Kitchen politics: Who wants out?

Verily, verily I say unto you: Ghanaians are living in difficult times. Not to say we have had it easier in the past, but these times are indeed troubled with more problems than solutions – that is, if the few solutions will work at all.

The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) is holding its own against organised labour, led by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), over the recent tariff increases. Kofi Asamoah’s TUC has also not had easy with the Federation of Labour also accusing it of holding the country to ransom over their partisan interest.

Before one could whisper “pink sheets”, a new episode in the Corruption Series was released. Subah InfoSolutions, an IT company, has allegedly been paid about GHȼ144 million for apparently no job done. Interesting times.

Corruption, we are told, has been with us since Adam and doesn’t seem like leaving us soon. According to a Gallup Poll released recently, Ghana is ranked the third most perceived as corrupt in 129 countries with a free press.

The poll itself has received much flak from government appointees who, among other things, have sought to question the poll’s integrity. While it may be true that Gallup’s methodology could be faulted – which I strongly doubt – we still need a retrospection to deal with this canker.

To think that Ghana could beat her bitter rivals Nigeria in that corruption index calls for a paradigm shift in our approach to the issue.

Of course, this “fire service” approach to issues is not helping. The efforts of government to pooh pooh Gallup’s poll could have done a lot if they had been channelled into ensuring due diligence in the freebies given away as judgement debts, contracts signed at GYEEDA, Subah among others.

According to a government official, the poll was long conducted before the outbreak of GYEEDA and the like; hence it could not have reflected modern trends. I don’t think that’s what he intended saying: that corruption has now filed for asylum here? Ewuradzi!!

And while we were at it, as if by coincidence, veteran MP Alban K. Bagbin delivered a jibe to the presidency. Just like you, I was not too surprised; he has towed that line before. But this time round he met a different opposition: those Mr. Rawlings would term as “babies with sharp teeth”.

They say the last time he complained about tough times, he was silenced with an appointment; that was in the late Mills’ era. Now we are in a different era and he is now part of the three “wise” men tasked to oversee the realisation of government priority projects, same level of a cabinet minister or so I think.

And while he joined others to complain about what they thought were difficult times, some are suggesting he heeds to the advice offered by Brigadier Nunoo Mensah that one can always get his/her passport and “gerrout” if the kitchen is too hot.

It is becoming increasingly visible that something is not right somewhere. Some will deny whereas others will be accused of indulging in partisan politics for saying the obvious. Our elders say, when the frog comes from the river and reports the death of the crocodile, we have no cause to doubt the frog.

Of course, those not in support of the Mahama government should wait; 2016 is just a few months away. That’s the advice I will give to those who are getting jittery. Never in my wildest imagination did I think that my President would be thinking same.

Methinks that his remark that “for those who disagree with me and are anxious to see my back, 2016 is not too far away”, goes a long way to prove that something is amiss. It is quite obvious President Mahama is feeling the heat.

His remark was supposed to end the media warfare between Mr. Bagbin and some presidential staffers. Sadly, that remark seems to have ignited a new public debate. Is he showing signs of frustration?

Only time will tell. Meanwhile the media, widely regarded as the fourth estate of the realm, is also busy indulged in its own politics, controversies, scandals or whatever you would describe it. The Ghana Journalists Association’s annual awards event is by far the most recgonised event for Ghanaian journos.

This year’s event as usual had its own fair share of controversies. Apart from the organisation, which has seen little improvement over the previous year, everything else was the same—monotonous and boring.

It is no secret that some of the awards or categories are sponsor-driven, which is not ethical. The result is new categories being created as and when there is sponsorship. The desire to reward excellence must be genuine and not done to appease sponsors.

Some of the awards too have become redundant, if you ask me. When you have a category such as Radio Programme of the Year (Ga), which other station will win it apart from Obonu FM? As far as broadcasting in the Ga language is concerned, Obunu FM has little or no competition at all.

For someone who has been practicing journalism for more than a decade to be given the Young and Most Promising Journalist of the Year is very scandalous. Hannah Acheampong and David Adadevor are two persons who have years of experience in journalism.

What is promising about these two when they are already on top of their game? Well, that’s the GJA for you -- always courting controversy.

As journalists, if we are not able to criticise our parent body, we have no moral right to be criticising others. GJA has taken journalists for granted for too long a time. Each year, they do what amounts to an electoral charade and the same people get to the helm of affairs.

Come next year, there must be innovation. The media landscape has gone beyond the traditional radio, print and TV. New media is fully developed and the GJA awards must reflect the modern trend. The awards night is not a time for boring and uninspiring speeches. The day belongs to journalists; let them enjoy to the max.

The role of a journalist is to keep the society on the right path, and GJA is not above that!

Congrats to Kingsley Obeng Kyereh, the Journalist of the Year!

I’m out!

The writer is the author of Rhythms of Thoughts, a column published in the Weekend edition of the Business and Financial Times (B&FT).

Shameless display of greed and theft; are we fighting a lost cause?

Once upon a time, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore and Japan were countries Ghana could stand head to head with. Indeed, we had a resilient economy which was the brightest in the sub-Saharan region. That was just a little over four decades ago.

While these countries worked on their deficiencies, we stood still to watch. Few years down the line, their fortunes have seen a complete turnaround. They possess economies that have become models for most developing countries.

Of course the parameters for these countries were not exactly the same despite some striking similarities. For every two step we take, we take three backwards. Over the years, our leaders have become “visionless, clueless, directionless and purposeless.”

Since the time Tetteh Quarshie brought cocoa into this country, the crop’s fate has not changed. We still export the beans in its raw state. The nature of our economy, indeed, has not changed since the Guggisberg era.

The only thing which seems to have changed, however for the worst, is the way our leaders plunder public monies. In recent times, corruption has become part of our daily news bulletin. The news is never complete without report of financial malfeasance.

Watching proceedings of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee and the Sole Commissioner’s Judgement Debt will make your heart cringe. Some of our leaders, mostly well-educated have proven to be the worst culprits of such nation wrecks.

Of course I can’t readily mention names of such culprits but a cursory look will at least give you a clue. We have had the era of kickbacks, judgement debts and now let’s welcome the era of institutionalized corruption. Under this category, we have had the likes of GYEEDA, SUBAH, SADA and many more.

We have never as a country demonstrated a political will to fight corruption. In fact most cases, it is an open secret that those supposed to protect the public purse themselves are usually neck deep in corruption. It is really a worrying trend.

The recent trend of corruption point to a grand collusion scheme between those in government and some private individuals who are mostly party financiers. Normally you listen to the monies involved in such enterprises and you wonder whether it is worth dying for this country.

We have reduced Parliament to the approval of loans and grants agreements; which they do on almost daily basis. Without any iota of shame, we append our signatures to some meagre loan amounts which we could have easily raised domestically.

As if that’s not in enough, when these leaders travel, they go cup in hand begging like a primary school pupil who has lost his pocket money. Really shameful. I am not against lobbying for foreign direct investment; every country needs more of that.

What I don’t get is when we beg for funds to complete infrastructural developments. Almost all of our major infrastructure developments in this country have come by way or was assisted by some donor support. The list is endless; now you have the Kwame Nkrumah Circle Interchange which is being assisted by the Brazilians.

There’s no free lunch anywhere. The support we get from donors are taxes paid by their citizens which are meant to be invested properly. So if you think the Brazilian support, which just like any other, is a dash, you certainly belong to Mars.

Hidden in most of these agreements is a clause or two that always inure to the benefit of the donor. When I heard that the Circle Interchange will cost a little over 78 million euros, I nearly wept. So is it that money that we can’t afford or what?

We have never had monies for developments but we are willing to spend over Ghs1billion on GYEEDA, close to US$500million on judgement debts, Ghs144million on SubahInfosolutions etc for particular no returns.

The crass corruption in this country is what has plummeted our economy to this abyss; the levels that saw us go HIPC. Those in charge of our purse are busily finding creative means to “create, loot and share” without thinking about the health of this economy.

No country will ever take us serious if we continue to squander public funds in that manner. Most of the monies we generate locally, apart from being used as wages for public sector workers, goes down the drain; lost forever.

How much did the George Walker Bush N1 Highway cost? Less than US$75 million but I tell you if it had been a Government of Ghana (GoG) funded project, it would have cost not more than US$150 million to the tax payer.

Some people treat this country with no jot of conscience. The kayayo, shoeshine, waakye seller, pure water seller, those selling “burkina” in traffic intersections; all they have wanted from a decent government is to be able to access basic healthcare, decent roads and at least reliable utilities.

The National Health Insurance Scheme is on its knees begging to be saved. Our roads a dogged with heavy traffic because where interchanges were supposed to have been constructed, we have put traffic lights or roundabouts in their stead all because our “no money” syndrome.

As for the utilities, in some areas water is scarcer than gold and with our electricity, it comes and goes off at will. Sometimes I hate it when I am asked that dreaded question. “Are we becoming a failed state?” I hate to think that way but I don’t think we are on the trajectory to economic revolution either.

As long as every month, monies –no matter how small, are deducted from my salary under the guise of “income tax” I owe nobody an apology for demanding the right thing. These shameless theft of the poor people’s monies must stop, someday.

No country ever develops on the back of donor support. We need to untie ourselves from the strings of the donor countries’ aprons.

Our elders say, when an adult watches unconcerned as children savour the meat of the serpent; he will surely be considered as one of them.

Enough of the review committees, government must sit-up, now!

I’m out.

Richard Annerquaye ABBEY

Email: abbeykwei@gmail.com

The writer is the author of Rhythms of Thoughts, a column published in the Weekend edition of the Business and Financial Times (B&FT).