This Parliament endangers our democracy

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Folks, two major events have happened over the past few days that should engage our close attention. Primarily, we should condemn them as dangerous and unacceptable because they threaten our democracy.

First, the refusal by Doe Adjaho, Speaker of Parliament to be sworn into office as Acting President. Second, the transaction between the leadership of the Parliamentary Service Board and a China-based furniture supplier. Two very disturbing occurrences to be commented on in depth.

(I hear a similar deal has been signed with a Chinese company for the supply of furniture to refurbish Job 600. Will the citizens act quickly to stop this transaction or wait for it to be concluded before baring their teeth? Truly, much water is passing under the bridge!!)

Even as President Mahama loses sleep for Ghana’s sake, his opponents cry wolf

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Folks, there is no mistaking or gainsaying the fact that a lot going on now in the country can lead to only one end: either progress or retrogression, depending on how Ghanaians approach issues to support the government in its efforts at nation building or to resort to empty fault-finding and apathy. No two ways about it.

Those of us commenting on happenings have our inclinations. Mine is not difficult to fathom. I have been a keen supporter of President Mahama and will continue to be so until he leaves the scene. Even when off the scene, I will cherish him for what he is. I have done so for the Great Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah (whom I didn’t meet personally but whose accomplishments have endeared him to my heart) and Jerry John Rawlings (whom I physically met, shook hands with and exchanged words of encouragement with) and the late President John Evans Atta Mills (whom I met in the heat of electioneering campaigns for Election 2000 and later at the Illinois State University when he came to deliver a talk on NEPAD. I still gloat over the pictures that we took). Those I haven’t bothered my head over are in my dustbin of history. Good selective amnesia here!!

Here comes the NPP with its rogue politics of lamentation

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Folks, I have persisted in saying that with the kind of "book" and "rogue" politics being done by the NPP, there is ample reason to conclude that political power will continue to elude it.

True to my expectation, they have put into motion their well-rehearsed politics of lamentation and rabble-rousing. If you doubt it, just pause to assess the direction in which they have been moving and will continue to go as Election 2016 approaches. Nothing to prove to Ghanaians that they have better policies and strategies for rebuilding the country. It is either plain insults or bragging. Political power can't be won that way.

Workers’ pension fracas: Still, the government has questions to answer

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Folks, the impasse over the management of the second tier of workers' pension funds drags on as the striking workers dig in and the government struggles to offer credible explanations to resolve it. Clearly, the government's approach to handling the impasse falls short and raise eyebrows the more its spokespersons attempt clarifying issues or justifying the government's unilateral decisions/actions affecting the interests and the after-service lives of hundreds of thousands of workers.

Not until the government comes out with something convincing and reliable to allay the fears, doubts, and concerns of the workers, I don't think that the impasse can be resolved amicably. No court action against the workers and their leaders will solve the problem. Neither will any high-sounding, bombastic, but useless public utterances that lack substance. And that substance is unmistakable: how much have the workers contributed toward their pension so far and where is the money? How secure is that money to guarantee that a worker who retires will get his/her pension promptly?

Strike by organized labour: For every worker, a good future

Friday, October 24, 2014

As usual, folks, the perennial ritual of strikes have begun being performed all over the country as organized labour obeyed the voice of the leadership of the TUC to lay down their tools. All over the country, then, the industrial action is in full swing.

This time, the motivation for the strike is not salary-related nor does it have anything directly to do with working /service conditions. It has a lot to do with pensions! The news report citing the TUC leadership as supporting the workers’ industrial action revealed the cause:

Democracies grow when truth prevails in governance

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Folks, the news report yesterday about what happened to the United States President, Barack Obama, at a restaurant came as a huge surprise to some of us; but it threw more light on why the kind of democracy being practised by the United States is relevant to that country's development agenda.

If you missed that news report, here it is in full (as carried by the BBC) under the headline "Barack Obama's credit card 'declined':

"President Barack Obama's credit card was declined at a restaurant in New York City last month, he said. "It turned out I guess I don't use it enough," Mr. Obama said. "They thought there was some fraud going on."

Who says that Akufo-Addo is neither corrupt nor can’t corrupt?

Friday, October 17, 2014

Folks, don’t make any mistake to believe that any human being is above corruption, especially if we define corruption in a wider sense than the very narrow and simple one that characterizes happenings in Ghana. Corruption is corruption when somebody does something to unduly influence another for an advantage. It is not done for its own sake!

We in Ghana are very much aware of how corruption in public office, among our politicians and the clergy, not to mention the traditional rulers, security services, and almost every sector of the population has ruined our moral fibre and thrown governance into disarray. In one way or the other, someone is corrupting another or is being corrupted.

Some elements in the NPP have raised Akufo-Addo to a high pedestal, claiming that throughout his tenure in public office, he hasn’t been corrupt nor will he corrupt anybody. In other words, he is CLEAN and far above reproach, for which matter he stands far taller than all others stained by corruption.