“I Can’t Think Far”Ghana Exhibitionism

Nana Addo Akuffo Addo’s government has announced that, the ex-Vice President, Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur who died on June 29, 2018 will be given a state burial. I suspect his body will ride in the finest heist with a long motorcade accompanied by gun salutes and perhaps over a dozen white horses to escort the body. There will be police and army presence and millions of Ghana cedis spent. Ghana exhibitionism. I would hope the ex-vice president could have an out of body experience to watch his funeral procession.

The ex-vice president collapsed in a gym whilst on his routine morning exercise. There was no defibrillator in the gym, no first responders and a call to the Accident and Emergency unit returned no ambulance. In the end, Mr. Amissah Arthur gasping for air and fighting for his life, had to be transported in a KIA pure water pick-up truck to the 37 Military Hospital. He was pronounced dead on arrival. Mr. Amissah Arthur, the ex-vice President, could have been saved if there was a defibrillator at the gym with trained personnel to use it. He could have been saved if there were first responders on hand, if the paramedics attended in their ambulance equipped with medical tools to assess his vitals and stabilize him before he got to the hospital. At least the paramedic in the ambulance could have made an effort to save him.

In 2012, the then President, President Atta Mills suffered a heart attack. There was no ambulance either. He found his fate in someone’s car and did not make it by the time he got to the 37 Military Hospital. Many people die needlessly in similar circumstances all the time across the country. Forget about ‘Who is watching the Watchman’. Who is watching over the Ghanaian people?

In early February 2018, Obaahemaa Ebony Reigns met an untimely death on the Kumasi-Sunyani road. An accident caused in part by the terrible road conditions in Ghana and lack of enforcement of road safety laws. Ghana had a big funeral exhibition in Accra, but the root cause of the problem was not addressed. Since Ebony’s death a number of accidents have claimed more lives along the same stretch of road in Sunyani. Ghana like the ostrich, sticks her head in the sand. “I can’t think far!

Nana Akuffo Addo’s government was touted as a transformational government. A government to be fiscally disciplined and take care of the country’s purse. For the government to rid the country of corruption, punish unproductive behaviors, provide security for the people, move the country into free economy, creating opportunities for the average Ghanaian, President, Nana Akufo Addo needs to man up and be a game changer; he must leverage the powers vested in the office of the president to change the stagnation culture of parliament, else his efforts would be like pouring new wine into an old wineskin. This loan facility of $22.5 Million approved for 275 members of parliament to buy cars is disappointing. It begs the question, how many equipped ambulances or emergency response vehicles could that loan amount purchase. For effective emergency response network, Ghana needs response centers within about 40 miles radius in the townships to give response time of between 10-15 minutes? “I can’t think far”.

I commend the President, however, for freezing all international travels of the ministers with the exception of a few. The ministers should understand that the issues to fix are in the country and they should stay home and fix them!

Kudos to the government for tackling the galamsay menace which has led to destruction of our landforms and pollution of our rivers and streams. Now some of the ideas presented at the NPP National Delegate Conference on July 7, 2018 sounded like trying to solve today’s problems with yesterday’s solutions. This single West African currency proposal does not guarantee any future economic progress. There must be a referendum else if Ghana is forced into it, there will be “GhanaXit”. In the absence of a trade agreement or a mechanism to facilitate development of a single price for a commodity, such as cocoa, gold, diamond, etc., within the ECOWAS community that will strengthen our collective bargaining power in the international market, what will the common currency do for us? With variation in custom duties at the ports in Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire and other countries in the region, what would a common currency mean for Ghanaians? Would Ghana end up like Greece in the European Union? The irony though is that, at home, the government desires to create more regional divisions in Ghana. Divisions that may trigger partition of traditional areas with potential gerrymandering and all the complexities our chieftaincy brings; big government, potential waste of tax payer’s money.

On transportation, the NPP delegate conference appeared to rely on yesterday’s ideas. The principal transportation challenges include traffic congestion in the cities, no room to expand the roads, yet the country is importing more cars, V8 for the ministers. A modern idea would be to invest in monorails in the cities? Environmentally friendly, elevate the tracks above the street level, ease congestion in the cities and bring the country to the 21^st century and beyond.

The administration spoke of free SHS as the flagship of their achievements, as if the classrooms were empty without free SHS before they came into power. The President asserted that 90,000 more students went to SHS in 2017. The number will be doubled in 2018 to 180,000. Speak to the Headmasters in many schools and ask about their budgets for running the schools and the fraction that comes in from the government, if it comes at all? Ask them about the number of students per class? Ask them about the sleeping conditions in the schools’ dormitories, libraries, the science labs and the dining halls. Ask them about the ratio of students to toilets and bathrooms in the schools. Those in government may be young or perhaps old enough to remember when the University did a double intake after the forced closure by our military government. All of a sudden the rooms that used to be shared by 2 persons was forced to accommodate 4 people. The ratio of students to toilets and baths increased and sanitary conditions deteriorated. Lecture theatres had inadequate room and students lined up on the corridors to the lecture theatres. We must remind the government that implementation of the SHS does not automatically mean success, nor being busy in the office means progress. Before the government takes credit for the success of free education, it should employ independent auditors to give him candid feedback. I know headmaster Amissah has some feedback for the government.

On the economy, a smoke screen of economic growth data was presented by the government, (3.6% to 8.5% in 18 months), reduction in fiscal debt from 9.6% to 6.6%, inflation down to single figures. Most data presented in percentages hide behind untold assumptions, in the end the real gains becomes the personal accounts of people in power. Ask yourself, what are the tangibles of these gains in my life? What are the signs or evidence of development in my neighborhood? Are the dirty gutters in my neighborhoods still breeding snakes and mosquitoes? Do you find a doctor in an emergency when you need one? Are the roads still untarred, potholes as death traps, killing your neighbors, family and relatives? Where is the one district, one factory going to be built? What are the road networks or signs of road networks leading to that factory? Are the drainage systems, sanitation, runoff water still causing flooding? Do you have access to public and social services? Are there enforceable laws in the land that ensure your safety and security? Are your children receiving the right civic education to understand this our constitutional democratic republic country to become good patriotic citizens? Is the vision long and wide enough or this is just about the NPP trying to hold on to power? Is NPP the party of the future or the party looking in the rearview mirror? I know in my neck of the woods, nothing has changed.

The NPP leadership should show more tangible deliverables in the country, not just rhetoric, if they are to be the seen as the party of the future.