Ken Ofori-Atta: Why not outsource infrastructure projects to the private sector and incentivise whistleblowing?

As egregious high-level corruption worsens, perhaps the question that Ghanaians ought to ponder over is: Why do our ruling-elites not incentivise whistleblowing? It could be done by simply passing new laws to indemnify whistleblowers who help recover stolen public funds, from prosecution, and rewarding them with 25 percent of such recovered stolen  funds. Will that not help us retrieve trillions of old cedis regularly siphoned off by big-thieves-in-high-places? Haaba.

It is also worth pointing out the fact that Ghana's finance minister, Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta, made his fortune, mostly from commissions and fees earned from investment products, sold by Databank.

As it happens, some of his critics have accused him of focusing on policies that earn fees and commissions for regime-cronies in Ghana's financial services sector - to the longterm detriment of Mother Ghana. That is a moot point, in my humble view. However, that he is not suited, to be in charge of our country's finances, is now obvious to many independent-minded and discerning-folk, across Ghana.

Some of us made that point, early on,  during the first term of President Akufo-Addo's government - when it became clear that far from not borrowing, as they had promised Ghanaians, while campaigning for power, in 2016, he and his colleagues were rather going to saddle Ghana with yet more debt, which would end up crippling our nation: for which reason we thought the president was better off without him, strategically.

In light of their debilitating-penchant for borrowing, for the umpteenth time, Ken Ofori-Atta and his colleagues, need to be told to the face that they must stop borrowing for infrastructure projects. It doesn't make sense.

Ghanafuo, the provision and expansion of our infrastructure, ought to be outsourced to private sector companies - which should bid competitively, in transparent public tenders: to self-finance, build, own and operate roads, markets, railway lines, airports, etc., etc., and then hand them over to the state, after say 35 years, during which their profits should not be taxed. Simple. Case closed. Haaba.

If that becomes government policy, will we not still get all the roads, bridges, modern railway network, airports, markets, etc., etc., that we need, that way - without incuring yet more debt: and saddlingt future generations of our people with crippling interest payments that never end? Haaba.

The trouble about the arrogant sods now in power in Ghana, is that they are full of themselves - yet haven't a clue about creating empowering-opportunities for entrepreneurs to thrive, and drive growth, create wealth and generate meaningful jobs: all in sustainable fashion.

Instead of relying on the e-levy, funding for innovative start-ups, creating wealth and meaningful jobs, at any given point in time, ought to be from the annual U.S.$200 million gold royalties cash, oooo, Ghanafuo. Yoooooooo...

One challenges those twits to tell us why the nation shouldn't give U.S. $50 million from the annual U.S.$200 million gold royalties cash, to the Forest Research Institute (FRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), for example, to develop green leather from mushrooms - to create a new green industrial sector export-niche, producing and  selling high-end luxury-class shoes, bags, apparel, and other luxury leather goods, globally, to create wealth that stays locally, and meaningful bootstrapping-jobs, nationwide, for our younger generations. Haaba.

And, if innovative road construction companies, such as TerraFusion International, were invited to self-finance the reconstruction of Ghana's entire rural road network, into a tolled-network of world-class roads, and operate them for 35 years without their being taxed, won't that ensure food security and create prosperity for smallholder farmers nationwide, without burdening hapless taxpayers in the process? Haaba.

Finally, why do our ruling-elites  not incentivise whistleblowing, to stop the siphoning off of trillions of old cedis of public funds, into private pockets, to enrich Ghana's big-thieves-in-high-places, who are ruthlessly milking Mother Ghana dry, with their endless-greed?

Can that not be done by the simple measure of granting whistleblowers, who enable stolen public funds to be successfully recovered, indemnity from prosecution - and offered 25 percent of such recovered-sums, as the reward for their patriotism? Will that not end corruption in our country? The time has now come for the finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, and his colleagues, to start outsourcing infrastructure projects to the private sector and incentivising whistleblowing with cash rewards, to save Mother Ghana from ruination, oooo, Ghanafuo. Yooooooo..

When the people become fed up and rebel en masse no army in the world can save the government in power

Our hard-of-hearing ruling-elites need to be very, very careful, oooo. They must stop thinking they are invincible. The e-levy issue can ruin this country  if those currently in power aren't sensitive to the sufferong of ordinary folk across Ghana, oooo. Yoooooooo...

The fact of the matter is that precious few industry watchers,  foresaw that mobile telecommunications companies, would one day become fintech platforms enabling tens of millions of the unbanked, to send, recieve and save cash in digital-wallets, in daily transactions dwarfing tranactions carried out by traditional brick-and-mortar banks, when MTN first came to Ghana.

Thus, in a sense, what are unprecedented windfall profits, which telcos offering mobile money services are making today, ought to be taxed. That is why the e-levy is a good idea - but only if it is levied on the mobile money  transaction-charges fixed by the telcos themselves. Nothing more, nothing less. Yoooooo...

In light of the controversy the e-levy has stirred up, and the arrogant response of the sly finance minister, those now in power ought to remember (in case they forget), that all our post-independence enforced-regime-change events, occurred,  because those in power had become politically  complacent, and impervious to the cries of ordinary folk, struggling to make ends meet, daily, nationwide.

Finally, for the information of those now in power,  when ordinary people are forced to the point where they feel that rebelling en masse (against selfish-kleptocrats governing them),  is the only way to end their suffering,  no army on earth can stop them,  in order to keep tone-deaf and power-drunk politicians (completely lacking wisdom), in power, oooo. Yoooooo...

From a global branding perspective why do we not focus on Ghana's female soccer national teams instead of the Black Stars?

As aspirational Africans, instead of continuing to spend zillions on the Black Stars, why do we not rather invest a fraction of the expended-sums lavished on the Black Stars, thus far, on Ghana's brilliant female national soccer teams, who have won so many tournament-trophies over the years? Cool.

We must put misogyny aside now, in a nation dominated by ruling elites, full of philandering-males who don't value women  -  and stop focusing on the Black Stars to the detriment of our hardworking female soccer players, whom we refuse to honour, even when they win trophies. 

That is daft in the extreme.  Our female soccer players will put Ghana on the global stage again in stellar-fashion and make us proud once again as a soccer-loving African  society. Speaking personally, my passion is cricket  -  so  I don't particularly care much about soccer:  but even I find Ghana's female teams exciting to watch. That is telling, from a global branding perspective, is it not, Ghanafuo? Yooooooo...

Should Ghana's traditional rulers start reforming their archaic-straightjacket institutional-frameworks?

For their own good, it is vital that all our nation's traditional rulers, understand  clearly, that this is a 2022 modern-day African nation, sitting on a ticking social-time-bomb. Past pre-colonial-glories count for nothing,  to today's young people, fed up to the backteeth,  with a mostly incompetent,  greedy and selfish political class, completely out of touch with realities-on-the-ground: a tension-filled national mood bedrocked on anger and hunger.

 

Furthermore,  for the information  of Nananom, many Ghanaians now feel that inherited-privilege,   is preventing Ghana from becoming a meritocracy,  in which effort and achievement, not nepotism,  determine one's success. It is fueling the rebellious-streak we see right across urban Ghana amongst base-of-the-pyramid demographics. Yoooooo...

And, worst of all, for Nananom, many young people have now started pointing out the fact that India, which had Maharajah's whose magnificence and power, far outstripped those of all Ghana's traditional rulers without exception,  clipped their wings and stripped them of all their powers, and is  consequently  now a world power, precisely because its  nationalist leaders had the wisdom and foresight,  to turn India into a meritocracy free from the debilitating-downsides of inherited privilege.

Finally, dear reader,  with the greatest respect, in case they can't see it, the writing is on the wall for traditional rulers in Ghana, ooooo. They had better start reforming their archaic-straightjacket institutional-frameworks,  pronto, ooooo -  or change might be forced on them, willy-nilly: when  the ticking social-time-bomb eventually explodes, oooo (God forbid). Yoooooooo...

Ghana must avoid Dubai-based stoney-hearted Shylock-Sheikhs in the fight against COVID-19

The production of a COVID-19 vaccine locally, is a matter that Ghana's national security apparatus must make a priority, and get the private-sector team that built the private sector COVID-19 specialist isolation-centre to plan, lead and execute. It was led by Senyo Hosi, the Managing Trustee of the Fund set up by the private sector to deliver it.

 

It must be private-sector driven, and led, because Ghanaians deserve serious world-class leadership, when it comes to ensuring that we have local production capacity, for COVID-19 vaccines, ooooo. Yoooooooo...

This is a quotation from a U.S. vaccine researcher, Dr. Maria Botazzi, whose team at the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development at Baylor College of Medicine, has developed an effective patent-free COVID-19 vaccine, whom our leaders must invite to Ghana, as soon as practicable:

“We want to do good in the world. This was the right thing to do and this is what we morally had to do. We didn’t even blink. We didn’t think, ‘how can we take advantage of this?’ You see now that if more like us would have been more attuned to how the world is so inequitable and how we could have helped from the beginning so many places around the world without thinking ‘what’s going to be in it for me?’, we could have basically not even seen these variants arise.” 

The quotation is from an article, in the online version of the UK newspaper, The Observer (which the link below leads to). It ought to be read by every educated Ghanaian: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/15/corbevax-covid-vaccine-texas-scientists.

In the fight against COVID-19, these are the kinds of humanitarians Ghana ought to collaborate with - not ruthless greed-filled Shylock-Sheikhs with stony-hearts, from Dubai. Yooooooo...