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23.01.2015 Opinion

Are We Suffering From Spastic Shudder?  

By Daily Guide
Are We Suffering From Spastic Shudder?
23.01.2015 LISTEN

Social order turns on the axis of legitimate expectations of compliance with the prevailing social norms and legal regime. Society is possible because human beings take the behaviour of others for granted in the trusted assurance of reciprocity. The expectation that others will behave in a lawful manner gives direction, structure, meaning and predictability to our own behaviour. Mismatch in expectations generates conflicts which, improperly handled or left unresolved, undermine peace, social harmony and order. Society develops a repertoire of sanctions aimed at constraining, regulating and undermining the scope and frequency of unexpected behaviours, particularly those that deviate from societal norms. Yet the occurrence of the unexpected is celebrated whenever it is interpreted as advancing the established legitimate values and expectations of society. In short, expectations constitute the fabric of human interdependence, order, dynamism and progress. (Prof Kenneth Agyeman Attafuah, Ghana Policy Journal, an IEA Publication, December 2010)

There is no thought-provoking quotation I have come across in recent times than the above. Every rational human being will admit that society functions on the basis of trust at all levels of human endeavour. Reciprocity, though unwritten, is what drives our relationships. Even though it is the responsibility of a father to provide the basic needs of the children, the father also expects a certain minimum service from the children. In our society, grown up kids do not sit by as their fathers pick buckets to fetch water by themselves. The market woman who hires a truck-pusher to carry her foodstuff from one point to the other for an agreed fee is under an obligation to pay the common carrier (kayayoo) when he or she delivers the items to the agreed destination.

These are just about two common examples I can offer in attempting to simplify the brilliant quote of the learned Professor Attafuah. I have never been miserable in my adult life than the misery I have been subjected to this week by a man who became a friend when he was in active politics and I, in active journalism. That man is Mr Moses Asaga, one time Deputy Minister of Finance and for quite a time a Member of Parliament for Nabdam. My understanding of representative governance is that representatives champion the interests of their people.

Laws are made to address prevailing problems, moving forward and making visionary reflections into the future. In fact laws also take into account events of the past. Pricing of petroleum products in this country has been part of our national economic problems. As a practicing journalist, I paid little attention to this sector of the economy. Until the Kufuor era, ex-pump prices of petroleum products were announced in the budget presented to Parliament—indeed, that even precedes the Fourth Republic. Governments had taken into account the expected cedi-dollar parity for the year and the projected crude oil prices on the international market in addition to whatever taxes existed at the time. Once they were announced at the beginning of the year, they were hardly changed irrespective of changes in the major factors which went into fixing the prices.

Truth be told, because of our own internal mismanagement of our resources, even when the external prices of crude oil are stable, our cedi depreciates against the United States dollar, which makes the importation of crude oil more expensive than what had been budgeted for. That is when the government talks about subsidy.

It is in this regard that the Kufuor administration established the National Petroleum Authority (NPA). The authority by law is to adjust the prices of petroleum products periodically as and when the cost of procuring the crude goes up as a result of the combination of the major factors that go into the costing. It put some financial stress on the citizenry since there were more upward adjustments of the prices of petroleum products than downward adjustments. But it also did spare the economy an accumulation of debts in the name of subsidies which had to be paid through other means of taxation or the alternative of some important social and economic infrastructure being abandoned.

The NDC government, in spite of its denigration of everything the Kufuor administration did, has maintained this particular policy and has used it religiously such that even when the price of a gallon was GH¢5.00 at a time when a barrel of crude was US$147.00, the NDC consistently increased ex-pump prices to a maximum of over GH¢15.00 per gallon when the cost of a barrel of crude was far lower than the peak of US$147.00 in the Kufuor era, using the principles espoused in the NPA law.

The prices of petroleum products have seen more than 98 percent upward adjustments and Ghanaians have accommodated them because we are aware that our own currency, through our misguided and incompetent management of it, has deteriorated in health and lost face when currencies the world over meet. Over the last few months, the price of crude oil has experienced a record nosedive and the government prides itself with having stabilised the cedi. In other words, the health of the cedi is good and is out of danger. Government thinks it has done us a favour by offering us just 10% reduction in ex-pump prices.

In the face of massive reduction of crude prices and the relative continued stability of the cedi, petroleum prices must go down further in conformity with the NPA law and natural justice. When we complained and even appealed for further reduction to bring a little relief to us, the NPA first said it was indebted to the Bulk Oil Distributors at an unspecified amount and that they were using the windfall to pay off those debts. Then came President Mahama, who with total disregard for the law and callous disrespect for Ghanaians, told us that he was setting up a Petroleum Mitigation levy to which those monies they are virtually stealing from us would be put into for future support should the price of crude shoot up again.

The apex of this insult and show of bad faith in governance is Moses Asaga's theory that if prices of goods and services do not go down, then there is no point reducing the prices of petroleum products. This makes me feel so bad as a Ghanaian not because the Mahama administration takes all of us for fools, but because of the fact that by our collective actions and inactions as a people we tend to accept that we are indeed fools.

Where in this world will this exercise of coercive powers of an insensitive government of educated brigands be tolerated? Where in the NPA law is the adjustment of petroleum prices linked to the general price levels of goods and services? What law empowers the President to wake up one bad morning to determine how our resources must be used without recourse to the law? Can the President tell us how much has been saved for the so-called mitigation fund? And does he think we can trust him in the face of the blatant dissipation of public funds by his agents and assigns?

Where are the statutory District Assemblies' Common Fund, the NHIS funds, the SSNIT deductions, the tier-two pension funds, the GETFund, add to the list. This is a President who prays for solutions just as the ordinary citizens who have lost faith in the government and pray for salvation. Rousseau said, 'Were I a prince or a legislator, I would not waste my time saying what ought to be done. I would do it or keep quiet.' This is a government which complains about all the ills in our society and proffers no solution to the ills it complains about. Instead, it wants to be applauded for dreams which have not been translated into practical achievements.

When petroleum prices were being hiked on the grounds of high international prices of crude and the depreciating cedi, general costs of goods and services were not considered. Today it has become a condition for price reduction in the commodity; and we have accepted it. Do we have the government we deserve? Maybe our docility points to that. Two tots of mahogany bitters.

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By Kwesi Biney

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