Wednesday, December 30, 2009

TACKLING THE BUSH FIRE MENACE (DEC 30. 2009)

THE year has again gone full circle, bringing in its track the dry harmattan season. At least the rains were heavy this year, except that they ceased earlier than expected, resulting in poor crop yields, especially maize, during the lean season.
The damage caused by bush fires came to a head in 1983 when the entire country was engulfed in wild fires caused by human action and a heat wave. In the process, human lives were lost, in addition to many hectares of crops, including cocoa, that were burnt, resulting in increased poverty in society.
We are certain that no Ghanaian wants a repetition of the dry season in 1983 and, therefore, will try as much as possible to protect the vegetative cover.
In spite of the institutionalisation of public education on bush fires, which has become an annual event in December, some sections of society take delight in setting bush fires for game and in preparation of the land for farming.
Charcoal burners, hunters, palm wine tappers and farmers use fire frequently in their line of work and anti-bush fire campaigns should be targeted at those operators.
Not too long ago, world leaders gathered in Copenhagen, Denmark, to deliberate on ways to ensure global climate justice.
The DAILY GRAPHIC thinks that as a race we do not need to look far enough to notice that the earth can no longer sustain our productive endeavours.
The DAILY GRAPHIC calls for more action to promote climate justice in our communities by the strict enforcement of the regulations for any productive activity, whether in agriculture or industry.
It is against this backdrop that we commend the peri-urban communities in the Tamale metropolis for forming anti-bush fire volunteer task forces to combat the increasing rate of indiscriminate burning for hunting and other purposes in the area.
The task forces, which were formed under the supervision of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) and the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TAMA), have been tasked to police their respective neighbourhoods to prevent people from engaging in bush burning and facilitate the arrest of persons who do so indiscriminately.
We encourage these two institutions to support the task forces to work towards a bush fire free dry season this year so that crops and houses in the area can be protected.
It is our prayer that such task forces will be formed throughout the country to educate the people on the danger posed by indiscriminate bush burning.
The formation of such bodies is easy to initiate. However, the difficult task is how to equip them to sensitise the people to recognise the role of the green belt in sustaining life on earth.
The DAILY GRAPHIC wishes the task forces very well in their endeavours so that the Tamale area, which is noted for indiscriminate bush burning, will have a respite this year to safeguard the properties of the people.
We call on the people, especially the chiefs, to get actively involved in the exercise because chiefs’ full participation will galvanise the people into action to protect the environment.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

WE NEED TO DEFEND OUR FISHERMEN (DEC 29, 2009)

FOR the hundreds and thousands of fishermen along the country’s coastline, the arrest and detention of two trawlers for illegally operating in the country’s Inshore Exclusive Zone (IEZ) must have come with some minimum relief.
This is because for several years now local fishermen have been at the mercy of huge industrial trawlers which have been plundering our waters and destroying the fishing nets, equipment and canoes of our poor local canoe fishermen.
Some of the illegal activities of these large vessels include pair trawling, in which they employ massive nets and two vessels running side by side to sweep the sea clean of fish, including fingerlings.
Indeed, the practice had continued to a point where it appeared that the cry of the canoe fishermen for a national intervention to save their trade was an exercise in futility, since no help appeared from anywhere.
To the extent that the local fishing industry was so threatened, pair trawling and the fate of local fishermen in general became a major electoral issue at last year’s polls which brought the National Democratic Congress into power.
In the build-up to those elections, problems relating to fishing were at the fore of the exciting and sometimes acrimonious political campaign during which the NDC promised local Ghanaian fishermen a better deal.
Curiously, the NDC made substantial gains along the coastal towns from Aflao to Axim and some political observers attributed those gains, in large measure, to the promises made to the fishermen.
Against this background, the arrest of the two vessels which, according to a Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in charge of Fisheries, Nii Amasah Namoale, was the result of a collaborative effort between the Ghana Navy and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, as well as the Fisheries Management committees in Cape Coast and Moree, is commendable.
In their moments of distress, some of the fishermen had on their own captured video evidence of their ordeal at the hands of the big vessels which, in any case, are barred by law from operating in the IEZ. But to their frustration, even those pieces of documentary evidence yielded nothing.
This time, it has been confirmed that the first trawler, M/V AWOYAA 8, was arrested in the IEZ off Cape Coast upon documentary evidence provided by local fishermen, which indicated that the vessel had destroyed the fishing nets of three canoes operating within the zone.
And the second trawler, M/V ZHONG LU YU 1004, was detained at the Tema Fishing Harbour on the same day on the basis of documentary evidence provided by the Chief Fisherman of Winneba that it had also destroyed the fishing nets of local canoe fishermen in the IEZ off Winneba.
These are but early signs that the ministry, the Navy and other stakeholders are willing and able to act in defence of our poor canoe fishermen to save our dying industry.
It is, however, too early to shout hurrah!

Monday, December 28, 2009

EMPOWER TEACHERS TO KEEP RECORDS (DEC 28, 2009)

IT is universally accepted that education holds the key to the development process in any community.
Both formal and informal education programmes empower beneficiaries to have a better appreciation of their environment and how to manage it for the betterment of society.
Although the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) mandate all governments to, among other issues, provide free access to basic education by 2015, many developing countries are very far away from attaining that goal.
In Ghana, our governments at all times have introduced policies and regulations, especially at the basic level, to improve the environment for teaching and learning.
Over the last two decades or so, several policies have been implemented to change the direction of education from the grammar type to the hands-on-skills training programme that will help beneficiaries to be more useful to the country.
The then government in the mid 1980s introduced the educational reforms to focus more on science and technical education.
That was not all; in the 1990s, the NDC administration introduced the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) programme in order to expand access to education at the basic level.
The introduction of the Capitation Grant a few years ago helped to make education more accessible to the majority of children.
The School Feeding Programme, although not a nation-wide exercise yet, helped to motivate more parents to enrol their children in public schools.
Even with the implementation of these pragmatic policies, the country is still far away from attaining universal access to education.
Therefore, the bottlenecks militating against quality education ought to be addressed now.
Last Wednesday, the Daily Graphic carried a story which said a study by the Northern Network for Education Development (NNED), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), revealed that inadequate record keeping at both the district and school levels was one of the factors that militated against the effective implementation of the Capitation Grant policy in northern Ghana.
We dare say that this problem is not limited to northern Ghana alone but cuts across the length and breadth of the country.
The inability of the administrators of education at the district and school levels to keep records should not be encouraged because without record keeping, there cannot be transparency and accountability.
The government has allocated a sizeable amount of state resources to implement the Capitation Grant and the School Feeding Programme and everything must be done to ensure that those entrusted with the resources use them for their intended purposes.
All the stakeholders in education — teachers, parents, students, the government and communities — have a very important role to play in helping to improve the standard of education in the country.
The Daily Graphic is aware that far-reaching governance structures have been put in place in all the districts to ensure the strict supervision of our schools.
District Oversight committees, chaired by district chief executives, and School Management committees (SMCs) were established to assist school authorities to raise the standards of education.
Parent-teacher associations (PTAs) have done their best to improve infrastructure and standards in schools, but it was felt that the district assemblies must take the lead role in the administration of the educational system in order to achieve strict compliance with central government regulations.
For purposes of accountability and transparency, the Daily Graphic thinks that the time has come for the Ghana Education Service to organise skills training programmes in accounting to empower teachers to keep good records of their operations.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

OF LOVE AND FORGIVENESS (DEC 24, 2009)

BY God’s grace, another Christmas season is here with us, offering us the unique opportunity to reflect on the meaning and relevance of the doctrinal dogma and theological truth of God becoming human in Jesus Christ.
Indeed, the whole story of Jesus Christ — from His birth to His death on the Cross at Calvary — is the theological pillar and doctrinal foundation of the Christian faith. And whichever way one looks at it, the message of Christmas is two-fold: On one hand, it reveals some basic and valid truths about God’s love for mankind; on the other, it shows God’s compassion and forgiving nature.
The essence of Christmas is captured in the Holy Book, where the Three Wise Men proclaimed during the birth of Jesus Christ, “Glory be to God in the highest and on earth peace and goodwill towards men”.
But what are the real lessons offered by Christmas? In the first place, it teaches us that the human heart cannot live in isolation, hatred, oppression, terrorism and exploitation. Christmas teaches us to live in peace with God and our fellow human beings. Christmas is also the practice and experience of living in solidarity with those who, because of our social and cultural standards, are deprived and marginalised.
It is a manifestation that God never abandons and forsakes humanity. From the outset of history, God has intervened and interfered in human history. God, because of love and compassion, comes into our daily lives to deliver, redeem, save and love.
As Christians, therefore, we ought to learn to accept and experience the love and compassion of God, which He amply demonstrated through the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. Second, God expects us to be more compassionate, forgiving and loving one another, especially the poor, the oppressed, the exploited and the destitute.
But the greatest challenge is: As a people and as a nation, do we live by those tenets of love, compassion and forgiveness, especially in our body politic? Although the Scripture clearly warns us in Matthew 6:14,15 that “if we refuse to forgive others, God will also refuse to forgive us”, do we really care? Does it really matter to us?
For many of us, the old Adamic nature will simply not die, and instead of seeking first the Kingdom of God and all its righteousness, we have allowed our world to be poisoned and controlled by all kinds of vices, not to mention the abuse of power and authority.
The DAILY GRAPHIC believes the best gift we can give ourselves and our dear nation this Christmas is go back to our first love and learn to live one day at a time. We must remember that God is love and Christmas is all about love.
We think the time has come for our political leaders to also walk the talk about reconciliation and forgiveness to set the tone for national cohesion and harmony, two very vital drivers of national development.
The DAILY GRAPHIC believes that the government and the opposition must find a common ground for collaboration in the national interest.
Let us demonstrate the spirit of Christmas by showing love to all. Should we fail to heal wounds and forgive one another, we risk deepening the polarisation in society and our efforts towards national development will be mere rhetoric.
We take this opportunity to wish our numerous readers and all Ghanaians a Merry Christmas.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

HEALTH INSURANCE SCHEME NEEDS HELP (DEC 23)

REPORTS from the length and breadth of the country indicate that all is not well with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
It is difficult to single out the rot at most of the District Mutual Health Insurance schemes for the challenges but it boils down to the inability of scheme managers to police the system.
The scheme has been faced with many challenges since its inception, notable among them being the delays in the issuance of identity (ID) cards, the non-payment of claims and abuse of the drug list by some service providers.
Another major problem has been the refusal of a section of the public to register for the scheme, citing various reasons such as the fear that the authorities will use the registration exercise for tax purposes and the erroneous impression that it is for political reasons.
These teething problems notwithstanding, the scheme has helped to make health facilities and health delivery more accessible to those who have registered under it.
The DAILY GRAPHIC thinks if the scheme is left unregulated by the managers, certain unscrupulous people in society will exploit the loopholes for personal gain.
We know that some of our compatriots face difficulty in paying their premiums. However, the people managing the schemes can help to grow the new health financing mechanism if they expose those who want to gain out of the sweat of ordinary premium holders.
In spite of the advancement in science and technology and the availability of health services in all corners of the country, some people in need of health care die because of their inability to foot the medical bills.
The Mills administration has pledged to build on the foundations of the NHIS put in place by the previous government. It has promised to introduce the one-time premium payment but if the fraud in the system is not halted, nothing fruitful can be achieved even if the novelty one-time payment is introduced.
The DAILY GRAPHIC, therefore, welcomes the directive by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) that the use of claim funds for administrative purposes, which can be described as a leak, be stopped to ensure that moneys meant for specific items are disbursed appropriately.
The DAILY GRAPHIC supports moves by the NHIA to streamline the operations of the scheme to ensure that majority of Ghanaians who have paid premiums enjoy better health services.
We call on the authority not to spare the rod when its officials are found to have misapplied the resources of the scheme.
The NHIS enjoys a massive injection of funds every month from taxes, premiums and contributions from workers but the benefits cannot accrue to the people if the managers are left to do their own thing.
Let us collectively take steps to expose all the bad lots in the system in order to save the scheme from collapse.
The complaints from premium holders, if not addressed quickly, can kill the enthusiasm with which the people have responded recently to the campaign to register with the scheme.
All health financing schemes world-wide face challenges, but their managers are working hard to remove the bottlenecks that stand in the way of an effective health financing framework.
The cheats in the system must not have their way.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

DIALOGUE, THE WAY FORWARD (DECEMBER 22, 2009)

CONFLICTS have reduced many communities and countries to rubbles because the parties in such disputes have chosen the path of war instead of jaw-jaw.
In our country, the development processes have stalled or slowed down because of protracted chieftaincy and land disputes.
Indeed, our justice system is too adversarial to give room for people to dialogue in order to find amicable solutions to their differences.
On many occasions, the court platforms look like battlegrounds where the victor should not give any breathing space to the vanquished. In the end, the system does not necessarily make room for offenders to accept their guilt, heal wounds and build bridges for peaceful co-existence.
The call, therefore, by a member of the National Peace Council (NPC), the Most Rev Francis Lodonu, for more dialogue in addressing conflicts offers the best way forward in building a united society.
As he put it, “The judiciary alone does not hold the key to resolving conflicts in the country.”
He observed that the recourse to the courts to resolve conflicts might appear to be the most obvious option but not necessarily the most effective.
The Most Rev Lodonu must have stated the obvious because even the Judiciary has recognised that the court system alone may not hold the key to justice delivery, hence the decision of the Judicial Service to promote the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism in the country.
The managers of the justice system may be doing their best to encourage out-of-court settlements in order to free the judicial system from petty criminal offences, otherwise referred to as misdemeanours, so that the courts can have time to deal with violent criminals and serious offenders in the system.
The campaign to promote ADR has been ongoing for some time now, except that progress is slow to make the necessary impact in the justice system.
The DAILY GRAPHIC thinks that the time has come for all stakeholders to get down to brass tacks so that contending parties can be encouraged to settle many cases out of court.
But for this process to achieve the desired result, it is important for the Judiciary to recognise the importance of ADR in resolving the bottlenecks in the system.
Some of our justices still impose heavy fines and penalties for petty crimes such as stealing of farm produce, assault and some driving offences.
The DAILY GRAPHIC believes that if the court system allows for dialogue and ADR for the resolution of disputes in society, the delays in the adjudication of justice will be a thing of the past, while our prisons will be decongested.
Reports abound of accused persons who have been on remand for years because of non-trial arising out of unnecessary adjournments, inadequate legal brains in the system and loss of dockets.
The time has come for all of us to think outside the box so that we can find a more effective and efficient way of resolving conflicts. For, it is said that justice delayed is justice denied.
Also, aggrieved persons who do not seek opportunities or windows for justice will seek solace in conflicts, thereby making society insecure and unsafe for law- abiding citizens to carry out their legitimate businesses.

Monday, December 21, 2009

PREVENTING CROSS-BORDER CRIME (DEC 21, 2009)

ALTHOUGH globalisation is touted to have the panacea for bringing nations together to share common resources, it equally has its negative effects.
The World Wide Web has reduced the world to a global village and has also brought in its wake negative influences such as cross-border crimes and negative cultural attitudes.
It is against this background that the Daily Graphic thinks the decision to arm personnel of the border patrol unit of the Ghana Immigration Service to help check the increasing cross-border crimes in the country must be encouraged.
The Daily Graphic is encouraged that the Ministries of the Interior and Defence have been tasked to draw up modules for the take-off of the exercise to ensure that the people who would be involved do not misuse the power and weapons that will be given to them.
Not long ago, majority of our people lived in a state of fear and insecurity because armed robbers had decided to make life uncomfortable for the citizenry. Some of these criminal gangs were believed to be nationals of our neighbouring countries.
We are not saying that our brothers and sisters of neighbouring countries were responsible for the armed robberies across the length and breadth of the country, but the Daily Graphic is also aware that until we opened our doors to our brothers and sisters from neighbouring countries, criminal activities had not attained the present level of sophistication.
Some of these foreign criminals collaborate with local accomplices who understand the national psyche very well to terrorise the people.
Tightening border security through arming of personnel at the border patrol unit of the Ghana Immigration Service could not have come at an appropriate time.
The Daily Graphic calls on the appropriate agencies to sensitise personnel of the unit to put Ghana first in all their endeavours.
We are groping in the dark, still struggling to find the right model for our development, because in many instances, persons put in charge of state institutions have abused the trust reposed in them. Some of these people use the opportunity offered them by the state to amass wealth to the detriment of the people.
We recall with pain that one of the reasons for the abolition of the border guards in the 1970s, was that the personnel encouraged smugglers to undermine the stability of the economy in the country. Certainly, such atrocious behaviour cannot be countenanced by any right-thinking member of society and we trust it will never be repeated by the new crop of men in the immigration service.
As we go back to arm the men and women who patrol our borders, the Daily Graphic calls on relevant institutions to learn the useful lessons of the past and take steps to prevent the situation where some staff of the unit would become allies of criminal gangs.
This is crucial for our well-being as a people and nobody must give the government the cause to regret this brilliant decision.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

ENFROCING ROAD SAFETY REGULATIONS (DEC 19, 2009)

A NATIONAL Road Safety Policy aimed at co-ordinating road safety activities, as well as ensuring road safety interventions, has been introduced in the country.
Timely as the launch was, it could not have come at a much better time than now, especially, with a few days to Christmas, which incidentally is also a period with high incidence of road accidents.
The DAILY GRAPHIC has always stressed the need to enforce our laws to ensure sanity in the system.
Our worry stems from the fact that in many cases, the country has drafted very good laws and adopted sound policies to define our national character but implementation has always been slow or lacking.
It is a known fact that carnage on the country’s roads is about the worst in the world. The carnage is attributed to human error, which accounts for about 80 per cent of all road accidents.
But the problems of road safety is a multifaceted one. It can be addressed through public education, technical knowledge and administrative procedures.
The DAILY GRAPHIC thinks the policy that mandates drivers to acquire a minimum educational qualification before being granted driver’s licences should be enforced without any delay.
We also need to enforce the laws on roadworthiness of cars. It is amazing to see death traps being used as vehicles on our roads.
One wonders how owners of these vehicles obtained their roadworthiness certificates or how they renewed them.
The institutional capacity of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) needs to be strengthened for it to deliver timely services to the drivers.
It is only when the cumbersome nature of getting a licence is addressed immediately that drivers will not resort to dealing with “Goro” boys who issue fake documents.
The life of every Ghanaian is very important and we expect that precious lives will not be lost through the recklessness of our drivers.
The unnecessary killing of our countrymen and women through road accidents, should not become a feature during this year’s Christmas holidays and beyond.
The DAILY GRAPHIC calls on the authorities to implement the road safety policy to protect the lives of the motoring public.

Friday, December 18, 2009

BUILDING A BETTER GHANA (DEC 18, 2009)

THE performance of the economy this year gives an indication that the country has adopted the right mix to achieve better results in 2010.
If the belief that coming events cast their shadows is anything to go by, then it means inflation will inch further downwards in 2010, while the cedi will make gains against all the major trading currencies next year.
This is, however, achievable only if the government sticks to the right policies to stimulate the economy.
Undoubtedly, 2009 has been quite a difficult year, due largely to our own internal bottlenecks and external shocks brought about by the credit crunch.
But the economic indicators show clearly that the economy is bouncing back, except that those interesting statistics are yet to impact positively on the living standards of the people.
In most jurisdictions, when inflation drops and currencies stabilise, the prices of goods and services fall and interest rates drop. But the reverse is the case in Ghana. This is a task for the economic management team and its members are enjoined to work hard to break the cycle.
Over the past 11 months, the economic management team has done its best, but it is the prayer of everybody, just as the Vice-President, Mr John Mahama, said in a Christmas message, that “the country will witness a significant improvement in the economy which will result in job creation in the public and other sectors of the economy, especially the agricultural sector, from next year”.
The DAILY GRAPHIC believes that it is within our capabilities to improve our economic fortunes if all of us put our shoulders to the wheel.
For this reason, we call on Ghanaians to resolve to put in extra effort in the coming years to harness our rich resources for our betterment.
The country is endowed with arable land, minerals, attractive tourist sites and skilled manpower which can be used to generate the right model for economic growth and development.
It is our prayer that Ghana will learn useful lessons from oil producing countries so that this precious resource will become a blessing rather than a curse.
Although we have what it takes to build a better Ghana, there are challenges that require our collective resolve to bring under control. First, the attitude of the people to work, be it in the public or the private sector, must change so that we can generate the money to fight poverty, diseases and squalor.
Most working people, especially those in government employment, do not give of their best; yet they expect to be paid at the end of the month.
We do not also care about the protection of State property because we assume that “if the government owns, then nobody owns and, therefore, nobody cares”.
The giving of our mandate to the government means it has signed a social contract with the people to manage the country’s resources well to change the conditions of the people for the better.
The DAILY GRAPHIC, however, believes strongly that we can only hold the government accountable for its stewardship if we also fulfil our side of the social contract to be law abiding, hardworking and honour our tax obligations.
Yes, we can because the future looks bright.
However, the DAILY GRAPHIC cautions that the road to the bright future will be rough and that we can only get there through honesty, hard work, dedication and commitment.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

BOOSTING MORALE OF FARMERS (DEC 17, 2009)

THE release of bonuses to cocoa farmers by the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) just on the heels of the Yuletide is yet another indication of the country’s desire to support the farmers.
The DAILY GRAPHIC, however, cautions against the repetition of the delay in the payment of bonuses to cocoa farmers in August this year.
At that time, COCOBOD issued an ultimatum to all the licensed buying companies (LBCs) to effect the payment of the bonuses without delay or it would withdraw the licences of the affected LBCs.
That resulted in some disagreement with the LBCs, to the detriment of our cocoa farmers who were at the receiving end of the frosty relationship between the two institutions.
It is in the light of this that the DAILY GRAPHIC wishes to call on all actors to be up and doing and use the lessons learnt during the impasse in August as a guide to ensure that cocoa farmers receive their due without any hassle.
Time and again, we have had to restate the importance of the cocoa sector to the national economy.
This year, one of the major contributory factors to the stabilisation of the economy is the near record price of cocoa on the international market, which currently is trading at more than $3,000 per tonne.
The DAILY GRAPHIC is convinced that the bonus of GH¢25.3 million released to the farmers will further boost their morale to produce more as the country tries to reach the one million metric tonnes target next season.
But that can only be realised when people tasked to do their work play by the rules and avoid any shortcuts that will aggravate our national problems.
Beyond the payment of bonuses to the farmers, the DAILY GRAPHIC acknowledges the government’s policy on agriculture and the youth-in-agriculture policy to attract more young people into the agricultural sector.
We believe that the projected increases in cocoa tonnage to about one million in the next season can be realised when there are government interventions to clear the obstacles in the path towards the attainment of that goal.
The cocoa sector can serve as a vital driver of the youth and employment policies of the government because of the long-term benefits to the farmer, including the guaranteed price for the produce.
The expansion in the mass cocoa spraying programme can be one such critical intervention that can help push the sector to meet its target.
The DAILY GRAPHIC believes that the cocoa sector holds the key to our development, especially the rural economy and the potential linkages to other value chain industries in the country.
We commend the government for sustaining this incentive to our cocoa farmers.
The DAILY GRAPHIC can only hope that the farmers will be spurred on by the incentive to produce more to meet the country’s needs.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

CAN WE TRUST THE POLICE? (DEC 16, 2009)

AS social partners in the effort to build and maintain a free, just and crime-free Ghana, the DAILY GRAPHIC and the Ghana Police Service have maintained a relationship of trust, probably until yesterday.
It is a relationship built and nurtured over many decades and whose pioneers apparently believed would outlast generations of leaders on either side in the interest of national security.
Indeed, such a bond of trust and mutual respect could only be the natural product of two institutions united by the forces of demand and supply of credible and reliable information needed to keep Ghana safe and secure.
In our time, we on the DAILY GRAPHIC side of the relationship have lived with the full knowledge that the chief nourisher of this bond is the lore that information so shared — some classified, some for public consumption — are sacred and that confidentiality ought to be treated as such.
We also believed that our partners on the other side were inspired by a similar ethic.
But, yesterday, the police, through the Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), attempted to re-define the relationship, in spite of his own claim that his gesture was not intended to put the Daily Graphic and the Police Administration “on a collision course”.
Ours is also not an attempt to join DCOP Yaw Adu-Poku on any collision course but to join him, in his own words, “to set the record straight” in the case of the arrest of some top executives of the pharmaceutical giant, Kinapharma, last Thursday.
And what are the facts of the case?
In the Thursday, December 11, 2009 issue of the DAILY GRAPHIC, we reported the arrest of “three top officials of the Kinapharma Pharmaceutical Company for possessing substances prohibited under Ghana’s Narcotic Control Law”, quoting sources within the CID.
Under a convention built on the trust alluded to earlier, there is nothing unusual about the police carrying out a legitimate duty and disclosing it to the media for publication to boost the morale of the security operatives, assure law-abiding citizens that their security is assured or serve as a deterrent to would-be offenders.
And the police had done so whether the event involved armed robbery or drugs, whether at the airport or at people’s homes.
Our CID source in the Kinapharma story provided all the elements of what had happened, why and where the arrests had been effected, how the operation had been carried out, who did it, when it took place, as well as the tests to be conducted.
The officer in charge of operations at the Accra office, Supt Sylvester Boyon, also went public the day after with some details on a radio station, with the following excerpts:
Supt Boyon: When we got there, there was a particular substance that NACOB people were not so sure of whether it contained some other substances or not. So we got instruction from CID Headquarters. We had sent those boxes there. They are now going to label them and send them for analysis. That is basically the case. ...It was ... false something like that ... cocaine. There is nobody in conclusive of anything. That is not my department. I cannot say much about that.
Question: So you are saying that the substance that you have found there you suspect is cocaine.
Supt Boyon: Basically that is curiosity, because they say it’s psychotropic drug ... material that they use for their thing. It is for curiosity purposes. I just wanted to have a test to know the actual substance. I just left there. NACOB members are still there. I do not think they have taken samples ...
The behaviour of the CID chief at the press conference yesterday appears to us to be the first attempt by a high-ranking police officer to call into question what had existed between two credible institutions bonded by mutual trust.
And he did it in a way that raises more interesting questions, to which we will return later.
In his press conference yesterday, DCOP Adu-Poku anchored his claim on the fact that the CID could not have been the source of the DAILY GRAPHIC story because, in his own words, the DAILY GRAPHIC publication of December 11, 2009 contained “factual errors which re-enforce the position that the information did not come from a credible source and for that matter from the CID Headquarters”.
And his reasons are that “only two officials from Kinapharma were arrested and not three, as contained in the publication. Besides, the Accra Regional Police Headquarters played a very important role in the whole operation that culminated in the arrest of the officials but they were conspicuously left out”.
Interestingly, DCOP Adu-Poku isolated the above statement from the real substance of the story as to whether the CID undertook the operation and how else DAILY GRAPHIC obtained the information.
Our simple question to the CID Chief is: Is this the reason we should not trust the police?

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

KUDOS, ECONOMIC TEAM (DEC 15, 2009)

THE macroeconomic stability achieved over the past 11 months by the Mills administration should give hope to Ghanaians that sooner than later the economy will be out of the woods.
With inflation further declining to 16.92 per cent at the end of November and the cedi performing strongly against the major trading currencies over the past months, one can only express confidence in the ability of the government to steer the economy towards consolidation and growth.
Although many analysts expected the decline in inflation, many did not expect the decline from 18.04 per cent to the current level, considering that throughout the year the rate of decline had been very marginal.
Macroeconomic stability has been achieved as a result of the government’s austere measures announced in the 2009 budget statement, but we recognise that it kept to stringent spending targets to put the economy on a stabilisation path.
The DAILY GRAPHIC thinks it is a mark of prudence on the part of the government to keep spending levels within the targets announced in the budget statement.
Again, many point to the tight monetary policies which have led to the non-payment of contractors for jobs executed, a development which, to some, has accounted for the macroeconomic stability.
The DAILY GRAPHIC is of the belief that in an economy where inflation hovers over and above 20 per cent, the private sector cannot do well to stimulate the economy. It also renders ordinary people, for whom the government initiates policies, more impoverished.
Governments all over the world strike a balance between lower inflation and investments in the productive sectors and this we think the government must work hard to attain.
We have every reason to believe that the needed impetus to push the economy towards the right path, as envisaged in the 2010 budget statement, will be pursued. This includes support for agriculture.
Considering the fact that the food component of inflation plays a critical role in reducing cost of living, the government must do everything possible to cushion the country against food price hikes through its agricultural policies.
That, we think, will also serve as a shock absorber for the economy should the non-food component, mainly on account of crude oil price hikes on the international market, go beyond our control.
However, the DAILY GRAPHIC cautions that in pursuing growth, care must be taken not to throw away the stabilisation achieved so far.
Nonetheless, we think that the government must necessarily spend, especially in the productive sectors of the economy that have the potential to generate jobs and incomes for many of our people, given the government’s critical role in the economy.
However, such spending should be within tolerable levels in order that we do not create the conditions that necessitated the fall in the cedi and high levels of inflation and national debt.
The DAILY GRAPHIC commends Dr Kwabena Duffuor and his economic management team for implementing sound economic measures that have led to a significant reduction in the fiscal and external deficits.
Let us have more of such pragmatic policies next year in order to create more jobs and prosperity for the people.

Monday, December 14, 2009

RESCIND THIS DECISION, GNAT (DEC 14, 2009)

THE widely held view that the teacher’s reward is in heaven cannot hold water in the present circumstances.
In days past, society held the teacher in very high esteem and assisted to make life somehow comfortable for members of the chalk fraternity.
Today, the educational regulations frown on the use of schoolchildren for most extra-curricula activities, and for good reasons, too.
Presently, the esteem in which teachers are held has reduced because of the misconduct of some teachers or inaction on the part of the authorities.
In fact, members of society owe a lot of the progress they have chalked up to the support of the teacher, hence the popular dictum, “If you can read and write, thank a teacher”.
The Daily Graphic thinks that society cannot pay teachers for all the good things that they have done for mankind, but we believe that something can be done to assuage the feeling among the chalk fraternity that they are not counted among the important segments of society.
It will not be fair, however, to say that nothing has been done to improve the conditions of service of teachers.
Our governments have never lost the opportunity to proclaim the teaching profession as the key driver for improved standards in education.
For this reason, the conditions of service for teachers have always been updated in line with everyday realities, except that because our wants are insatiable, the government is unable to satisfy all working people.
The present government has introduced some incentive packages, such as the special allowance for teachers who accept posting to rural areas and the pledge to settle all legitimate outstanding demands, in a move to improve the remuneration of teachers.
We need peace at all fronts of labour in order to achieve the goals of a better Ghana because any industrial dispute will disrupt productivity.
Although the government and employers do not respond with dispatch to the grievances of labour, these partners cannot be blamed solely for the agitation because the ends are competing for limited resources.
In the present instance of the directive from the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) to teachers to begin a sit-down strike from today, the Daily Graphic calls on teachers to rescind the decision for the sake of schoolchildren.
The GNAT, according to a letter addressed to the Ghana Education Service (GES), raised six key issues, including the upward review of supervision allowances, support for teachers on distance education programmes and interviews for promotion, as the reasons for their decision to embark on the industrial action.
The expectation is that in the days ahead teachers and their employers will be involved in an industrial row which will affect pupils because it is said that when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.
The Daily Graphic urges the GES and GNAT to return to the negotiation table and endeavour to remain there until they have ironed out all their differences.
The challenges in the educational sector demand a quick resolution so that all hands will be on deck to train the requisite manpower for the task of nation building.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

SUPPORTING THE POLICE TO DELIVER (DEC 12)

UNTIL recently, violent crime, especially armed robbery, posed a serious danger to the security of the country and the movement of the people in it.
A few months ago, armed robbers attacked businesses and residential facilities almost on a daily basis, robbing their victims of their hard-earned possessions and torturing them at will.
In May this year when the President appointed Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye as the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), he was charged with the responsibility to break the back of the criminal gangs in the country in order to realise the pledge President Mills made on his inauguration “to make the security of the people his paramount concern”.
Realising the constraints facing the service, Mr Quaye sought a partnership with the military by intensifying the joint police/military patrols. The police complemented that effort with the setting up of Tent Cities at vantage points and an intelligence unit to take the fight to the backyard of the robbers.
Sadly enough, it was at that period of police/military patrols that armed robbers devised strategies to outwit our security personnel and develop a culture of impunity to engage in open confrontation with our men and women in uniform.
When the police responded appropriately to halt that impunity by meeting the robbers boot for boot, as the lives of the police were also at risk, a section of the public, particularly human rights activists, raised concerns.
But, today, the entire society is enjoying the relative security that the police have helped to restore due to the arrest and prosecution of the kingpins of these robbery gangs and their members.
It is against this backdrop that the DAILY GRAPHIC adds its voice to the advice by President Mills to the police to resist complacency, "although the institution's concrete actions and co-ordinated efforts to combat organised crime in the country were highly encouraging and very much appreciated by the government and the public".
He told police officer cadets at their graduation at the Police College in Accra yesterday that “there is a tendency that organised crime may adopt more sophisticated strategies and tactics to outwit the police, which have stepped up their efforts to rid the Ghanaian society of miscreants and misfits”.
We need not remind the police of the highly sophisticated activities of criminal gangs in recent times because they are highly professional and always on top of their tasks.
But it is necessary to keep reminding them that if the recent successes make them complacent, these groups of organised gangsters will make life uncomfortable for the people, especially during the Christmas festivities.
The DAILY GRAPHIC calls on the public to play its part in crime combat because it has been established that public-police collaboration has always yielded fruitful results.
The criminals live in our communities; some are our friends and relatives and if we make it a point to expose them, our safety and security will be generated.
The DAILY GRAPHIC thinks that now that the police are on top of their job, it behoves the government to continue to attend to some of their needs, particularly logistics, accommodation and improved service conditions.
In the same vein, we urge personnel of the Police Service and the other security agencies to live above board by demonstrating integrity and professionalism in the discharge of their duties.
We commend the Ghana Police Service for the modest gains made so far but it should not rest on its laurels until it has rid our society of misfits.

Friday, December 11, 2009

A VERY GOOD BEGINNING (DEC 11, 2009)

THE fight against corruption was given a boost on Wednesday with the launch of a code of conduct for public officers as part of the intensified effort by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to stem the tide of corruption in the country.
The 1992 Constitution has elaborate provisions on this issue, but enforcement has been very slow, necessitating more action to reinforce the need to halt corruption to ensure development effectiveness, for, after all, it is said that more hands make light work.
The World Bank says that development goals can be seriously jeopardised when countries are poorly governed and especially when they face competition, fraud and mismanagement.
Indeed, speakers at the launch, which formed part of this year’s International Anti-Corruption Day, minced no words in emphasising the need to fight corruption in order to free resources for national development.
The Vice-President, Mr John Mahama, who launched the code, announced some anti-corruption initiatives of the government and further actions to help redress the social canker.
The fight against corruption can be successful only with the collective resolve of society to break its back.
So long as there is the giver and the receiver in the system, public resources will be diverted for personal gain.
It is hoped that the increased budgetary allocation to CHRAJ will help it to formulate new strategies to promote transparency and accountability in public life.
The DAILY GRAPHIC thinks that although some actions have been taken to promote transparency in the use of public funds, such as the enactment of the Public Procurement and the Whistle Blowers acts, we do not need to rest on our laurels but encourage the government to enact the Freedom of Information Bill to open up the system for further scrutiny to ensure that officials use public funds for their intended purposes.
We also think that the work of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament should not end with its public hearings but that those cited for the misapplication of public funds must be punished to serve as a deterrent to others.
It is obvious that governance and anti-corruption issues are critical to improving development outcomes, such as better delivery of services in the health, educational and road sectors.
The DAILY GRAPHIC believes that the notion among a section of the population that corruption is in the character of only politicians is not helping the national response to the canker.
If everybody resolves not to take bribe or give bribe, as well as refrain from rent seeking, corruption and corrupt people will phase out from our national endeavour.
We should, however, not deceive ourselves that once the code has been launched, corruption will become a thing of the past in the conduct of public affairs.
The DAILY GRAPHIC calls on CHRAJ to bite hard so that the code will enhance public confidence in the integrity of public office holders and government decision-making processes by establishing clear rules of conduct for all.
Let us perform our official duties honestly, faithfully and efficiently. Everybody’s work should begin and end with the common good in mind so that we can use our positions to create equal opportunities for the people to improve their well-being.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

IMPROVING OUR HOUSING STOCK (DEC 10)

The striving for shelter by majority of the people is far from over because the demand for housing is very high. Land and houses are not adequate or affordable to majority of the people.
While the government initiates the process to find a way out of the challenges, many people continue to migrate to the urban areas for better economic opportunities.
There is no doubt that the solution to the housing deficit will serve as a catalyst for poverty reduction.
The announcement that the government has sealed a deal with a South Korean construction firm to deliver 200,000 housing units in the country over the next five years, beginning next year, is refreshing because the deal will help to improve the housing conditions of the people to meet their basic need for shelter.
What is also heart-warming is that the government delegation to South Korea, led by the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Mr Albert Abongo, assured the Korean partners of land for the project.
The land tenure system in the country is not the best, as, in many instances, several people contest the same title to a parcel of land. Security of tenure has not helped the efforts by the government, estate developers and individuals to scale down the housing deficit.
The problem of housing for the low-income earner is quite severe, as many people live in informal settlements or encroach on public lands. Sodom and Gommorrah and other areas in Accra are perfect examples of such settlements.
High rent charges and harassment of tenants by some landlords have compelled many workers to attempt to have their own houses. Despite the fact that self-ownership of housing offers the best solution to the problem, some people cannot afford to build houses due to the lack of disposable income.
This phenomenon of self-help housing has fed into the speculative land market, leading to multiple sales and encroachment on public lands, as well as the unplanned nature of almost all our urban centres.
It is not a healthy development for the statutory authorities and landowners to sell all lands for building purposes without regard for space for agricultural purposes and parks.
Everywhere in the world, space is always reserved for agricultural purposes and recreational facilities such as parks in order to preserve the environment.
The DAILY GRAPHIC thinks it is about time we resisted the temptation of developing at great environmental cost that will aggravate poverty in the country.
If care is not taken, there will be no land reserved for agricultural purposes in the Greater Accra Region, for instance, because of the sprawling physical development the region, particularly in Accra.
The DAILY GRAPHIC, therefore, calls on the government to encourage investment arrangements that will promote the construction of flats in all urban centres in order to conserve land for other purposes.
It is hoped that the housing deal, which involves the HFC Bank, a major housing financier in the country, will serve as a model for a turn around in the housing industry very soon.
We know that a major constraint facing most developers is the lack of housing loans. In the circumstance, developers end up putting up houses with cheap materials that are vulnerable to the weather.
The DAILY GRAPHIC calls for a national housing policy that will serve as a road map to articulate the government’s vision to ensure affordable shelter for all.
The latest deal with the South Korean firm should bear fruits so that the government’s efforts will improve housing conditions for the people, including the urban poor, to live in a safe environment.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

STOPPING THIS HUMAN TRAFFICKING (DEC 9)

HUMAN trafficking in our part of the world somehow has a link to the underdevelopment of society.
This has led to unrelenting rural migration with young people — both males and females — moving to the cities to swell the unemployed urban population.
This large number of unemployed people are those who fall prey to human trafficking.
In Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi and some of the urban areas one would find these unemployed youth roaming looking for any job to do with most of them yearning to go abroad to seek greener pastures.
It has become fashionable to see these young people looking for what they term as “connection” and willing and ready to pay as much as between GH¢3,000 and GH¢6,000 for travel documents, mostly fake ones, to get to Europe and America where they are made to believe that they will get better jobs.
They go to these foreign countries only to find out that the jobs they were promised are non-existent and have to do with any job that come their way. Some of them end up doing unimaginable menial jobs. Others, especially the women, end up in brothels to engage in prostitution.
This is how some of our young female compatriots — 50 of them — ended up in the Russian Federation to engage in commercial sex work in Moscow and other cities in the Federation.
To stop this human trafficking requires concerted efforts at the national, regional and district levels.
It must start with the improvement on agricultural practices and methods, since majority of our people are in agriculture. Community development and employment generation initiatives by the government, the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies, will make staying home attractive.
Civil society organisations such as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), women groups and co-operatives must play important role in the effort by implementing poverty alleviation policies and programmes in both urban and rural areas and coming up with concrete income generating activities for these vulnerable young people who roam in our cities so that they do not fall prey to these syndicates and rings who lure them to be trafficked.
Fortunately, the government has initiated measures to streamline and modernise agriculture and as part of these, agricultural equipment, fertilisers and Buffer Stock Management Agency which will purchase farm produce through private buying agents at guaranteed prices from farmers to revolutionise agriculture have been put in place.
The government should not stop here but also come up with programmes to develop the rural areas by providing the basic social amenities such as housing units, potable water, electricity and good roads
We believe that if these measures are consciously implemented, our rural sector will open up and these young men and women will be enticed to stay in their various communities to help develop the areas and not make a beeline to the cities to be caught in this obnoxious human trafficking.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

WE SALUTE OUR FARMERS (DEC 5)

IN the face of the euphoria of the news of the discovery of oil in the country, many have come to believe that the exploitation of these hydrocarbons single-handedly holds the solution to the nation’s socio-economic problems.
The perception here is that so much money would accrue from the exploitation and sale of the oil that there would be enough funds to go round to dramatically improve the quality of life of the people.
This, at best, is an exaggeration of the potential of the nation’s oil resources and what they can do.
It is also important to note that in spite of their substantial agricultural potential, many nations, on striking oil, relegate the agricultural sector to the background as the petrol dollars flow in.
Some, on the exhaustion of the oil resources, return to a shattered agricultural sector completely incapable of meeting domestic requirements of food and raw materials, thereby deepening the nation’s reliance on external sources for these products.
We are happy that this unhealthy line of thinking is absent in our management of the national economy and that the government has not only emphasised its support for the agricultural system but has actually increased assistance to the sector.
As part of measures to streamline and modernise the sector to help increase productivity, the government plans to import about 3,000 tractors to augment those already in the country for the next farming season.
The Minister of Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, who announced this in Tamale at the Silver Jubilee anniversary of the National Farmers Day, said while 31 combine harvesters had already been deployed on the fields, more were being assembled and that more facilities and support would be provided to position the sector to deliver even more to accelerate national development.
We are happy at the recognition and rewards accorded our hardworking farmers at yesterday’s event.
One area of action we are particularly happy with is the government’s setting up of a Buffer Stock Management Agency (BUSMA), which will purchase farm produce through private buying agents at guaranteed prices from farmers.
Over the years, farmers have been heeding calls to step up the production of basic crops such as maize, rice, millet, sorghum and cotton, only for them to have tens of thousands of tonnes of farm produce locked up in their barns and silos without market.
We recall that in the mid-1970s, in response to the Operation Feed Yourself (OFY) programme launched by the government of the National Redemption Council (NRC), many went into farming and the silos in the northern parts of the country were filled with rice, maize, sorghum, cotton, and other foodstuffs.
With no market for their produce, thereby not being able to repay loans contracted from the banks, most farmers went bankrupt and their property seized to defray their debts, leading to the collapse of their agribusiness.
With the BUSMA, farmers should be assured of a guaranteed market for their produce, which in turn will enable them to have decent earnings for their efforts.
The efforts of BUSMA to help farmers to market their produce and its engagement of private buying agents will create more jobs that will provide incomes for the unemployed and reduce poverty and thus increase social protection and stability.
We, in the face of these positive trends, believe that farmers would take advantage to expand their activity and modernise their agricultural methods to increase production so that many of our youth will see the agricultural sector as a rewarding area. This would motivate them to avoid drifting in droves to the cities for non-existent white collar jobs.

AN EXAMPLE OF SELFLESS LEADERSHIP (DEC 8, 2009)

CONSENSUS, it has been argued, is a good method of moving matters forward in the right direction.
This is so because, among others, it is a product of the reasoned arguments and positions of various individuals or groups who collectively share in the destiny of an entity, be it a state or company.
With consensus it is relatively easy to mobilise societal resources, including people and funds, to embark on projects and programmes that would contribute to enhancing the quality of life of the people.
Additionally, the level of opposition or resistance to the pursuit of such policies or programmes would be lower, given that the support of virtually all stakeholders had already been secured.
It is, therefore, on account of these and other positive attributes of consensus building that we commend JOY FM and Coconut Groove Hotels for initiating discussions on the need to build consensus in order to move the national development effort forward.
In the bid to build and sustain consensus, it is important first to anchor such an important exercise on the strong foundation of the assertion of the truth and giving to each what is truly deserving of his or her.
That is why we find as appropriate, fitting and in the right direction, the testimony of Mr Kwame Pianim, an economist and a man well known in the country, to the effect that he can vouch for the integrity and cleanliness of President John Evans Atta Mills and that he can put his neck on the line that President Mills is incorruptible (see front page story).
We find this testimony striking not only because it is true but from whom and where it is coming from.
In a country such as ours, where it is the rule rather than the exception for political rivalry to be overstretched to the realms of enmity, it is highly inconceivable to find high level of accolade being heaped on or accorded the President, especially when the person giving this accolade doesn’t come from the President’s party.
Mr Pianim must be a principled and courageous man to defy the “political correctness” of his party to say all these nice things about President Mills, even as those who share the same political colouration with him may be gnashing their teeth in anger and annoyance.
Even before Mr Pianim spoke, President Mills had spoken and acted in similar regard.
Not in the history of this republic has a leader shown such levels of tolerance, humility and spirit of reconciliation as the President did on the assumption of office on January 7, 2009.
These values and attributes, if they are nurturd more to permeate the political system, would create a conducive atmosphere for the building and sustenance of national consensus in the way forward for our nation.
We must end the cycle of political recrimination by giving to each other his or her due even as we must never compromise on corruption and other acts of malfeasance for which the law must be allowed to take its course.

Monday, December 7, 2009

DAWN OF A NEW POSITIVE ERA (DEC 7)

One of the positive attributes of a democratic system of government is the granting of an atmosphere for the free trade or exchange of ideas on which society can move forward and how this can be done and the timing for doing so.
Through such exchanges, the good ideas come to the fore as a result of the synthesis of the various positions and these are subsequently fashioned into workable policies and programmes for the progress of the nation.
Since Ghana’s return to multiparty politics in 1993, the space for public discourse has both widened and deepened to include people of all walks of life.
Accordingly, we have found the appraisal of the actions and omissions, including criticisms and commendations, as active forms of participation in not only enriching the contents and directions of policy and programmes but also continuously asserting the people’s ownership of the process.
This renewal of confidence in the democratic process is important to keep the system alive and vibrant.
And for this to be effective, it must come with caveats including conducting such discourse on the basis of objective truth and facts that can both be verified and substantiated and which has candour, is decorous and accords dignity and respect to all.
In recent times, we have noted with concern some unhealthy deviations from this honourable approach to national discourse, which in the main has degenerated into the pouring of invectives and sometimes outright insults on the personality and Office of the President, our number one citizen.
While the President can be criticised and taken to task for acts of commission and omission that fall short of public expectation, we can and must do so without being insulting or being overly bitter and angry.
That office, being one of our key national symbols, deserves respect not for the sake of one individual but for the spirit and body of the nation today and for generations yet unborn.
It is, therefore, on this score that we agree with President John Evans Atta Mills that criticisms of his administration is healthy and welcome while insults and mindless condemnations only have the potential of undermining the seat of government.
While constructive criticism would position a listening government such as Mills’s to draw useful lessons and effect the appropriate corrections for the betterment of the nation, insults are only empty rantings that have nothing useful to contribute to enriching the content of policies and programmes of government for the people.
We find it as appropriate and worthy of note, the statement of the President, that he is very much in charge of the state of affairs, that his government in being cautious in taking and implementing decisions, is motivated by the desire to secure and sustain the supreme national interests and accordingly do what is right and proper for the benefit of all Ghanaians.
There can be no doubt about the fact that tact, caution, humility and the overriding consideration of the supreme national interests as attributes of Professor Mills, has brought much more respectability to the Presidency.
In the aftermath of the change of government in 2001, many top civil and public servants, on suspicion of their affiliation with the outgone National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration, were asked by the new government to proceed on leave.
Today, under Professor Mills’s administration, no such orders are in operation. Even Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives appointed by the New Patriotic Party administration were asked to stay on until new chief executives were appointed in April, this year.
The infamous proceed-on-leave syndrome has given way to the dawn of a new era where the rule of law and the rights of all Ghanaians, irrespective of one’s political colouration ethnic and religious background and work without discrimination.
This is a remarkable change that jettisons revenge, victimisation and discrimination and one that, therefore, rightly deserves the assistance and support of all well-meaning Ghanaians.

Friday, December 4, 2009

WE SALUTE OUR HARDWORKING FARMERS (DEC 4)

ONE’S inability to feed oneself reduces one to rely on others for survival, and through such precarious dependence personal freedom and independence is lost. This also applies to nations.
Farming is not only one of the oldest professions of man but also one of the most important, as it results in the provision of food which sustains and guarantees life for both humans and animals.
It is little wonder, therefore, that food is listed as the topmost item on the table of necessities or wants of man and, accordingly, recognised globally as such through the global covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
In developing nations such as Ghana, farmers have had to work under very difficult, in some cases oppressive, conditions.
In many parts of tropical rural Africa, the hoe and the cutlass or other very simple old-fashioned implements are still the key tools for agricultural production.
This aside, farmers are virtually dependent on the weather for the production of food and cash crops, as well as livestock, for domestic consumption and for export.
These, together with the lack of guaranteed markets and prices for their produce and the absence of any viable system of insurance to cushion them against negative developments, have combined to make the profession a hazardous and risky one indeed.
As if these difficulties are not enough, the conditions of life for most farmers are not anything to write home about.
They are mostly consigned to living in rural and at best semi-urban areas where the basic necessities of life, such as clean and potable water, clinics and schools, motorable roads and so on, are absent.
The story has been told many times over of how, as a result of these oppressive living conditions, farmers have contracted water-borne diseases, with no access to modern medicare, cannot educate their children and themselves to the highest possible level as their talents will allow them and have looked on helplessly as the crops they have toiled to produce have got rotten because of the lack of motorable roads to transport them to areas where there is ready market for them.
All these difficulties notwithstanding, our hardworking farmers, unlike other categories of working people, have never threatened, let alone carried out, a strike to starve all of us into getting the government to address their plight.
They have continued the hard and relatively less rewarding work every day in order to ensure that we all get food to eat at reasonable prices and with all the relevant nutrients preserved.
We are happy that the government, in recognition of these immense contributions of our farmers, has instituted a national day to recognise and honour their hard work.
Today being that occasion, we wish to join millions of our countrymen and women to salute our hardworking, dedicated and patriotic farmers and to say “Ayekoo” to all of them for a good job done.
We are aware that the government has taken and is still taking steps, such as procuring more tractors, combine harvesters, power tillers, subsidised fertilisers, etc and lately instituting insurance and housing schemes to motivate our farmers to produce more.
We also recognise and applaud the government’s recent move, as contained in the budget, to promote the local rice, poultry and livestock industries and we believe our farmers will once again rise up to the challenge so that within the next few years we will not only be self-sufficient in these items and thus save the $900 million we use to import them but also become net exporters to earn more income for the nation.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

LET'S DEAL WITH THESE MISCREANTS (DEC 3)

CONFLICT, they say, is an integral part of the life of any society. Unpleasant as it may be, it cannot be totally eliminated from society.
Conflict management and control are, therefore, the issues that pre-occupy the attention of societies the world over, including our own here.
The conflict in Bawku, which erupted about five years ago, has become protracted and in the process defied a number of peace initiatives proposed and implemented for its resolution.
It appears to us that there are some individuals and groups who, for a variety of reasons and motives, have made up their minds that Bawku should never again see peace.
Anytime the government and well-meaning individuals and groups work hard to restore peace and security to the area, these anti-peace war mongers reach back to their hiding places, retrieve arms and ammunition and embark on shooting sprees designed to terrorise and intimidate innocent and law-abiding citizens of the area into submission.
Through such cowardly and dastardly actions, these faceless elements have sought to hold Bawku and its people hostage, and in so doing they have managed to create in the minds of the people the idea that peace and stability can return to the area only on their terms and nothing more.
We cannot and must not allow them to succeed.
That is why we need to fight these miscreants relentlessly and on all fronts until they give up their diabolic agenda or be wiped off.
We, as part of this approach, have taken due notice of the prosecution and sentencing of one of these notorious trouble makers who have made life hell for the good people of Bawku and its environs.
We applaud the firm and timely decision of the Bolgatanga Circuit Court to consign to their proper places such social misfits who derive pleasure from plunging their society into chaos and seeing their people live lives of hardship and untold suffering.
In applauding this measure, we wish to call on the good people of Bawku and its environs to realise that they have always been one people, lived together and faced common problems and challenges and are, therefore, inextricably bound together by a common destiny.
This imposes on them an obligation, whether they are Kusasis, Mamprusis, Bisas, Moshies or other ethnic groups, to work together and co-operate with the security agencies to expose the lunatic fringe elements in their midst so that the law can take care of them for peace to return to the area.
We salute the security agencies for the good work and immense sacrifices they have made in their bid to secure a peace and tranquil environment for the people to live their normal lives.
It is largely in recognition of these important gains chalked up by the security forces in the area and the need for them to stay focused that we urge that thorough investigations be conducted into allegations of misconduct levelled against a few of them so that we can arrive at the truth or otherwise of the matter and be in a position to take appropriate action.
We should capitalise on the current level of calm to intensify co-operation on all fronts to smoke out the criminal elements and bring them to book to restore Bawku and its environs — the melting pot — to their past status as centres of business and commerce and prosperity for all its diverse ethnic groups.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

THE OIL FIND MUST BENEFIT THE PEOPLE (DEC 2)

IN our yesterday’s editorial on making the exploration and exploitation of our oil resource a blessing instead of a curse, we alluded to the need for the government, as custodian of the people’s resources, to be committed to the principle of redistributive justice in which the well-being of the mass of the people stands paramount.
That said, it is important to note that one must first have something before any talk of sharing can take place.
For the country to break the back of the abject poverty which many of our people have all these years had to contend with, the state, represented in international transactions by the government, needs to have some significant shares and control in bodies undertaking the exploitation of these strategic national resources.
We acknowledge that individual private companies which have invested in the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons need to recoup their investments and also make some profit. That is a fair arrangement.
However, any arrangement in which the state or the government does not have a significant stake in or control of the entities or processes dealing with the exploitation of these resources and in which it cannot, therefore, procure a significant portion of the benefits accruing to improve the well-being of the people cannot be said to be in the national, let alone the people’s, interest.
We have had many examples of oil-rich nations producing millions of barrels of oil a day but with the mass of the people living in abject poverty. One can just take a look at some of our-oil rich neighbours.
While corruption and greed among the political elite of these nations may be cited as the causes of such an unhealthy state of affairs, lack of effective control over the resource is a contributory factor.
In our own country, we have had the experience of mining gold in Obuasi, Tarkwa, Prestea and other places but the state of those areas and the lives of the vast majority of the inhabitants are nothing to write home about.
This is again partly attributable to the fact that the bulk of the wealth derived from these mines is exported out of the country by the multinational mining companies and their highly paid expatriate staff.
The royalties and other entitlements paid pale out in significance to what is repatriated outside the country.
It is for these and other reasons that we believe that for us to derive the optimum benefit from our oil resource, the state must at all cost have a significant stake in the exploitation of the resource.
This will enable the government to rake in more resources than it would otherwise have done and also exert the requisite level of vigilance and control in the tempo and quantum of the exploitation of the resource.
That is why we endorse the assertion of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) to the effect that it is fully positioned to buy the Jubilee Oil Fields from Kosmos Energy, as two expatriate oil giants, ExxonMobil and British Petroleum (BP), struggle over the same resource.
According to the GNPC, in taking that step, it was primarily motivated by the need to protect and promote the supreme interest of the country (see front page story).
We believe that in the legitimate pursuit of the national interest, we ought to take full advantage of opportunities that can offer the nation greater stake and control over our oil, albeit in conformity with the agreement binding the parties.
Once the legal provisions are adhered to and the respective obligations met, we should be on course to realising greater returns which alone can position the government to attain the requisite level of resources to meet the high expectations of our people.
This is legitimate business, not forced take-over, and we must build consensus to protect this resource of ours not only for the benefit of Ghanaians living today but also generations yet unborn.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

MAKING THE OIL WEALTH A BLESSING (DEC 1)

IT is true that oil and the wealth generated from it have contributed significantly to improve the living conditions of many in countries where oil has been struck and exploited.
In many countries where oil is exported in hundreds of thousands of barrels a day, the amount of money available to the states and their governments is appreciable enough to register a positive impact in the lives of the people.
The caveat, however, it that there must be the political will or commitment to distributive justice and an irrevocable pledge to the pursuit of the socio-economic well-being of the people.
This is especially the case given the fact that in a good number of cases, the oil find has not only failed to register any impact on the lives of the people but also actually worsened their plight through the destruction of their lands and the pollution of their water bodies and other forms of environmental degradation.
Within the last few weeks, several preparations have been announced, including the securing of storage tankers and security measures, for the last quarter deadline to be met.
We have no reason, at least as of now, to doubt the efficiency of the measures being instituted to facilitate the exploitation of the crude oil at the time indicated by the technical experts and the government.
Indeed, it is our hope and expectation that the time schedule is met so that the many benefits, including more jobs, better incomes, technology transfer and the springing of up of allied industries, will accrue to our nation.
Given the persistent global recession and the negative impact it has had on resource inflows into the country, it will be a matter of considerable relief to the government and the people if additional funds become accessible.
While such funds from oil can prove very useful in supporting the national budget and thereby help the government to realise its developmental goals of making Ghana more prosperous and the lives of the people better, we nevertheless have to be guarded in our optimism and the extent to which we hold the oil find as the panacea to our decades-old underdevelopment and poverty.
It is on record that the 100,000 barrels to 120,000 barrels a day that we hope to realise in the short-term will not be enough to give us the kind of funds that we need as a nation to break the back of poverty and underdevelopment.
Those who have poured millions of dollars into the exploration and exploitation of the commodity will, as major stakeholders, still need to recoup their money and some profits and that, given the relatively smaller quantity of oil to be realised, cannot give us all the money we need to significantly impact the lives of our people in the short-term.
This is why we share in the note of guarded caution issued by the Deputy Minister of Energy, Dr Kwabena Donkor, for the need to manage the high expectation of the people about the “explosion of wealth”.
This is essential so that the people do not get disappointed sooner than later, since, in their disillusionment that the “immense wealth” does not register positively in their lives, trouble could erupt, especially in communities where the oil is being exploited.
We would like to caution that we should not lose our focus on agriculture, especially cocoa and food crop production, mining and manufacturing which have been the pivots around which our economy has revolved.
Oil finds have “killed” many such crucial sectors of the economies of some oil producing countries, thereby making them dangerously over-dependent on the crude, a development which has devastated their economies, especially in times of low crude oil prices on the world market.
Let’s not put all our eggs in one basket.