Dr. Justice Yankson, is reported to have said a few days ago, that he did not take a vow of poverty or servitude - in response to those who say that the Hippocratic Oath medical doctors take, should have precluded strike action, in their fight to improve their remuneration and obtain better conditions of service, from the Ghana Health Service, their employer.
The many strikes by professionals employed in the public-sector, for better pay and more suitable conditions of service, and that flippant statement by the deputy general secretary of the Ghana Medical Association, Dr. Justice Yankson, illustrate perfectly, just how so many of the members of Ghana's educated urban elite seem to live in a world of their own.
Many of them are completely out of touch with the realities of the current situation in our homeland Ghana. The plain truth, is that Mother Ghana, is flat broke.
When it comes to the pay, allowances and perks, that go with their public-sector jobs, it appears that they want to be as well paid, and live as comfortably, as their counterparts in the developed world.
How can that be, when our homeland Ghana, is in such dire straits?
This is still a very poor developing country - despite what members of our nation's political class say to the contrary.
A trip to the Ghanaian countryside will soon disabuse the minds of those who only see the poshest parts of urban Ghana - and therefore think that we have become a prosperous society.
To become a prosperous society, we must be a more disciplined people - and be prepared to make the necessary sacrifices needed to ensure a better tomorrow for all Ghanaians.
Our educated urban elites need to understand that they too must make sacrifices for the common weal - for a better tomorrow for our nation and all its people.
President Mahama must set the example - by sacking that small army of so-called "presidential staffers" at the Flagstaff House. There are far too many square-pegs-in-round-holes amongst them, for comfort.
What value do geniuses like the Stan Dogbes bring to our national life, in an era of austerity, I ask?
Let them publicly publish their pay, the value and nature of allowances they receive, and the perks they enjoy - and then resign and go and find proper work in the real world, for a change. At least, they will then be contributing to the growth of Ghana's GDP, too. But I digress.
If our educated urban elites continue to insist on always taking the biggest share of the national cake - in overly-generous pay rates, ever-bountiful allowances, and sundry perks - in a poor nation in which there is such poverty, and in which huge disparities in wealth exist, they should not be surprised if marginalised people in the bottom strata of society, finally snap, and rebel.
Should that come to pass (God forbid), it is the flippant Dr. Justice Yanksons, and the smug Stan Dogbes, of our country, who will inevitably suffer terribly - in the chaos and violence that will follow such a rebellion: as sure as day follows night.
The signs are there, all over the nation, for those with eyes to see, to take note of - and moderate their demands on the public purse.
Poor people aren't stupid - they realise that the dog-eat-dog society, which we have ended up with, under both National Democratic Congress and New Patriotic Party regimes, mostly benefits those on whose shoulders the burden of making sacrifices in the national interest, falls the lightest.
The lot of the poor in Ghana is a life of utter misery that consists of never-ending belt-tightening, a struggle to survive that is unending, and untold suffering for families.
The plain truth is that the huge disparities in wealth in Ghana, actually poses a threat to the stability of our nation. Poor people cannot be expected to willingly continue paying taxes that benefit only a few public-sector employees - whiles the funding of other societal needs that will help improve their lot, is done in piecemeal fashion.
What is needed in Ghana is a more equitable distribution of the national cake.
The Dr. Justice Yanksons, and other professional people employed in the public-sector, who have gone on strike for more pay and better conditions of service, must look at the difference in living standards between themselves and the less well-off in society - who pay most of the taxes they are paid with: yet are now being victimised by unwarranted strike action.
The Dr. Justice Yanksons need to be told plainly that it is amoral and unjustifiable to deny ordinary people treatment when they fall ill or face imminent death if left untreated by medical doctors.
What harm have ordinary Ghanaians done to public-sector health professionals - such that medical doctors are refusing them treatment: in order to pressurise government negotiators?
Are those patients in hospitals across the country, whose conditions are worsening, and those who face imminent death, if left untreated, not the very taxpayers who pay the taxes public-sector doctors are paid from?
Let no Ghanaian medical doctor seek to justify such egregious callousness and unreasonableness - that uses ordinary people who become sick and face possible death as pawns in a game they are not players in by any stretch of the imagination.
In the same vein, the Stan Dogbes need to be told to the face, that they are a massive drain on the public purse. Let them keep their traps shut - and not further aggravate the crisis situation our nation faces.
Above all, the Dr. Justice Yanksons must understand that they, like other professional people employed in the public-sector, who are members of Ghana's educated urban elite, must also learn to make sacrifices for the common weal: Indeed, it is in their own interest to do so - which is why they must be moderate in the demands they make on the public purse.
Sunday, 9 August 2015
Thursday, 6 August 2015
Should Forests In Ghana Not Be Handed Over To Fringe Forest Communities To Protect?
It never ceases to amaze me that members of our political class have not yet realised the security implications of the impunity with which the wealthy criminal syndicates behind illegal logging in our forests, and illegal gold mining in sites across the country, continue to operate.
Have Ghanaian politicians forgotten so soon that the civil wars in DR Congo, Liberia and Sierra Leone, were a perfect cover to enable greedy warlords loot diamonds, gold and timber in those three nations, with impunity?
The same thing could easily happen here too - given the power and influence of the super-ruthless criminal syndicates behind illegal logging and illegal gold mining in Ghana.
Perhaps the question we ought to ask is: Has the time not now come to hand over forests in Ghana to fringe forest communities - if the long-term survival of Ghana's remaining forest cover is to be guaranteed?
The Forestry Commission could partner such communities - by putting its expertise at their disposal.
Speaking as someone whose family owns 14 square miles of upland evergreen rainforest, on a freehold basis, in the Atewa upland evergreen rainforest, I can see the effect of the powerlessness of the poorly-resourced Forestry Commission to halt illegal logging in our country.
(Incidentally, we have owned land at Akyem Juaso since 1921. 99.6 acres of our land actually lies inside the Atewa Forest Reserve. We see ourselves as mere stewards of some of the most beautiful forestland in the world - and want an area designated a Globally Significant Biodiversity Area (GSBA) preserved for humankind. For decades now, some of us have risked our lives fighting the wealthy criminals engaged in illegal logging and illegal gold mining, in the area. At age 62, we now want to make sure the authorities deal effectively with the illegal loggers and illegal gold miners destroying the Atewa forest, before we die. But I digress.)
One can also see clearly, how the wealthy criminals who sponsor the production of illegal chainsaw lumber, are corrupting some of the poorly-paid Forestry Commission officials sent to arrest chainsaw operators felling trees illegally - who apparently alert chainsaw operators of planned raids before they are carried out.
Naturally, those Forestry Commission officials, are keenly aware that they could easily be murdered by those they are sent to arrest - so think it prudent to accept such inducements to avoid raising their ire.
In light of that debilitating institutional paralysis, should the job of halting the rape of our remaining forests, therefore not be given to the Ghana Armed Foreces' Army and Air Force Special Forces units?
If the two armed services' special forces regularly patrol the Atewa upland evergreen rainforest by helicopter - accompanied by the relevant Forestry Commission officials - during daylight hours, for example, they could then take on the illegal chainsaw gangs that operate at night, using night-vision and thermal-imaging equipment. They could do same for other forest reserves in Ghana, too.
If that is too expensive to be done on a regular basis, the government could approach the satellite video streaming company, Urthecast, to provide streaming video of forests in Ghana - so that those who engage in illegal logging and illegally mine gold in forests in Ghana can be identified, arrested, prosecuted and jailed.
The question the minister of lands and natural resources, and the top brass of the Forestry Commission, should ponder, is: How is it possible for illegal chainsaw lumber to be transported from Akyem Juaso, and other areas in the forest belt, to Accra and other urban centres, on a regular basis?
Yet, if the protection of the Atewa upland evergreen rainforest - and other forests in Ghana - is put into the hands of fringe forest communities, such as Akyem Juaso, and a deal is struck with the government of Norway, to pay them the same millions of dollars it has paid to the government of Guyana over the years, to protect Guyana's forests, why would fringe forest communities in Ghana also not ensure the protection of the Atewa forest and other forests in our country?
The time has come to hand over forests in Ghana to fringe forest communities to protect those forests - and strike low carbon development deals with nations like Norway to pay money directly to such communities for protecting the forests they border.
And the job of halting the activities of illegal loggers and illegal gold miners, should be handed over to the Ghana Armed Forces' Army and Air Force special forces - if the criminal syndicates that sponsor illegal logging and illegal gold mining are not to evolve into terrorist organisations fueling rebellions across Ghana.
Finally, as punishment for their crimes against humanity, which organising the egregious gang-rape of the Atewa forest amounts to, the military authorities can start their work protecting forests in Ghana, by getting the Military Police to monitor, arrest, and hand over to the Ghana Police Service - for their prosecution and jailing - Obaa Yaa (Tel: 0231743659) and Kwesi/Kweku (Tel: 0272267763 & 0244802763), the leader of her chainsaw gang (whose name I am not too sure of).
They operate with unprecedented ruthlessness, in the area within the Atewa forest's forestry boundary pillars 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97 and 98, at Akyem Juaso, known locally as "Thompson" and "François".
Have Ghanaian politicians forgotten so soon that the civil wars in DR Congo, Liberia and Sierra Leone, were a perfect cover to enable greedy warlords loot diamonds, gold and timber in those three nations, with impunity?
The same thing could easily happen here too - given the power and influence of the super-ruthless criminal syndicates behind illegal logging and illegal gold mining in Ghana.
Perhaps the question we ought to ask is: Has the time not now come to hand over forests in Ghana to fringe forest communities - if the long-term survival of Ghana's remaining forest cover is to be guaranteed?
The Forestry Commission could partner such communities - by putting its expertise at their disposal.
Speaking as someone whose family owns 14 square miles of upland evergreen rainforest, on a freehold basis, in the Atewa upland evergreen rainforest, I can see the effect of the powerlessness of the poorly-resourced Forestry Commission to halt illegal logging in our country.
(Incidentally, we have owned land at Akyem Juaso since 1921. 99.6 acres of our land actually lies inside the Atewa Forest Reserve. We see ourselves as mere stewards of some of the most beautiful forestland in the world - and want an area designated a Globally Significant Biodiversity Area (GSBA) preserved for humankind. For decades now, some of us have risked our lives fighting the wealthy criminals engaged in illegal logging and illegal gold mining, in the area. At age 62, we now want to make sure the authorities deal effectively with the illegal loggers and illegal gold miners destroying the Atewa forest, before we die. But I digress.)
One can also see clearly, how the wealthy criminals who sponsor the production of illegal chainsaw lumber, are corrupting some of the poorly-paid Forestry Commission officials sent to arrest chainsaw operators felling trees illegally - who apparently alert chainsaw operators of planned raids before they are carried out.
Naturally, those Forestry Commission officials, are keenly aware that they could easily be murdered by those they are sent to arrest - so think it prudent to accept such inducements to avoid raising their ire.
In light of that debilitating institutional paralysis, should the job of halting the rape of our remaining forests, therefore not be given to the Ghana Armed Foreces' Army and Air Force Special Forces units?
If the two armed services' special forces regularly patrol the Atewa upland evergreen rainforest by helicopter - accompanied by the relevant Forestry Commission officials - during daylight hours, for example, they could then take on the illegal chainsaw gangs that operate at night, using night-vision and thermal-imaging equipment. They could do same for other forest reserves in Ghana, too.
If that is too expensive to be done on a regular basis, the government could approach the satellite video streaming company, Urthecast, to provide streaming video of forests in Ghana - so that those who engage in illegal logging and illegally mine gold in forests in Ghana can be identified, arrested, prosecuted and jailed.
The question the minister of lands and natural resources, and the top brass of the Forestry Commission, should ponder, is: How is it possible for illegal chainsaw lumber to be transported from Akyem Juaso, and other areas in the forest belt, to Accra and other urban centres, on a regular basis?
Yet, if the protection of the Atewa upland evergreen rainforest - and other forests in Ghana - is put into the hands of fringe forest communities, such as Akyem Juaso, and a deal is struck with the government of Norway, to pay them the same millions of dollars it has paid to the government of Guyana over the years, to protect Guyana's forests, why would fringe forest communities in Ghana also not ensure the protection of the Atewa forest and other forests in our country?
The time has come to hand over forests in Ghana to fringe forest communities to protect those forests - and strike low carbon development deals with nations like Norway to pay money directly to such communities for protecting the forests they border.
And the job of halting the activities of illegal loggers and illegal gold miners, should be handed over to the Ghana Armed Forces' Army and Air Force special forces - if the criminal syndicates that sponsor illegal logging and illegal gold mining are not to evolve into terrorist organisations fueling rebellions across Ghana.
Finally, as punishment for their crimes against humanity, which organising the egregious gang-rape of the Atewa forest amounts to, the military authorities can start their work protecting forests in Ghana, by getting the Military Police to monitor, arrest, and hand over to the Ghana Police Service - for their prosecution and jailing - Obaa Yaa (Tel: 0231743659) and Kwesi/Kweku (Tel: 0272267763 & 0244802763), the leader of her chainsaw gang (whose name I am not too sure of).
They operate with unprecedented ruthlessness, in the area within the Atewa forest's forestry boundary pillars 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97 and 98, at Akyem Juaso, known locally as "Thompson" and "François".
Wednesday, 5 August 2015
A few Things President Mahama's Regime Could Do Before December 2016 - That Could Also Be Continued After January 2017 By Its Successor-Regime
I have often wondered why it never occurs to our present rulers to issue long-term government paper, to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) - to which government bodies owe nearly some US$1.2 billion or thereabouts - to settle government's indebtedness to the state-owned power distributor.
Since there are boutique firms in Ghana's financial services sector, which can buy the long-term government paper from the ECG, at a discount, for cash, surely, that is a creative way for the present government to resolve the ECG's major problem: lack of cash to modernise its creaky infrastructure?
Another problem that the government of President Mahama could help resolve, is ending the havoc caused by potholes in many of the roads in Ghana's road network - which have caused countless fatal accidents, as the drivers of vehicles have manoeuvred to avoid them, and have ruined, and continue to ruin, the shock absorbers of millions of vehicles plying roads in the country - by promoting the simple technology of mixing melted plastic waste with bitumen to build plastic roads.
Plastic roads last longer than ordinary roads, carry heavier loads, remain pothole-free throughout their lifespan, and, because plastic is impermeable to water, won't get washed away by flash floods, during the rainy season. We could also climate-change-proof roads in Ghana by using that simple and cost-effective technology.
For that reason, why does the government of President Mahama not dispatch scientists from the Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI), of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), to India, to inspect plastic roads built by Jusco, a Tata subsidiary in the Tata steel city of Jamshedpur, and bring the technology to Ghana - so that road contractors can leverage it and build plastic roads throughout Ghana?
The BRRI could also collaborate with the Dutch company, VolkerWessel's road building subsidiary, KWS Infra, which is focusing on developing a hollow type of plastic road for the city of Rotterdam - and adopt it for constructing pavements and urban roads in Ghana. Because they are hollow and come in sections, that will enable utility companies to lay their cables and pipes, without ruining pavements.
And why does President Mahama's government not ask the State Housing Company (SHC), to collaborate with the UK company, Precast Concrete Products Limited - to build well-designed prefabricated concrete classroom blocks, dormitories and staff housing for public-sector educational institutions, in record numbers and in record time, before December 2016, as legacy projects?
Could truly affordable housing not also be provided for ordinary people throughout Ghana using prefabricated building engineering systems?
And instead of allowing Indians and other nationals to come here to buy gold directly from illegal gold miners across the country, without paying any taxes to the government, why does Parliament not pass new draconian laws preventing that nation-wrecking pratice?
Instead of complaining about those Indian gold buyers breaking the law by buying gold from the countryside, could the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) not set up a website to sell gold online directly to buyers from around the globe - who would pay for any gold bought online from the PMMC to be sent to them by courier firms such as DHL?
Foreign buyers purchasing gold directly from the PMMC could also visit Ghana personally to collect their gold.
And one envisions wealthy Chinese and other Asian nationals coming to visit Ghana to buy and take away gold - meaning that tour companies here could develop a lucrative niche serving high-spending tourists from Asia: who could combine gold purchasing trips to Ghana, with elephant-watching safari trips to Mole National Park, traversing the forest canopy walkways in Kakuum and Bunso, and sitting atop crocodiles at Paga.
And come to think of it, the Bank of Ghana could make billions of cedis selling gold coins with Adinkra symbols online, too - as well off Ghanaians pile into them as a hedge against inflation and as a veritable store of value in a nation with a pepertually weakening currency.
The Bank of Ghana and the PMMC can take inspiration from websites such as BullionVault.com and GoldSilver.com.
There is no reason why when the gold refinery starts operating, Ghana cannot become a global centre, for purchasing credit-card-sized gold bars. The sale of Adinkra gold coins and gold bars to foreign buyers will also help improve our balance of trade considerably - and help strengthen our weak currency more sustainably.
We will then end an iniquitous and monstrous system - in which foreign gold companies come to Ghana to mine gold, take away vast profits, and leave society to deal with degraded forests, poisoned soils and rivers.
And what stops the Volta River Authority (VRA) from collaborating with PracticalAction, the UK non-profit that builds mini and micro hydro power plants - to ensure that the mini hydro power projects Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah's Convention People's Party government planned to build before it was overthrown in the 1966 military coup, are finally built?
Finally, at a time when global warming is impacting our country negatively, should Ghana not be establishing industrial hemp (not to be confused with Cannibis Sativa, marijuana) plantations on marginal land, and on land reclaimed by small-scale gold miners? Industrial hemp can provide raw material for textile factories, produce biofuels, and be used as feedstock for biomass power plants, to mention just three of the many uses to which industrial hemp can be put. Incidentally, as many as 25,000 products are said to be made from industrial hemp.
Over time, it may very well be that dividends from the PMMC, reinvigorated by its online gold selling business, could pay for some of the projects above.
Since there are boutique firms in Ghana's financial services sector, which can buy the long-term government paper from the ECG, at a discount, for cash, surely, that is a creative way for the present government to resolve the ECG's major problem: lack of cash to modernise its creaky infrastructure?
Another problem that the government of President Mahama could help resolve, is ending the havoc caused by potholes in many of the roads in Ghana's road network - which have caused countless fatal accidents, as the drivers of vehicles have manoeuvred to avoid them, and have ruined, and continue to ruin, the shock absorbers of millions of vehicles plying roads in the country - by promoting the simple technology of mixing melted plastic waste with bitumen to build plastic roads.
Plastic roads last longer than ordinary roads, carry heavier loads, remain pothole-free throughout their lifespan, and, because plastic is impermeable to water, won't get washed away by flash floods, during the rainy season. We could also climate-change-proof roads in Ghana by using that simple and cost-effective technology.
For that reason, why does the government of President Mahama not dispatch scientists from the Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI), of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), to India, to inspect plastic roads built by Jusco, a Tata subsidiary in the Tata steel city of Jamshedpur, and bring the technology to Ghana - so that road contractors can leverage it and build plastic roads throughout Ghana?
The BRRI could also collaborate with the Dutch company, VolkerWessel's road building subsidiary, KWS Infra, which is focusing on developing a hollow type of plastic road for the city of Rotterdam - and adopt it for constructing pavements and urban roads in Ghana. Because they are hollow and come in sections, that will enable utility companies to lay their cables and pipes, without ruining pavements.
And why does President Mahama's government not ask the State Housing Company (SHC), to collaborate with the UK company, Precast Concrete Products Limited - to build well-designed prefabricated concrete classroom blocks, dormitories and staff housing for public-sector educational institutions, in record numbers and in record time, before December 2016, as legacy projects?
Could truly affordable housing not also be provided for ordinary people throughout Ghana using prefabricated building engineering systems?
And instead of allowing Indians and other nationals to come here to buy gold directly from illegal gold miners across the country, without paying any taxes to the government, why does Parliament not pass new draconian laws preventing that nation-wrecking pratice?
Instead of complaining about those Indian gold buyers breaking the law by buying gold from the countryside, could the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) not set up a website to sell gold online directly to buyers from around the globe - who would pay for any gold bought online from the PMMC to be sent to them by courier firms such as DHL?
Foreign buyers purchasing gold directly from the PMMC could also visit Ghana personally to collect their gold.
And one envisions wealthy Chinese and other Asian nationals coming to visit Ghana to buy and take away gold - meaning that tour companies here could develop a lucrative niche serving high-spending tourists from Asia: who could combine gold purchasing trips to Ghana, with elephant-watching safari trips to Mole National Park, traversing the forest canopy walkways in Kakuum and Bunso, and sitting atop crocodiles at Paga.
And come to think of it, the Bank of Ghana could make billions of cedis selling gold coins with Adinkra symbols online, too - as well off Ghanaians pile into them as a hedge against inflation and as a veritable store of value in a nation with a pepertually weakening currency.
The Bank of Ghana and the PMMC can take inspiration from websites such as BullionVault.com and GoldSilver.com.
There is no reason why when the gold refinery starts operating, Ghana cannot become a global centre, for purchasing credit-card-sized gold bars. The sale of Adinkra gold coins and gold bars to foreign buyers will also help improve our balance of trade considerably - and help strengthen our weak currency more sustainably.
We will then end an iniquitous and monstrous system - in which foreign gold companies come to Ghana to mine gold, take away vast profits, and leave society to deal with degraded forests, poisoned soils and rivers.
And what stops the Volta River Authority (VRA) from collaborating with PracticalAction, the UK non-profit that builds mini and micro hydro power plants - to ensure that the mini hydro power projects Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah's Convention People's Party government planned to build before it was overthrown in the 1966 military coup, are finally built?
Finally, at a time when global warming is impacting our country negatively, should Ghana not be establishing industrial hemp (not to be confused with Cannibis Sativa, marijuana) plantations on marginal land, and on land reclaimed by small-scale gold miners? Industrial hemp can provide raw material for textile factories, produce biofuels, and be used as feedstock for biomass power plants, to mention just three of the many uses to which industrial hemp can be put. Incidentally, as many as 25,000 products are said to be made from industrial hemp.
Over time, it may very well be that dividends from the PMMC, reinvigorated by its online gold selling business, could pay for some of the projects above.
Tuesday, 4 August 2015
Does The Hippocratic Oath Still Hold Any Meaning For The Medical Profession In Ghana?
It is unlikely to become superannuated. It serves as a powerful reminder and declaration that we are all a part of something infinitely larger, older, and more important than a particular specialty or institution....The need for physicians to make a formal warrant of diligent, moral, and ethical conduct in the service of their patients may be stronger than ever.
- Dr. Howard Markel.
The quotation above is Dr. Howard Markel's viewpoint on the relevance of the Hippocratic Oath. He is a George E. Wantz Distinguished Professor of The History of Medicine at the University of Michigan and Director of the University of Michigan's Centre for the History of Medicine. He is also professor of Psychiatry, Health Management, History, and Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases.
As is commonly known, it takes years of study and training, to become a medical doctor. And when they finally graduate from medical school, and start work, a medical doctor's working day, seeing and treating patients, is often full of stress.
It is also a fact that medical doctors all over the world are highly-respected members of society. And quite right too - for healthcare professionals ensure the health of the citizens of nations the world over. And health, it is said, is wealth.
That is why all Ghanaians ought to be concerned when there is agitation by healthcare professionals over pay and working conditions.
It is a pity that 91 medical doctors - who had apparently not been paid for as long as 11 months - had to besiege the head office building of the Controller and Accountant General's Department, in Accra, before they were paid. Why were they not paid all those months?
The government ought to ensure that it provides doctors (and other healthcare professionals) in government hospitals with conditions of service that are fair and take account of the peculiar and demanding nature of their work - as demanded by the Ghana Medical Association (GMA).
Having said that, it is also important to make the point that the medical profession is not one for mercenary individuals. Those of them who want to live the lifestyles of tycoons, at taxpayers' expense, should set up their own hospitals - and resign from the employment of the Ghana Health Service.
Doctors employed in government hospitals must be reasonable in the demands they make on the public purse. Despite what members of our political class say, Ghana is still a poor developing nation - one only has to travel around the countryside to realise that.
Perhaps to set the right tone, the government itself must get rid of the small army of "special assistants" and "presidential aides" at the presidency - to send a clear message to all public-sector workers that we are indeed in austere times.
Doctors and other public-sector healthcare professionals in Ghana must understand that their salaries are paid from the taxes collected from hardpressed Ghanaians, such as truck-pushers, watchmen, market women and kayayie - who have to struggle daily to survive. Why deny such vulnerable people medical care when they need it? That is intolerable.
The public purse in Ghana is not a bottomless one. Elsewhere, doctors have had to take pay cuts. Junior doctors in Ireland, for example, had their annual salaries cut from €60,000 to €50,000 last year, because of the difficulties faced by the Irish economy. The same goes for doctors in Greece - some of whom have had as much as 40% slashed from their salaries.
Relatively speaking, Ghanaian doctors are better paid than many professionals, in the public-sector.
Whatever be the case, no one in Ghana should seek to justify strike action by public-sector medical doctors. We must never forget that strike action by doctors always results in avoidable and preventable deaths.
And when the Dr. Frank Serebours of the GMA speak in public, they must remember that no matter the provocation, as medical doctors, they must always be measured in what they say to their critics. Why call someone an "idiot" whiles speaking on live radio, when "genius" would be a far better word to express their feelings towards those critics?
It is morally untenable for doctors to deny treatment to those who go to government healthcare facilities when they fall sick - because professionals who took a solemn oath to treat the sick at all material times have chosen to ignore that solemn oath and gone on strike. That is totally unacceptable. Public-sector doctors owe it to ordinary Ghanaians never to go on strike.
The question is: How can those who take the Hippocratic Oath in good conscience refuse to serve those whose taxes pay their salaries and allowances?
Does the Hippocratic Oath no longer hold any meaning for public-sector medical doctors in Ghana? It would be shameful if that indeed were the case.
The Professor Easmons, Professor Dodus, Professor Laings, Professor Quarteys, Professor Oduros, Professor Baidoes, Professor Bensti-Enchills, and the rest of that generation of exceptional Ghanaian medical doctors, must be turning in their graves. Pity.
Public-sector workers of all categories and grades are employed to serve the ordinary people of Ghana. A law should be passed to ban all public-sector employees from ever going on strike. The work they do, and the services they render the general public, are essential prerequisites for life as we know it, in today's Ghana. Period.
Above all, the Hippocratic Oath ought to have some meaning for medical doctors employed in Ghana's public-sector healthcare facilities. Food for thought for the hardliners amongst the GMA's leadership - who appear hell-bent on embarking on strikes at every opportunity that comes their way. Unspeakable and abominable behaviour, for medical doctors.
- Dr. Howard Markel.
The quotation above is Dr. Howard Markel's viewpoint on the relevance of the Hippocratic Oath. He is a George E. Wantz Distinguished Professor of The History of Medicine at the University of Michigan and Director of the University of Michigan's Centre for the History of Medicine. He is also professor of Psychiatry, Health Management, History, and Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases.
As is commonly known, it takes years of study and training, to become a medical doctor. And when they finally graduate from medical school, and start work, a medical doctor's working day, seeing and treating patients, is often full of stress.
It is also a fact that medical doctors all over the world are highly-respected members of society. And quite right too - for healthcare professionals ensure the health of the citizens of nations the world over. And health, it is said, is wealth.
That is why all Ghanaians ought to be concerned when there is agitation by healthcare professionals over pay and working conditions.
It is a pity that 91 medical doctors - who had apparently not been paid for as long as 11 months - had to besiege the head office building of the Controller and Accountant General's Department, in Accra, before they were paid. Why were they not paid all those months?
The government ought to ensure that it provides doctors (and other healthcare professionals) in government hospitals with conditions of service that are fair and take account of the peculiar and demanding nature of their work - as demanded by the Ghana Medical Association (GMA).
Having said that, it is also important to make the point that the medical profession is not one for mercenary individuals. Those of them who want to live the lifestyles of tycoons, at taxpayers' expense, should set up their own hospitals - and resign from the employment of the Ghana Health Service.
Doctors employed in government hospitals must be reasonable in the demands they make on the public purse. Despite what members of our political class say, Ghana is still a poor developing nation - one only has to travel around the countryside to realise that.
Perhaps to set the right tone, the government itself must get rid of the small army of "special assistants" and "presidential aides" at the presidency - to send a clear message to all public-sector workers that we are indeed in austere times.
Doctors and other public-sector healthcare professionals in Ghana must understand that their salaries are paid from the taxes collected from hardpressed Ghanaians, such as truck-pushers, watchmen, market women and kayayie - who have to struggle daily to survive. Why deny such vulnerable people medical care when they need it? That is intolerable.
The public purse in Ghana is not a bottomless one. Elsewhere, doctors have had to take pay cuts. Junior doctors in Ireland, for example, had their annual salaries cut from €60,000 to €50,000 last year, because of the difficulties faced by the Irish economy. The same goes for doctors in Greece - some of whom have had as much as 40% slashed from their salaries.
Relatively speaking, Ghanaian doctors are better paid than many professionals, in the public-sector.
Whatever be the case, no one in Ghana should seek to justify strike action by public-sector medical doctors. We must never forget that strike action by doctors always results in avoidable and preventable deaths.
And when the Dr. Frank Serebours of the GMA speak in public, they must remember that no matter the provocation, as medical doctors, they must always be measured in what they say to their critics. Why call someone an "idiot" whiles speaking on live radio, when "genius" would be a far better word to express their feelings towards those critics?
It is morally untenable for doctors to deny treatment to those who go to government healthcare facilities when they fall sick - because professionals who took a solemn oath to treat the sick at all material times have chosen to ignore that solemn oath and gone on strike. That is totally unacceptable. Public-sector doctors owe it to ordinary Ghanaians never to go on strike.
The question is: How can those who take the Hippocratic Oath in good conscience refuse to serve those whose taxes pay their salaries and allowances?
Does the Hippocratic Oath no longer hold any meaning for public-sector medical doctors in Ghana? It would be shameful if that indeed were the case.
The Professor Easmons, Professor Dodus, Professor Laings, Professor Quarteys, Professor Oduros, Professor Baidoes, Professor Bensti-Enchills, and the rest of that generation of exceptional Ghanaian medical doctors, must be turning in their graves. Pity.
Public-sector workers of all categories and grades are employed to serve the ordinary people of Ghana. A law should be passed to ban all public-sector employees from ever going on strike. The work they do, and the services they render the general public, are essential prerequisites for life as we know it, in today's Ghana. Period.
Above all, the Hippocratic Oath ought to have some meaning for medical doctors employed in Ghana's public-sector healthcare facilities. Food for thought for the hardliners amongst the GMA's leadership - who appear hell-bent on embarking on strikes at every opportunity that comes their way. Unspeakable and abominable behaviour, for medical doctors.
Thursday, 30 July 2015
Have We Entered A New And Dangerous Phase In Ghanaian Politics?
Does the aborted attempt to assassinate President Mahama, mark a new and dangerous phase, in our nation's politics?
Perchance, has the demonisation of leading political figures that results from the intense rivalry between the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), and the biggest opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), created a miasma that is now enveloping Ghanaian society - in a massive and toxic fog-of-pure-hatred?
Not too long ago, that massive and toxic fog-of-pure-hatred, killed the NPP's Upper East regional chairperson, Alhaji Adams Mahama - and it now seeks to forcibly end the political careers of that selfsame party's national chairperson, Paul Afoko, and its general secretary, Kwabena Adjapong.
The question that patriotic and independent-minded Ghanaians (particularly the younger generation) ought to pose is: Would ordinary Ghanaians not be better off rejecting candidates of both the NDC and NPP, in the December 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections - to prevent their rivalry from eventually destroying Ghana?
Perhaps we must not be surprised that the scorched-earth-politics practised by the small cabals - made up of violence-prone and amoral party hardliners - that dominate the NDC and NPP, from the shadows, has created the atmosphere of intolerance that has resulted in an apparently deranged man undertaking a solo mission to assassinate President Mahama.
Today, it is Charles Antwi seeking to kill Ghana's President. Tomorrow, it might be the NDC's Azorka Boys, and the NPP's Action Troopers, as well as its Invisible Forces and Bolga Bulldogs, devouring their own paymasters - at the behest of terrorist groups: such as the Boko Harams of this world.
What ends do those funding some of the many strikes and public demonstrations across the country seek, one wonders?
Why destabilise a nation you want to govern one day, if you claim to believe in constitutional democracy, one wonders? And why is a political party that says it is a bastion of individual liberty and free speech, seeking to sideline its duly-elected party chairperson and its general secretary?
For years, some of us have repeatedly said that the silent majority of decent and fair-minded party members in Ghana's two biggest political parties, need to stop looking the other way - as a violent few ride roughshod over dissenters.
We have also said that if the silent majority in the two parties fail to drive out members of the cabals-of-violence that do their parties' dirty work for them, from their midst, their parties will eventually be devoured by the Frankenstein monsters they have allowed to amass such power within their ranks.
Fair-minded and nationalistic party members and supporters, who make up a silent majority in all the political parties in our country, need to understand that the cabals-of-violence in Ghana's two biggest political parties, actually pose a long-term threat to Ghana's stability.
That is why it is vital that our nation's security agencies, carry out a thorough investigation into the failed attempt to assassinate President Mahama, by Charles Antwi - to establish that it was not a conspiracy by shadowy figures in our nation's politics.
We must not dismiss out of hand, the suspicions of those who say that perhaps Charles Antwi was used by conspirators as a perfect patsy, to enable them physically eliminate President Mahama by remote control - and get away with it successfully.
Was the firearm Charles Antwi was arrested with registered in his name? If not, whose name was it registered in - and who gave it to him? And when exactly did he receive it - and precisely what purpose was it intended to be used for by Charles Antwi?
The authorities must ensure that Charles Antwi does not end up being murdered to silence him - like Lee Harvey Oswald, US President Kennedy's alleged assassin was, by Jack Ruby.
Perhaps it would be prudent to hold him in the cells at the Bureau of National Investigations' (BNI) headquarters building whiles investigations are carried out to ascertain whether or not there was a conspiracy by persons unkown to kill President Mahama.
Perhaps those veritable cowards, having realised just how delusional Charles Antwi was, simply used him - in order to enable them escape detection. Charles Antwi can have all the psychiatric care he needs whiles in protective custody at the BNI headquarters.
Clearly, the personal safety of our nation's present crop of politicians (from across the spectrum) must no longer be taken for granted. Neither must we take the stability of the Republic for granted.
The security agencies must now routinely offer round-the-clock protection for all the leading political figures (including all parliamentarians) in Ghana - both in the governing party and the opposition parties.
And they must be more professional in their intelligence-gathering activities. It must be devoid of partisanship going forward into the distant future.
Alas, the age of innocence in our national life, is gone for good. Henceforth, Ghanaians must be vigilant at all material times - lest violent individuals destroy the peace and stability our nation enjoys. We have now entered a new and dangerous phase in Ghanaian politics.
Perchance, has the demonisation of leading political figures that results from the intense rivalry between the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), and the biggest opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), created a miasma that is now enveloping Ghanaian society - in a massive and toxic fog-of-pure-hatred?
Not too long ago, that massive and toxic fog-of-pure-hatred, killed the NPP's Upper East regional chairperson, Alhaji Adams Mahama - and it now seeks to forcibly end the political careers of that selfsame party's national chairperson, Paul Afoko, and its general secretary, Kwabena Adjapong.
The question that patriotic and independent-minded Ghanaians (particularly the younger generation) ought to pose is: Would ordinary Ghanaians not be better off rejecting candidates of both the NDC and NPP, in the December 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections - to prevent their rivalry from eventually destroying Ghana?
Perhaps we must not be surprised that the scorched-earth-politics practised by the small cabals - made up of violence-prone and amoral party hardliners - that dominate the NDC and NPP, from the shadows, has created the atmosphere of intolerance that has resulted in an apparently deranged man undertaking a solo mission to assassinate President Mahama.
Today, it is Charles Antwi seeking to kill Ghana's President. Tomorrow, it might be the NDC's Azorka Boys, and the NPP's Action Troopers, as well as its Invisible Forces and Bolga Bulldogs, devouring their own paymasters - at the behest of terrorist groups: such as the Boko Harams of this world.
What ends do those funding some of the many strikes and public demonstrations across the country seek, one wonders?
Why destabilise a nation you want to govern one day, if you claim to believe in constitutional democracy, one wonders? And why is a political party that says it is a bastion of individual liberty and free speech, seeking to sideline its duly-elected party chairperson and its general secretary?
For years, some of us have repeatedly said that the silent majority of decent and fair-minded party members in Ghana's two biggest political parties, need to stop looking the other way - as a violent few ride roughshod over dissenters.
We have also said that if the silent majority in the two parties fail to drive out members of the cabals-of-violence that do their parties' dirty work for them, from their midst, their parties will eventually be devoured by the Frankenstein monsters they have allowed to amass such power within their ranks.
Fair-minded and nationalistic party members and supporters, who make up a silent majority in all the political parties in our country, need to understand that the cabals-of-violence in Ghana's two biggest political parties, actually pose a long-term threat to Ghana's stability.
That is why it is vital that our nation's security agencies, carry out a thorough investigation into the failed attempt to assassinate President Mahama, by Charles Antwi - to establish that it was not a conspiracy by shadowy figures in our nation's politics.
We must not dismiss out of hand, the suspicions of those who say that perhaps Charles Antwi was used by conspirators as a perfect patsy, to enable them physically eliminate President Mahama by remote control - and get away with it successfully.
Was the firearm Charles Antwi was arrested with registered in his name? If not, whose name was it registered in - and who gave it to him? And when exactly did he receive it - and precisely what purpose was it intended to be used for by Charles Antwi?
The authorities must ensure that Charles Antwi does not end up being murdered to silence him - like Lee Harvey Oswald, US President Kennedy's alleged assassin was, by Jack Ruby.
Perhaps it would be prudent to hold him in the cells at the Bureau of National Investigations' (BNI) headquarters building whiles investigations are carried out to ascertain whether or not there was a conspiracy by persons unkown to kill President Mahama.
Perhaps those veritable cowards, having realised just how delusional Charles Antwi was, simply used him - in order to enable them escape detection. Charles Antwi can have all the psychiatric care he needs whiles in protective custody at the BNI headquarters.
Clearly, the personal safety of our nation's present crop of politicians (from across the spectrum) must no longer be taken for granted. Neither must we take the stability of the Republic for granted.
The security agencies must now routinely offer round-the-clock protection for all the leading political figures (including all parliamentarians) in Ghana - both in the governing party and the opposition parties.
And they must be more professional in their intelligence-gathering activities. It must be devoid of partisanship going forward into the distant future.
Alas, the age of innocence in our national life, is gone for good. Henceforth, Ghanaians must be vigilant at all material times - lest violent individuals destroy the peace and stability our nation enjoys. We have now entered a new and dangerous phase in Ghanaian politics.
Thursday, 23 July 2015
Ghana Needs Honest Leaders With Business Nous - A Prime Example Being Paa Kwesi Nduom
For over twenty years now, some of us have advocated for Ghanaian politicians to publicly publish their assets, as well as those of their spouses, before assuming office, and immediately after their tenures end.
We have done so consistently for so long because publicly publishing the assets of our leaders is a powerful antidote against high-level corruption. The present asset delaration law is clearly not fit for purpose - which is why our nation's politics attracts so many undesirable types presently.
It was with that in mind that when a young university student, whom I engaged in a conversation with, recently, asked me which politician I thought it would best serve the interests of young Ghanaians, to vote for to become president in 2016, I mentioned Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom and made a number of observations.
I told my young student friend that in my view, any politician who could win the fight against high-level corruption, would make an excellent president for Ghana - as it would result in the release of hundreds of millions of cedis annually, into the system, which could be used to modernise and expand Ghana's infrastructure, support agriculture, as well as fund public housing, education and healthcare in Ghana.
He also agreed with me that any Ghanaian politician who commits to publicly publishing his or her assets (as well as that of their spouse), before assuming office, and immediately after his or her tenure ends, as well as publicly publishing the sources of funding for the party he or she leads, is more likely to have the political will to fight high-level corruption, when in power.
It is unfortunate that it seems to escape many Ghanaians that Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom actually publicly published his filed tax returns, and publicly published the sources of funding for his party, the Progressive People's Party (PPP), during the campaign for the 2012 elections.
Neither President Mahama nor Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo did so in 2012, and one doubts very much - given the opaque natures of the corruption-riddled parties they lead - that they will follow Nduom's example during the campaign for the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections.
If they both fail that litmus test of transparency, in the run-up to the 2016 elections, then clearly, neither of them deserves to be elected to serve as President of the Republic of Ghana.
To illustrate why Nduom is tailor-made for leading a modern 21st century Ghana, I gave that young university student I had the conversation with, examples of how as a result of his business accumen, Nduom was likely to deal with the multinational companies that rip Ghana off so callously.
A world-class entrepreneur, as president, Nduom is unlikely to exhibit President Mahama's helplessness, conveyed in a speech he once gave at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, during which he complained that multinational gold mining companies in Ghana were refusing to agree to pay taxes on the windfall profits they made in 2010, when gold prices reached historic heights.
I also pointed out that Nduom, unlike Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, would never have caved in to Societe General in 2001, when it was obvious to many discerning minds who knew the facts of the matter, that Ghana stood a very good chance of winning the case the French bank brought against the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), in a London law court.
Traditionally, Ghanaian politicians, such as President Mahama and Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, have always accepted perfidious behavior by powerful multinational companies, as facts of life, which emerging nations like Ghana must learn to live with, if we want to attract investors.
In both instances mentioned above, involving President Mahama and Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, Nduom, because of his business nous, would have taken a creative approach to protecting the national interest - by getting on the phone to BlackRock's head of global corporate governance, Ms. Michelle Edkins, for example, and persuading her to demand that the mining companies pay up.
Knowing the power and influence BlackRock wields, the multinational gold mining companies would have rushed to pay those windfall taxes pronto.
With the exception of Nduom, one doubts very much if making that move would have ever occured to any of those seeking the presidency, in the 2012 election.
Yet, BlackRock, which manages funds worth $4.8 trillion, is a global power in asset management - and owns significant stakes in virtually all the biggest listed companies in stock markets in the national economies of the West.
Ghana needs honest and incorruptible leaders, who are world-class individuals that can deal with the complexities of a globalised world, and successfully navigate the choppy waters of the world's economy.
Simply put, Ghana needs honest leaders with business nous. Paa Kwesi Nduom is a prime example.
One hopes that when it is finally formed, a New Convention People's Party (New CPP) - in light of the inability of any of the Nkrumahist parties to win the Talensi constituency by-election - will unite the old CPP, the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), the People's National Convention (PNC), and the Progressive People's Party (PPP), will select Nduom as its presidential candidate for the 2016 election, with Samia Yaaba Nkrumah as his running mate.
We have done so consistently for so long because publicly publishing the assets of our leaders is a powerful antidote against high-level corruption. The present asset delaration law is clearly not fit for purpose - which is why our nation's politics attracts so many undesirable types presently.
It was with that in mind that when a young university student, whom I engaged in a conversation with, recently, asked me which politician I thought it would best serve the interests of young Ghanaians, to vote for to become president in 2016, I mentioned Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom and made a number of observations.
I told my young student friend that in my view, any politician who could win the fight against high-level corruption, would make an excellent president for Ghana - as it would result in the release of hundreds of millions of cedis annually, into the system, which could be used to modernise and expand Ghana's infrastructure, support agriculture, as well as fund public housing, education and healthcare in Ghana.
He also agreed with me that any Ghanaian politician who commits to publicly publishing his or her assets (as well as that of their spouse), before assuming office, and immediately after his or her tenure ends, as well as publicly publishing the sources of funding for the party he or she leads, is more likely to have the political will to fight high-level corruption, when in power.
It is unfortunate that it seems to escape many Ghanaians that Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom actually publicly published his filed tax returns, and publicly published the sources of funding for his party, the Progressive People's Party (PPP), during the campaign for the 2012 elections.
Neither President Mahama nor Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo did so in 2012, and one doubts very much - given the opaque natures of the corruption-riddled parties they lead - that they will follow Nduom's example during the campaign for the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections.
If they both fail that litmus test of transparency, in the run-up to the 2016 elections, then clearly, neither of them deserves to be elected to serve as President of the Republic of Ghana.
To illustrate why Nduom is tailor-made for leading a modern 21st century Ghana, I gave that young university student I had the conversation with, examples of how as a result of his business accumen, Nduom was likely to deal with the multinational companies that rip Ghana off so callously.
A world-class entrepreneur, as president, Nduom is unlikely to exhibit President Mahama's helplessness, conveyed in a speech he once gave at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, during which he complained that multinational gold mining companies in Ghana were refusing to agree to pay taxes on the windfall profits they made in 2010, when gold prices reached historic heights.
I also pointed out that Nduom, unlike Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, would never have caved in to Societe General in 2001, when it was obvious to many discerning minds who knew the facts of the matter, that Ghana stood a very good chance of winning the case the French bank brought against the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), in a London law court.
Traditionally, Ghanaian politicians, such as President Mahama and Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, have always accepted perfidious behavior by powerful multinational companies, as facts of life, which emerging nations like Ghana must learn to live with, if we want to attract investors.
In both instances mentioned above, involving President Mahama and Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, Nduom, because of his business nous, would have taken a creative approach to protecting the national interest - by getting on the phone to BlackRock's head of global corporate governance, Ms. Michelle Edkins, for example, and persuading her to demand that the mining companies pay up.
Knowing the power and influence BlackRock wields, the multinational gold mining companies would have rushed to pay those windfall taxes pronto.
With the exception of Nduom, one doubts very much if making that move would have ever occured to any of those seeking the presidency, in the 2012 election.
Yet, BlackRock, which manages funds worth $4.8 trillion, is a global power in asset management - and owns significant stakes in virtually all the biggest listed companies in stock markets in the national economies of the West.
Ghana needs honest and incorruptible leaders, who are world-class individuals that can deal with the complexities of a globalised world, and successfully navigate the choppy waters of the world's economy.
Simply put, Ghana needs honest leaders with business nous. Paa Kwesi Nduom is a prime example.
One hopes that when it is finally formed, a New Convention People's Party (New CPP) - in light of the inability of any of the Nkrumahist parties to win the Talensi constituency by-election - will unite the old CPP, the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), the People's National Convention (PNC), and the Progressive People's Party (PPP), will select Nduom as its presidential candidate for the 2016 election, with Samia Yaaba Nkrumah as his running mate.
Friday, 17 July 2015
It Is Ridiculous For MPs To Call For Ghana's Interior Minister To be Sacked - For Using The Phrase "Violence Begets Violence"
I was saddened to hear that Major Derrick Oduro, a member of the Committee on Defence and Interior, of Ghana's Parliament, has asked President Mahama to sack the minister of the interior, the Hon. Mark Woyongo - over remarks the minister made during the recent (7th July, 2015) Talensi constituency by-election.
The Hon. Derrick Oduro, a retired military officer, knows perfectly well that Mark Woyongo was briefed by those in charge of security for that by-election - and reacted to questions from the media about violent clashes between youths from the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), on the basis of what he knew from intelligence reports that day.
One can understand, and forgive, the inability of journalists who have failed to master the basic tool of their profession, the English language, to comprehend the meaning of the phrase "violence begets violence", which was used by Mark Woyongo during his interview with a Kumasi-based reporter, for that city's Ultimate FM radio station - who unfortunately read his own meaning into the phrase.
(A typical example of the affectatious English language broadcast journalists in Ghana, who affect foreign accents - his being a mish-mash of accents of indeterminate provenance - my humble advice to him is to read more widely, and always be himself. Over time, perhaps it will help him avoid hurrying to read his own meaning into what he hears when conducting interviews - and avoid lines of questioning that could trigger unhelpful controversies: such as the Mark Wayongo "violence begets violence" controversy. But I digress.)
Whiles one can forgive ignorant media types, it is unpardonable for members of Parliament to misconstrue the fact that in using that phrase on the day of the Talensi constituency by-election, Mark Woyongo was simply admonishing violence-prone youths in society, to desist from acts of violence - as it only leads to a never-ending spiral of revenge attacks. What is wrong with that, one wonders?
It is unfortunate that a simple biblical phrase used by responsible leaders from around the globe - including the late Martin Luther King, who used it frequently, to appeal for tolerance between the races in America - to admonish the violence-prone in society, to desist from acts of violence, should cause such widespread consternation in Ghana.
Perhaps an old acquintance of mine is right, in saying that it speaks volumes about the abysmal depths, to which the standard of English has sunk in Ghana, that Mark Woyongo is being pilloried for using a phrase used to admonish violence-prone individuals, not to resort to acts of voilence, by responsible people in societies around the world.
It is a pity that it was amplified by the FM radio stations that replayed the tape-recording of the interview in which Mark Woyongo used that particular phrase.
Incidentally, I listened carefully to the entirety of that interview, when it was replayed by Peace FM, and can say with confidence that (speaking hypothetically, that is), if there had been violent clashes between extreme right-wing English youths, and young Britons of Asian and Afro-Caribbean heritage, during a by-election in a constituency in the northern English city of Bradford, and the British Home Secretary, Theresa May, had repeated the entirety of Mark Woyongo's response in that interview, word for word, no one in the UK would have condemned her response - because it would have been understood by all that she was merely admonishing violence-prone youths to desist from acts of violence.
It is ridiculous for MPs in Ghana, who make laws that require precision of language, and therefore ought to know better, to demand the sacking of Mark Woyongo for using the phrase "violence begets violence".
With respect, Ghana's MPs must spend their precious time, on more important matters of state. President Mahama would be wise to ignore calls for Mark Woyongo's dismissal for using the phrase "violence begets violence".
Violence does indeed beget violence - which is why all Ghanaians must eschew acts of violence: if we want our nation to remain stable and become prosperous.
Given the chaotic and violent circumstances prevailing on the ground, in parts of the Talensi constituency that day, it is unreasonable and unfair for anyone to demand that President Mahama should sack Mark Woyongo, for using the phrase "violence begets violence" to admonish young people from engaging in acts of violence.
Those hypocritical politicians (such as the Major Derrick Oduros), seeking to put a positive spin, on the appalling and unjustifiable behaviour of a number of their own party's youthful supporters up north, during the Talensi constituency by-election, must bow their heads in shame for their double standards.
The Hon. Derrick Oduro, a retired military officer, knows perfectly well that Mark Woyongo was briefed by those in charge of security for that by-election - and reacted to questions from the media about violent clashes between youths from the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), on the basis of what he knew from intelligence reports that day.
One can understand, and forgive, the inability of journalists who have failed to master the basic tool of their profession, the English language, to comprehend the meaning of the phrase "violence begets violence", which was used by Mark Woyongo during his interview with a Kumasi-based reporter, for that city's Ultimate FM radio station - who unfortunately read his own meaning into the phrase.
(A typical example of the affectatious English language broadcast journalists in Ghana, who affect foreign accents - his being a mish-mash of accents of indeterminate provenance - my humble advice to him is to read more widely, and always be himself. Over time, perhaps it will help him avoid hurrying to read his own meaning into what he hears when conducting interviews - and avoid lines of questioning that could trigger unhelpful controversies: such as the Mark Wayongo "violence begets violence" controversy. But I digress.)
Whiles one can forgive ignorant media types, it is unpardonable for members of Parliament to misconstrue the fact that in using that phrase on the day of the Talensi constituency by-election, Mark Woyongo was simply admonishing violence-prone youths in society, to desist from acts of violence - as it only leads to a never-ending spiral of revenge attacks. What is wrong with that, one wonders?
It is unfortunate that a simple biblical phrase used by responsible leaders from around the globe - including the late Martin Luther King, who used it frequently, to appeal for tolerance between the races in America - to admonish the violence-prone in society, to desist from acts of violence, should cause such widespread consternation in Ghana.
Perhaps an old acquintance of mine is right, in saying that it speaks volumes about the abysmal depths, to which the standard of English has sunk in Ghana, that Mark Woyongo is being pilloried for using a phrase used to admonish violence-prone individuals, not to resort to acts of voilence, by responsible people in societies around the world.
It is a pity that it was amplified by the FM radio stations that replayed the tape-recording of the interview in which Mark Woyongo used that particular phrase.
Incidentally, I listened carefully to the entirety of that interview, when it was replayed by Peace FM, and can say with confidence that (speaking hypothetically, that is), if there had been violent clashes between extreme right-wing English youths, and young Britons of Asian and Afro-Caribbean heritage, during a by-election in a constituency in the northern English city of Bradford, and the British Home Secretary, Theresa May, had repeated the entirety of Mark Woyongo's response in that interview, word for word, no one in the UK would have condemned her response - because it would have been understood by all that she was merely admonishing violence-prone youths to desist from acts of violence.
It is ridiculous for MPs in Ghana, who make laws that require precision of language, and therefore ought to know better, to demand the sacking of Mark Woyongo for using the phrase "violence begets violence".
With respect, Ghana's MPs must spend their precious time, on more important matters of state. President Mahama would be wise to ignore calls for Mark Woyongo's dismissal for using the phrase "violence begets violence".
Violence does indeed beget violence - which is why all Ghanaians must eschew acts of violence: if we want our nation to remain stable and become prosperous.
Given the chaotic and violent circumstances prevailing on the ground, in parts of the Talensi constituency that day, it is unreasonable and unfair for anyone to demand that President Mahama should sack Mark Woyongo, for using the phrase "violence begets violence" to admonish young people from engaging in acts of violence.
Those hypocritical politicians (such as the Major Derrick Oduros), seeking to put a positive spin, on the appalling and unjustifiable behaviour of a number of their own party's youthful supporters up north, during the Talensi constituency by-election, must bow their heads in shame for their double standards.
Wednesday, 8 July 2015
Lessons For Nkrumahists From Yesterday's Talensi Constituency By-Election
Both the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), and the biggest opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), made it plain to Ghanaians that they regarded yesterday's Talensi constituency by-election, as a dry run, for the 2016 elections.
In a sense they were both right to hold that conviction.
Alas, the violence perpetrated by rival gangs of thugish youths from the NDC and NPP, at Talensi yesterday, is a harbinger of possible widespread violence to come, whichever of those two parties emerges victorious in the 2016 presidential election.
That is why ordinary Ghanaians must reject both parties in the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections - and avoid the violence and chaos associated with those two bitter political rivals during elections in our country.
The sad and painful truth, is that both the NDC and the NPP, are controlled from the shadows, by powerful and violence-prone cabals - whose Machiavellian political philosophy is to sell Ghana to the highest bidder: to enable them bankroll party activities across the country, when in power.
Judging by their respective records whiles in power, Ghana will never be transformed, if either of those two opaque parties wins the 2016 presidential election - as the vested interests to which they are both beholden are only interested in milking Mother Ghana dry: not improving the quality of life of ordinary people in our country.
Egregious examples of the rip-off of Mother Ghana under both NDC and NPP regimes, include: tolerating the creative accounting used by the so-called bulk oil distributing companies, which import dodgy finished petroleum products into a nation blessed with large deposits of oil and gas that also has an oil refinery; and the persistence of the super-ruthless destination inspection companies that do work that can and should be done by the Customs, Excise and Preventative Service, of the Ghana Revenue Authority.
And this outrage, goes on daily in a nation, which is desperate to harness taxes to fund infrastructural projects - but whose selfish leaders prefer instead to (to paraphrase an old acquaintance) fritter taxes away on dissembling bulk oil distributing companies and parasitical destination inspection companies: in return for kickbacks to fund party activities when in power, in order to perpetuate themselves in office.
The question patriotic and nationalistic Ghanaians must pose is: how can Nkrumahists end the continued dominance of the two largest political parties in Ghana, the ruling NDC, and the biggest of the opposition parties, the NPP, in our nation's politics?
Ghana today desperately needs transparent and accountable leaders - dedicated to transforming Ghana for the benefit of all its people.
Unfortunately, it is obvious that most ordinary people still don't see any of the Nkrumahist parties as credible alternatives, to the NDC/NPP duopoly - which have ruled Ghana in turns since the 4th Republic came into being.
That must change if Nkrumahists are to capture the presidency in the 2016 election.
How then can Nkrumaists change that negative perception about their parties amongst ordinary people in Ghana - and gain their trust sufficiently to win their votes in the numbers needed to enable Nkrumahist candidates emerge victorious in the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections?
From yesterday's Talensi constituency by-election results, it is now clear that nothing short of a full merger of all the Nkrumahist parties, will change the negative perception amongst ordinary people that the Nkrumahist parties, are not credible alternatives to the NDC/NPP duopoly.
In light of that reality, clearly, there is only one course of action left for today's political progeny of Ghana's first president, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, to take now.
If the Nkrumahist parties really care about the plight of ordinary people in Ghana - and feel scandalised by the fact that under the NDC/NPP duopoly, we have become a dog-eat-dog society, in which the national interest is permanently subsumed under that of vested interests - then they must put aside petty parochialism, and end the pipe-dream that any of the small Nkrumahist parties can ever win a presidential election on its own: and, drawing lessons from the result of the Talensi constituency by-election, move swiftly to unite under the banner of the original party of Nkrumah, the Convention People's Party (CPP).
After the Talensi by-election, the idea of an Nkrumahist alliance-of-equals, in which each Nkrumahist party keeps its identity, but joins a coalition that selects a common presidential candidate for the 2016 presidential election, is no longer a viable option. It must now be discarded.
It is only a New CPP that unites the present CPP, the People's National Convention, the Great Consolidated Popular Party and the Progressive People's Party, which can legitimately campaign on Nkrumah's record of achievements - and use his transformational Ghana-first-agenda that focuses on import-substitution-industrialisation, for the development of the national economy, to transform our nation into west Africa's manufacturing powerhouse.
This is the time for all the leading Nkrumahist politicians to be selfless, and demonstrate their unalloyed love for Mother Ghana - by merging all the Nkrumahist political parties into a New CPP. Now. Not tomorrow. That is the biggest lesson the Nkrumahist parties must learn from the results of yesterday's Talensi constituency by-election.
In a sense they were both right to hold that conviction.
Alas, the violence perpetrated by rival gangs of thugish youths from the NDC and NPP, at Talensi yesterday, is a harbinger of possible widespread violence to come, whichever of those two parties emerges victorious in the 2016 presidential election.
That is why ordinary Ghanaians must reject both parties in the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections - and avoid the violence and chaos associated with those two bitter political rivals during elections in our country.
The sad and painful truth, is that both the NDC and the NPP, are controlled from the shadows, by powerful and violence-prone cabals - whose Machiavellian political philosophy is to sell Ghana to the highest bidder: to enable them bankroll party activities across the country, when in power.
Judging by their respective records whiles in power, Ghana will never be transformed, if either of those two opaque parties wins the 2016 presidential election - as the vested interests to which they are both beholden are only interested in milking Mother Ghana dry: not improving the quality of life of ordinary people in our country.
Egregious examples of the rip-off of Mother Ghana under both NDC and NPP regimes, include: tolerating the creative accounting used by the so-called bulk oil distributing companies, which import dodgy finished petroleum products into a nation blessed with large deposits of oil and gas that also has an oil refinery; and the persistence of the super-ruthless destination inspection companies that do work that can and should be done by the Customs, Excise and Preventative Service, of the Ghana Revenue Authority.
And this outrage, goes on daily in a nation, which is desperate to harness taxes to fund infrastructural projects - but whose selfish leaders prefer instead to (to paraphrase an old acquaintance) fritter taxes away on dissembling bulk oil distributing companies and parasitical destination inspection companies: in return for kickbacks to fund party activities when in power, in order to perpetuate themselves in office.
The question patriotic and nationalistic Ghanaians must pose is: how can Nkrumahists end the continued dominance of the two largest political parties in Ghana, the ruling NDC, and the biggest of the opposition parties, the NPP, in our nation's politics?
Ghana today desperately needs transparent and accountable leaders - dedicated to transforming Ghana for the benefit of all its people.
Unfortunately, it is obvious that most ordinary people still don't see any of the Nkrumahist parties as credible alternatives, to the NDC/NPP duopoly - which have ruled Ghana in turns since the 4th Republic came into being.
That must change if Nkrumahists are to capture the presidency in the 2016 election.
How then can Nkrumaists change that negative perception about their parties amongst ordinary people in Ghana - and gain their trust sufficiently to win their votes in the numbers needed to enable Nkrumahist candidates emerge victorious in the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections?
From yesterday's Talensi constituency by-election results, it is now clear that nothing short of a full merger of all the Nkrumahist parties, will change the negative perception amongst ordinary people that the Nkrumahist parties, are not credible alternatives to the NDC/NPP duopoly.
In light of that reality, clearly, there is only one course of action left for today's political progeny of Ghana's first president, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, to take now.
If the Nkrumahist parties really care about the plight of ordinary people in Ghana - and feel scandalised by the fact that under the NDC/NPP duopoly, we have become a dog-eat-dog society, in which the national interest is permanently subsumed under that of vested interests - then they must put aside petty parochialism, and end the pipe-dream that any of the small Nkrumahist parties can ever win a presidential election on its own: and, drawing lessons from the result of the Talensi constituency by-election, move swiftly to unite under the banner of the original party of Nkrumah, the Convention People's Party (CPP).
After the Talensi by-election, the idea of an Nkrumahist alliance-of-equals, in which each Nkrumahist party keeps its identity, but joins a coalition that selects a common presidential candidate for the 2016 presidential election, is no longer a viable option. It must now be discarded.
It is only a New CPP that unites the present CPP, the People's National Convention, the Great Consolidated Popular Party and the Progressive People's Party, which can legitimately campaign on Nkrumah's record of achievements - and use his transformational Ghana-first-agenda that focuses on import-substitution-industrialisation, for the development of the national economy, to transform our nation into west Africa's manufacturing powerhouse.
This is the time for all the leading Nkrumahist politicians to be selfless, and demonstrate their unalloyed love for Mother Ghana - by merging all the Nkrumahist political parties into a New CPP. Now. Not tomorrow. That is the biggest lesson the Nkrumahist parties must learn from the results of yesterday's Talensi constituency by-election.
Thursday, 2 July 2015
A Ministerial Committee Must Investigate Cause Of Partial Collapse Of The Bunso Arboretum's Forest Canopy Walkway
It is important that the ministry of tourism, culture and creative arts sets up a committee, to investigate the 1st July, 2016, Republic Day holiday accident, which occured at the Bunso arboretum - when part of the forest canopy walkway there apparently collapsed.
It is said to have led to a number of visitors being injured. We must be thankful that no fatalities were recorded at the arboretum that day.
From reports in the media, it appears that over-exuberant visitors rocking it whiles traversing the canopy walkway, might have had a bearing on that unfortunate accident.
It is important, from a public safety standpoint, that the committee establishes the actual cause of the partial collapse of the Bunso canopy walkway.
Most of all, the ministerial committee should make recommendations, which will prevent such a tragedy from recurring anywhere in Ghana, again.
As someone who is personally involved in a planned project to build the world's longest forest canopy walkway, at Akyem Juaso, one would welcome such a public enquiry.
Forest canopy walkways are a vital in-situ logistics resource providing a unique living laboratory platform for biodiversity researchers - and are an important educational tool for inculcating a love of nature amongst young people.
Private individuals who invest in them ought to be encouraged - and supported financially. One way to do so, will be to grant them exemption from paying duty and taxes, on all the imported materials needed for constructing forest canopy walkways.
Preserving what remains of our nation's natural heritage will succeed only when young people treasure our forests - and actively seek to conserve them. Traversing forest canopy walkways develops a lifelong love of nature amongst many young people.
The Bunso arboretum's forest canopy walkway has definitely had a positive impact on many - who have come to appreciate the importance of preserving Ghana's forests: as a result of visiting the arboretum to traverse the Bunso canopy walkway.
This, no doubt, is a trying time for the Bunso arboretum's canopy walkway's owners - but they must not be discouraged: as out of this tragedy will no doubt emerge a unique eco-tourism attraction, whose entire operations will be underpinned by an ethos of professionalism - and guided at all material times by the highest global safety standards.
That is why a ministerial committee to establish the cause of the partial collapse of the Bunso forest canopy walkway is a must - as the committee's report is bound to include recommendations on ensuring the safety of all forest canopy walkaways in Ghana.
Above all, from the perspective of visitors, they must all be adequately insured. Since no insurance company will insure a canopy walkway that is not properly maintained, and safe, that can only be good for the general public who traverse Ghana's forest canopy walkways.
That will help restore public confidence in a niche market in Ghana's eco-tourism industry that is beginning to attract private investors. We must not forget that tourism makes a significant contribution to Ghana's GDP.
And, in an age of global climate change, Ghana' forest canopy walkways are important conservation-through-ecotourism attractions, which help conserve our forests. They ought to be safe for visitors - and setting up a ministerial committee to investigate what caused the partial collapse of the Bunso arboretum's canopy walkway will help ensure that.
It is said to have led to a number of visitors being injured. We must be thankful that no fatalities were recorded at the arboretum that day.
From reports in the media, it appears that over-exuberant visitors rocking it whiles traversing the canopy walkway, might have had a bearing on that unfortunate accident.
It is important, from a public safety standpoint, that the committee establishes the actual cause of the partial collapse of the Bunso canopy walkway.
Most of all, the ministerial committee should make recommendations, which will prevent such a tragedy from recurring anywhere in Ghana, again.
As someone who is personally involved in a planned project to build the world's longest forest canopy walkway, at Akyem Juaso, one would welcome such a public enquiry.
Forest canopy walkways are a vital in-situ logistics resource providing a unique living laboratory platform for biodiversity researchers - and are an important educational tool for inculcating a love of nature amongst young people.
Private individuals who invest in them ought to be encouraged - and supported financially. One way to do so, will be to grant them exemption from paying duty and taxes, on all the imported materials needed for constructing forest canopy walkways.
Preserving what remains of our nation's natural heritage will succeed only when young people treasure our forests - and actively seek to conserve them. Traversing forest canopy walkways develops a lifelong love of nature amongst many young people.
The Bunso arboretum's forest canopy walkway has definitely had a positive impact on many - who have come to appreciate the importance of preserving Ghana's forests: as a result of visiting the arboretum to traverse the Bunso canopy walkway.
This, no doubt, is a trying time for the Bunso arboretum's canopy walkway's owners - but they must not be discouraged: as out of this tragedy will no doubt emerge a unique eco-tourism attraction, whose entire operations will be underpinned by an ethos of professionalism - and guided at all material times by the highest global safety standards.
That is why a ministerial committee to establish the cause of the partial collapse of the Bunso forest canopy walkway is a must - as the committee's report is bound to include recommendations on ensuring the safety of all forest canopy walkaways in Ghana.
Above all, from the perspective of visitors, they must all be adequately insured. Since no insurance company will insure a canopy walkway that is not properly maintained, and safe, that can only be good for the general public who traverse Ghana's forest canopy walkways.
That will help restore public confidence in a niche market in Ghana's eco-tourism industry that is beginning to attract private investors. We must not forget that tourism makes a significant contribution to Ghana's GDP.
And, in an age of global climate change, Ghana' forest canopy walkways are important conservation-through-ecotourism attractions, which help conserve our forests. They ought to be safe for visitors - and setting up a ministerial committee to investigate what caused the partial collapse of the Bunso arboretum's canopy walkway will help ensure that.
Friday, 26 June 2015
Why Ms. Samia Nkrumah And Dr. Edward Mahama Must Work Together To Get Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom Selected As The Nkrumahist Alliance's 2016 Presidential Candidate
We have arrived at a juncture in our history, when a confluence of events from across the country, has led to the realisation amongst many ordinary Ghanaians, that their nation needs a new kind of politics - one free of elite-self-interest and nation-wrecking corruption.
Tired of the polarised nature of Ghanaian society, today, and outraged by the unfathomable greed that fuels high-level corruption, many ordinary people yearn to live in a nation in which there is unity of purpose amongst the country's ruling elites - all of whom Ghanaians want to be honest individuals, who show a commitment to protecting the national interest and promoting the welfare of ordinary people, at all material times.
Many people sense that whichever of the candidates of the two biggest political parties in Ghana, the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), and the largest of the opposition parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), wins the 2016 presidential election, the kind of violence seen at the grounds of State House, when a rampaging mob from Old Fadama invaded that part of Ridge last weekend, will be repeated across the country - as hardliners from both parties instigate fighting at polling stations across the country.
It is that fear, which many have, of violence erupting in the immediate aftermath of the 2016 presidential election, which makes many ordinary people in Ghana yearn for a credible third force in our nation's politics - one whose presidential candidate will unite the country, and run a meritocratic and transparent system, as President.
It presents Nkrumahists with a rare opportunity to return to power again.
That is why it is so important that the major figures amongst the followers of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, put aside ego and personal ambition, and work together to offer Ghanaians a government of national unity - in which individuals are appointed to positions in the public sector strictly on merit: not because they belong to the president's party.
If they fail to form an alliance of all the Nkrumahist parties soon, the vacuum in the centre of Ghanaian politics will be filled by fledgling parties, such as Kofi Akpaloo's newly-formed Independent People's Party (IPP).
They must also resolve the issue of selecting the candidate who will represent the Nkrumahist alliance, in the 2016 presidential election, quickly.
Although probably too late to do so, they must use the by-election for the Talensi constituency, as a testbed for trying out the Nkrumahist alliance's strategy for victory in the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections.
A key point is to hammer home the commitment of Nkrumahists to making it possible for grassroots people to elect district chief executives of their choice, when their candidate wins the 2016 presidential election - and that electing an Nkrumahist alliance candidate as the member of Parliament for the Talensi constituency is the first step to that end.
Picking a candidate who can win the 2016 presidential election is crucial for the Nkrumahist alliance.
There was a time in the past, when some of us used to say that Dr. Edward Mahama of the People's National Convention (PNC), was the best candidate to stand for president, for a new Convention People's Party (CPP): made up of all the Nkrumahist parties.
However, Nduom's sterling record as a job creator, and highly successful career as a world-class entrepreneur, with a far-flung business empire, make him the best presidential candidate by far, for an Nkrumahist alliance today.
Politically, he has built up momentum nationally, and has the resources to turn any alliance of all the Nkrumahist parties into a solid third force - able to take on and defeat the candidates of the NDC and NPP.
No Ghanaian politician since Ghana gained its independence in 1957, has been more forthcoming about his or her own personal finances, than Nduom has been.
And no politician has also been as transparent about the sources of funding for the party he or she leads, as Nduom has been. That is just the kind of transparent leader Ghana needs today.
We must force our leaders to follow Nigerian President Buhari's example - and publicly publish their assets (as well as that of their spouses) before assuming office: and immediately after their tenure ends.
Nduom is committed to that - which is why he was the only candidate who published his filed tax returns during the campaign for the 2012 presidential election. He also publicly published the sources of funding, for the party he founded and leads, the Progressive People's Party.
For the sake of Mother Ghana, Samia Yaaba Nkrumah and Dr. Edward Mahama, must rebuff attempts by some of their supporters to get them to run for president in 2016.
It will only divide Nkrumahists yet further if they vie for the presidency - and thereby prevent an Nkrumahist alliance from sweeping to victory in the 2016 presidential election. The plain truth, is that none of them stands a chance of pulling off a surprise win, in that election.
To honour Nkrumah's memory, and ensure that Ghana develops into an industrial powerhouse for West Africa, Samia Yaaba Nkrumah and Dr. Edward Mahama must work together, to get Nduom selected as the Nkrumahist alliance's 2016 presidential candidate.
That will enable a Paa Kwesi Nduom-Samia Yaaba Nkrumah ticket to start working early to win that all-important election - and lead a government of national unity: which will transform our country into an African equivalent of the egalitarian societies of Scandinavia.
We need to tap Ghana's best brains to transform our country - irrespective of the party affiliation and the ethnic background of such individuals.
That is an Nkrumahist nation-building philosophy that is still relevant today - and will underpin the administration of the next Nkrumahist president for our homeland Ghana.
As president, Nduom (who, like Nelson Mandela, should only serve one term and hand over the baton of leadership to Samia Nkrumah to head the next generation of Ghanaian leaders) will ensure that that philosophy guides our nation's development. So, as we say in local parlance: "Samia Nkrumah and Edward Mahama, over to you, Joe Lartey!".
Tired of the polarised nature of Ghanaian society, today, and outraged by the unfathomable greed that fuels high-level corruption, many ordinary people yearn to live in a nation in which there is unity of purpose amongst the country's ruling elites - all of whom Ghanaians want to be honest individuals, who show a commitment to protecting the national interest and promoting the welfare of ordinary people, at all material times.
Many people sense that whichever of the candidates of the two biggest political parties in Ghana, the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), and the largest of the opposition parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), wins the 2016 presidential election, the kind of violence seen at the grounds of State House, when a rampaging mob from Old Fadama invaded that part of Ridge last weekend, will be repeated across the country - as hardliners from both parties instigate fighting at polling stations across the country.
It is that fear, which many have, of violence erupting in the immediate aftermath of the 2016 presidential election, which makes many ordinary people in Ghana yearn for a credible third force in our nation's politics - one whose presidential candidate will unite the country, and run a meritocratic and transparent system, as President.
It presents Nkrumahists with a rare opportunity to return to power again.
That is why it is so important that the major figures amongst the followers of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, put aside ego and personal ambition, and work together to offer Ghanaians a government of national unity - in which individuals are appointed to positions in the public sector strictly on merit: not because they belong to the president's party.
If they fail to form an alliance of all the Nkrumahist parties soon, the vacuum in the centre of Ghanaian politics will be filled by fledgling parties, such as Kofi Akpaloo's newly-formed Independent People's Party (IPP).
They must also resolve the issue of selecting the candidate who will represent the Nkrumahist alliance, in the 2016 presidential election, quickly.
Although probably too late to do so, they must use the by-election for the Talensi constituency, as a testbed for trying out the Nkrumahist alliance's strategy for victory in the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections.
A key point is to hammer home the commitment of Nkrumahists to making it possible for grassroots people to elect district chief executives of their choice, when their candidate wins the 2016 presidential election - and that electing an Nkrumahist alliance candidate as the member of Parliament for the Talensi constituency is the first step to that end.
Picking a candidate who can win the 2016 presidential election is crucial for the Nkrumahist alliance.
There was a time in the past, when some of us used to say that Dr. Edward Mahama of the People's National Convention (PNC), was the best candidate to stand for president, for a new Convention People's Party (CPP): made up of all the Nkrumahist parties.
However, Nduom's sterling record as a job creator, and highly successful career as a world-class entrepreneur, with a far-flung business empire, make him the best presidential candidate by far, for an Nkrumahist alliance today.
Politically, he has built up momentum nationally, and has the resources to turn any alliance of all the Nkrumahist parties into a solid third force - able to take on and defeat the candidates of the NDC and NPP.
No Ghanaian politician since Ghana gained its independence in 1957, has been more forthcoming about his or her own personal finances, than Nduom has been.
And no politician has also been as transparent about the sources of funding for the party he or she leads, as Nduom has been. That is just the kind of transparent leader Ghana needs today.
We must force our leaders to follow Nigerian President Buhari's example - and publicly publish their assets (as well as that of their spouses) before assuming office: and immediately after their tenure ends.
Nduom is committed to that - which is why he was the only candidate who published his filed tax returns during the campaign for the 2012 presidential election. He also publicly published the sources of funding, for the party he founded and leads, the Progressive People's Party.
For the sake of Mother Ghana, Samia Yaaba Nkrumah and Dr. Edward Mahama, must rebuff attempts by some of their supporters to get them to run for president in 2016.
It will only divide Nkrumahists yet further if they vie for the presidency - and thereby prevent an Nkrumahist alliance from sweeping to victory in the 2016 presidential election. The plain truth, is that none of them stands a chance of pulling off a surprise win, in that election.
To honour Nkrumah's memory, and ensure that Ghana develops into an industrial powerhouse for West Africa, Samia Yaaba Nkrumah and Dr. Edward Mahama must work together, to get Nduom selected as the Nkrumahist alliance's 2016 presidential candidate.
That will enable a Paa Kwesi Nduom-Samia Yaaba Nkrumah ticket to start working early to win that all-important election - and lead a government of national unity: which will transform our country into an African equivalent of the egalitarian societies of Scandinavia.
We need to tap Ghana's best brains to transform our country - irrespective of the party affiliation and the ethnic background of such individuals.
That is an Nkrumahist nation-building philosophy that is still relevant today - and will underpin the administration of the next Nkrumahist president for our homeland Ghana.
As president, Nduom (who, like Nelson Mandela, should only serve one term and hand over the baton of leadership to Samia Nkrumah to head the next generation of Ghanaian leaders) will ensure that that philosophy guides our nation's development. So, as we say in local parlance: "Samia Nkrumah and Edward Mahama, over to you, Joe Lartey!".
Tuesday, 23 June 2015
Is The Real Scandal Not The Fact That Bankswitch Was To Be Paid For A Service That Could Be Provided Free Of Charge By Other IT Companies?
Most patriotic Ghanaians would be horrified to learn a few facts about Bankswitch - the company to which the International Court of Permanent Arbitration at The Hague, awarded the judgement debt in favour of, against Ghana, which has generated such controversy here.
Incredibly, just before Bankswitch had its contract with Ghana abrogated by the regime of President Mills, the company that eventually replaced it, Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCnet), actually offered to provide a service that Bankswitch had been contracted for, and was to recieve payment for, from the Kufuor regime, for free. Imagine that.
Clearly, being informed that a service for which Bankswitch was to recieve payment from the predecessor regime to theirs, was actually a service that GCnet was proposing to provide Ghana free of charge, must have provoked a sense of outrage amongst many senior members of President Mills' government.
Consequently, many of them must have felt that to protect Ghana from such fraud, it was their patriotic duty to do everything possible, to end the Bankswitch contract with Ghana - especially when the Kufuor regime ended a contract that Ghana had with GCnet when it came to power: and decided to replace it with one with Bankswitch instead.
Alas, it is that good intention that has now led to the hellish nightmare of our nation having to find GHC197 million or thereabouts, to pay for what is so clearly an unjust judgement debt awarded against it, by the International Court of Permanent Arbitration at The Hague. That judgement was unfair and unjust - and is disgraceful.
Any fair-minded Ghanaian, upon discovering that a service, which Bankswitch was contracted to perform for Ghana by the Kufuor regime, for handsome compensation, could actually have been performed free of charge, by GCnet, would equally feel outraged by such perfidy - especially when Bankswitch is now going to be paid so much money as judgement debt for doing zilch for Ghana.
In a nation whose people have such short memories, we must point out the fact that GCnet was actually the rival company that Bankswitch replaced - after the Kufuor regime abrogated GCnet's contract with Ghana on a technicality: in the halcyon days of the golden age of business for the greed-filled Kufuor & Co.
If Professor Mills had had the political nous that President Rawlings had, Bankswitch would never have had the gall to take Ghana to the International Court of Permanent Arbitration at The Hague - as the deal that Hon. Anthony Akoto Osei signed with Bankswitch would have been investigated, and he would have had to provide an answer to the simple question: "Why was Ghana to pay vast sums to Bankswitch for a service that some IT companies could have provided Ghana free of charge, during the tenure of President Kufuor?"
Rawlings would have had the hypocritical Anthony Akoto Osei prosecuted for conspiring to cause financial loss to Ghana.
President Mills did a great disservice to Ghana by allowing the crooks of the Kufuor-era who gang-raped Mother Ghana to get away with their many crimes. Now Ghana is paying a price for that misplaced kindness on Mills' part.
But to be fair, should we not also ask who the attorney general was at the time the Bankswitch contract with Ghana was abrogated by the Mills regime - and what role he or she played in this sorry saga?
And who represented Ghana at the International Court of Permanent Arbitration at The Hague? Did he or she do a good job - and if so, why did Ghana end up having to pay the carpetbaggers Bankswitch was fronting for, a judgement debt awarded against our nation?
Naturally, what the super-clever Dr. Anthony Akoto Oseis will not divulge to Ghanaians, is who exactly were the powerful and well-connected individuals who profited from the abrogation of the contract with GCnet - and probably engineered its award to Bankswitch.
Those who profited from Bankswitch replacing GCnet, were probably the same crooks, who gave away Ghana's oil deposits - whiles dancing exuberantly to their favourite song: "1 percent of billions of dollars is better than 100 percent of peanuts".
That selfsame group of selfish and ruthless individuals, once tried to sell Valco, to a nonexistent International Aluminium Partners (IAP) - and succeeded in having that fraud railroaded through Parliament: despite the loud protestations and denials by Norske Hydro and VALE, the purported joint-venture partners in IAP, said to be seeking to 'purchase' Valco. No doubt they will also be profiting from Bankswift's judgement-debt jackpot.
Another question that needs answering is: why, in light of all the above, are members of the same ruling party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) - who felt a sense of outrage that Bankswitch was proposing to charge Ghana for a service GCnet could provide free of charge - now seeking to award a contract for an electronic equivalent of a one-stop-shop for data on the import/export trade's shipping documentation, which is already in existence, and provided by GCnet (the National Single Window And Risk Management System project), to West Blue Ghana Limited to develop?
Far too many Ghanaian politicians fail to learn from past mistakes, alas - and in the long run it is our nation and its hard-pressed people who suffer from that particular failing of our leaders.
Why, for example, when Ghana desperately needs to increase its tax revenues, to finance development projects across the nation, are our ruling elites awarding single-sourced contracts to private entities for services that the Customs, Excise and Preventative Service of the Ghana Revenue Authority, can perform efficiently for Ghana, if given the opportunity - and end what amounts to foreigners siphoning off taxes earned from the ports of Ghana, with the blessing of our leaders?
And, it now emerges that GCnet too, is apparently subtly hinting that it will have to sue Ghana - if its contract is abrogated in favour of West Blue Ghana Limited. God give some of us patience in our old age.
For such ingratitude, Ghana must end its contract with GCnet, whenever it is legally possible to do so, without any repercussions. The Customs, Excise and Preventative Service of the Ghana Revenue Authority ought to take over that service when that particular contract ends. It is time such milking-Mother-Ghana-dry revenue-siphoning-off sole-sourced contracts ended.
Perhaps the lesson we must learn from this controversy, is that as things currently stand, vested interests actually control the destiny of our homeland Ghana, whenever the two largest political parties govern Ghana. That cannot be good for our nation and its people in the long-term. It is intolerable and totally unacceptable.
That is why Ghanaians must vote for the Nkrumahist alliance's presidential candidate for the 2016 presidential election - to take Ghana along a path of self-reliance, import-substitution-industrialisation and the promotion of Ghanaian businesses using the purchasing power of the state.
(Hopefully, Paa Kwesi Nduom will be selectd as the Nkrumahist alliance's presidential candidate, with Samia Yaaba Nkrumah as his running mate. But I digress.)
Finally, perhaps one needs to make the point that, if this scandal were to have occurred in China, it will not be the Hannah Tettehs and the Spio Garbrahs who would be executed after a quick trial for this particular Bankswitch judgement debt.
On the contrary, it will be the sly and wily Dr. Anthony Akoto Oseis - who signed that agreement in which Ghana was to pay for a service that could be provided free of charge by other IT companies.
Are we therefore not right in saying that the real scandal, is that Bankswitch was to be paid for a service that other IT companies, at one stage, offered to provide for free? Only asking - not making any accusations. No nation-wrecking politics-of-equalisation here, thank you.
Incredibly, just before Bankswitch had its contract with Ghana abrogated by the regime of President Mills, the company that eventually replaced it, Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCnet), actually offered to provide a service that Bankswitch had been contracted for, and was to recieve payment for, from the Kufuor regime, for free. Imagine that.
Clearly, being informed that a service for which Bankswitch was to recieve payment from the predecessor regime to theirs, was actually a service that GCnet was proposing to provide Ghana free of charge, must have provoked a sense of outrage amongst many senior members of President Mills' government.
Consequently, many of them must have felt that to protect Ghana from such fraud, it was their patriotic duty to do everything possible, to end the Bankswitch contract with Ghana - especially when the Kufuor regime ended a contract that Ghana had with GCnet when it came to power: and decided to replace it with one with Bankswitch instead.
Alas, it is that good intention that has now led to the hellish nightmare of our nation having to find GHC197 million or thereabouts, to pay for what is so clearly an unjust judgement debt awarded against it, by the International Court of Permanent Arbitration at The Hague. That judgement was unfair and unjust - and is disgraceful.
Any fair-minded Ghanaian, upon discovering that a service, which Bankswitch was contracted to perform for Ghana by the Kufuor regime, for handsome compensation, could actually have been performed free of charge, by GCnet, would equally feel outraged by such perfidy - especially when Bankswitch is now going to be paid so much money as judgement debt for doing zilch for Ghana.
In a nation whose people have such short memories, we must point out the fact that GCnet was actually the rival company that Bankswitch replaced - after the Kufuor regime abrogated GCnet's contract with Ghana on a technicality: in the halcyon days of the golden age of business for the greed-filled Kufuor & Co.
If Professor Mills had had the political nous that President Rawlings had, Bankswitch would never have had the gall to take Ghana to the International Court of Permanent Arbitration at The Hague - as the deal that Hon. Anthony Akoto Osei signed with Bankswitch would have been investigated, and he would have had to provide an answer to the simple question: "Why was Ghana to pay vast sums to Bankswitch for a service that some IT companies could have provided Ghana free of charge, during the tenure of President Kufuor?"
Rawlings would have had the hypocritical Anthony Akoto Osei prosecuted for conspiring to cause financial loss to Ghana.
President Mills did a great disservice to Ghana by allowing the crooks of the Kufuor-era who gang-raped Mother Ghana to get away with their many crimes. Now Ghana is paying a price for that misplaced kindness on Mills' part.
But to be fair, should we not also ask who the attorney general was at the time the Bankswitch contract with Ghana was abrogated by the Mills regime - and what role he or she played in this sorry saga?
And who represented Ghana at the International Court of Permanent Arbitration at The Hague? Did he or she do a good job - and if so, why did Ghana end up having to pay the carpetbaggers Bankswitch was fronting for, a judgement debt awarded against our nation?
Naturally, what the super-clever Dr. Anthony Akoto Oseis will not divulge to Ghanaians, is who exactly were the powerful and well-connected individuals who profited from the abrogation of the contract with GCnet - and probably engineered its award to Bankswitch.
Those who profited from Bankswitch replacing GCnet, were probably the same crooks, who gave away Ghana's oil deposits - whiles dancing exuberantly to their favourite song: "1 percent of billions of dollars is better than 100 percent of peanuts".
That selfsame group of selfish and ruthless individuals, once tried to sell Valco, to a nonexistent International Aluminium Partners (IAP) - and succeeded in having that fraud railroaded through Parliament: despite the loud protestations and denials by Norske Hydro and VALE, the purported joint-venture partners in IAP, said to be seeking to 'purchase' Valco. No doubt they will also be profiting from Bankswift's judgement-debt jackpot.
Another question that needs answering is: why, in light of all the above, are members of the same ruling party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) - who felt a sense of outrage that Bankswitch was proposing to charge Ghana for a service GCnet could provide free of charge - now seeking to award a contract for an electronic equivalent of a one-stop-shop for data on the import/export trade's shipping documentation, which is already in existence, and provided by GCnet (the National Single Window And Risk Management System project), to West Blue Ghana Limited to develop?
Far too many Ghanaian politicians fail to learn from past mistakes, alas - and in the long run it is our nation and its hard-pressed people who suffer from that particular failing of our leaders.
Why, for example, when Ghana desperately needs to increase its tax revenues, to finance development projects across the nation, are our ruling elites awarding single-sourced contracts to private entities for services that the Customs, Excise and Preventative Service of the Ghana Revenue Authority, can perform efficiently for Ghana, if given the opportunity - and end what amounts to foreigners siphoning off taxes earned from the ports of Ghana, with the blessing of our leaders?
And, it now emerges that GCnet too, is apparently subtly hinting that it will have to sue Ghana - if its contract is abrogated in favour of West Blue Ghana Limited. God give some of us patience in our old age.
For such ingratitude, Ghana must end its contract with GCnet, whenever it is legally possible to do so, without any repercussions. The Customs, Excise and Preventative Service of the Ghana Revenue Authority ought to take over that service when that particular contract ends. It is time such milking-Mother-Ghana-dry revenue-siphoning-off sole-sourced contracts ended.
Perhaps the lesson we must learn from this controversy, is that as things currently stand, vested interests actually control the destiny of our homeland Ghana, whenever the two largest political parties govern Ghana. That cannot be good for our nation and its people in the long-term. It is intolerable and totally unacceptable.
That is why Ghanaians must vote for the Nkrumahist alliance's presidential candidate for the 2016 presidential election - to take Ghana along a path of self-reliance, import-substitution-industrialisation and the promotion of Ghanaian businesses using the purchasing power of the state.
(Hopefully, Paa Kwesi Nduom will be selectd as the Nkrumahist alliance's presidential candidate, with Samia Yaaba Nkrumah as his running mate. But I digress.)
Finally, perhaps one needs to make the point that, if this scandal were to have occurred in China, it will not be the Hannah Tettehs and the Spio Garbrahs who would be executed after a quick trial for this particular Bankswitch judgement debt.
On the contrary, it will be the sly and wily Dr. Anthony Akoto Oseis - who signed that agreement in which Ghana was to pay for a service that could be provided free of charge by other IT companies.
Are we therefore not right in saying that the real scandal, is that Bankswitch was to be paid for a service that other IT companies, at one stage, offered to provide for free? Only asking - not making any accusations. No nation-wrecking politics-of-equalisation here, thank you.
Old Fadama Residents Have No Excuse For Damaging State Property And Attacking The Police
It is a matter of regret that as a result of the recent floods in Accra, the city authorities have had to finally take steps to remove the illegal settlement, at Old Fadama.
Sadly, however, if we are to reduce the damage caused by flooding in Accra, it is necessary to remove that illegal settlement that is a hotbed of carcinogenicity, toxicity and egregious environmental pollution - in order to comprehensively dredge that section of the Odaw River that runs through it.
The point also needs to be made that no matter how much one sympathises with the unfortunate plight of the residents of Old Fadama, nothing can justify the resort to violence by those of them who marched to the State House and rioted there, a few days ago.
There can be no excuse for such mindless and needless violence in our democracy. Ours is a nation of laws.
Clearly, as a people, we need to find a solution to the increasing number of slums in urban Ghana - an unfortunate consequence of the growing disparities in wealth in our country. But slum dwellers must be law abiding - and politicians must refrain from turning slum-clearance into a political football.
The police must study video footage shown on television news reports, of those who rioted, destroyed public property and attacked the police, frame by frame - and ask the media to publish photographs of the perpetrators: as a means of identifying and subsequently arresting them. They must all be prosecuted and jailed.
There is no question that for the greater good, the Old Fadama settlement must be removed, as a necessary flood-control measure.
The time to do so has now come. What needs to be done is to ensure that it is done as humanely as possible. Those who live there are our fellow humans - most of them forced by circumstances to live and work at Old Fadama.
The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), must be tasked to provide the Old Fadama residents with emergency shelter, and provide them with relief items for their sustenance for a reasonable period, whiles the rainy season lasts.
It is important, however, that those who rioted and damaged government property, when they converged at the State House a few days ago, and attacked the police, are not allowed to get away with their outrageous and disgraceful behaviour.
They must all be apprehended, prosecuted and jailed for their totally unacceptable and inexcusable behavior. There can be no excuse for such abominable and unspeakable acts of violence - resulting in the destruction of public property and the wounding of police officers maintaining law and order in our homeland Ghana.
Sadly, however, if we are to reduce the damage caused by flooding in Accra, it is necessary to remove that illegal settlement that is a hotbed of carcinogenicity, toxicity and egregious environmental pollution - in order to comprehensively dredge that section of the Odaw River that runs through it.
The point also needs to be made that no matter how much one sympathises with the unfortunate plight of the residents of Old Fadama, nothing can justify the resort to violence by those of them who marched to the State House and rioted there, a few days ago.
There can be no excuse for such mindless and needless violence in our democracy. Ours is a nation of laws.
Clearly, as a people, we need to find a solution to the increasing number of slums in urban Ghana - an unfortunate consequence of the growing disparities in wealth in our country. But slum dwellers must be law abiding - and politicians must refrain from turning slum-clearance into a political football.
The police must study video footage shown on television news reports, of those who rioted, destroyed public property and attacked the police, frame by frame - and ask the media to publish photographs of the perpetrators: as a means of identifying and subsequently arresting them. They must all be prosecuted and jailed.
There is no question that for the greater good, the Old Fadama settlement must be removed, as a necessary flood-control measure.
The time to do so has now come. What needs to be done is to ensure that it is done as humanely as possible. Those who live there are our fellow humans - most of them forced by circumstances to live and work at Old Fadama.
The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), must be tasked to provide the Old Fadama residents with emergency shelter, and provide them with relief items for their sustenance for a reasonable period, whiles the rainy season lasts.
It is important, however, that those who rioted and damaged government property, when they converged at the State House a few days ago, and attacked the police, are not allowed to get away with their outrageous and disgraceful behaviour.
They must all be apprehended, prosecuted and jailed for their totally unacceptable and inexcusable behavior. There can be no excuse for such abominable and unspeakable acts of violence - resulting in the destruction of public property and the wounding of police officers maintaining law and order in our homeland Ghana.
Saturday, 20 June 2015
They Can Ignore All One's Ideas - But President Mahama's Regime Must Ensure That All Cocoa Area Roads Are Climate-Change-Proofed
For any patriot and nationalist, who cares about the enterprise Ghana, nothing can be more frustrating than offering sound advice freely to those in power - who ignore it: simply because those whose job it is to bring such ideas to the attention of the government of the day, are incompetent and clueless square-pegs-in-round-holes.
(Where in the world but Ghana, can geniuses like the Stan Dogbes, control access to the nation's President, I ask? And, who knows, were he to become president, perhaps Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo too will also bring his own geniuses in tow - in the shape of the garrullous Sammy Awukus and the narcissistic Asare Otchere-Darkos, who think they are God's gift to our nation. Hmm, Ghana - eyeasem o. But I digress.)
Whenever such free nation-building advice is ignored, an opportunity to move Ghana forward, is then lost. Unfortunately, it appears that if the personal interests of the powerful aren't served by an idea, no matter how innovative that idea might be, it will simply not get any traction in Ghana.
Perhaps that is why so many daft ideas that are not beneficial to our nation in the long-term - described by an old acquintance of mine as "Alice-in-wonderland fantasies" - are championed by some of those in power.
Examples include the US$40 billion project to build a bullet train railway line from Accra to Kumasi, and the proposed project to build a light rail line to the Accra international airport. Critics say they are nothing more than sleight-of-hand schemes by a well-connected and greedy few to grab valuable land in Accra and Kumasi for development.
Sadly, what happens, whiles we waste precious time and valuable resources on such pipe dreams, is that other more serious nations in the West African sub-region, in the meantime busy themselves with implementing vital infrastructural projects. Yet we boast of being the gateway to West Africa.
And we are saddling future generations with debt needlessly - whiles allowing ruthless destination inspection companies with good political connections, for example, to siphon off billions of dollars in precious taxes: doing work that can and should be done by the Customs, Excise and Preventative Service of the Ghana Revenue Authority. Mad.
As we speak, for instance, the French logistics company, Bollore, is financing a railway line from Parakou (which already has a rail line to Cotonou that will be rehabilitated) to Niamey, for €1.07 billion, mostly from its own resources.
The railway line will be extended from Niamey to Ouagadougou. Bollore will own 40 percent of the rail operator, BENI Rail, whiles Benin and Niger own 10 percent each. The rest of the 40 percent shares will be sold to private investors.
Our ruling elites must stop sole-sourcing important projects. Why do they not ask for proposals from around the world, for a modern drainage system for Accra, for example - instead of giving it out to Conti of the US on a silver platter so to speak?
If they invite proposals from around the world for large infrastructure projects, they will get deals as good as Bollore's BENI Rail project.
After all, there are many good and reputable infrastructure companies capable of executing the Accra drainage project for far less than the US$600 million it will apparently cost. Spain is a leader in the field of delivering large infrastructural projects, incidentally.
Alas, a few ideas of mine too, have been ignored over the years. They include an idea, which if adopted, will ensure that never again will our country be held to ransom by so-called "bulk oil distribution companies" (BDC).
Some of them are dodgy entities which import substandard petrol and diesel from the Trafiguras of this world - which defend themselves by saying they produce petrol and diesel that meet the quality standards set for the Ghanaian market for sale here.
Many BDC's use creative accounting to enable them rip-off our nation - in the mother of all create-loot-and-share scams labelled "under-recovery" and "forex losses". Hmm, Ghana - asem ebeba debi ankasa.
On Wednesday, 23 July, 2014, I wrote and posted an article entitled: "Why Not Merge TOR, GNPC & GOIL?", on this blog.
In that article, I outlined how, by merging the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and Ghana Oil Company Limited (GOIL), and transferring the assets of that state-owned financial basket-case, known as the Bulk Oil Storage and Distribution Company (BOST), to the newly-merged entity, we could create an energy industry behemoth in West Africa.
The new entity could earn our country substantial sums of hard currency annually in the process - selling millions of dollars worth of finished petroleum products in GOIL petrol filling stations across West Africa. That will help improve our balance of trade - and strengthen our currency, will it not?
I am glad that finally, someone far more important than little old me, the Hon. Cletus Avoka, has now come round to the same view - and thinks that upstream and downstream state-owned entities ought to be merged. (Incidentally, I do hope the Hon. Avoka accepts my condolences on the tragic death of his son Maxwell. May his soul rest in peace.)
Hopefully, wearing his hat as chairperson of Parliament's Select Committee on Mines and Energy, the Hon. Avoka will point out the advantages of such a merger of state-owned upstream and downstream petroleum sector entities to President Mahama's administration.
However, his suggestion that the merged entity should also be allowed to regulate the oil and gas industry, is asking for trouble.
If such a regulator will never replicate the technical services agreement covering Iraq's Rumaila oilfield in Ghana - and get international oil companies to foot the bill for exploration and production activities off Ghana's shores, and be paid not with loaned money, but with barrels of oil at a discount - what hope is there that it will regulate the oil and gas industry in the national interest, ever?
Knowing how greedy so many members of our ruling elites are, as a regulator, will the merged entity not probably end up colluding with companies with cultures that permit them to put making money at the expense of their fellow humans, and therefore don't care if they rip-off Ghana through transfer pricing, to siphon off oil and gas revenues due Ghana?
If, as regulator, the merged entity opted for technical services agreements such as that governing Iraq's Rumaila oilfield, with international oil companies, there would be absolutely no need, ever, for the GNPC to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars "for exploration"- not if those who run it were guided solely by national interest considerations.
Finally, speaking as someone whose family grows cocoa in Ghana's Eastern Region (and has done since 1921 from the days of the British occupation of our country), my prayer is that the Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board will talk to the Indian conglomerate, Tata, and ask it to train all the road contractors selected for the cocoa roads programme, to use the simple technology of melting plastic waste and mixing it with bitumen to construct plastic roads.
Plastic roads bear much heavier loads than normal roads, last much much longer than ordinary roads, remain pothole-free throughout their lifespan, and, because plastic is impermeable to water, plastic roads aren't washed away by flash floods.
In short, Ghana will be climate-change-proofing the new cocoa roads, at virtually no extra cost - and they will last for yonks into the bargain too. Well, they can ignore all one's ideas, but this is the one idea that one hopes that President Mahama's administration will adopt this year: climate-change-proof all the new cocoa roads by using the simple technology of mixing melted plastic waste with bitumen to construct plastic roads.
(Where in the world but Ghana, can geniuses like the Stan Dogbes, control access to the nation's President, I ask? And, who knows, were he to become president, perhaps Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo too will also bring his own geniuses in tow - in the shape of the garrullous Sammy Awukus and the narcissistic Asare Otchere-Darkos, who think they are God's gift to our nation. Hmm, Ghana - eyeasem o. But I digress.)
Whenever such free nation-building advice is ignored, an opportunity to move Ghana forward, is then lost. Unfortunately, it appears that if the personal interests of the powerful aren't served by an idea, no matter how innovative that idea might be, it will simply not get any traction in Ghana.
Perhaps that is why so many daft ideas that are not beneficial to our nation in the long-term - described by an old acquintance of mine as "Alice-in-wonderland fantasies" - are championed by some of those in power.
Examples include the US$40 billion project to build a bullet train railway line from Accra to Kumasi, and the proposed project to build a light rail line to the Accra international airport. Critics say they are nothing more than sleight-of-hand schemes by a well-connected and greedy few to grab valuable land in Accra and Kumasi for development.
Sadly, what happens, whiles we waste precious time and valuable resources on such pipe dreams, is that other more serious nations in the West African sub-region, in the meantime busy themselves with implementing vital infrastructural projects. Yet we boast of being the gateway to West Africa.
And we are saddling future generations with debt needlessly - whiles allowing ruthless destination inspection companies with good political connections, for example, to siphon off billions of dollars in precious taxes: doing work that can and should be done by the Customs, Excise and Preventative Service of the Ghana Revenue Authority. Mad.
As we speak, for instance, the French logistics company, Bollore, is financing a railway line from Parakou (which already has a rail line to Cotonou that will be rehabilitated) to Niamey, for €1.07 billion, mostly from its own resources.
The railway line will be extended from Niamey to Ouagadougou. Bollore will own 40 percent of the rail operator, BENI Rail, whiles Benin and Niger own 10 percent each. The rest of the 40 percent shares will be sold to private investors.
Our ruling elites must stop sole-sourcing important projects. Why do they not ask for proposals from around the world, for a modern drainage system for Accra, for example - instead of giving it out to Conti of the US on a silver platter so to speak?
If they invite proposals from around the world for large infrastructure projects, they will get deals as good as Bollore's BENI Rail project.
After all, there are many good and reputable infrastructure companies capable of executing the Accra drainage project for far less than the US$600 million it will apparently cost. Spain is a leader in the field of delivering large infrastructural projects, incidentally.
Alas, a few ideas of mine too, have been ignored over the years. They include an idea, which if adopted, will ensure that never again will our country be held to ransom by so-called "bulk oil distribution companies" (BDC).
Some of them are dodgy entities which import substandard petrol and diesel from the Trafiguras of this world - which defend themselves by saying they produce petrol and diesel that meet the quality standards set for the Ghanaian market for sale here.
Many BDC's use creative accounting to enable them rip-off our nation - in the mother of all create-loot-and-share scams labelled "under-recovery" and "forex losses". Hmm, Ghana - asem ebeba debi ankasa.
On Wednesday, 23 July, 2014, I wrote and posted an article entitled: "Why Not Merge TOR, GNPC & GOIL?", on this blog.
In that article, I outlined how, by merging the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and Ghana Oil Company Limited (GOIL), and transferring the assets of that state-owned financial basket-case, known as the Bulk Oil Storage and Distribution Company (BOST), to the newly-merged entity, we could create an energy industry behemoth in West Africa.
The new entity could earn our country substantial sums of hard currency annually in the process - selling millions of dollars worth of finished petroleum products in GOIL petrol filling stations across West Africa. That will help improve our balance of trade - and strengthen our currency, will it not?
I am glad that finally, someone far more important than little old me, the Hon. Cletus Avoka, has now come round to the same view - and thinks that upstream and downstream state-owned entities ought to be merged. (Incidentally, I do hope the Hon. Avoka accepts my condolences on the tragic death of his son Maxwell. May his soul rest in peace.)
Hopefully, wearing his hat as chairperson of Parliament's Select Committee on Mines and Energy, the Hon. Avoka will point out the advantages of such a merger of state-owned upstream and downstream petroleum sector entities to President Mahama's administration.
However, his suggestion that the merged entity should also be allowed to regulate the oil and gas industry, is asking for trouble.
If such a regulator will never replicate the technical services agreement covering Iraq's Rumaila oilfield in Ghana - and get international oil companies to foot the bill for exploration and production activities off Ghana's shores, and be paid not with loaned money, but with barrels of oil at a discount - what hope is there that it will regulate the oil and gas industry in the national interest, ever?
Knowing how greedy so many members of our ruling elites are, as a regulator, will the merged entity not probably end up colluding with companies with cultures that permit them to put making money at the expense of their fellow humans, and therefore don't care if they rip-off Ghana through transfer pricing, to siphon off oil and gas revenues due Ghana?
If, as regulator, the merged entity opted for technical services agreements such as that governing Iraq's Rumaila oilfield, with international oil companies, there would be absolutely no need, ever, for the GNPC to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars "for exploration"- not if those who run it were guided solely by national interest considerations.
Finally, speaking as someone whose family grows cocoa in Ghana's Eastern Region (and has done since 1921 from the days of the British occupation of our country), my prayer is that the Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board will talk to the Indian conglomerate, Tata, and ask it to train all the road contractors selected for the cocoa roads programme, to use the simple technology of melting plastic waste and mixing it with bitumen to construct plastic roads.
Plastic roads bear much heavier loads than normal roads, last much much longer than ordinary roads, remain pothole-free throughout their lifespan, and, because plastic is impermeable to water, plastic roads aren't washed away by flash floods.
In short, Ghana will be climate-change-proofing the new cocoa roads, at virtually no extra cost - and they will last for yonks into the bargain too. Well, they can ignore all one's ideas, but this is the one idea that one hopes that President Mahama's administration will adopt this year: climate-change-proof all the new cocoa roads by using the simple technology of mixing melted plastic waste with bitumen to construct plastic roads.
Wednesday, 17 June 2015
Should Parliament Allow Well-Meaning Medical Researchers To Put Ghana At Risk From The Ebola Fever Virus?
Throughout history, medical researchers have constantly pushed the frontiers of knowledge in medical science, further forward.
It is the results of such cutting-edge research that has led to the improvement in the health of billions of people around the world over the decades.
Many alive today, might suffer premature deaths, were it not for access to doctors in public healthcare facilities - who offer them the latest treatment and prescribe safe and well-tested drugs for them.
It is therefore not surprising that medical doctors interested in research into the Ebola haemorrhagic fever virus are keen to have an Ebola vaccine tested in Ghana.
It is also understandable that members of Parliament, some of whose constituents could be selected to take part in any Ebola vaccine trials here, should seek further information from those who are conducting the trials in Ghana - to have an insight into just how safe the vaccines actually are.
Perhaps members of our political class should listen to those in our midst, who say that it is at precisely such moments, that our parliamentarians would be wise to turn to the conspiracy theorists, who publish articles in alternative online media outlets - and some of whom often accuse bioweapons researchers of the military forces of the big powers, of deliberately infecting unsuspecting populations of poor nations, with dangerous viruses.
The information our parliamentarians garner from such unorthodox sources online will help them protect ordinary Ghanaians - from a fate similar to that which befell some inhabitants of northern Nigeria in 1996: when Pfizer tested its drug trovaflaxacin during a meningitis epidemic in that part of Nigeria.
In 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, allowed the families of 11 children who died during the outbreak of the Kano meningitis epidemic, to sue Pfizer in the US under the Alien Torts Statute. Pfizer settled with them out of court - and paid Nigeria some US$72 millions as compensation.
We must not forget that there are some Ghanaians who argue that we have, as a people, paid our dues, in combatting the west African Ebola fever epidemic.
They point to the fact that our nation agreed - at a time when many nations around the world closed their airspace to airlines flying from the three worst Ebola affected nations - to have Ghana serve as a logistics hub for the global effort to contain the Ebola fever epidemic that spread from Guinea to Liberia and Sierra Leone last year. Do they have a point, one wonders?
In any case, it is important that parliamentarians, and the media, in Ghana, demand an urgent answer from the medical doctors responsible for the GSK Ebola vaccine trials here, to a simple question.
With respect, can they tell the good people of Ghana, why, in the midst of a move by the British government to make public, all UK-funded vaccine trial data, Prime Minister David Cameron, has excluded data from Ebola vaccine trials - on national security grounds? Food for thought.
A people who shake hands routinely many times daily, bathe and handle the dead out of respect for the traditional rituals and practices governing burial of the departed, across the nation, and who sweat freely in the humid climate we experience here yearly, after the dry harmattan season, will definitely die in their tens of thousands, were there to be an outbreak of Ebola fever in Ghana.
Who will travel by tro-tro to work if the Ebola fever virus comes to Ghana, for example, I ask? The economic cost of such an outbreak will be incalculable - and our struggling economy might never recover from such a blow for many years. It just doesn't bear thinking.
One's humble advice (unsolicited and offered freely) to the overworked and underpaid members of Ghana's Parliament, is to google and read about Ebola vaccine trials from just the following two websites: Jon Rappoport's website and the Eugenics and Pandemics website.
Parliament should not allow President Mahama's beseiged administration to cave in to any behind-the-scenes pressure from foreign governments in this matter.
This is a better-safe-than-sorry situation for Ghana. Let our parliamentarians ask their counterparts in Sierra Leone, why their ministry of health and sanitation brought Ebola diagnostic kit tests, and virus research being carried out by Tulane University and the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) in Kanema, to an abrupt halt, in July 2014.
Surely, our nation actually contributed to the global fight against the west African Ebola fever epidemic - when Ghana sent volunteer healthcare professionals to parts of the affected area in 2014?
Above all, Parliament must be careful not to allow the desperation for funding, for their under-resourced labs, on the part of well-meaning but naive medical researchers in Ghana, to put our nation at risk from the Ebola fever virus.
If it is true that the combination of Ebola and cold viruses can cause Ebola fever, then is the GSK Ebola vaccine trial not clearly an unacceptable risk for our nation to take - especially when nothing stops brilliant Ghanaian researchers from travelling to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to undertake such Ebola vaccine trials, if they so desire? Just enquiring - not condemning anyone. I shall rest my case, for now. Hmm, Ghana - enti omanyi ebeyeyie anaa?
It is the results of such cutting-edge research that has led to the improvement in the health of billions of people around the world over the decades.
Many alive today, might suffer premature deaths, were it not for access to doctors in public healthcare facilities - who offer them the latest treatment and prescribe safe and well-tested drugs for them.
It is therefore not surprising that medical doctors interested in research into the Ebola haemorrhagic fever virus are keen to have an Ebola vaccine tested in Ghana.
It is also understandable that members of Parliament, some of whose constituents could be selected to take part in any Ebola vaccine trials here, should seek further information from those who are conducting the trials in Ghana - to have an insight into just how safe the vaccines actually are.
Perhaps members of our political class should listen to those in our midst, who say that it is at precisely such moments, that our parliamentarians would be wise to turn to the conspiracy theorists, who publish articles in alternative online media outlets - and some of whom often accuse bioweapons researchers of the military forces of the big powers, of deliberately infecting unsuspecting populations of poor nations, with dangerous viruses.
The information our parliamentarians garner from such unorthodox sources online will help them protect ordinary Ghanaians - from a fate similar to that which befell some inhabitants of northern Nigeria in 1996: when Pfizer tested its drug trovaflaxacin during a meningitis epidemic in that part of Nigeria.
In 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, allowed the families of 11 children who died during the outbreak of the Kano meningitis epidemic, to sue Pfizer in the US under the Alien Torts Statute. Pfizer settled with them out of court - and paid Nigeria some US$72 millions as compensation.
We must not forget that there are some Ghanaians who argue that we have, as a people, paid our dues, in combatting the west African Ebola fever epidemic.
They point to the fact that our nation agreed - at a time when many nations around the world closed their airspace to airlines flying from the three worst Ebola affected nations - to have Ghana serve as a logistics hub for the global effort to contain the Ebola fever epidemic that spread from Guinea to Liberia and Sierra Leone last year. Do they have a point, one wonders?
In any case, it is important that parliamentarians, and the media, in Ghana, demand an urgent answer from the medical doctors responsible for the GSK Ebola vaccine trials here, to a simple question.
With respect, can they tell the good people of Ghana, why, in the midst of a move by the British government to make public, all UK-funded vaccine trial data, Prime Minister David Cameron, has excluded data from Ebola vaccine trials - on national security grounds? Food for thought.
A people who shake hands routinely many times daily, bathe and handle the dead out of respect for the traditional rituals and practices governing burial of the departed, across the nation, and who sweat freely in the humid climate we experience here yearly, after the dry harmattan season, will definitely die in their tens of thousands, were there to be an outbreak of Ebola fever in Ghana.
Who will travel by tro-tro to work if the Ebola fever virus comes to Ghana, for example, I ask? The economic cost of such an outbreak will be incalculable - and our struggling economy might never recover from such a blow for many years. It just doesn't bear thinking.
One's humble advice (unsolicited and offered freely) to the overworked and underpaid members of Ghana's Parliament, is to google and read about Ebola vaccine trials from just the following two websites: Jon Rappoport's website and the Eugenics and Pandemics website.
Parliament should not allow President Mahama's beseiged administration to cave in to any behind-the-scenes pressure from foreign governments in this matter.
This is a better-safe-than-sorry situation for Ghana. Let our parliamentarians ask their counterparts in Sierra Leone, why their ministry of health and sanitation brought Ebola diagnostic kit tests, and virus research being carried out by Tulane University and the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) in Kanema, to an abrupt halt, in July 2014.
Surely, our nation actually contributed to the global fight against the west African Ebola fever epidemic - when Ghana sent volunteer healthcare professionals to parts of the affected area in 2014?
Above all, Parliament must be careful not to allow the desperation for funding, for their under-resourced labs, on the part of well-meaning but naive medical researchers in Ghana, to put our nation at risk from the Ebola fever virus.
If it is true that the combination of Ebola and cold viruses can cause Ebola fever, then is the GSK Ebola vaccine trial not clearly an unacceptable risk for our nation to take - especially when nothing stops brilliant Ghanaian researchers from travelling to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to undertake such Ebola vaccine trials, if they so desire? Just enquiring - not condemning anyone. I shall rest my case, for now. Hmm, Ghana - enti omanyi ebeyeyie anaa?
Friday, 12 June 2015
Ghana's Military's Special Forces Must Be Deployed To Halt Illegal Logging In The Atewa Range Upland Evergreen Rainforest
If, as a people, we adopt the same only-going-through-the-motions approach to preserving the Atewa Range upland evergreen rainforest, which we have adopted, in supposedly instituting effective flood-control measures to save life and property in urban Ghana during the rainy season, then a very bleak future awaits coming generations.
If illegal logging syndicates are allowed to denude the Atewa Range upland evergreen rainforest to produce chainsaw lumber, future generations will not have sufficient water from the three river systems that southern urban Ghana relies on for its drinking-water supply - as the headwaters for the Densu, Ayensu and Birim lie in that part of our country.
Sadly, even as Ghana celebrated its fourth Forestry Week - between May 23-29, 2015 - a ruthless illegal logging syndicate fronted by a businesswoman, one Obaa Yaa, was busy at work cutting trees in the area in the Atewa Range in which the Atewa Forest Reserve lies.
The said syndicate operates in the area covering forest reserve boundary pillars (FRBP) 92, 93, 94 and 95, which local people in Akyem Saamang and Akyem Juaso refer to as "Thompson" and "François".
That a criminal syndicate can cut trees from dusk to dawn on a regular basis in the Atewa Range with impunity, and succeed in carting chainsaw lumber from there to Ofankor Muss, Taifa junction, on the Accra-Kumasi highway, to sell without any hindrance, is astonishing. What exactly do our nation's secret services do, one wonders?
It shows just how daunting the task faced by Ghana's Forestry Commission is - as it tries, against great odds, to preserve the remainder of our nation's forests.
Incidentally, I called the Ghana Police headquarters telephone line (0302773900 on 4/6/2015 at 22:02 GMT) when I was tipped off by an informant, on the evening of June 4, 2015, that chainsaw operators were illegally felling trees in the Thompson and François properties.
I had hoped to get the police headquarters switchboard operators to alert the Anyinam District Police Command to intercept the chainsaw lumber - as it was being evacuated from the forest at Akyem Juaso that night. Alas, it was an exercise in futility - as no one answered my phone call.
In the end, I called the Weija District Police Command (0302850023 on 4/6/2015 at 22:05 GMT) - and spoke to a policeman who said his name was Corporal Awuku. Unfortunately, there has been no feedback since then. Hmm, Ghana - enti omanyi ebeyeyie anaa?
I subsequently emailed the headquarters of the Forestry Commission (info.hq@fcghana.org on 5/6/2015) - but as is usual with officialdom in Ghana in such matters, it has not been acknowledged to date: and probably never will either. Pity.
I also went as far as giving out the telephone numbers of Obaa Yaa, her chainsaw gang leader, Kwesi, and her local Mr-Fix-It, Yaw Obeng, to info@peacefmonline.com - which did not even have the courtesy to acknowledge receipt of my message. Hmm, Ghana - eyeasem o.
From my personal knowledge of the scale of the illegal logging now going on in the Atewa Range upland evergreen rainforest at Akyem Juaso, I can boldly predict that if it is not halted in time, 20 years hence, there will be a significant reduction in the quantity of water from the Densu, Ayensu and Birim river systems, which will negatively impact the quality of life of Accra's residents then.
That 20-year time-frame might seem like an eternity to some - but it will come in the twinkling of an eye: if you are a 6 or 10-year old primary schoolchild attending school in Accra, today.
Clearly, an under-resourced Forestry Commission, cannot possibly be expected to deal effectively with the illegal logging syndicates, which are destroying the Atewa Range upland evergreen rainforest, all on its own.
That is unfair and unrealistic - if we are actually serious about halting illegal logging in Ghana.
The criminal syndicates engaged in illegal logging, illegal gold mining and illegal sand-winning, operate with the same degree of ruthlessness, with which the rebel groups that destroyed Liberia and Sierra Leone, used to carry out their military operations - to enable them to plunder gold, diamonds and timber during the civil wars in those two nations.
Many Forestry Service guards have been murdered by illegal chainsaw gangs across the forest-belt in Ghana.
The task of halting the gang-rape of the Atewa Range upland evergreen rainforest at the Akyem Juaso section, must be handed over to a combined task force made up of Forestry Service guards, men from the Ghana Army's Special Forces Unit and the Special Forces Unit of the Ghana Air Force.
Daytime surveillance of the area using aerial drones with high resolution cameras, as well as by helicopter, and analysing satellite images of the area from the Urthecast satellite video streaming service, will provide the intelligence needed to pinpoint the areas where the illegal chainsaw gangs operate in, and arrest them.
About 20 years ago, some of us used to regularly risk our lives confronting the illegal chainsaw gangs which then operated in the area. At the time, we warned in our writing, that if urgent steps were not taken to halt their activities, Ghana would have to import timber from elsewhere in the not too distant future. That has now come to pass, unfortunately.
Sadly, now that we are in our sixties, and no longer as physically strong as we once were, alas, we can no longer physically confront the illegal loggers who operate in the area.
However, we can, and will, predict through our writing, that if drastic measures are not taken immediately to deal with the criminal syndicates engaged in illegal logging, illegal gold mining and illegal sand-winning across the country, we will wake up to find one day that they have all been transformed into powerful rebel groups.
That could happen as early as next year - should law and order break down after the 2016 elections. Judging by the intensity of the rivalry between Ghana's two major political parties, we cannot rule out the possibility that there could, for example, be post-election violence in areas where the results are disputed.
And post-election fighting could also break out between members of the small groups of violence-prone and amoral hardliners in the National Democratic Congress and New Patriotic Party - the corrupt duopoly that has ruled Ghana since 1992 - if the presidential election's results are disputed. But I digress.
Parliament needs to pass tough new laws that will make it mandatory for illegal loggers to be tried and imprisoned for at least 10 years with hard labour if found guilty of felling trees unlawfully by the law courts.
Those new laws must also stipulate that all vehicles, chainsaws and other accoutrements used by illegal loggers should be seized and forfeited to the state - which should auction them to the highest bidders: in transparent auctions that are widely publicised.
As an emergency measure, the present government must get the Special Forces units of our military's three armed services, to tackle the menace of illegal logging in the Atewa Range upland evergreen rainforest - and it must do so now. Not tomorrow - when it will be way too late to save an important ecosystem services provider, and globally significant biodiversity area, from total destruction by nation-wrecking criminal syndicates.
If illegal logging syndicates are allowed to denude the Atewa Range upland evergreen rainforest to produce chainsaw lumber, future generations will not have sufficient water from the three river systems that southern urban Ghana relies on for its drinking-water supply - as the headwaters for the Densu, Ayensu and Birim lie in that part of our country.
Sadly, even as Ghana celebrated its fourth Forestry Week - between May 23-29, 2015 - a ruthless illegal logging syndicate fronted by a businesswoman, one Obaa Yaa, was busy at work cutting trees in the area in the Atewa Range in which the Atewa Forest Reserve lies.
The said syndicate operates in the area covering forest reserve boundary pillars (FRBP) 92, 93, 94 and 95, which local people in Akyem Saamang and Akyem Juaso refer to as "Thompson" and "François".
That a criminal syndicate can cut trees from dusk to dawn on a regular basis in the Atewa Range with impunity, and succeed in carting chainsaw lumber from there to Ofankor Muss, Taifa junction, on the Accra-Kumasi highway, to sell without any hindrance, is astonishing. What exactly do our nation's secret services do, one wonders?
It shows just how daunting the task faced by Ghana's Forestry Commission is - as it tries, against great odds, to preserve the remainder of our nation's forests.
Incidentally, I called the Ghana Police headquarters telephone line (0302773900 on 4/6/2015 at 22:02 GMT) when I was tipped off by an informant, on the evening of June 4, 2015, that chainsaw operators were illegally felling trees in the Thompson and François properties.
I had hoped to get the police headquarters switchboard operators to alert the Anyinam District Police Command to intercept the chainsaw lumber - as it was being evacuated from the forest at Akyem Juaso that night. Alas, it was an exercise in futility - as no one answered my phone call.
In the end, I called the Weija District Police Command (0302850023 on 4/6/2015 at 22:05 GMT) - and spoke to a policeman who said his name was Corporal Awuku. Unfortunately, there has been no feedback since then. Hmm, Ghana - enti omanyi ebeyeyie anaa?
I subsequently emailed the headquarters of the Forestry Commission (info.hq@fcghana.org on 5/6/2015) - but as is usual with officialdom in Ghana in such matters, it has not been acknowledged to date: and probably never will either. Pity.
I also went as far as giving out the telephone numbers of Obaa Yaa, her chainsaw gang leader, Kwesi, and her local Mr-Fix-It, Yaw Obeng, to info@peacefmonline.com - which did not even have the courtesy to acknowledge receipt of my message. Hmm, Ghana - eyeasem o.
From my personal knowledge of the scale of the illegal logging now going on in the Atewa Range upland evergreen rainforest at Akyem Juaso, I can boldly predict that if it is not halted in time, 20 years hence, there will be a significant reduction in the quantity of water from the Densu, Ayensu and Birim river systems, which will negatively impact the quality of life of Accra's residents then.
That 20-year time-frame might seem like an eternity to some - but it will come in the twinkling of an eye: if you are a 6 or 10-year old primary schoolchild attending school in Accra, today.
Clearly, an under-resourced Forestry Commission, cannot possibly be expected to deal effectively with the illegal logging syndicates, which are destroying the Atewa Range upland evergreen rainforest, all on its own.
That is unfair and unrealistic - if we are actually serious about halting illegal logging in Ghana.
The criminal syndicates engaged in illegal logging, illegal gold mining and illegal sand-winning, operate with the same degree of ruthlessness, with which the rebel groups that destroyed Liberia and Sierra Leone, used to carry out their military operations - to enable them to plunder gold, diamonds and timber during the civil wars in those two nations.
Many Forestry Service guards have been murdered by illegal chainsaw gangs across the forest-belt in Ghana.
The task of halting the gang-rape of the Atewa Range upland evergreen rainforest at the Akyem Juaso section, must be handed over to a combined task force made up of Forestry Service guards, men from the Ghana Army's Special Forces Unit and the Special Forces Unit of the Ghana Air Force.
Daytime surveillance of the area using aerial drones with high resolution cameras, as well as by helicopter, and analysing satellite images of the area from the Urthecast satellite video streaming service, will provide the intelligence needed to pinpoint the areas where the illegal chainsaw gangs operate in, and arrest them.
About 20 years ago, some of us used to regularly risk our lives confronting the illegal chainsaw gangs which then operated in the area. At the time, we warned in our writing, that if urgent steps were not taken to halt their activities, Ghana would have to import timber from elsewhere in the not too distant future. That has now come to pass, unfortunately.
Sadly, now that we are in our sixties, and no longer as physically strong as we once were, alas, we can no longer physically confront the illegal loggers who operate in the area.
However, we can, and will, predict through our writing, that if drastic measures are not taken immediately to deal with the criminal syndicates engaged in illegal logging, illegal gold mining and illegal sand-winning across the country, we will wake up to find one day that they have all been transformed into powerful rebel groups.
That could happen as early as next year - should law and order break down after the 2016 elections. Judging by the intensity of the rivalry between Ghana's two major political parties, we cannot rule out the possibility that there could, for example, be post-election violence in areas where the results are disputed.
And post-election fighting could also break out between members of the small groups of violence-prone and amoral hardliners in the National Democratic Congress and New Patriotic Party - the corrupt duopoly that has ruled Ghana since 1992 - if the presidential election's results are disputed. But I digress.
Parliament needs to pass tough new laws that will make it mandatory for illegal loggers to be tried and imprisoned for at least 10 years with hard labour if found guilty of felling trees unlawfully by the law courts.
Those new laws must also stipulate that all vehicles, chainsaws and other accoutrements used by illegal loggers should be seized and forfeited to the state - which should auction them to the highest bidders: in transparent auctions that are widely publicised.
As an emergency measure, the present government must get the Special Forces units of our military's three armed services, to tackle the menace of illegal logging in the Atewa Range upland evergreen rainforest - and it must do so now. Not tomorrow - when it will be way too late to save an important ecosystem services provider, and globally significant biodiversity area, from total destruction by nation-wrecking criminal syndicates.
Thursday, 11 June 2015
Is A 'Legal Permit' To Build Within A Waterway Not A Contradiction In Terms?
The recent demolition of two structures in the jurisdiction of the Ga East Municipal Assembly, following the June 3, 2015, floods in Accra, raises a number of issues.
For example, the difference in the way the Ga East Municipal Assembly dealt with a vehicle washing business owned by an ordinary citizen, and a petrol filling station owned by the member of Parliament for Ayawaso East, the Hon. Nasser Mahama Toure, speaks volumes about the way ordinary people in Ghana are often marginalised by some public officials.
Why were all the structures at the petrol filling station not demolished - just as those at the vehicle washing business were?
Both businesses are said to have been built within a waterway in the Mile 7 area - yet still the owners of both businesses apparently possess permits from the Ga East Municipal Assembly.
It is important that all illegally sited structures earmarked for demolition in Ghana are dealt with in exactly the same fashion by District and Municipal Assembly planning officials - whether they belong to ordinary people or to members of our ruling elites.
No one in our democracy is above the law. Not even the President of the Republic of Ghana is above the law. That is why the social standing of the owners of structures earmarked for demolition should not influence the actions of District and Municipal Assembly officials.
Another issue the said recent demolitions carried out by the Ga East Municipal Assembly raises, is the question of the legality of issuing permits tp build in unapproved places in Ghana.
In light of the widespread destruction and tragic loss of life caused by the recent floods in Accra, and elsewhere in the country, perhaps the question we ought to pose is: can a permit be lawfully issued to build within a waterway in Ghana - particularly in an area where the location of such structures will lead to flooding of other properties after prolonged rainfall?
In a nation in which there is widespread public-sector corruption, should the assumption not always be that permits to build in unapproved places, such as within waterways, are obtained only by bribing planning officials in District and Municipal Assemblies - and therefore cannot possibly have been lawfully obtained?
The time has come for all sides in Parliament to come together, to pass a new law to ensure that building permits to build within waterways, are never issued by planning officials in municipal and district assemblies anywhere in Ghana - and that when that happens all such permits are regarded as having been unlawfully obtained.
Whenever flood-control measures are being discussed, there ought to be a national consensus that the safety and well-being of the majority will always override the self-interest of the well-connected and selfish few, who build within waterways in Ghana - and put so many innocent lives at risk during the rainy season.
In any case, even as things currently stand, surely, referring to a 'legal permit' to build within a waterway, anywhere in Ghana, is a contradiction in terms, is it not?
For example, the difference in the way the Ga East Municipal Assembly dealt with a vehicle washing business owned by an ordinary citizen, and a petrol filling station owned by the member of Parliament for Ayawaso East, the Hon. Nasser Mahama Toure, speaks volumes about the way ordinary people in Ghana are often marginalised by some public officials.
Why were all the structures at the petrol filling station not demolished - just as those at the vehicle washing business were?
Both businesses are said to have been built within a waterway in the Mile 7 area - yet still the owners of both businesses apparently possess permits from the Ga East Municipal Assembly.
It is important that all illegally sited structures earmarked for demolition in Ghana are dealt with in exactly the same fashion by District and Municipal Assembly planning officials - whether they belong to ordinary people or to members of our ruling elites.
No one in our democracy is above the law. Not even the President of the Republic of Ghana is above the law. That is why the social standing of the owners of structures earmarked for demolition should not influence the actions of District and Municipal Assembly officials.
Another issue the said recent demolitions carried out by the Ga East Municipal Assembly raises, is the question of the legality of issuing permits tp build in unapproved places in Ghana.
In light of the widespread destruction and tragic loss of life caused by the recent floods in Accra, and elsewhere in the country, perhaps the question we ought to pose is: can a permit be lawfully issued to build within a waterway in Ghana - particularly in an area where the location of such structures will lead to flooding of other properties after prolonged rainfall?
In a nation in which there is widespread public-sector corruption, should the assumption not always be that permits to build in unapproved places, such as within waterways, are obtained only by bribing planning officials in District and Municipal Assemblies - and therefore cannot possibly have been lawfully obtained?
The time has come for all sides in Parliament to come together, to pass a new law to ensure that building permits to build within waterways, are never issued by planning officials in municipal and district assemblies anywhere in Ghana - and that when that happens all such permits are regarded as having been unlawfully obtained.
Whenever flood-control measures are being discussed, there ought to be a national consensus that the safety and well-being of the majority will always override the self-interest of the well-connected and selfish few, who build within waterways in Ghana - and put so many innocent lives at risk during the rainy season.
In any case, even as things currently stand, surely, referring to a 'legal permit' to build within a waterway, anywhere in Ghana, is a contradiction in terms, is it not?
Thursday, 4 June 2015
Those Who Died In Accra's Floods Yesterday Must Not Die In Vain
It is hard to find words to describe the feelings evoked in one, by some of the harrowing eyewitness accounts, of the horrific events that occurred during the flash floods in Accra yesterday, broadcast by Peace FM early today.
Those flash floods show how vulnerable our country has become in an era of extreme weather occasioned by global climate change. It also shows how fragile human existence actually is.
What cruel fate led so many innocent people to take shelter from the rains, at the GOIL petrol filling station adjacent to the GCB Towers building near the Kwame Nkrumah circle, only to end up being engulfed and burnt alive by a raging inferno - when the petrol filling station apparently caught fire after an explosion?
It is a fate one would not wish to befall even one's worst enemy. With the proliferation of petrol and LPG gas filling stations in residential areas in towns and cities across Ghana, should we not be questioning the wisdom of regulatory bodies issuing permits for building petrol and LPG gas filling stations in such areas?
If eyewitnesses spoke of smelling petrol in the flood waters before the explosion at that GOIL petrol station, where so many people lost their lives so tragically, the possibility that underground tanks in some of the many petrol filling stations in that part of Accra could be leaching petrol into the underground water table, cannot be ruled out.
In addition to any investigations carried out by the Ghana National Fire Service, at the very least - and in memory of all those who lost their lives so tragically in the fire after the explosion - there ought to be thorough inspections of all the petrol and LPG gas filling stations sited in residential areas in towns and cities countrywide.
They must all be made to strictly conform with required standards. Perhaps a law ought to be passed to make it mandatory for underground tanks in all petrol filling stations in Ghana to be double-hulled - and coated with paint, which will ensure that they neither rust nor corrode.
The time has also come for the professionals whose job it is to ensure that people do not build on watercourses in towns and cities, to be sanctioned when they allow that to happen. Parliament must pass draconian laws to make that possible now.
The suffering caused to many families and individuals whose lives are disrupted by flooding is unbearable and everything possible must be done to prevent it.
Above all, politicians must stop playing politics with the issue of demolishing buildings blocking watercourses in our major cities. Such demolitions of unlawfully sited buildings are flood-control measures necessary to prevent future loss of lives and destruction of properties during heavy downpours.
We mourn all those who lost their lives as a result of the flooding in Accra and elsewhere in the country yesterday, and pray for their souls.
We share the grief of their loved ones left so painfully behind - and our hearts and prayers go out to all of them. The deaths of our departed compatriots who died in the flash floods in Accra (and elsewhere in Ghana) must not be in vain. We must all learn lessons from this painful national tragedy.
Those flash floods show how vulnerable our country has become in an era of extreme weather occasioned by global climate change. It also shows how fragile human existence actually is.
What cruel fate led so many innocent people to take shelter from the rains, at the GOIL petrol filling station adjacent to the GCB Towers building near the Kwame Nkrumah circle, only to end up being engulfed and burnt alive by a raging inferno - when the petrol filling station apparently caught fire after an explosion?
It is a fate one would not wish to befall even one's worst enemy. With the proliferation of petrol and LPG gas filling stations in residential areas in towns and cities across Ghana, should we not be questioning the wisdom of regulatory bodies issuing permits for building petrol and LPG gas filling stations in such areas?
If eyewitnesses spoke of smelling petrol in the flood waters before the explosion at that GOIL petrol station, where so many people lost their lives so tragically, the possibility that underground tanks in some of the many petrol filling stations in that part of Accra could be leaching petrol into the underground water table, cannot be ruled out.
In addition to any investigations carried out by the Ghana National Fire Service, at the very least - and in memory of all those who lost their lives so tragically in the fire after the explosion - there ought to be thorough inspections of all the petrol and LPG gas filling stations sited in residential areas in towns and cities countrywide.
They must all be made to strictly conform with required standards. Perhaps a law ought to be passed to make it mandatory for underground tanks in all petrol filling stations in Ghana to be double-hulled - and coated with paint, which will ensure that they neither rust nor corrode.
The time has also come for the professionals whose job it is to ensure that people do not build on watercourses in towns and cities, to be sanctioned when they allow that to happen. Parliament must pass draconian laws to make that possible now.
The suffering caused to many families and individuals whose lives are disrupted by flooding is unbearable and everything possible must be done to prevent it.
Above all, politicians must stop playing politics with the issue of demolishing buildings blocking watercourses in our major cities. Such demolitions of unlawfully sited buildings are flood-control measures necessary to prevent future loss of lives and destruction of properties during heavy downpours.
We mourn all those who lost their lives as a result of the flooding in Accra and elsewhere in the country yesterday, and pray for their souls.
We share the grief of their loved ones left so painfully behind - and our hearts and prayers go out to all of them. The deaths of our departed compatriots who died in the flash floods in Accra (and elsewhere in Ghana) must not be in vain. We must all learn lessons from this painful national tragedy.
Tuesday, 2 June 2015
The Leadership Of The CPP And PNC Must Initiate Talks With The PPP & GCPP
The leadership of the Convention People's Party (CPP), and the People's National Convention (PNC), deserve to be commended for putting the well-being of our nation, and the welfare of ordinary people, above personal ambition and party advantage - by opting for an Nkrumahist alliance for the 2016 elections.
Entering into an alliance-of-equals (in which each party retains its identity), with the view to eventually selecting a common 2016 presidential candidate for all the Nkrumahist parties, will demonstrate to ordinary people that a government of national unity, which oversees a meritocratic system in which the brightest and best amongst the Ghanaian people, are appointed to manage and oversee public-sector entities, irrespective of party affiliation and ethnic background, will be formed, when that Nkrumahist alliance's presidential candidate is elected president in 2016.
The task before the leadership of the CPP and PNC now, is to initiate talks with the leadership of the Progressive People's Party (PPP) and the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), to bring them into the alliance of Nkrumahist parties.
It is vital that Samia Yaabah Nkrumah display's the same tactical genius, which her late father, President Nkrumah, had in such abundance, in dealing with the PPP's founder and leader, Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom.
She must make a fresh start in her relationship with Nduom. They must both put the unpleasantness of past personal disagreements between them, behind them - for the sake of our nation and its hard-pressed people.
Strategically, it is Nduom who holds the key to an Nkrumahist alliance's victory, in the 2016 presidential election.
As a result of his record in creating wealth and jobs, he dwarfs both President Mahama, and the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) presidential candidate, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, in terms of personal achievement.
With a radical agenda (including passing the right to information bill, making publicly publishing the assets of public officials and their spouses before and at the end of their tenures mandatory, abolishing personal income tax, making Ghana a nation with Africa's lowest corporate tax rate, changing the constitution to reserve half the seats in Parliament for women, as well as electing district assembly members and district chief executives), an Nduom-Samiah Nkrumah presidential ticket, can beat both President Mahama and Nana Addo Daquah Akufo-Addo in the 2016 presidential election.
Nduom is precisely the kind of honest and incorruptible world-class technocrat, who has abundant self-belief, and has consistently shown faith in the enterprise Ghana, over the years, by investing his own money in it, that today's young generation of Ghanaians want to lead Nkrumah's Ghana.
The narrative of his rise from humble beginnings to great wealth, through his own efforts, will resonate with millions across the nation - many of whom will identify with someone from a background similar to theirs: unlike the privileged backgrounds of President Mahama and Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo.
Above all, Nduom has the money and resources, which will enable the Nkrumahist alliance to show Ghanaians, the difference between politicians and political parties that are transparent about their sources of funding, and the opaquenes of the NDC/NPP duopoly that is completely dependant on the vested interests responsible for high-level corruption in our country, and the erosion of the moral fabric of Ghanaian society, for funding their election campaigns.
The leadership of the CPP and PNC must initiate talks with the PPP and GCPP, with a view to getting those two Nkrumahist parties to join the Nkrumahist alliance-of-equals to fight the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections - and they must move quickly to do so.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
