No More Aid; Go Back And Fix Your Corrupt System!!!

Corruption is the enemy of development and of good governance. It must be got rid of. Both the government and the people at large must come together to achieve this national objective'' PratibhaPatil, 1st Female President of India 2007-2012.

Ever wondered why African countries are so bent on receiving developmental aid from the advanced countries? Ever wondered why after decades of these development aid the end of Africa's poverty is nowhere in sight? Africa receives approximately $ 30 billion in annual monetary handouts but still remain the poorest continent. It is CORRUPTION that is keeping the continent in perpetual poverty.

Show me an African politician and I will show you corruption.Why pester the West to share their wealth with you when you are not sharing your wealth with your poor citizens. Until the governments of Africabegin to deal aggressively with the enemy called corruption, starting from their own administration, our continent would continue to experience a trend of economic downturns.

With an aggressive war against corruption Ghana can wean itself from this developmental assistance. Tax evasion, pay roll fraud, weakinstitutions coupled with little transparency and accountability has contributed to our plight. Revenue leakages alone is draining the Ghana billions of cedis. With an effective revenue mobilizationin our ports and harbors alone, we can cease to depend on aid. We should manage these critical sectors very well rather resorting to loans and grants from these developmental partners. We need action to control the revenue leakages in our ports rather than empty talks.

The parliament of Ghana is complicit in the revenue leakages at our port and harbors. Some importers clear goods free of charge in the guise of ''Awaiting Parliamentary Approval''. The system is deliberately abused by politicians to clear goods for the business cronies. At the end of every year, the Ministry of Finance is supposed to submit the list of all items under ''Awaiting Parliamentary Approval'' to parliament for review and approval. Shockingly, according to Hon. James KlutseAvedzi ,chairman of the Finance Committee of Parliament, the list has never been submitted since 2008 (watch the interview on Anas' undercover titled 'Enemies of the Nations for full details). Flimsy excuse, isn't it?

The Finance committee has also not bothered to inquire from the Ministry of Finance. Isthis not a glaring evidence of conspiracy to rob the nation, or just an oversight by the finance committee?

The EU provided €174 million between 2009 and 2014 in support of our budget. Between 2007 and 2010, the tax and duties on the ''awaiting parliamentary approval'' concession alone has accumulated to 910 million Ghana cedis. So after Anas' undercover investigation, what mechanism has been put in place to eradicate the daylight robbery in Tema harbor? Your guess is as good as mine.

Have we as citizens deliberately excused our leaders from being responsible? If such revenue and others are going waste under our nose why do we disturb the advanced countries for support?If we can properly and efficiently manage our ports like Antwerp and Hamburg, perhaps we won't go begging for meager budgetary support from the World Bank, IMF and the EU.

If the leaders of the developed countries were so corrupt and irresponsible would they have gotten the revenue to hand them out to us? This is the question very African leader should ask himself before he cries for aid. We should put our house in order by waging war on corruption other than shamelessly begging for loans and grants. After all those countries also have citizens to cater for.

The World Bank, IMF, EU, DFID and others should tell our government to fight corruption. These handouts should rather be directed to civil society organizations, investigative journalists, think thanks and NGO's to go for after these corrupt officials. Receiving financial empowerment will incentivize them to uncover the fraudulent and corrupt practices.

The civil society organizations can also educate and sensitize the public to demand more accountability from their leaders and thus ensuring good governance in the long run. I'm still waiting for the day World Bank, IMF, EU, DFID and other development agencies be bold enough and tell these corrupt African leaders, NO MORE AID, GO BACK AND FIX YOUR CORRUPT SYSTEM!!!!!

Samuel Agyeman
Political Science student – KNUST
[email protected]