Ghana in the 21st Century

Ghana is a country that is loved by its entire people. From the campus of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, the photos that I get from online sources and Ghana home pages comfort me daily. In effect, my emotional attachment to this great land of ours is as strong as any other Ghanaian. A recent survey by a group that was carried by the Ghana-web ranked Ghanaians the fourth in the world when it comes to people that love their country.

Given the resources—human and material—of the country, and compared to other countries whose resources are far scanty but enjoy a higher standard of living than us, we should be able to do a whole lot better. The problem has to do with the way our socio-economic structures have been constituted—there are too much waste in the system that need to be corrected if Ghana is to be able to equitably distribute it resources among its populace. The worst part is that, the system has been designed in such a way that allows corruption to thrive. Ladies and gentlemen, before I go further let me elaborate on this point a little bit. Last year, I had a conversation with a friend who complained about the corrupt practices of the officials at the passport office in Accra. He suggested that nothing could heal the rot at that place. You see, the problem is not entirely the faults of those officials. Human history has taught us that given the chance, the average man will do no better. I explained that let the system be redesigned and let every region of the country have at least four passport offices where applicants can make passports. This will entirely wipe out the illegally high prices that these officials charge for the so-called “speedy passports”. From the executive level through the regional and district levels to the “Kaya-ye” on the streets, nothing have been designed to work efficiently.

First of all, government should determine a reasonably good amount of money to be paid to its appointees so that they can rent their own accommodations, buy patrol for their cars, buy their personal telephone calls, and be able to hire their own drivers if they so wish. Presently, all government appointees simply go to a petrol station and fills up. Telephone calls—locally and internationally—are also available to them. This wholesale and unregulated government business lends itself to a lot of abuse. At the end of the day, government picks the tab which runs into millions of dollars. A story is told that when the NPP left office they left a telephone bill running into millions of dollars. I doubt that those calls came as a result of a genuine government business. I have recently read in the news that the government of NDC is planning to loan a $50,000.00 to each of the parliamentarians to buy cars. With 230 members of the august house, the Ghanaian tax payer is paying $11.5 million. Let's assume that each is serving for only 4 years. This means that the car note per month is $1041.00 which is simply beyond the means of most of them given their monthly salaries. I believe that some of them would be able to pay back the loan, even after they leave the house, but it would be naïve to think that all of them would be able to do so. The point I am trying to get across here is that Ghana as a HIPC country could have imported used 4x4 vehicles that would cost no more than $15,000 each, the monthlies of which would be within the budget of most, if not all of the MPs.

The idea of appointing Regional Ministers (RM) and mayors of our larger cities are ill-conceived. To ensure efficiency and accountability these two positions in particular must be elective. If the President is my buddy, a friend or a relative, the only thing that I should worry about is his loyalty and dame everybody else! This has historically led to RMs and mayors openly violating the constitution with impunity. A story is told of E T Mensah that he was the personal barber of the former president JJ Rawlings. Despite the cloud of corruption that surrounded him, he was not sacked and was even later promoted to be the Minister of Sports in the first NDC administration. Many of such cases have come and gone and there are some going on right now.

Another thing that needs to be looked at is the base of our tax collection network. Every Ghanaian must be issued a picture ID Card with a unique number assigned to it. In the US it is called Social Security Number (SSN). With this number, every Ghanaian can be made to pay his/her fair share of the tax obligation. Right now only a handful of people pay taxes by virtue of them working in government or other traceable employment. Other citizens—street hawkers, some small scale farmers, and artisans etc—are easily able to evade taxes. These people can easily constitute a ½ of the working population. For the sake of this sermon, let us assume they number 5 million. If each pays C0.50 a month, it will amount to C2.5 million a month and C30 million a year. Our ports, particularly Kotoka need special attention. The shamefully openly corrupt practice where Custom Officers (C/Os) simply expect travelers to put money into their passports for them must be abolished. It is not only shameful; it is robbing Ghana of revenue. Instead, a donation box must be put there and travelers can be encouraged to donate money freely to mother Ghana. The proceeds can be used to increase the pay of the C/Os. It can also be used to hire some of these street boys to clean and maintain the grasses and surroundings of the airports thereby reducing the unemployment rate and helping to solve some of the social vices of the street.

Another area that must be carefully looked at is the planning of our cities as they enlarge if we are to save ourselves and hence the country some money. Currently, most if not all items (both household and business) can only be gotten from the center of the cities. This has made the central Accra and Kumasi so congested that we waste too much money by way of traffic jam (patrol) and time. As the population grows in a certain area, a market must be established to cater for the residents in that area so that they would not have to come into the city center. The central postal system (CPS) that is used in the country is not only crude but simply stupid in this 21st century. I know every plot that is sold and developed in Ghana has a number. Every house must display a mail box in front with that number simply written on. Then every street must be named so that we can have say “1000 Graphic Road” ( “1000” being the plot number and “Graphic Road” being the name of the street) People can be employed to come to the central post offices with say bicycles to collect letters. They then can distribute the letters to the various addresses. This will create jobs for the teeming youth and reduce the congestions in the middle of the cities.

Lastly, but not the least we have leadership problems. The anti-corruption efforts of our past and present leaders have been weak and erratic at best. Kufour came with “zero tolerance for corruption” slogan only to lose it just a few months, if not days, during his presidency. In the end I was very surprised to hear and read that he wanted to give some form of award to JJ Rawlings and Kojo Tsikata, the two people who have been accused of the worst human rights abuses in the history of the nation. The Crabbe Commission even recommended arrest of Kojo Tsikata. How on earth could a clean president even think of awarding a medal to these men? People, it was case of “I scratch your back, you scratch my back” Kufour admitted by this action that he was not clean himself. I am fully in favor of President Mills' efforts of bringing people who have caused “financial loss to the state” to justice. I just do not understand how a learned man like Mills would stoop so low and allow his men at the BNI to violate the constitution of the land in this manner. The harassment being meted out to these men—Asabee and co—suggests to the whole world that Ghana is a lawless country. This has a potential to scare away investors. If these men have been found to have committed any crime, they must be given their day in court. If they are found guilty they should be made to serve the entire time. Last time I read in the news that the BNI was planning to press charges of “obstruction of justice” against the wife of Asabee for the behavior she put up at the airport. Seriously, I question the education level of the guy(s) who run that arm of government: BNI. What the lady did was perfectly legal. When did the BNI abrogate to itself the duties of the courts? The BNI has the power to investigate anybody but they should have the “Order” from a competent court to affect any arrest.

What I am praying for at this time is that there would be no more coup d'état so that the democratic governance that we have embarked on would continue to grow and mature. This will guarantee that the avenues for new ideas and new governments will not be blocked. The recent election that was conducted in the country is a clear signs of a maturing democratic culture.

Long Live Ghana,
Koduah-Amoakohene ([email protected])