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16.01.2007 Critics

My Question For President Kufuor

By Daily Graphic
My Question For President Kufuor
16.01.2007 LISTEN

Hello Mr President, I hope you are enjoying Sunyani. I drove by your house this morning. There was no activity and so I could tell you had travelled. There was just one person washing his car right across your gate.

What happened to your Royal Palm trees? I could see the birds had stripped all of them of their fronds for their nests. I recommend you see the Wildlife Society for some advice on how to keep the green leaves in your garden intact.

While you are at it, I would like to ask you some questions on the occasion of the Jubilee People's Assembly being held in Sunyani this morning. My forum for asking the questions would not be the Christ the King Parish Hall and that is why you will not see me this morning.

I would crave your indulgence to join me on a boat ride from Beyin to the Nzulezu village on stilts in the Western Region of Ghana. On December 31, 2006, I tried but chickened out of taking a boat ride with my three colleague lawyers and their families to Nzulezu.

In the first place, I could not zip up the life jacket (for obvious reasons) and was sceptical about whether I would stay afloat if the boat tipped over, since I had been told the Amansuri River is 30 feet deep. Secondly, my fears deepened when I saw the canoe (not a boat).

It's a small wooden boat and as I sat in with Michael and Lisa Quarshie, David and Rosa Kudoadzi, Adwoa, Paa Kwesi and Sedam, the canal water rose almost to the level of the canoe. Then it lurched to one side, by which time I had closed my eyes and was gripping the edges of the canoe very tightly. I made a feeble request to be allowed to disembark immediately.

If I travel with you, I will be assured that there is no way those boatsmen are going to sink the President of Ghana. You will be equally scared and will have all my attention. Please note that only one of your bodyguards will be allowed to sit in the canoe with us (between the two of us I reckon we will hit 200 kilogrammes). Sorry, no presidential speed boats are allowed on the river; they disturb the birds in their natural habitat and you and I will not be seen violating animal rights in Lee Ocran's Jomoro Constituency.

My first question is on the budget allocated to governance per the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Two (GPRS II). Eight per cent is for macro-stability, 27 per cent to enhance production, 58 per cent to enhance human resource and equitable provision of social services and four per cent for good governance.

Can we have more funds for good governance? It is so crucial for us at this point in time.

Secondly, access to justice is a big problem for us in Ghana. With a population of 2,905,726 and a land area of 2,593 square kilometres, the Greater Accra Region has 29 high courts, whereas the Ashanti Region has a population of 3,612,950, with a land area of 24,390 square kilometres and has only eight high courts. This is less than a third of the number of courts in the Greater Accra Region.

I know Greater Accra is important and that, strategically, 60 per cent of investment companies are situated in the Accra-Tema metropolis, but we need more courts in the Ashanti Region.

As of 2004, there were 131 district courts in Ghana, with 50 magistrates at post, leaving 50 of the district courts vacant. In 2006, there were six district courts in the Upper East Region and four of them were vacant. Two of the four district courts in the Upper West Region were also vacant.

How are you, as the Head of the Executive Arm of government, going to help in the Chief Justice's “quest to find meaningful and long-term solutions to accessible justice to rural communities, the poor, the marginalised and the dispossessed”, as stated by the Chief Justice in his message in the 2005/2006 Annual Report of the Judicial Service?

How are you going to ensure that girls and women are not regularly raped? As of October 2006, 67.3 per cent of cases reported to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Police Service were still under investigation. This acts as a serious drawback to reporting sexual assault cases to the police.

According to a report published by CUSO, UNICEF and the Judicial Service, out of a total of 2,243 cases filed in district and magistrate courts in three regions in Ghana, 57 per cent of the family tribunal cases were maintenance cases. The children are not being looked after by some recalcitrant parents, Mr President.

I asked you a question last year on your personal views on marital rape and Dr Addo-Kufuor was quite upset with me. I do not know why but I know it is a legitimate question which I would ask you again and again. I will ask him too as soon as he mounts the political platform to launch his New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearership campaign.

These are but a few of the questions I intend to ask you. I hope you will be able to make the 'canoe trip' to Nzulezu. It's an hour-and-a-half trip on the canoe and I will ask many more questions in the course of the trip.

Failure on your part to answer any of my questions will result in an involuntarily manufactured lurch of the canoe by me, with its unavoidable consequences. But before I do that at least, I will ensure that you have a properly zipped life jacket on. We weigh a good 200 kilogrammes between us.

While you are considering my invitation, please vote for Kofi in the TV 3 Mentor House before Saturday.

Happy New Year, Mr President!

Story By Nana Oye Lithur

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