times over, from the revenues ceded to the destination inspection companies, over the years they have been in business here, And, apparently, under-invoicing and other fraudulent practices, still exist in the importation of goods into the country, despite their presence here.

The destination inspection companies must must leave our shores and find business elsewhere in other jurisdictions. Ghana no longer needs their services.

Ceding tax revenues to destination inspection companies - and overburdening small and medium scale businesses instead, to make up for the lost revenue - no longer makes sense.

They are an egregious example of the baleful influence of vested interests in our homeland Ghana, and a massive drain on the public purse. Under no circumstances should the government of President Mahama renew the contracts of the destination inspection companies in Ghana, when they finally expire this year. Enough is enough.

Ghanaian Soccer Should Not Be Run Like A Sicilian Mafia Family's Fraudulent Scheme - Designed To Enrich Its members

According to an old wag I know,  organising the soccer league in Ghana, is akin to a conspiracy by greedy and corrupt individuals, to further their own interests. One wonders what the Ghana Football Association's (GFA) response to that would be.

Critics often point to the many curious decisions, made by disciplinary committees of the GFA, over the years, as evidence of the corrupt nature of officialdom in the Ghanaian soccer world.

It is often alleged in sections of the media, for example, that corrupt individuals amongst Ghanaian soccer's governing body's officials, achieve their nest-feathering-aims, by overseeing a league in which some club officials engage in match-fixing, and the bribing of soccer referees officiating football league matches, across the country.

In light of that, the idea that at all material times, those who supervise what elsewhere are regarded as crimes, think that by sheltering behind  an international soccer governing body, Fifa - which  is itself opaque in many ways and is run more or less like a Soviet-era Politburo - they can avoid being held to account in Ghana, is quite frankly ludicrous.

No one - individual or corporate entity - in Ghana, including even the President of the Republic, is above the law.

Naturally, since they do not take place in the open, claims of match-fixing and the bribing of soccer referees, are hard to prove.

Nonetheless, if those allegations are true, then it must be pointed out to Ghanaian soccer's governing body's officials, that match-fixing, and the bribing of soccer referees officiating soccer league matches in Ghana,  are indeed serious crimes.

Investigating such crimes cannot possibly be regarded as "interference" in their association's affairs, by the Ghanaian nation-state. With respect, any viewpoint to the contrary, is nonsensical.

And neither do demands that football officials account for all cash transfers sent to them by Fifa amount to "interference" in the GFA's affairs, by the Ghanaian nation-state. Soccer enthusiasts in Ghana have a right to know how cash transfers to the GFA from Fifa are actually disbursed. That is what audits of their finances are for.

Misappropriation of funds belonging to even private associations willy nilly constitute criminal conduct. Individuals guilty of it can be, and are routinely prosecuted, and jailed, in Ghana.

Ideally, those who run the GFA ought to be selfless individuals with a passion for the game, who work hard to unearth and nurture talented young people, who are then groomed into world-class soccer stars. Alas, sadly, that is not the situation prevailing in the Ghanaian soccer world of today.

Match-fixing and the bribing of referees officiating soccer matches, will never make for a competitive and widely-followed soccer league in our country. We are all witnesses to the situation that prevails today in the Ghanaian soccer world.

We are lumbered with a league of mediocre quality, supervised by individuals who lack the nous and gumption,  to create a super league with a crop of quality players that is competitive, and has a large and passionate following.

Yet, it is the quality of the local league, not the dazzling conquests in international soccer tournaments by foreign-based players for the  Black Stars, that ought to be the yardstick by which we measure the achievements (or lack thereof) of those who run the governing body of soccer in Ghana.

If we are to be ever successful in creating a world-class super leaque for the local game, Ghanaian soccer  ought not to be run like a Sicilian mafia family's fraudulent scheme designed to enrich its members.

(Finally, a simple test of their sincerity and commitment to transparency and accountability: Can the GFA give Ghanaians a full list of the names of all the recipients of the 30 Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs recently 'donated' to the Black Stars by Tanink Motors? One asks because it involves the waiver of import duty on those vehicles - taxes that at the very least, could have been used to build a few classroom buildings,  in areas in rural Ghana currently lacking them.)

President Mahama's State Of The Nation Address

Listening to today's state of the nation address, to Parliament,  delivered by President Mahama, I could not help feeling sorry for him. He must be the most maligned leader in Ghana's history, thus far.

A kind, humble and decent gentleman - who, we must not forget,  never actually sought the presidency to begin with, and never imagined he would become president so suddenly, either - he is clearly envied by many amongst Ghana's political class: who wished they were in his shoes.

Many of the leading lights  in the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) readily come to mind  -  particularly its small crop of ruthless and hypocritical tribal-supremacists.

Despite the many challenges it has faced, and continues to face, President Mahama's administration has done so much on many fronts - yet his regime is regarded by many ordinary people as corrupt and incompetent.

Alas, a lot of the Mahama regime's PR troubles are self-inflicted. For example, although President Mahama was right in implying that his regime has done more to expose, investigate and prosecute cases of corruption in the country, than any other regime in the 4th Republic, the Attorney General's Department has just halted the prosecution of the alleged accomplices of Ms. Nayele Ametefeh - even though she was only just recently jailed for 8 years for smuggling cocaine into the UK.

What message does that send to ordinary people? Does it not give the impression to Ghanaians that powerful people engaged in criminal activities such as cocaine smuggling can operate with impunity - because they have the influence and power to stop their hirelings from being prosecuted and jailed when caught in Ghana?

And how many more years will it take for the Attorney General's Department to retrieve judgement debt cash unlawfully paid out to the  Wayomes and Taricones?

Has the time not come for the Pesident to relieve the present Attorney General of her post - and bring back Mr. Martin Amidu: for the good of the nation?

Martin Amidu would never have allowed his office to give the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) advice to enable it sidestep parliamentary approval for a loan from a bank in Germany, as was done by the present deputy attorney general.

Rumour has it that that was the main reason why the Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC) was merged with the GNPC in such hasty fashion - so that the gas supplied to the power ships that will be supplying electricity to the ECG,  would count as a GNPC core business: a legal sleight of hand designed to facilitate it obtaining the wherewithal to provide the guarantees sought by Karadeniz Holdings before commencing business with the ECG.

Incidentally, the President would be wise to put Bishop Doug Heward-Mills and  Pastor Mensah Otabil on the GNPC's board - to ensure it has independent voices who will prevent it being looted by the regime-placemen posted there to create-loot-and-share the mountains of cash it generates, through clever siphoning schemes.

An example is the dubious Karadeniz Holdings' power ship deal between that company's subsidiary, Karpowership Ghana Company Limited, and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

Why risk endangering the finances of the GNPC, which has been asked to provide guarantees for the ECG, when there are other power barge companies from the U.S. that will finance such deals themselves?

My humble advice to the President, is to approach the government of the Bahamas as soon as practicable, and ask it to give Ghana copies of the many proposals for power barges and thermal power plants, which  it has received thus far.

He will be pleasantly surprised - as every one of the members of the consortia that submitted proposals to the Bahamian government would consider Ghana - even in its present predicament - a very attractive investment destination.

 As a matter of fact, with an ECG that is a financial basket case, and possessing natural gas deposits of our own, their proposals are tailor-made for Ghana - and more suited to conditions here than exist in the Bahamian power sector. They would be a godsend for Ghana - and Ghana a godsend for them: in win-win deals.

SGI Global Holdings and the Caribbean Power Company are two such entities. They are both  capable of reacting swiftly if approached by Ghana for emergency power barges - and send them here within months.

SGI Global  Holdings' proposal to the Bahamian government, even includes financing the upgrading of the infrastructure of the Bahamian equivalent of the ECG, the Bahamas Electricity Corporation, itself. Imagine, that.

We must stop the powerful few with greedy ambitions, whose determination to milk Mother Ghana dry, leads to daft deals such as the one between the ECG and Karpowership Ghana Company Limited, from continuing to rip our nation off. We must end their baleful influence in our country once and for all.

Finally, if President Mahama wants to be remembered for constructing the most durable roads ever, in Ghana's history, let him send the minister for roads and highways to visit Jamshedpur, the TATA-owned steel city in India, to see the plastic roads built there by the TATA subsidiary, Jusco.

By mixing melted discarded plastic waste with bitumen, the resulting plastic roads last longer than ordinary roads, bear heavier loads, remain pothole-free throughout their lifespan, and because plastic is impermeable to water, they are not easily washed away by flash floods. What could be better than that as a legacy, I ask?

Since the TATA conglomerate is already in Ghana, the company can be asked to partner Ghanaian road contractors to construct the "cocoa roads" in rural Ghana, as well as rehabilitate roads in urban Ghana - and climate-change-proof Ghana's road network that way, at relatively little cost to our nation.

Just my humble two-pesewas.  And, incidentally, this blog will still continue sharing ideas with fellow Ghanaians, regardless of the fact that  instead of thanking me, some of the President's appointees rather laugh at me and call me a fool, for giving out ideas that I could profit from,  personally, so freely.

I don't blame them: they wouldn't understand a man whose DNA is wired to share with others. I am happy to be a nobody,  and content to remain financially-challenged like millions of fellow Ghanaians who stay on the straight and narrow path, despite their daily struggles. We don't envy them.

Let them continue to  participate in the ongoing brutal gang-rape of Mother Ghana. Their cups will soon fill up - and judgement day will then be upon them. Greed and selfishness in a politician in today's Ghana will always lead to dire consequences, when he or she exists office.

They must not forget that although the alchemist's gold shines brightly, in reality it buys zilch. Honest stewardship, on the otherhand, moves mountains. They and their fellow-travellers in the NPP who think Ghanaians are stupid will get a shock in 2016. Hmm, Ghana - eyeasem o. Asem ebeba debi ankasa.

Tape-Recording Of Hon. Yaw Osafo Marfo's Voice Must Be Sent For Forensic Audio Analysis

It is not surprising that controversy has erupted over the tribalistic sentiments allegedly expressed by the Hon. Yaw Osafo Marfo, which were secretly recorded during a meeting he held with elders of his party, in the Eastern Region.

The authenticity of the tape-recording must be quickly established to enable the controversy to end.

If it is found to have been doctored, those behind it must be found and prosecuted for slandering the Hon. Yaw Osafo Marfo, and ruining his hard-earned reputation.

On the other hand, the Hon. Yaw Osafo Marfo's career as a politician must end, if any forensic audio analysis carried out by reputable experts confirmed that the tape-recording had not been doctored - meaning therefore that  he actually made  those totally unacceptable  tribalistic comments.

In the face of the denials by the Hon. Yaw Osafo Marfo and his spokesperson, they have a moral obligation to tell Ghanaians what exactly Yaw Osafo Marfo said on that particular occassion.

Nothing else will do - and the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) presidential candidate for the 2016 election,  Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo,  must ensure that that is done immediately.

This is a particularly nasty poison and sure-fire-election-loser that will not be neutralised by dissimulation and clever PR.

What fair-minded person who is a patriot and nationalist wants to be ruled by narrow-minded and tribalistic politicians - who claim to be champions of democracy, yet feel that ruling Ghana is their birthright? Hypocritical politicians with such an antediluvian mentality will stop at nothing in order to win power - which can never be good for any democracy.

That is why Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo must publicly condemn those unacceptable and divisive views - and assure Ghanaians that he is a one-nation politician whose regime will not discriminate against any section of society or region in Ghana.

For the sake of our country, it is important that members of Ghana's political class immediately own up, when they are exposed by secretly recorded voice recordings of controversial statements made by them, in private conversations, which  they would otherwise wish had never been put into the public domain.

It is vital that political parties in Ghana never shield leading members who are exposed by such secretly recorded private conversations - as it is not helpful to give the world the impression that a political party is hastily erecting a wall-of-deception to hide an unpallatable truth about one of its leaders from the world.

It would say a lot about the integrity of the Hon. Yaw Osafo Marfo, if claims by his spokesperson that the recording of him making those controversial statements had been doctored, were to be scientifically proven to be pure lies told to try and distance Yaw Osafo Marfo from what he actually said.

The question we should pose to Ghanaian politicians is: If there are reputable forensic laboratories around the world that specialise in analysing audio voice recordings to ascertain whether or not they have been doctored, why bury your head in the sand, when it can be scientifically proven that your denials and claims that the recording had been doctored are nothing but pure lies?

Indeed, so serious are the tribalistic sentiments allegedly expressed by the Hon. Yaw Osafo Marfo, in the secretly recorded tape-recording of his voice that its authenticity ought to be established as soon as practicable. We must condemn such dangerous and atavistic views in no uncertain terms.

No politician or political party holding such divisive views ought to rule our country.

We must not forget that it could be argued that if it can be established that a majority of the leading members of any political party in Ghana, are in fact tribal-supremacists, that party could be banned from participating in elections in our country - and its certificate of registration cancelled and withdrawn.

The more responsible sections of the Ghanaian media, which actually care about the stability of our nation, and the welfare of ordinary people - and thus remain strictly neutral observers of the Ghanaian political landscape - ought to submit the voice recording that the Hon. Yaw Osafo-Marfo's spokesperson claims has been doctored, to a reputable forensic laboratory outside Ghana, for analysis to ascertain its authenticity.

In addition to sundry police forensic laboratories across the world,  as this blog's humble contribution to that important national assignment, we  recommend Gregg M. Stutchman's Stutchman Forensic Laboratory, in California, USA, to the Ghanaian media.

Andrew Awuni Is Doing A Great Disservice To Ghana By Refusing To Expose High-Level Corruption He Claims To Be Aware Of

It is extraordinary that an anti-corruption campaigner can say that exposing high-level corruption that he is aware of will destabilise Ghana. Corruption impoverishes nations - which is why it is frowned upon throughout the world.

Under no circumstances should those involved in it be protected. Yet, that is precisely what Mr. Andrew Awuni's refusal to expose those whose involvement in corruption that he says will destabalise Ghana, if it becomes public knowledge, amounts to.

Exposing those involved in high-level corruption, weakens their power and influence in society - and destroys the networks of vested interests that corrupt them. What could be better than that, I ask?

And how can that possibly destabilise Ghana? It is corruption that is destabilising our country - by denying others the opportunity to partake of the national cake. That slowly builds up resentment that could lead to possible future social explosion. Literally.

Mr. Andrew Awuni is either on the side of the ordinary people of Ghana, or on the side of the thieves-in-high-places, whose unfathomable greed and selfishness, is destroying the moral fabric of Ghanaian society - and endangering Ghanaian democracy.

He cannot eat his anti-corruption NGO-cake and have it. Either he does the public interest work he registered his Centre for Freedom and Accuracy, for, or closes it down.

Surely, only someone who is an elitist and amoral, will say that exposing powerful and influential people who are secretly robbing our country, will destabalise Ghana? After all, the onus is on important people to live above reproach - if they don't want to end up in jail and lose face in society. With respect, he must put up, or shut up.

If, for the sake of argument, the president and vice president, for example, were to conspire to rob Ghana in the award of a contract tomorrow, and Mr. Awuni exposes them, both of them  will be forced by Ghanaians to resign from their positions - and the constitutional provisions for replacing them, will be activated to replace both of them, and swear in their successors. End of story.

Wherein lies the destabilisation in that, I ask? On the contrary, it will deepen the roots of Ghanaian democracy, yet further. Let us not underrate the robustness of our institutions of state. Did Parliament and the Judiciary not rise to the occassion when a sitting president suddenly passed away?

Our institutions of state are sufficiently robust to withstand Mr. Awuni exposing any crooks-in-high-places involved in grand corruption.

Mr. Andrew Awuni is  doing a great disservice to Mother Ghana, by refusing to expose those involved in high-level corruption, which  he claims has come to his notice.

There are some independent-minded thinkers who will say that that is unpatriotic and highly hypocritical of an anti-corruption campaigner.

He risks losing his credibility amongst discerning and patriotic Ghanaians - as it is difficult to avoid drawing the conclusion that his curious claims are mischievious:  and calculated to discredit President Mahama's administration. Pity.

Let Us Protect Ghana From Those Sabotaging The Nation-Building Effort

One can understand more mature politicians in the National Democratic Congress (NDC), being irritated by the negativity generated by the public utterances of youthful firebrands, in their party - particularly during a severe power crisis that has led to the governing party in Ghana becoming unpopular across the nation.

However, it is important that senior figures in the NDC don't dismiss out of hand, the suggestion that some sabotage in the power sector, cannot be completely ruled out.

The NDC's leadership must also recognise the fact that atavism is what is actually driving the most implacable of President Mahama's opponents and critics. They must also understand that it is pointless reasoning with such bigoted opponents.

Bigotry is irrational. That is why it is often so hard to understand some of those who are so verbally aggressive in their opposition to President Mahama.

It is pointless reasoning with politicians like the John Kwadjo Owusu-Afriyies and the Bernard Antwi-Boasiakos of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). The government of President Mahama must focus instead  on getting the country's economy back on a sound footing again.

What is monstrous  about the unreasonableness of the John Kwadjo Owusu-Afriyies and the Bernard Antwi-Boasiakos, is that essentially, like Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, the NPP's presidential candidate for the 2016 election, President Mahama too is basically a good and decent human being.

Although many in the NPP will deny it, the truth of the matter, is that the main reason why President Mahama is being so unjustly vilified and demonised,  is that a small number of  tribal bigots in their party, find it intolerable to be ruled by a northerner. What infernal cheek and arrogance - when scientific research confirms that Ghanaians share virtually the same DNA: and are thus one and the same people, effectively.

Going by the revealations from the recording of a conversation between the Hon. Yaw Osafo-Marfo, and party elders in the Eastern Region, it  is obvious that such individuals believe that dominating our country, is their birthright.

On that basis, it is easy to understand why President Mahama is seen by such opponents as a usurper whom they must get rid of at all costs.

 Nothing will stop such bigoted individuals from pursuing their objective - regardless of how much suffering their actions cause ordinary people. And how the saboteurs are making Ghanaians suffer. And to think they are being allowed to get away with it, too.

That is why urgent steps need to be taken to contain those tribal-supremacists who are clearly prepared to go to any length to achieve their goal of removing the president from power. That must be done side by side  with the ongoing fight against high-level corruption.

One of the steps the government can take in that direction, is to work with the satellite company, Urthecast, so that the security agencies can monitor important installations throughout the country from space, using Uthercast's near-realtime video streaming satelitte platform.

Using that platform during the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections, for example, the 26,000 or so polling stations across Ghana, can be monitored by all the political parties and ordinary people who have access to the internet.

The whole world will be able to confirm the veracity or otherwise of allegations of the NDC's skullduggery in the Volta Region, and the NPP's shenanigans in the Ashanti Region. Both parties had better not engage in rigging in those two electoral strongholds of theirs, or anywhere else in the country, in 2016, for that reason.

And various state agencies could also watch our borders, monitor the remainder of our forests, track illegal gold miners and sand-winners, monitor sundry street furniture and track those who steal them.

The Urthecast space platform could also be used to enable the Ghana Health Service to monitor the spread of infectious diseases in communities across the country - and track infected individuals if need be.

Road accidents could also be spotted in time by the police - and ambulances dispatched to take seriously injured passengers to hospital.

 It will also enable smallholder farmers to monitor their crops.

And during natural disasters, such as flash floods and earthquakes, by using the Urthecast space video streaming platform, more targeted help could be provided by the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), to victims across the country.

Finally, since the power crisis is becoming a national security issue too - as it leads to the closure of businesses and the laying off of workers - perhaps Ghana ought to replicate market-driven solar power solutions that have been a great success in Kenya and the U.S.

Incidentally, it is significant and telling that not a single NPP leader took advantage of their recent demonstration in Accra, to speak out against the theft of electric power by individuals, households and businesses across Ghana.

Neither did any of them  bother to take advantage of the occassion, to encourage Ghanaians to conserve power by not wasting it, and use energy-efficient appliances, to help save energy in Ghana.

That would have been a practical demonstration of patriotic leadership, would it not?

 Alas, when it mattered most, they failed Mother Ghana - because they were too busy scoring political points, and, based on the large number of demonstrators, no doubt dreaming of returning to power again in 2017. Pity. The current power crisis is a collective failing of all Ghanaians - and the short-termism and lack of political will to take painful but necessary reformist decisions, on the part of the present, as well as previous NDC  and NPP regimes, of the recent past.

In any case, the question for President Mahama is: why does his government not invite Jesse Moore, the founder of M-Kopa, the leading affordable solar power systems provider in Kenya and Uganda, and Lyndon Rive, the founder and CEO, of SolarCity, the industry leader in the USA, to Ghana - so that they can partner Ghanaian solar power companies to provide affordable solar power systems for homes and businesses in Ghana, whose owners can take advantage of their innovative financing models?

 We must protect our country from those sabotaging the nation-building effort for tribalistic reasons - by providing innovative ideas that will halt the downward slide along the slippery slope to economic disaster and national ruination. God forbid that Ghana ever ends up like that. The saboteurs must not get their wish.

The above  are one's widow's mite contribution in that regard. Hopefully, the Kokou Anyidohos will make sure that the minister of power acts upon it.

A Few More Questions For The Hon. Mahama Ayariga About The Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs Presented To The Black Stars

The Hon. Mahama Ayariga has stated emphatically that the government did not pay for the Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs, presented to the Black Stars, by Tanink Motors - for placing second in the just-ended 2015 African Cup of Nations soccer tournament, held in Equatorial Guinea. Fair enough, some would say.

However, to ensure that the doubting-Thomases in the Ghanaian media world, don't start asking the Hon. Mahama Ayariga more  questions on the subject, he and the management of Tanink Motors, would be wise to make further disclosures - in order to clarify what they have put in the public domain, thus far.

Apparently, the CEO of Tanink Motors,  Mr. Roger Klogo, says the amount involved in the exemptions from paying import duty on the said vehicles for the Black Stars, obtained by his company, was "minimal". What exactly was the total figure he refers to as "minimal"? Saying they were "minimal" is simply not good enough, alas.

It is unfortunate that those in charge of corporate governance and compliance at Tanink Motors, did such a great disservice to the company, by allowing the CEO, instead of their department's head, to interact with the media, on the subject of the Jeep SUVs presented to the Black Stars.

Surely, their CEO's job is not to save government appointees from embarrassment - but to protect his company's image and reputation from being damaged by association with non-transparent politicians, and cagey Ghana Football Association (GFA) officials,  in the minds of the general public?

His intervention has only ended up  raising further suspicion about the processes involved in presenting those vehicles to the Black Stars.

What they must not forget, is that in other jurisdictions, influence-peddling invariably lands corporate titans in jail. We are getting close to that stage in the age of accountability in which pressure groups like #OccupyGhana refuse to put up with high-level corruption.

A question some might ask is: how did it come about that state revenue authorities that are said to regularly reject even applications for exemptions from paying import duty, on hospital equipment and vital drugs donated to healthcare facilities from overseas, for example, speedily granted same to a company giving out  luxury vehicles as gifts to super-wealthy soccer stars - some of whom earn in excess of US$ 200,000 per week, and are definitely not short of a pesewa or two: and already own luxury SUVs, themselves, in any case?

How can that be justified morally, at a time of such great economic hardship in Ghana, one wonders? Who exactly in government did the Tanink Motors CEO approach to obtain the exemption from paying import duty on the said vehicles for his company - and did that person too recieve one of the vehicles as a gift?

Would that not be inappropriate and highly unethical - and  qualify as an egregious example of conflict of interest amongst public officials - if that indeed were the case? They would be wise to provide a full list of all the 30 recipients of those Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV's to the media. That will clear the air for them.

 And since Tanink Motors' CEO also said that the idea for presenting the vehicles to the Black Stars was originally to reward them if they qualified for the quarter finals stage, in the 2014 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament in Brazil, the question they must answer there, is:  did the Tanink Motors CEO obtain exemptions for payment of import duty at that time too - and were they ever utilised by his company subsequently? One hopes that that is not the case - as a case of fraud and tax evasion could be built against the company.

Those in charge of corporate governace and compliance at Tanink Motors, must not forget that it could also be argued that far from being a case of charitable giving, deserving of a waiver of import duty, those gifts to the players were merely a means of leveraging the value of the Black Stars brand, and enhancing Tanink Motors'  corporate brand in the eyes of his "partners" - and, crucially, a golden opportunity to sell expensive vehicles that would otherwise not have been sold: in a bulk purchase deal paid for by his "partners".

In other words, it was a purely commercial transaction benefiting Tanink Motors' bottom line, not charitable giving - and therefore not deserving of a waiver of payment of import duty.

 I believe the phrase used by Tanink Motors' CEO, Mr Klogo, was "I mobilised my partners" - if he was quoted correctly by the Ghanaian media, that is. Well, it describes what went on perfectly, in a sense, does it not? If they are transparent about the whole process, that suspicion will not arise.

Who were those  "partners" who said they would only agree to purchase those vehicles for the Black Stars, if payment of import duty was waived on them?

There are some who might say that it would be a grave error of judgement  on the part of Tanink Motors and the Hon. Mahama Ayariga to treat divulging the names of those "partners" as confidential information - and attempt to hide that from the public for that reason. That is precisely the type of mindset that leads to scandals on the scale of Watergate.

Can they tell Ghanaians what the amount actually stated as payment for the vehicles, which appears in the books of all parties involved in the deal is - and would a forensic audit confirm that purchase price  figure? One certainly hopes so - as regardless of how they proceed, a change in government in January 2017, will result in investigations to unearth what actually took place.

Above all, they must tell Ghanaians whether or not any state-owned company paid for any of those luxury vehicles given out as gifts to the Black Stars.

If the answer is yes, then although it would be regarded by some as unfair to do so, others might  conclude that it exposes what most would regard as grand deception of the public on their part - and most probably the real reason why the Hon. Mahama Ayariga was so determined not to be questioned by journalists about the budget for the preparation and  participation of the Black Stars in the 2015 African Cup of nation's football tournament staged in Equatorial Guinea.

Was there a fear that payment for some of the vehicles for the Black Stars by state-owned entities would be exposed?

State-owned enterprises run by party-placemen are fast becoming a conduit for the dissipation of taxpayers' money by public officials.

It is a dangerous practice that must not be allowed to continue - as it could eventually bankrupt those public-sector entities: and saddle Ghanaians with yet more debt. We must watch the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) like hawks, for that reason.

To protect the company from individuals from the top echelons of the create-loot-and-share brigade posted there, President Mahama must put patriotic individuals and world-class achievers like Bishop Doug Heward-Mills and Pastor Mensah Otabil, on the board of the GNPC, as soon as practicable. The President must remove two of the regime-cronies currently on the board for that purpose.

Finally, it was mentioned that Mr Klogo was one of 30 business executives flown to Holland by KLM, to watch the Black Stars play in a friendly match in that country before the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Somehow, one gets the distinct impression that some clever PR person, wants to make it appear that the Dutch airline KLM sponsored that particular flight.

Was it the airline that bore the cost of the tickets for those 30 business executives it flew to Holland to watch that friendly match involving the Black Stars before the commencement of the 2014 FIFA World Cup tournament in Brazil?

Or was the trip paid for by a Ghanaian state-owned company, which paid the money to KLM in Holland, to fly those 30 business executives from Ghana to watch that particular friendly match in Holland - as some claim? Is there something they have in common that links the 30 business executives with the said 30 Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs, one wonders?

Hopefully, the Hon. Mahama Ayariga will shed some more light on the KLM flight issue too.  In any case, a few more questions for him to answer about the Black Stars team will certainly do him no harm - as it will only shed more light on the Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs presented to the national team's players by Tanink Motors - and perhaps  remove all suspicions from the minds of the doubting-Thomases in the Ghanaian media world, about those vehicles.

Ghanaian Politicians Must Eschew Tribal Politics

Tribal-supremacists can be found right across Ghana - and they exist in the midst of every ethnic group in Ghana. Luckily for our homeland Ghana, they constitute only a tiny minority in every single one of Ghana's  ethnic groups.

On a day to day basis, the vast majority of ordinary people in Ghana, aren't motivated by tribal prejudice, when interacting with their fellow citizens. It is important that that remains a defining characteristic of our country.

No tribe in Ghana is inferior or superior to another - in our one nation of diverse-ethnicity whose people share a common destiny.

Furthermore, there is not a single extended family clan in Ghana, which either through blood-ties or marriage, does not contain relations from different ethnic backgrounds.

And under our system, northerners, have as much a right to seek the presidency, as do southerners - and the right to rule Ghana does not depend on the amount of natural resources a presidential candidate's home region has.

Tribalism is backward - and anyone who is tribalistic has a world-view firmly rooted in the Dark Ages.

It is a dangerous contagion that can destroy the nations it spreads in - as was the case in the civil war in the Ivory Coast. No politician  who uses ethnicity as a political tool, deserves to be in power anywhere, in the Africa of today. We must never allow that madness to take hold in our country.

Ghana's minerals and other natural resources, such as the timber in forest reserves,  do not belong to the people of the regions where  they are to be found. The laws of Ghana are quite clear about that - they belong to the state: and by extension and inference to all Ghanaians.

Every Ghanaian politician is aware of that - so it is the height of irresponsibility for any politician or group of politicians to attempt to make a case for a dominant role in our nation's affairs for the people of resource-rich regions.

I have always had a high regard for the Hon. Yaw Osafo-Marfo - who is a highly-intelligent politician and hard-working gentleman.

If it is true that the sentiments expressed in the tape-recording purported to be his voice that has just surfaced, are actually views held by him, then it is a pity that in this day and age a politician like him still focuses on ethnicity.

Bigotry is a cancer in every society in which it exists. A tolerant and peace-loving people like Ghanaians do not deserve to be ruled by tribal bigots. That would be an abomination and an aberration.

As a people, we must never forget that it was such arrogant prejudice, which  spawned Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

Those selfish politicians who want to divide our homeland Ghana along tribal lines in order to win power, must be careful that they themselves are not consumed by the raging inferno, which their short-sightedness and narrow-mindedness, is bound to ignite, at some point.

For the sake of our nation and all its people, politicians in Ghana must eschew tribal politics - and focus their energies instead on the task of transforming our nation into a prosperous and fair society, for the benefit of all Ghanaians.

Ghana's Political Class Must Do The Impossible To Prevent Being Swept Aside By A Mass Uprising

There are moments in the history of nations, when monumental events, such as the overthrow of regimes by mass uprisings, take seed.

When those cataclysmic shifts occur, their beginnings are often imperceptible - and members of the regime about to become history, often carry on as if the world as they know it, still remains the same and intact.

In that sense, members of Ghana's political class are actually drinking in the last chance saloon - although many of them appear to be oblivious of the fact.

Beneath the facade of apparent normalcy,  Ghanaian democracy is threatened, as never before - and the 4th Republic's very foundations could be rocked and destroyed by a spontaneous uprising by ordinary people: such as the uprisings that toppled the regimes of Tunisia's Ben Ali, Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Libya's Colonel Gaddafi.

One's prayer, is that lack of wisdom on the part of any of those in power today, shown in public to the anger of many, will not provide the spark for such an uprising in our homeland Ghana, too.

To avoid such a national catastrophe, it is important that Ghanaian politicians think through the possible ramifications of what they say and do in public - at a time when the vast majority of ordinary Ghanaians feel ill-disposed towards our ruling elites.

It is a situation that has been brought about by the negative impact on living standards resulting from today's  harsh economic climate - compounded by the widespread feeling that the lives of ordinary people are being unnecessarily inconvenienced by endless disruptions in the supply of treated drinking-water and frequent power outages: the blame for which is laid squarely at the present government's doorstep (unfairly, perhaps, many an unbiased and independent observer might say).

That is why one's humble advice to the Hon. Mahama Ayariga, the minister for youth and sports, is that no matter how unprofessional and poorly-educated many Ghanaian journalists might appear to him, to be, he must not doubt their power to shape public opinion - and mould perceptions about the regime of which he is such a prominent member, in negative fashion.

To ensure the continued stability of our country, our nation's politicians must think through the possible ramifications of unnecessarily taking on the media, in Ghana. It is never a wise course of action, for anyone in the public eye to embark upon, in any case.

The Hon. Mahama Ayariga complains about the gross disrespect shown to important people in society that is oxygenated by the media in Ghana - who provide a platform for it.

Yet, that selfsame disrespect partly results from the polarisation of Ghanaian society - brought about by the errosion of society's moral fabric, by the divide-and-rule tactics employed by the most ruthless of the hardliners and extremists in the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), and the main opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

As we all know, those most guilty of the usage of indecorous language on the airwaves of FM radio stations, are often the hirelings of the NDC/NPP duopoly. No one should be surprised when some of them go as far as heaping personal insults on traditional rulers and even sitting presidents of the Republic of Ghana - in their never-ending propaganda battles on the airwaves of FM radio stations, and in opinion pieces and reader-comments on same, posted online on websites such as Ghanaweb.com.

It is indeed a sad state of affairs. And it is apparently one of the reasons why the Hon. Mahama Ayariga feels he owes no apologies to journalists who read abusive text messages from listeners that personally insult President Mahama on air - and on that basis, therefore has no regrets for taking umbrage at being questioned by such journalists about the budget for the preparation and participation of the senior male national soccer team, the Black Stars,  in the just-ended African Cup of Nations soccer tournament in Equatorial Guinea.

Apparently, the Hon. Mahama Ayariga feels it would be more useful to society,  if he was asked about his plans for improving sports generally in Ghana, by journalists. Fair point, perhaps.

However,  life, as he very well knows, is not fair - and the result is that his frustration with not being able to get pertinent questions posed to him about his ministry's plans for improving sports in Ghana generally, by Ghanaian journalists, has now ended up giving many the unfortunate impression that he is an  arrogant and rather unwise politician. Pity.

What should not escape the Hon. Mahama Ayariga, is that despite his loyalty to him, he could still be out of a job tomorrow - if the president deemed that necessary to safeguard his own legacy.

Those in power today must understand that no condition is permanent - as some of us used to remind members of the NPP administration of President Kufuor: who grew wings and thought they were invincible.

The Hon. Mahama Ayariga must understand clearly that even if the truth is that in reality President Mahama's administration is actually working hard on the ground, and is bringing development - such as access to new healthcare facilities, the provision of portable water and the construction of new classrooms for schools - to many communities in districts across the country, the perception created in the minds of many ordinary people, by their political opponents (and their allies in the media), is that the enterprise Ghana isn't working, and is being destroyed by high-level corruption.

For the information of the Hon. Mahama Ayariga, countering that widespread and possibly unfair perception created in the minds of ordinary people,  will only be possible, if President Mahama does what some of us advised him to do, when he became president following the death of President Mills: he must publicly publish his assets and those of his wife as soon as practicable - showing Ghanaians what assets he had before becoming president and what assets he and his wife now own.

It will enable him occupy the moral high ground, and give him the moral authority he needs to rule the Ghana of today - and enable him to set the agenda in Ghanaian politics: instead of his regime constantly having to respond  to the agenda set by those extremist opposition politicians now busy sabotaging the collective nation-building effort  (ably assisted by their allies in the Ghanaian media, incidentally).

To quote an old wag I know, who was responding to an anti-corruption measure that I have advocated for, for nearly some two decades now: "Kofi, although it is not a legal requirement, if there is nothing to hide, why does the president not publicly publish his assets and those of his wife - if that is the only way to save his regime from the certainty of being thrown out of office by voters in 2016?" Good question.

Although  it is humble advice freely offered to Ghanaian politicians for nearly two decades now, by a poor and very insignificant Ghanaian writer - who also happens to be an ignoramus without any formal education: for which reason one hopes the erudite Hon. Mahama  Ayariga will forgive one's inability to express oneself  properly and cogently, in the English language  - one's hope and prayer, is that this time, it will not fall on deaf ears, yet again.

Such a move, could actually save the presidency of President Mahama, who paradoxically has done more to fight corruption - in terms of investigations, prosecutions and new anti-corruptiin administrative measures - than any Ghanaian leader since the overthrow of President Nkrumah in 1966, if truth be told.

Whatever be the case, regardless of what the Hon. Mahama Ayarigas in our midst think of Ghanaian  journslists, the painful truth that they must deal with, is that Ghana's ruling elites are drinking in the last chance saloon.

With respect, the Hon. Mahama Ayarigas of our country had better wake up from their deep slumber in their well-appointed ivory tower - and face reality before it becomes too late for them.

An ethos of transparency must underpin whatever our leaders do - if they are to survive the approaching tsunami. And they must  bring an end to the massive rip-off of Mother Ghana, going on across the nation - mostly by individuals and companies engaged in tax evasion: some even rumoured to fund the NDC/NPP duopoly's election campaigns.


Single-sourced public procurement must cease forthwith. It cannot be justified under any circumstances in a nation with a public-sector full of thieving-wolves-in-sheep's-clothing masquerading as respectable and dedicated public servants.

Our ruling elites must do the impossible, in what are extraordinary times, to save themselves from being swept aside by a tide of public disenchantment, similar to that which toppled long-serving President Blaise Campoare of Burkina Faso.

Alas, their usual three-wise-monkeys-approach of: seeing nothing, hearing nothing and saying nothing, will not save them this time round. Above all, let those amongst them who can, publicly publish their assets and those of their spouses, to save themselves from the fury of the masses about to be unleashed on them. Hmm, Ghana - eyeasem o. Asem ebeba debi ankasa.

The Hon. Mahama Ayariga, The Hon. Kofi Adams, Zoomlion, Plastic Lumber & Plastic Roads

 As implied by the title, today's posting muses over a number of topics and issues - and  shares my opinions about them with readers. Please read on:

THE HON. MAHAMA AYARIGA

Not having heard it myself, if it is indeed true that the minister for youth and sports, the Hon. Mahama Ayariga, told a journalist interviewing him on radio that Ghanaian journalists ask "useless questions", then in my humble view, it was a most unfortunate remark for a man in his position to make.

A government minister in a developing nation that is so desperately short of money to fund many sorely-needed development projects, ought to understand that for patriotic and professional reasons, Ghanaian journalists are duty-bound to demand accountability from public officials in the disbursement of taxpayers' money.

More so, when it comes to the murky world of the funding of sundry activities around the senior male national soccer team, the Black Stars - ranging from the extremely wasteful business of flying planeloads of 'supporters' of the Black Stars out of Ghana to support the team, during its overseas matches, to the outrageous and dubious  enterprise, of paying "winning bonuses" to officials of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), who are members of the so-called "management team" of the Black Stars.

In case it escapes the Hon. Mahama Ayarigas in our midst, this is actually a constitutional democracy, not a dictatorship. Under our system, government ministers are answerable to the people of Ghana - on whose behalf the media act as society's watchdogs: a role in which they ask questions of government appointees on ordinary people's behalf whenever the need to do so arises.

It will not hurt him politically, if the Hon. Mahama Ayariga apologised to the Ghanaian media, for his unfortunate remark - especially as it gives the impression that he has become a tad arrogant. Saying that with the benefit of hindsight, he should have done better in his choice of phraseology - and therefore apologises to the Ghanaian media for his choice of words on that occasion - will not do him any harm.

It is a pity that during the interview, he did not simply ask to be excused from answering that particular question concerning the budget for the just-ended African Cup of Nations soccer tournament in Equatorial Guinea - by saying that out of respect for Parliament, to which he was actually scheduled to present the details of the budget for Ghana's preparation and participation in the African Cup of Nation's in Equatorial Guinea, shortly, he would have to refrain from answering the question asked by the host of the programme.

THE HON. KOFI ADAMS

Apparently the new national organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the Hon. Kofi Adams, who is also the member of Parliament for Buem, in the Volta Region, thinks that critics of the government should be constructive in their criticisms - by offering alternative solutions to the challenges confronting our nation, when necessary. Fair enough.

However, the question is: will those who rule us make use of such alternative solutions when offered by their critics?

Since he said so in response to the views of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) on the power crisis, here is an alternative power solution for Mr. Adams & Co - whose hard-of-hearing party some of us have now given up on, alas: Let them go to France to see the world's biggest tidal power plant, the 240 MW La Rance barrage dam power plant.

It produces power at the astonishing cost of 1.8 cents per kWh, as compared to 2.5 cents per kWh for nuclear power in France. The estuary of the Volta at Ada, could be one of a number of possible sites, for such a plant in Ghana.

Kofi Adams & Co ought to also get the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the Bui Power Authority (BPA) to get the U.S. hydrokenetic power company, Ocean Renewable Power Company, to show them its TidGen turbine generator unit. It could be an alternative solution for the global-climate-change-induced problem of low dam water levels resulting from changed weather patterns, which now bedevil Ghana's hydro power plants - and provide power to communities along our major rivers.

Finally (and he knows why I say this), it is still not too late for the Hon. Kofi Adams to encourage the founder of the 31st December Women's Movement, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, to get her movement to partner the U.S. headquartered NGO, Solar Sisters, in Ghana.

Can he imagine how many of those sturdy solar lanterns financially-challenged women in Ghana could sell for a profit -  and help thousands of households in Ghana to cope better with the power outages in the process? Naturally, one assumes that Mrs. Rawlings and the movement do actually care about the plight of poor and disadvantaged women - in which case, this could be a perfect poverty-alleviation project, to revive the 31st December Women's Movement with.

He could also tell his party colleague and fellow parliamentarian, the Hon. Fifi Kwetey, who is in charge of the ministry of food and agriculture, to take a look at the aquaponics project initiated by the Agricultural University of Bangladesh, in that country. If it could be replicated throughout rural Ghana, it will create wealth and jobs for millions of unemployed young people - who could grow different types of vegetables for export and for sale locally, and also farm tilapia and catfish too, for sale in urban markets and to restaurants and supermarkets in urban Ghana.

ZOOMLION AND PLASTIC LUMBER

I do hope that Zoomlion  will task its research and business development departments to send some of their employees to Kenya to visit EcoPost Kenya to see its plastic lumber manufacturing plant in action. Ditto to the U.S. to see Axion International's plastic lumber manufacturing plant in action. It could be a lucrative way for them to make use of recycled plastic waste - and rid Ghana of the plastic waste slowly engulfing our country. Its value-chain will spawn thousands of micro-entrepreneurs who collect and sell plastic waste countrywide.

 PLASTIC ROADS IN GHANA?

And since the Indian conglomerate TATA is present in Ghana, why does the minister of roads and highways, not ask them to consider getting the company's subsidiary, Jusco, to partner some of Ghana's leading road construction firms to bid for road projects in Ghana - and build plastic roads here?

Plastic roads - made from mixing melted shreded plastic waste with bitumen  - last three times as long as ordinary roads, and remain pothole-free throughout their lifespan. Its loadbearing qualities are superior to that of conventional asphalted roads. It is a value-for-money way to climate-change-proof roads in Ghana. And because the plastic makes plastic roads imperviable to water, they are not be washed away by flash floods.

Hopefully, Mr. Kofi Adams will follow up with both Zoomlion and the roads and highways minister, on this important subject, too. As we say in local parlance: "Massa, over to you, Joe Lartey!"

The Yearning For A United Ghana Is An Opportunity For Nkrumahists

It is heartbreaking to hear Nkrumahist politicians implying, in their public speeches, that the candidate eventually selected by their party, is capable of  winning the 2016 presidential election - without the backing of the other Nkrumahist parties.

That is delusionary - and dangerous: as it will stop the Nkrumahist parties from coming together in an alliance to campaign for a common presidential candidate in that all-important election. Yet, that is precisely what they ought to do, if Nkrumahists are to return to power again,  in the  Ghana of today.

The plain truth is that no Nkrumahist party's candidate is capable of winning the 2016 presidential election on his or her own - without the active backing of all the Nkrumahist parties.

To enable Ghanaians face the tough times predicted for the global economy in 2016, the winner of the 2016 presidential election, will have to work hard to unite our sharply divided country.

Without that unity of purpose and national consensus, groups of hardliners in both the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), will continue their secret agenda of sabotaging the nation-building effort - regardless of whichever of those  two parties controls the presidency in 2016.

 (Unless and until they become totally transparent about their sources of funding, and dedicate themselves to protecting the national interest at all material times, may God forbid that either of those two corrupt and opaque parties wins the 2016 presidential election. Patriotic and independent-minded Ghanaians have had enough of the NDC/NPP duopoly's hardliners' divide-and-rule tactics - and the unfathomable greed that underpins most of their actions when in government. But I digress.)

To avoid that selfish and nation-wrecking strategy used by hardliners in both the NDC and NPP, to make governments of the day unpopular - regardless of the detrimental effect it has on the country and ordinary people: as is clearly the case today - we must have a government of national unity after the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections: with the new administration's membership consisting of ministers selected from all the political parties in Ghana.

By forming an alliance in which each Nkrumahist party maintains its identity, and selecting a common candidate for the 2016 presidential election, the Nkrumahist parties will be demonstrating to Ghanaians, in practical fashion, their commitment to the formation of a government of national unity that embraces honest and patriotic politicians from across the spectrum - including individuals from both the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

The leaders of the  Convention People's Party (CPP), Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), People's National Convention (PNC) and the Progressive People's Party (PPP), must understand clearly that none of the parties they lead, can select a presidential candidate who will go on to win the 2016 presidential election, without the backing of all the other Nkrumahist parties.

 For the sake of the hard-pressed ordinary Ghanaian, who wants to see Ghana transformed into an African equivalent, of the egalitarian societies of Scandinavia, the leaders of the Nkrumaist parties must put pride and ego aside - and begin talks to form an alliance of equals.

If they truly love Mother Ghana, the Nkrumahist parties must come together and select a common presidential candidate in 2016 - as that is the only way for them to win that particular election.

It is time the leadership of all the Nkrumahist parties understood that clearly - and started talks to form an alliance of equals to fight the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections, as soon as practicable. Ghanaians want their polarised society to be united - and that yearning presents Nkrumahists with an opportunity they must not miss: as it might never come their way again.