GHANA: COURTESIES VRS PRODUCTIVITY

Dear Editor,
I have over the years, observed a practice that I strongly believe is pure waste of
resources and taxpayers money.

There is an ongoing practice whereby, anytime the
President of Ghana is leaving the shores of Ghana to travel abroad, the state
apparatus is mobilised to see him off at the airport.

The same process is
repeated when the President returns to Ghana.

The practice is repeated year after year and in my
estimation such a practice is unnecessary and should stop.

I have
searched through the 1992 Constitution to ascertain for myself whether such
a practice was constitutional, but there is no such provision. I am really at a loss
as to why all these public officials could gather at the airport to either see the
President off or meet him.

The question is, when did this practice start and what is the rationale behind such a
practice? Is it a prudent way of utilising the scarce resources of the state and is it
value for money? In 21st century Ghana, do we really need such a practice? For me,
regardless of any explanation espoused, I believe that, such a practice is
unnecessary and a waste of state resources and taxpayers money.

These Ministers
of State must have time on their hands to be seeing off and meeting the President
on a frequent basis at the airport. If these public officials have time on their hands to
undertake such tasks, perhaps their work loads would have to be increased to keep them profitably occupied!

For all these public officials to see off and meet the president at the airport, you can imagine the costs in terms of bodyguards, petrol, cars, wasted time, cancelled meetings etc, that will inevitably
accrue to the state.

My advice is that, the little resources that we have, we need to
use wisely and manage well so that, we derive maximum returns. Can you
imagine the Deputy Prime Minister, Secretaries of State, public officials seeing off
and meeting Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the airport on a regular basis?

On the very day that President Kufuor had the unfortunate accident last year, I
watched a GTV news bulletin which stated categorically that, a paramount chief from
the Eastern Region was at the Castle to meet him and the reasons for
the meeting were two fold: firstly, to personally thank President Kufuor for creating
a new district in his area and secondly, to show appreciation to the president for
making their local Member of Parliament a Minister of State.

Was there a need for the paramount chief to travel all the
way to Accra to say thank you to President Kufuor? Couldn't he have said thank you
through a letter or fax or a message through the Eastern Region Minister, or Chief
of Staff? This occurred on a day that the President of Ghana escaped death
on his way to work.

Why is such a practice encouraged? Does it mean that
the President of Ghana has time on his hands to indulge in protocols which are
unnecessary? After all, the president was exercising his constitutional obligation by
creating districts and appointing Ministers of State; was there really a need
for the paramount chief to travel from the Eastern Region to the Castle to say thank
you to President Kufuor?

I saw another GTV news item showing the bereaved family of a paramount chief
at the Castle to inform the president of the passing away of the said
paramount chief. The contingent was made up of about 25 people. I am at loss
as to the rationale behind this practice.

I find it unnecessary and
should not be encouraged. Should the bereaved family travel all the way
from Ashanti Region just to tell the president that Nana has passed away and
subsequently inform him about the funeral arrangement?. There is no need
for such a practice. The president must have enough problems to contend with
and the citizenry should not waste his time with unnecessary protocols which can be dealt with by
the Chief of Staff, Regional Minister or even a District Chief Executive. Let
us spare the president such time wasting practices.

I humbly suggest that, instead of the bereaved family of the late paramount chief
trooping to Accra to see and inform the president of the death of a chief,
they should either inform the District Chief Executive, Regional Minister, Regional
Coordinating Director or the District Coordinating Director who will forward a
message to the Chief of Staff or president's secretary who will alternatively pass on
the message to the president. Any message for the bereaved family from the
president will go through the same format via the Chief of Staff or president's
secretary to the Regional Minister or District Chief Executive for onward
transmission to the bereaved family. This system or a better system could be devised.

And yet another observation: Any Tom, Dick and Harry official from the
IMF or World Bank, CEO of a multi-national company or even foreign investors when
in Ghana, gets the opportunity to meet the President of the Republic of Ghana at the
Castle. I may not be privy to certain information, I strongly
hold the view that, these people should rather hold meetings etc with the various
sector ministers.

Recently, I watched a CEO of a mining company in Ghana visiting
the Castle to introduce himself to the President as the new CEO. I am sorry but, this cannot be right. Where was the Minister of Mines, Lands and Forestry, Chief of Staff or Minister of Finance? They should rather be meeting the said CEO rather than the President of Ghana. Surely, the President
must have enough on his plate to contend with, rather than be bogged down with
unnecessary photo opportunities.

This article is not directed at this current government or the past government but
rather, an observation of certain practices that, I strongly feel are not and cannot be
right and have to be done away with.


NANA YAW OSSEI
LONDON, UK.

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