Some Things that Must Make the NDC Government Tick!!

Saturday, April 25, 2009

A question continues to nag me: Was the Kufuor administration really corrupt? If it was, what is the NDC government's agenda for tackling the issue to set the records straight? Don't tell me it's too early to take up such an issue. Many tongues have been wagging for far too long and any official action on the issue will still them and relieve the owners of worry.

Where is Johnson Asiedu-Nketiah, alias “General Mosquito,” the NDC General Secretary? Where is your list? Produce it now for us all to know who did what corrupt thing under Kufuor.

Long before the NDC won the elections, this man had made public pronouncements to the effect that the party had compiled a list of all those NPP functionaries whose corrupt activities had come to the notice of the NDC. I say, produce the list for the NDC government to act on it now! 

Anything short of effective action to deal drastically with the situation will erode public confidence in the NDC and create conditions for its popularity to wane. Once the NDC (in opposition) led Ghanaians to point accusing fingers at Kufuor and his team, the onus lies on it now to settle issues. It must not stop at the point of only making the allegation but must expose them to be punished.

Here is the justification for my stance. Day-in-day-out, the public has been made to believe that our politicians and their cronies have skeletons in their cupboards and that holding public office has become an opportunity to fleece the national coffers through all forms of subterfuge and open thievery.

This perception has sunk deep into the public domain and virtually eroded public confidence in officialdom. Taking stern action to punish the perpetrators will claw back public confidence and respect for public office.

One of the major campaign issues raised by the NDC against the NPP machinery was the constant allegation of corruption at all levels of the Kufuor-led administration. Buoyed by the persistent attacks on Kufuor by Jerry Rawlings (Remember the “Nii Ayi niee … Kufuor nie …” refrain?), the NDC's functionaries went to every distance in the party's anti-NPP politicking to suggest that the “scent” was everywhere!

Thus, the NPP administration was constructed as sitting on a cesspool of corruption and dragging all willing “souls” into it. 

The NDC made so much political capital out of this issue as to make Kufuor and his appointees uncomfortable even though they put up straight faces and managed to brave the storm to a point. As if he didn't know how to handle the calumny, Kufuor himself worsened matters when he made impolitic public statements about the spate of corruption.

Who will be uncaring all too soon to forget his senseless remark that corruption had existed since the days of Adam and that it was not a new thing for anybody to taunt his government with? Or that if anybody had any evidence against any of his appointees, he should go to the police and not ask him to act on it?

Or, again that he would not depend on any newspaper publication to take action against any of his appointees being accused of corruption? 

Can we so soon forget the Richard Anane case? Or Harona Esseku's effusions against Kufuor over the “kickback” saga? How about the spate of wife-snatching and wanton award of contracts left and right for personal gains?

Again, how about the acquisition of state lands in Accra (and elsewhere) and the dishing out of newly constructed estates to NPP functionaries in reprehensible circumstances that chafed everybody else but the beneficiaries of the Kufuor government's unconscionable largesse?

The list goes on, and the NDC knows it too. President Mills cannot tell us that he is ignorant about these issues.

The virtually brazen and rampant manner in which official vehicles were taken out of the official pool by the NPP's functionaries and the consequent uncoordinated actions that the Transitional Team authorized that led to the forcible retrieval of most of those vehicles from them (including Kufuor himself) are too fresh in our minds as enough evidence of the horrible instances of impropriety that went on and must be investigated and dealt with to deter any recurrence.

Ghanaians are waiting to see how the NDC government will tackle those allegations that it took the forefront to raise. The time has come to bell the cat. 

Or, is the new wine itself ready to be turned sour all too soon by the remnants of the old wine in the old wine bottle? These politicians have given me cause not to trust them, anyway. They appear to be like camels that don't want to make fun of each other's hump.

But the NDC will be shooting itself in the foot if it doesn't deal with this issue of corruption that it has already raised against the NPP. The writing is on the wall that its political fortunes will evaporate if it fails to give Ghanaians any early signal that it will tackle the issue with the seriousness it deserves.

The NDC government must learn from its own immediate misfortunes under the Kufuor government and use that experience as the motivation to redeem itself. After all, its political opponents haven't yet ceased accusing the party of corruption under the Rawlings administration. 

One potent political tool that helped the NPP in its campaign of demonization against the NDC was the prosecution and incarceration of those NDC functionaries who held public office under Rawlings, which somehow confirmed the NPP's loudmouthed allegations of corruption against the Rawlings government.

More harm would have been done to the NDC's standing had the NPP been more committed to dealing with the issue; but its desire to fight corruption flagged as its functionaries (including Kufuor himself) discovered opportunities to turn public office into an occasion for unstoppable jamboree. 

Despite public show of force, the NPP couldn't prosecute the former NDC Chief Executive Officers of the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies to add to the NDC's woes. However, its ability to get some former Ministers and top-level NDC functionaries jailed or even prosecuted further dented the NDC's public image. We all know the effect.

Now, the tide has turned and the NDC feels empowered enough to accuse the Kufuor government of the very malfeasance that had led to the demonization of the NDC. Will the NDC government use the laid-down legal procedures to line up all these NPP functionaries for prosecution and punishment if found guilty?

Fighting corruption in officialdom is a national duty that must be carried out with all the force at the government's disposal. It's a civic responsibility.

There is no doubt that anything short of that will deflate the NDC and embolden the NPP functionaries to torment the Mills government, which will pave the way for the kind of politics for the 2012 elections that the NDC cannot cope with. The Ministry of Information has already begun being reactive in rebutting condemnatory remarks from the NPP, which shouldn't be the case.

I think that any immediate action will silence all these loudmouthed madcaps in the NPP who are known for their underhand contract benefits but are going about, making ugly noise as if they are still in power.

Take Arthur Kennedy, for instance, whose shady contract at the Ministry of Health is no secret. Yet, he is out there, taunting the NDC of an impending implosion and mocking President Mills as a “weak” leader.

I say, take him on and let him face the music if indeed that contract is investigated and found to be improperly given to him. It is then that he will know what the real “hell” is for the NPP-in-opposition. 

Then, take on Kwadwo Mpianim and all those who were known to be part of the NPP's grand agenda for the looting of state property. Have we not heard of the shredding of official documents at the Osu Castle just before the NPP left office? 

Then, include Ebenezer Begyina Sekyi-Hughes, the former Speaker of Parliament, too for all that he did to state property. I don't like the manner in which the Legislature itself is approaching the issue. I suspect that someone is doing overtime to sweep the matter under the rug. It shouldn't be so. 

Some of the major issues to be immediately investigated seriously include: the redenomination of the country's currency and how much it cost; and the disbursement of over five billion Cedis by the Kufuor government in respect of security services' participation in the 2008 general elections.

here is also the handling of funds for the celebration of Ghana@50; the collapse of Ghana Airways; numerous dubious contract awards at the District, Municipal, and Metropolitan Assemblies; the numerous cocaine cases; the underhand parceling out of state lands to NPP functionaries; and many more that people will willingly lead investigators to. 

Then, the government must release all these findings into the public domain. Let the public digest all these issues. All efforts must be made to proactively keep the ball on issues rolling. 

For now, Ghanaians are patiently waiting to see what the NDC government can do to confirm the allegations of massive corruption that it has levelled against the Kufuor government. They will not forget it and President Mills must not deceive himself that the dust on those allegations will settle soon.

If his government doesn't do anything definitive on the matter, it will be moving gradually toward placing the tool in the hands of the electorate with which to nail the NDC's coffin at the next polls.

Trust Ghanaians to refer to such inadequacies at the appropriate time. It is time to prove to all that he who rides the horse of greed at a gallop will pull it up at the door of shame.
In this sense, initial steps can be taken to give the applicants all the support they need in terms of preparations to leave the country (acquiring Ghanaian passports, visas for the countries of their destination, and other travel-related exigencies).

Is it too difficult for the government of Ghana to liaise with the foreign missions in the country to assist students with genuine documents from the educational or other training institutions in countries that have offered them admission as they prepare to proceed to those institutions?

How about providing monthly stipends for them when they begin their studies or training? The Indian and Chinese governments do so for their students.

3. We have also had something in the form of an “Eastern Scholarship” that supported Ghanaian students proceeding to the former Soviet Union and its satellite states in Eastern Europe for further studies. I don't know what has become of that support base. 

4. A database must be created to ensure that the activities of these beneficiaries are monitored and that they return home at the end of their training. Appropriate penalties must be instituted and enforced against defaulters.

A far-reaching measure (supported by law) could be in the form of blacklisting all defaulting beneficiaries to prevent them from holding any public office. To the extreme, such defaulters must be prosecuted and made to refund whatever was spent on their education.

5. Entering into bilateral agreements with the various countries absorbing these Ghanaian students for them to be recognized and supported in diverse ways. Students from India and China who study in the United States enjoy this kind of concession under the bilateral agreements that their countries have signed with the US.

In filing their annual tax returns, for instance, these students are exempted from some deductions because of the provisions of such agreements. They enjoy better opportunities because their governments have done the right thing to provide the safety net for them. Why can't the government of Ghana do the same for its nationals?

6. There must be a consistent program of action to determine who qualifies for official funding in this case. A threshold must be established and strictly enforced to give people the chance to seek support and to get it.

7. We must use our foreign missions to create a database of foreign-trained/educated Ghanaians who are working outside the country so that their activities can be monitored and supported (be it moral or whatever). After all, their remittances feed the national economy.

The existing mechanisms for support are too restrictive and discriminatory. Take, for instance, the Scholarship Secretariat. In its activities, it appears to exist for only those who have connections with the powers-that-be. Support from it is reserved for those who know how to grease palms or use officialdom to pull strings.

When was the last time anybody heard anything about what this Secretariat has done over the years? It is not out-of-place to demand that the list of beneficiaries be compiled for us all to scrutinize. Where are they today? Does anybody care to know?

Freedom of information demands that the activities of this Secretariat and all others responsible for dispensing public funds are made known. Their management should account for their stewardship. There must be transparency in their functions. Let them open their books to the public to examine.

We want to know how much money has been allocated to this Scholarship Secretariat and how much it has spent to support Ghanaian students studying outside the country. It is only then that we will know how such an institution serves (or fails to serve) the national interest—for which it was established, anyway.

The bare fact is that most Ghanaian students studying outside have had to depend on their own efforts and limited resources because of lack of support from government and its institutions. I am fully informed about the struggles that most have had to face to be able to pay their tuition, other fees, and rent, and to feed themselves.

Their circumstances could be better observed than described. After going through all these debilitating circumstances, they manage to complete their programs and look for job opportunities wherever possible except back in Ghana. 

The number of those who choose to return to Ghana is negligible. Such people may do so because they know that their political connections will fetch them what they want. The majority don't even think of turning their faces toward Ghana because they know they will only be jumping from the frying pan into hot, scathing fire.

In effect, those who manage to survive the vagaries of the situation are not motivated in any way to return home. In the first place, that “home” didn't contribute anything toward making them what they are today.

So, wherein lies the justification for anybody to point gossiping fingers at any of these educated Ghanaians who choose not to return home after their training?

In the first place, the government has distanced itself from the training needs of these people and has no moral justification to urge them to return home to “help build Ghana” after their training. 

Secondly, by denying these people the support that they need, the government has already proved to be an irresponsible “father” and must not deceive itself that it can use appeals to conscience to change matters. It won't wash with anybody; and the brain-drain will continue to be our country's bane.

Viewed against the current economic malaise that is endangering the political agenda of countries worldwide, many governments may fear to tread where angels themselves fear to pass; but I daresay that any bold and pragmatic measure that President Mills and his government take now to lay the foundation for a better future in human resource development will help them better than if they cower before the problems that some of us bring to their notice.

The time has come for “political rhetoric” to give way to sensible policies to advance the cause of Ghana. The brain-drain must stop being our own making. More importantly, we shouldn't continue to be seen by others as an accident of history.