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21.04.2014 Feature Article

The Wrong Shift

The Wrong Shift
21.04.2014 LISTEN

In recent times, the Ghanaian politician's vision is no longer confined to what and where the ordinary citizen can be excited about. The perspective of leadership has shifted from the provision of effective solutions to the several problems that have bedevilled our country to an egotistic aim of striving shamelessly to hold on to power (or, at least, to be succeeded by a member of the leader's political party). Solutions to our common enemies such as the insatiable borrowing desire, illiteracy, poor infrastructural facilities, conflict (in some areas), poverty, and so on, are given less attention. In other words, measures needed to be employed by our leaders in order to ameliorate the plight of the ordinary Ghanaian have been dumped. Rather, power sustainability is given overriding priority by the two powerhouses of Ghana politics (NPP and NDC), a situation which has contributed immensely in giving birth to a “different” Ghana for us. It is sad to say that the NPP & NDC duopoly has shrouded the future of our beloved country (in terms of development) in utter uncertainty.

And how exactly are these two powerhouses culpable? To provide a lucid analysis of the issue, it is prudent that I juxtapose what happened during the reign of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah with what obtains in recent times. It is extensively acknowledged that Dr Nkrumah played an instrumental role in the development of our country. His seven-year development plan served as a testament to a formidable vision of transforming Ghana (and of course, Africa) into a “small paradise”. His unrelenting development of the country – which formed the foundation of his ambition of unifying Africa into an indomitable single bloc – was palpably reflected in an obelisk of industrialisation through an untrammelled development of the infrastructural resource of the country. This African progenitor of salubrious ideas was so passionate about the well-being of Ghana (and Africa) that most of the things he did were geared towards the development of the sub-region. But he slipped: his overwhelming ambition of developing and uniting Africa led him astray, as his allegiance gravitated towards Africa to the detriment of Ghana. Apparently, in his bid to fulfil his ambition, he developed an execrable taste for reigning for life, leading to the introduction of a mosaic of draconian laws that earned him profound hatred. Nevertheless, his interest in developing (and unifying) Africa, and of course Ghana, was intractable. Hence, the immutability of the fact that his focus was on the provision of solutions to our problems must be stressed.

However, what the NPP and NDC put us through is a far cry from what happened during the days of Dr Nkrumah. Nonetheless, it would be deeply pernicious to attempt to prove their culpability in a factually-jumbled account. Therefore, it is crucial that I start from the era of [Ex-President] J. A. Kufuor, under the tutelage of the NPP. Indeed, he did his best for Ghana but, he was hit with the most difficult test yet in September/October 2006, when a group of teachers – NAGRAT – went on strike as a resort to demand for higher remuneration. Those teachers suffered a blizzard of criticisms – all crystallised around the fact that they had no bargaining license to demand for salary increment. In other words, their strike action was illegitimate. They did not get what they wanted. Adding insult to injury, their October 2006 salaries were blocked. The already financially-precarious teachers' salaries were not paid? How were they expected to pay their children's school fees? What about the sound mind to

teach? Some of them sobbed. And while a few of them were reticent, others lamented the insensitive nature of the government. But who cared? After all, he who is ready to embark on an illegitimate strike action should be prepared to face the music. Those who could, took loans from numerous sources to extenuate their impecunious predicament. In that sense, it should be emphasised that some bore the brunt for long, in terms of the shame and interest associated with the payment of such loans.

Nevertheless, the unexpected happened after two years. Their salaries were released in 2008 (without interest), few weeks to the elections, an act which raises a kaleidoscope of questions. Were the salaries released mistakenly? What a sweet mistake! Could that have been a coincidence? What an enigmatic coincidence! Was that a move to placate the teachers? What a “smart” move! To placate the teachers for what? The answer to this question will in no small measure draw our attention to the way the NPP wanted to sharpen all rough edges prior to the elections of 2008. Look at it from this perspective. The NPP government said the action was illegitimate and consequently blocked their salaries; so why were the salaries released later? To my amateur eye, the release of the salaries was a subtle approbation of illegitimacy that could have drawn more people into embarking on such an illegal action. Thus, by preventing the re-occurrence of such an act as a way of solving, or at least avoiding a further dwindling of, the illiteracy problem of the country the NPP decided to block their salaries. Good job! However, the focus of the then President Kufuor later shifted from solving that problem, to doing everything creatively, and rather carelessly, possible for his party member to win the elections.

Meanwhile, in that same year (2008), there had been a great hue and cry about what many described as rather exorbitant prices of petroleum products. But the uproar fell on death ears. We were told that a reduction in the prices of such products was not good for the country, as it had the potential of worsening the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) debt. Each time the government's attention was drawn to the hardship it was causing the nation, it was quickly countered with the achievements of the party such as the introduction of the National Health Insurance Scheme, National Youth Employment Programme, etc. Nevertheless, after the first round of the elections, President Kufuor and the NPP could not live up to the expectations of their optimistic postures: the prices were reduced! [A Private Regulatory Board was responsible for that? Regulatory board formed by who? Under whose supervision?] Well, if you are asking why they did not do that before the elections, the answer is simple. It was because they were confident of victory, as “one touch” and “done deal” hovered around the lips of lots of them. Given the barrage of achievements fired at us to rebuff our request for a reduction in the prices of the petroleum products, no one expected them to do that prior to the second round of the elections, after all, they could have still relied on their achievements. Thus, their focus shifted from saving us from debt to reducing the prices of the petroleum products as a Pavlovian response to the uproar from the masses, in order for the NPP to win in the second round. They did not care about the TOR debt (or Ghana) anymore; just victory. What an undesirable shift!

It is, at this moment, imperative to touch on the NDC's culpability. But, before that, permit me to point out some fundamental issues. The dominant contemporary feature of politicians

is that of essential engagement with the masses in a bid for canvassing for votes. This is done in two ways. The first involves enlightening the voters on the politician's intention of educing positive changes in their lives. This is where policies, programmes, projects the politician wishes to pursue are made known to the masses. This is used by politicians all over the world. The second concerns an unsparing rebuttal of an opponent's message or intention. For instance, an opponent's intention or campaign of implementing a particular policy can be imperiously rebutted. This, though less fancied because of its malevolent appeal, could yield the desired results if applied tactfully.

Clearly, the second approach was adopted by His Excellency President John Mahama and the NDC prior to the 2012 elections [I leave out the late Professor Mills for obvious reasons]. It is no secret that the campaign of Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP was solidly built on the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy. They reiterated the felicitous nature of the policy (in terms of development) wherever and whenever they had the opportunity. And what did HE President Mahama and the NDC do? They did not see the policy as a means to development; they argued persuasively that it creates numerous problems, correctly enumerating some countries in Africa that have rued the day they implemented that policy. Particularly, HE John Mahama was seen on several platforms debunking, with incandescent conviction, the advantages the opposition party was raising. The NDC's politically-hostile stance towards the policy paid dividends in the end; they won the elections. Considering such a stance, it becomes clear that the HE John Mahama and the NDC wanted to save us from the innumerable problems that are precipitated by the policy.

However, there is a contradictory statement in the president's State of the Nation Address. It is stated that: “ … the Ministry [of Education] … has prepared a report on the road map for a progressive introduction of free secondary education in Ghana … The road map would be presented to cabinet for approval and subsequent implementation” (See Full transcript: Mahama's 2014 State Of The Nation Address, p 4). Really? What about the several problems that have plagued those African countries you enumerated in your campaign prior to the 2012 elections? Why has the focus suddenly shifted from preventing Ghana from all those problems to implementing the policy?

While such a shift is not desirable, it, however, demonstrates the auspicious value of the policy. Therefore, it is apparent the NDC wishes to implement the policy to deprive the NPP of having a “marketable product” to sell to the populace in the 2016 elections. This, it is believed, will go a long way in aiding the former win the next elections, and perhaps the subsequent ones. Certainly, there is a danger in branding a policy “problematic” yesterday and flagging it up today with glee, as a “beneficial” policy that needs to be implemented as “required under the 1992 Constitution”. Hence, it is unsurprising that it has led to a drastic reduction in trust for the modern day Ghanaian politician (See “A Distressing Dilemma” on modernghana.com, 10th April 2014). But HE John Mahama and the NDC do not seem to give a fig about it. When all the problems associated with the policy were being enumerated, the NDC forgot the constitution. But now that it wants to implement it, it has suddenly remembered the constitution, which appears to have led to a complete obliteration of all the problems associated with it. Now HE John Mahama and the NDC do not remember the

African countries that paid dearly for implementing it anymore. Their focus has shifted from preventing Ghana from the innumerable problems that have bedevilled those countries to implementing the policy (thereby depriving the NPP of it), in order to sustain the tutelage of the NDC.

It is noteworthy that the ability of a country to rise to a higher level on the development ladder crucially depends on the political demeanour of its leaders, an element which is typically and shamefully trivialised in Ghana. As a consequence, our leaders always take us for granted and we seem to be enjoying it, as we are quick to jump at their defence. This brings up the question: Will Ghana ever get there? To be certain of an enviable position on the development ladder, we should force our leaders to refrain from their egocentric tendencies and work assiduously towards increasing our capabilities. The guidance of Amartya Sen on the expansion of the substantive freedoms (and capabilities) of people to achieve the kind of lives they have reason to value, will be immensely helpful here. We simply do not need leaders who, directly or through deceit, will shatter our freedoms (and capabilities) today and attempt to make amends tomorrow, just to satisfy their cynical whim of perpetuating their obnoxious reign.

Kwabena Aboagye-Gyan
([email protected])

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