Friday, December 31, 2010

A GOOD ONE THERE, MTTU (DEC 31, 2010)

DRIVING in any part of the world is a privilege enjoyed by those who wish to abide by the rules and not a right.
That is why in most advanced countries, depending on the particular driving offence, one’s driving licence can be withdrawn. The licence will only be given back upon evidence that the offender has shown commitment to go by the rules of driving.
It is a global requirement that only people of sound mind are given driving licences. However, in our part of the world, it seems rather weird that some motorists can fit into the category of “mad people”. Such is the driving behaviour of some Ghanaians that our roads have been turned into death traps. They cross red lights and breach other traffic regulations with impunity.
The decision by the Commander of the Motor Transport and Traffic Unit of the Ghana Police Service, ACP Angwubutoge Awuni, to arrest drivers speaking on the mobile phone is a very pragmatic move.
But that should not only be the focus of the MTTU. It is only in this country that many motor riders do not obey traffic regulations. These riders can go at you from the opposite direction, cross red lights with impunity and drive on walkways, tooting their horns at pedestrians when they do not have the right to drive on pedestrian walkways.
The statistics on motor accidents in the country indicate that 80 per cent of all accidents in the country are caused by human error. These are needless errors that a properly trained driver with the requisite discipline can avert at all cost.
In Ghana, you can count the number of commercial drivers, in particular, who have attained their driving licence from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA). Some of them obtain their driving licences through the back door.
Indiscipline on our roads has caused so much pain to families, maimed others, and ruined homes throughout the country.
These cannot be allowed to continue. The fight to stop this“madness” on our roads should not be left to the MTTU alone. Every Ghanaian is a potential victim of such careless driving. Therefore, we should all be concerned.
Equally important is the issue about our law enforcement agencies on the streets showing some high degree of professionalism. Reports of policemen unduly delaying law-abiding citizens so as to make them bend the rules are common in the public, not to mention the payment of bribes to some policemen.
The DAILY GRAPHIC, for its part, will create the platform, as well as the awareness, to ensure that life on the roads in our dear country is much safer and so would support efforts by the MTTU to do the right thing to ensure sanity on our roads.
In addition to jail terms, the DAILY GRAPHIC will recommend the revocation of licences and banning of careless drivers from our roads. We believe such an action will complement other efforts at curbing the “madness” on our roads.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

LAUDABLE INITIATIVE (DEC 30, 2010)

THE provision of street lights goes a long way to boost socio-economic activity because it enhances road safety for both motorists and pedestrians. It also hinders the anti-social activities of such persons as robbers and other societal saboteurs.
It is in the light of this that the DAILY GRAPHIC applauds the government’s efforts at lighting up all regional capitals and some metropolises in the country. So far, work on street lights in seven regional capitals and one metropolis has been completed.
They are Koforidua, Tamale, Sekondi/Takoradi, Cape Coast, Ho, Sunyani, Wa and Tema, while work on those in Bolgatanga, Accra and Kumasi is currently 85 per cent complete. The project, which covers 900 kilometres, is an initiative of the Ministry of Energy and was started last year.
The cost of the installation of the street lights in the eight regions is pegged at $50,556,724, while that of Accra and Kumasi will cost €26,807.
A similar project, dubbed the District Capitals Street Lighting, is expected to take off in January 2011, during which a total distance of 4,300 kilometres is expected to be provided with street lights.
At a press conference in Accra to announce this laudable initiative by the government, a Deputy Minister of Energy, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, stated that work on the installation of lights in Koforidua, Tamale, Sekondi, Cape Coast, Ho, Takoradi, Sunyani, Wa and Tema Phase One and Two had also been completed.
Street lights on all ceremonial roads in the national capital are also expected to be functioning by the end of the year.
So far, work on the Achimota Road, Castle Drive, Fourth Circular Road, Independence Avenue, Liberia Road, Kanda Highway and Nima Highway has been completed, while work is ongoing on the Kaneshie-Mallam road and the Graphic Road.
The provision of street lights started long ago in this country, dating back to the Acheampong regime, with subsequent regimes seeking to improve on the situation. The exercise has suffered many setbacks, with the activities of saboteurs and unscrupulous drivers being on top of the list of the setbacks.
Nowadays, it has also been the craze of some unpatriotic persons to vandalise the aluminium poles and especially the cables, treating them as scraps which they sell for a pittance.
These remain major challenges which have to be tackled by all and sundry, especially the police and the courts, so that culprits will be severely dealt with to serve as a deterrent to preserve our national assets. Associated with the bad lighting system is the removal of slabs covering culverts along main roads or streets causing many accidents and serious damage to vehicles and injuries to persons.
The DAILY GRAPHIC is, therefore, happy that Alhaji Fuseini announced that as part of measures to resolve the challenges affecting the installation and maintenance of street lights, a Street Lighting Policy had been drafted and was currently being reviewed by stakeholders.
It is our hope that this draft policy would bring on board some of the concerns being raised in order to preserve our very important national assets for effective national development.
But, above all, our maintenance culture has to be activated in order not to render these street lights useless as they had been virtual white elephants in the past.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

EC, THIS MESS MUSN'T RECUR (DEC 29, 2010)

THE Electoral Commission (EC) had, time and again, assured Ghanaians that it was on course to conduct successful district level elections throughout the country on December 28, 2010.
But, out of the blue, the commission announced late Monday afternoon that it had rescheduled the polls in eight regions to today and tomorrow, citing delay in the printing of ballot papers.
The Chairman of the EC, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Djan, had earlier raised the red flag about the polls when he expressed concern over delays in the release of funds to the EC to conduct the district level elections.
But the assurance given by the EC later that it was ready for the conduct of the polls did not give cause to the candidates and the electorate that there was danger ahead.
It had been envisaged that the turnout at this year's district level polls would be high because the day of voting fell on a public holiday. However, the expected enthusiasm has been blown away by the unanticipated rescheduling of the polls.
Local level elections in the country have always been poorly patronised, largely because of their non-partisan nature. On the contrary, this year's elections had promised to be more exciting, judging from the way aspiring assembly members displayed their pictures in the cities, towns and countryside.
It appears the candidates must have spent fortunes on their door-to-door campaigns, posters, billboards, text messaging and special Christmas cards for which many of them received no sponsorship from the central government or the local authorities.
The DAILY GRAPHIC does not want to be part of any blame game but officials in charge of the polls as umpires or those responsible for the release of funds for the exercise cannot refuse to take responsibility for the mess in which we find ourselves.
If there had been delay in the printing of ballot papers, the EC should have rescheduled the polls long ago and not wait until the eve of the event. What is more worrying, however, is the inability of the EC to anticipate the challenge and take the necessary action to avert the postponement.
The postponement means extra cost to the EC, the government and the candidates, especially as the candidates will require extra resources to campaign until the eve of voting day.
Short of calling for heads to roll, we demand that useful lessons be learnt from the present challenge in order to take the necessary action to prevent its recurrence.
We know that the EC operates within the confines of the law, hence the decision to hold the polls before the end of the year. Nonetheless, it is said that things that are worth doing are worth doing well and, for this reason, if we all recognise that the future direction of our democracy will be anchored on the effectiveness of the decentralisation process, then no price is too high to pay to ensure the successful conduct of the district level elections.
The DAILY GRAPHIC appeals to the EC to keep to its latest timetable in order not to complicate matters and kill the enthusiasm that a section of the electorate has for the district level polls.
The EC since its establishment has won local and international acclaim for the successful conduct of elections and it dares not fail now.
The low turnout in certain parts of the two regions in which the polls were conducted yesterday must be due to the late announcement on Monday, leaving the candidates and the electorate confused and frustrated.
We call on the EC to redeem itself by conducting successful polls in the other eight regions.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

COMMISSION NEEDS OUR TRIAL SUPPORT (DEC 28, 2010)

IT is said that for public opinion on any issue to be effective, the opinion must be sustained. This, we believe, explains the decision of the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) to introduce the innovative information technology approach targeting 17.6 million mobile phone subscribers in the country to collate views on issues identified by the CRC via text messaging.
The “Text-in Question Campaign”, which was rolled out last week Friday, will help Ghanaians to state their views on issues in the 1992 Constitution that require amendment.
The fact is that Constitutions all over the world are living documents which must be reviewed from time to time to stand the test of time and meet the aspirations of the people.
Our Constitution has been in operation for about 18 years now which, by all standards, is such a short period for any major review.
There are written and unwritten constitutions and in the case of the latter, the governance system is shaped by conventions instead of a rigid legal framework.
Be that as it may, there are many Ghanaians who have very strong views on certain provisions in the Constitution. The payment of ex gratia to Article 71 public office holders, the Indemnity Clauses, the election of district, municipal and metropolitan chief executives and an upper ceiling for Supreme Court judges are among a number of issues agitating the minds of such people.
In a democracy, no one expects unanimity on a number of issues, but by the rules of the game, if the majority decides along a certain direction, the rest are bound to abide by that decision. The essence is that in all these exercises, minority rights would be upheld even if their views are shot down.
It is for this reason that the DAILY GRAPHIC urges all Ghanaians to participate actively in the Text-in Question Campaign embarked upon by the CRC so that their views will be factored into the review document that will be made available to the Constitutional Conference in March next year.
The country’s democracy has been touted as a model on the African continent because as a people we all have tried to respect the provisions in our Constitution.
When any organ of state breached provisions in the Constitution, those who had the strong passion for the rule of law used due process to bring about law and order.
This achievement must be celebrated by all because it has led to a situation where Ghana has avoided any constitutional crisis since we adopted multi-party democracy in 1992.
The DAILY GRAPHIC recalls the calamity that nearly befell the country during the 2008 elections when we were on the brink of civil strife as a result of the tight nature of the polls.
Thankfully, cool heads prevailed as the protagonists agreed to respect the provisions in the Constitution, leading to a peaceful transfer of power from the government to the opposition, the second in less than a decade.
One useful lesson from such an experience is that the future of democracy lies in the dynamics of our national Constitution. Therefore, any sticky provision in the Constitution must be reviewed to pave the way for a document that will facilitate our march towards building a stronger and better society.
Next year, the international community will focus on us as we try to review the Constitution to make it a better document to improve the governance system and the new development agenda.
This import of the exercise requires that every Ghanaian puts his or her shoulders to the wheel so that with unity of purpose, the review exercise will meet the expectations of all.
The import of the exercise is to strengthen the governance system by championing the rule of law, respect for civil liberties and holding public office holders accountable to the people to ensure that the public purse is used to promote the welfare of the people.

Monday, December 27, 2010

LET'S SUPPORT ASSEMBLY POLLS (DEC 27, 2010)

IN 1988, Ghana took the giant step of introducing the district level elections in its desire to involve the people in the decision-making process.
At the time we embarked on that project, some sceptics felt that the resources of the country would not be able to facilitate the smooth devolution of power from the central government to the district level.
The progress so far has not been without the hiccups associated with change but in retrospect every level-headed Ghanaian will admit that we have chalked up major successes that have impacted positively on national development.
The DAILY GRAPHIC admits that there are still challenges in devolving power and resources from the centre to the district level because bureaucrats and technocrats, as well as politicians, are not willing to let go the power they wield over determining the fate of the people.
Thanks to the decentralisation process, metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies have the authority to award contracts with their Common Fund and internally generated funds. This way, projects are no longer imposed on the districts by the central government. Even when the projects have a national character, the input of the assemblies is solicited.
We think this positive development must be supported by all to bring power and resources to the people, by whose mandate our leaders govern at the national and district levels.
As we celebrate the modest gains chalked up since the district level elections were introduced, the DAILY GRAPHIC salutes those who mooted the idea and sacrificed their time and resources to help it to become part and parcel of our governance system.
We want to mention Flt Lt J.J. Rawlings, then Chairman of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC); the late Mr Justice D.F. Annan, a member of the PNDC; Mr Kwamena Ahwoi, then PNDC Secretary for Local Government and Rural Development, and the first batch of assembly members for their immense contribution to the growth of the process.
In spite of the international recognition that the district level concept has gained, in recent times there appears to be growing apathy towards the decentralisation process.
We encourage the government to do everything within its resources to revive the interest of the electorate in the district level polls and the decentralisation process.
The DAILY GRAPHIC recognises the personal sacrifice and commitment of all aspiring assembly members towards tomorrow’s polls. However, individual commitment is not enough to achieve the objectives of the decentralisation process.
We are particularly concerned about the low level of female participation in the district level polls, bearing in mind the fact that women form more than half of the population of the country.
Another equally worrying issue is the low publicity given tomorrow’s district level polls. The decentralisation process is the foundation on which the democratic structure will be built or constructed and, therefore, if the local structures are weak, the dividends of democracy will elude the people.
We call on the authorities not to sweep under the carpet concerns being raised over the interference of political parties in the district level polls because it is explicitly provided in the Constitution that the assemblies and the district level elections are non-partisan.
Whatever the challenges are, the DAILY GRAPHIC urges every eligible voter to cast his or her ballot tomorrow to elect a new crop of assembly members to champion the cause of development in the districts for the next four years.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

PEACE ON EARTH, GOODWILL TO ALL (DEC 24, 2010)

“GLORY to God in the highest; and on earth, peace and goodwill towards men” was the proclamation by the messenger of God on the occasion of the birth of Jesus Christ some 2,000 years ago.
Ever since then, the celebration of Christmas has become an annual event across the globe.
Jesus was born at a time when ignorance, superstition, greed, hatred and hypocrisy prevailed upon the land, while purity was forgotten and morality neglected. His mission, therefore, was to transform lives and, through that, the world.
Today, we are celebrating the birth of Jesus at a time when our dear nation has witnessed some growth and development over the 53 years of its existence as an independent entity. We have abandoned some of the cultural practices and customs which were inimical to human progress and affront to fundamental human rights.
We have not only built roads, hospitals, harbours, houses and schools but also developed our governance structures, expanded the frontiers of free speech, upheld the principles of the rule of law and deepened democracy generally.
The government, led by President John Evans Atta Mills, is on course to building a very strong and vibrant economy. Currently, inflation is single digit, the cedi has stabilised and lending rates have reduced. Additionally the STX housing scheme is expected to be rolled out next year to bring relief to our security services and workers. And, more important, the much-awaited commercial production of oil has come on stream to provide resources for national development and job opportunities for the people.
The result of these monumental achievements is that today Ghana has become the beacon of hope in Africa.
In spite of the progress made so far, we are, admittedly, confronted with challenges and difficulties which demand urgent attention and solutions. For example, in the area of education, children still study under trees, power supply is still not stable, there is a huge gap between the development of the north and that of the south, while unemployment is also very high.
Meanwhile, our national unity is sometimes undermined by polarisation along party lines, while almost every issue is politicised.
As we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour who has brought hope to the dejected, inspiration to the despondent and peace and joy to the world, we need to remind ourselves that the occasion is not just a period for merry-making but an opportunity to promote unity, forgiveness, reconciliation, peace and love in our national discourse.
Let us cross over to 2011 with a renewed commitment to national development and devote our energies to activities which will change our destiny and build a solid foundation for posterity.
We should eschew insults, disrespect for our political leadership and intolerance of divergent opinions. There is the need for us to rally behind the national vision to make the country a better place to live in especially when President Mills has declared 2011 ‘a year of action’.
Indeed, the best gift that we can give ourselves and our neighbours is peace and goodwill to all men and women. But in all our celebrations, let us remember the less privileged because, as the Bible assures us in Isaiah 58:11, “We shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring or water whose waters fail not.”
Finally, the DAILY GRAPHIC takes this opportunity to wish our readers, partners and all Ghanaians a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

OUR MOTHERS DESERVE BETTER (DEC 23, 2010)

THE high incidence of maternal mortality has been one major scar on the conscience of the nation’s health sector. With mortality rates at such high levels, the introduction of the free maternal care was a big relief and has helped reduce the rate of maternal deaths in the country in recent times.
Perhaps, the global nature of these deaths led the United Nations to declare the reduction of high maternal mortality as part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The MDGs give a central place to maternal health and gender equality and MDG 5 — improving maternal health — is often called “the heart of the MDGs” because the attainment of the other goals revolve around it and if it fails, the other goals will also fail.
Maternal mortality is a global issue and the concern for reducing it stems from the fact that at least 583,000 women die each year from the complications of pregnancy and childbirth. The alarming situation is that almost 90 per cent of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
The situation in Ghana is equally gloomy, with an institutional maternal mortality rate of 250 per 100,000 live births. Reducing maternal and neonatal mortality has been a challenge in Ghana over the past decades, as many more women continue to fall prey to this problem, in spite of the efforts by the government, development partners, the private sector and civil society.
Therefore, news from the Northern Region of 81 expectant mothers dying from January to November this year, is very worrisome. It appears to the DAILY GRAPHIC that such deaths have become so common that it is no longer part of the human equation.
We note that some of the reasons for the high mortality rate in the region include the cultural practices, deplorable roads and the delays in bringing such pregnant women to hospital.
But the question is: What then is the role of the community health service personnel, whose role is to, among other things, undertake public education and offer support to households?
It cannot be that 81 people will die and yet no action is taken to avert the situation. The point is, these challenges of lack of education and the deplorable roads would still be with us at least for sometime to come.
However, pragmatic steps and actions need to be taken, and quickly too, to avert our mothers dying needlessly.
The DAILY GRAPHIC also takes this opportunity to appeal to the District Assemblies and the Regional Co-ordinating Council to, as a matter of urgency, address the infrastructure deficit to ensure access roads to some of these towns.
This again brings our attention to the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) and the need to speedily resource this outfit to start the process of designing solutions to the problems of the three northern regions.
Much too often, we take the lives of the ordinary Ghanaian for granted. We dare say, if among the 81 deaths was the wife of one high-up public servant, the hospital would have been given a facelift and resourced to deliver.
Happily, the DAILY GRAPHIC notes with gratitude the support given to the hospital by Dakpema Naa Dawuni Mohammed Alhassan, a chief of Tamale. Individuals can do so much; but it behoves the government through its agencies to be up and doing.
Such reports only draw us back in terms of meeting our Millennium Development Goals and question whether the country is serious about addressing this very cancerous challenge.
We need to be up and doing.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

WE ENDORSE THIS APPEAL (DEC 22, 2010)

ABOUT 22 years ago, Ghana began the process of decentralising power to the grass roots by introducing the district assembly concept via the decentralisation programme.
Since then, the necessary structures on which hinge the concept have been put in place, including the creation of the unit committees and the zonal and area councils.
Perhaps the success of Ghana’s multiparty democracy can be traced to our decentralised system of administration.
Through the system, the people are already aware of the dividends of democratic governance and have since contributed to the conduct of five successful parliamentary and presidential elections.
Similarly, incumbent governments have been removed on two occasions through the ballot box, a feat which has been applauded the world over.
Thankfully, there is another opportunity on December 28, this year, for the people to vote a new breed of assembly members into office. The future of the decentralisation programme will be determined by this set of assembly members.
It is in the light of the upcoming district level elections that the DAILY GRAPHIC endorses the appeal made by the Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amotia Ofori Panin, to the government to enhance the decentralisation programme to ensure the effective implementation, evaluation and monitoring of various development projects across the country.
The Okyenhene particularly called for priority in the area of education in order to instil a sense of communal ownership, accountability and transparency at all levels of society.
This call must be heeded and given all the needed attention in view of the increased population and government programmes to bring development to the people.
It is a truism that a centralised system of administration has its attendant negative effects, such as bureaucratic tendencies, which do not augur well for any meaningful socio-economic development. This is because bureaucracy breeds delays, red-tapeism, corruption and other anti-social activities which impinge negatively on effective national development.
With the call by the Okyenhene, we need to put in place the necessary infrastructure and resources to equip the various municipal, metropolitan and district assemblies to enable them to adequately face the numerous challenges bedevilling them.
As rightly pointed out by the Okyenhene, through the decentralisation programme the various communities could effectively mobilise resources to complement the government’s efforts at improving basic infrastructure and provide the needed facilities, as well as set up boards, to evaluate and monitor the performance of teachers.
This will create the needed impetus for all to put their shoulders to the wheel, since they will see themselves as part and parcel of the overall decision-making and national development agenda to minimise the lackadaisical tendencies associated with the centralised system of governance.
The Okyenhene’s appeal probably should open the vistas for debate on the election of district chief executives (DCEs), who are the political heads at the district level, so that inputs could be made for consideration by the Constitutional Review Commission if that had not already captured its attention.
Through the election of DCEs, accountability at the grass roots will be greatly enhanced to pave the way for the ownership of the development agenda at the district level.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

AN EXAMPLE WORTHY OF PRAISE (DEC 21, 2010)

FOR the simple reason that the sages say “A healthy mind is in a healthy body”, individuals, communities and the government spend a major part of their resources to keep themselves and their people healthy.
It is only when the people are healthy that they can contribute to economic development to create wealth for themselves and society.
It is also a fact that the gap between healthcare delivery and access to health care is especially pronounced in rural Ghana.
The architects of the country’s decentralisation process had in mind the need to spread development throughout the country, a development that will, in the end, bring services such as education, health care and infrastructure to our rural communities.
However, this exercise has been fraught with challenges whose solutions seem out of sight in the foreseeable future, though the challenges themselves are surmountable.
The DAILY GRAPHIC takes note of the “can do” spirit exhibited by the authorities of the University for Development Studies (UDS) by taking the bull by the horn and determining their own destiny.
The construction of three blocks, at the cost of GH¢319,000, through internally generated funds to solve the major challenge of the medical students having to travel to the nearest teaching hospital, the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, a journey of more than 300 miles from the campus of the UDS, is commendable and worthy of praise.
We also take note of the short period (three months) within which the project has been completed by the UDS. It goes to show the seriousness the authorities attach to solving their own challenges.
Like many public sector institutions, the UDS has not relied on government funds, which could have taken years, if not decades, in coming to achieve that dream.
Recognising the need to close the doctor-patient ratio and also help produce more qualified doctors, the authorities have taken a rather bold decision to do what is right.
The DAILY GRAPHIC does not, therefore, hesitate to doff its hat for the exemplary leadership and visionary achievement of the UDS authorities. Some will dismiss this feat, but if all public institutions take a cue from this development and take decisions that will help alleviate the plight of the very people whose taxes keep public institutions running, Ghana could be making giant strides towards progress.
The example shown also brings to the fore once again the argument of making public universities autonomous.
This particular act by the UDS authorities clearly makes a strong case for partial independence for the public universities, if not absolute independence.
Many of our public universities have chalked up some tremendous achievements and the DAILY GRAPHIC believes that further support will make them stand on their feat, especially so when foreign universities are finding Ghana a fertile ground for their recruitment and business development.
The health sector needs the collective support of all Ghanaians. We need more doctors, as well as healthcare facilities and projects that will further make the life of every Ghanaian much better.
The UDS authorities need our encouragement in their efforts at training more doctors, especially for the three northern regions of Ghana.

Monday, December 20, 2010

INCREASING PROTECTION FOR THE PEOPLE (DEC 20, 2010)

THE existence of an enduring climate of peace, order and stability in any society is a sine qua non for the accelerated and sustained socio-economic development of that society.
The prevalence of these factors creates a conducive atmosphere for the creative talents, energies and expertise of the people to be brought to bear on the production process, so that the requisite level of wealth is created to support the needs of the people.
Additionally, such a climate emits the signal to entrepreneurs and investors, both local and foreign, that not only are their investments safe and secure but also that they are guaranteed just earnings and rewards for their efforts.
It is, therefore, a matter of course that nations which, in addition to the above, also wish to boost job creation to effectively tackle serious unemployment in the ranks of their people would place premium on national security.
Throughout our history as a nation, we have, at various times, battled the threats to the security of our people such as armed robbery, stealing, fraud and other acts of deviant behaviour.
Not too long ago, the Police Administration, in response to the upsurge in robbery in some urban centres and on the highways, intensified police patrols, in collaboration with the Army, and within a short space of time brought the menace under control.
However, with the approach of Christmas reports have emerged from certain quarters that criminals are rehearsing their strategies to unleash another round of their atrocities on the people.
It is from such a background of anxiety over the potential of such nefarious activities to create fear, panic and alarm among the ranks of our people that we heave a sigh of a relief over reports that the Police Administration has drawn a national contingency plan to combat criminal activities even before the Yuletide arrives and after it.
Dubbed “Operation Father Christmas Two”, the operation is expected from now onwards to see an intensification in both mobile and foot patrols within communities, especially urban areas, as well as on the highways.
There can be no doubt about the fact that many criminals see in the period leading up to the Yuletide and the Yuletide itself an excellent opportunity to reap where they have not sown from what they perceive as a season of plenty.
The importance of this assurance by the Police Administration lies in the fact that the police are not just outlining a programme on paper to deal with such miscreants; they have actually put their officers and men on the ground, who are willing and ready to deal with such nation wreckers.
This is not just to deter such elements from seeking to carry through their diabolical actions but also reassures the public that a lot is being done to ensure that they go about their legitimate activities without let or hindrance.
It is our hope that this important exercise will not die with the Christmas but will be consolidated well into the future to offer better protection for our people.
It is important for an unmistakable message to be sent to the miscreants bent on compromising our peace, order and stability that they will never be allowed to succeed and that the security forces will pursue them 24 hours a day, seven days a weak, 365 or 366 days a year until they and the evil trade they ply are completely extinguished.
We wish to commend the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and his men for significantly improving security and protection for the people through the introduction and intensification of the community policing idea.
This must continue so that our people can live in security and peace and be more productive.

ENHANCING EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR YOUTH (DEC 18, 2010)

ONE of the most serious drawbacks to the accelerated socio-economic development of our nation is the non or under-utilisation of the talents, energies and expertise of large numbers of our people, especially the youth.
It is a common yet depressing thing to see large numbers of able-bodied and energetic youth sitting idly for days on end when they could be engaged in productive ventures that could contribute to increasing the stock of the nation’s wealth.
The National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), along with its significant expansion, has, among other objectives, been designed to tap and channel these abundant energies and talents into productive ventures that will help move the fortunes of the nation forward.
It is on record that the NYEP has provided jobs for thousands of the youth and given them the opportunity to contribute their quota to the development of the many communities across the country. Through the various modules, multitudes of the youth have been engaged in rendering services ranging from sanitation through rendering assistance in health delivery to teaching in second-cycle schools across the 10 regions of the country.
As important as this has been in partly addressing the unemployment problem and also helping to mobilise and tap the energies of the youth, the design of the programme to only offer jobs for a two-year period, after which beneficiaries have to rejoin the ranks of the unemployed and mount fresh searches for jobs, limits its effectiveness.
Until recently, there was no exit plan for those who attained the maximum two years’ service with the programme. That, among others, created a situation where such persons who dreaded rejoining the ranks of the unemployed decided to use all manner of tricks and methods to remain in the programme. That obviously created a big jam and prevented millions of youth waiting their turn on the programme to be denied the opportunity.
We are happy to note that through the ingenuity of the current crop of government and state officials, an exit plan has been fashioned out which ensures that beneficiaries who serve out their terms and have demonstrated competencies in a number of areas are moved on to more permanent jobs.
Only this week, 296 such beneficiaries of the programme were mobilised by the Ghana Police Service to support the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the service to help the police control traffic in some urban centres of the country. According to reports, they are to be engaged for two years and, subject to satisfactory performance, be absorbed fully into the Police Service.
We highly commend this initiative and would want to urge the NYEP ‘graduates’ to endeavour to vindicate the name of the programme by being honest, punctual to duty and disciplined at all times. The lure of cheap money on the roads from some reckless and indisciplined drives who take delight in flouting road traffic regulations must be resisted if they are to discharge the functions of their office effectively.
As the Commander of the MTTU, ACP Angwubotoge Awuni, pointed out to the NYEP recruits, the opportunity for their absorption into the service permanently was a function of the discipline, honesty, punctuality and efficiency they exhibited.
Their work and conduct will be their testimonial for more permanent work and this is an opportunity they, in their own interest, should not miss.
We believe that others migrating from the NYEP to other areas of national life will exhibit exemplary conduct so that together they will all work to vindicate the vision for providing this new opportunity for permanent jobs for the youth.
We wish to add that the precarious over-dependence on the state for jobs is not an effective panacea to the serious unemployment problem and our youth, many of whom are very talented, should explore ways of using such talents to create jobs not only for themselves but also for others.
Fortunately, MASLOC and an array of institutions supporting small businesses exist to support such causes and they must be exploited to help us mount a successful onslaught on the nagging unemployment problem.

Friday, December 17, 2010

CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS THE WAY FORWARD (DEC 17, 2010)

PRESIDENT John Evans Atta Mills yesterday admonished the country’s clergy to endeavour to point out the mistakes and shortcomings of his government in order to bring about the requisite corrective measures that would contribute to the building of a better Ghana.
The President, who was interacting with a delegation from the National Catholic Bishops Conference at the Castle, Osu, noted that intolerance or the absence of constructive criticism had the tendency to breed an unhealthy system of sycophancy and personality cult, both of which were counter-productive to the national development effort (see front page).
There is a lot of sense in the adage that it takes some one other than the one constructing the path to realise that it has gone crooked.
The burdens of government and of governance are so numerous and enormous that ordinary fallible mortals in leadership positions, even with the best of intentions, may, from time to time, err or show their weaknesses.
Since perfection is not an attribute of man but an ideal to strive for, those exercising power and authority for and on behalf of members of society may engage in certain actions or institute certain measures which may not, in the end, confer the right or expected benefits on members of society. This may happen even in the face of their best intentions.
In such circumstances, a leader with a good listening ear and who is amenable to divergent, even opposing views and suggestions could decipher from such body of information what is constructive and can help in achieving the set objectives so that the general expectations of the people are met.
This attitude will be good not only for those in leadership but also for the betterment of society as a whole.
What has caused the downfall of many political, social and even religious leaders in the world, particularly Africa, is the tendency to be surrounded by sycophants who inundate these leaders with grossly overblown platitudes.
In so doing, such leaders are cocooned from the rest of society and, therefore, cannot, from such an isolated standpoint, know and understand, let alone appreciate and deal with, the true feelings, wishes and aspirations of the people they are supposed to be leading.
We cannot agree more with the President when he urged the members of the clergy to regard the people in government as human beings with human shortcomings like any one and, therefore, standing in need of sincere, constructive and well-intentioned criticisms or suggestions.
Indeed, it is a patriotic duty to alert our leaders to policies, issues and events that are inimical to the interest of our nation and people, just as it is a commendable civic duty to commend and support them when they act to protect the national interest and advance the well-being of the people.
It should be noted that such positive advice should not go for only politicians but also all who occupy leadership positions in the various spheres of human endeavour in our society, including our religious leaders.
For, what constitutes a national attitude is a sum total of individual and group attitudes or behaviour at different segments of society. Therefore, if we get it right at those elementary levels, we are likely to succeed at the national level.
We wish to take this opportunity to recall the very decent politicking the President did at the launch of the Jubilee Oil when he not only assembled leaders of diverse political and social backgrounds, including his opponents, but also paid tribute to each of them, even if they differed and disagreed politically with him.
These are the things needed to consolidate our democracy.
The escalating political vilification and insults, apart from being counter-productive to our efforts at consolidating our democratic dispensation, undermines the image and integrity of politics and politicians and must cease forthwith.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

A PROUD MOMENT FOR GHANA (DEC 16, 2010)

THE sweetness of a pudding, it is said, lies in the eating.
Yesterday, December 15, 2010, will go down the annals of the country’s history as one by the most memorable following the visit of President John Evans Atta Mills to the offshore Jubilee Oilfield in the Western Region where he turned the wheel for the first official flow of oil from that field.
With that feat, the country has been ushered into a new era, both as a producer and an exporter of crude oil (see front page).
That the nation has, about three years after the discovery of the oil in the area, been able to assemble the huge array of complicated and very expensive infrastructure and skilled manpower to enable it to commence the commercial production and export of oil is an eloquent testimony to the keen sense of co-operation that exists among the main partners — the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Tullow Oil, Anardako, Kosmos and the E.O. Group.
For many, including even industry players, this is a feat worthy of parading.
We find in yesterday's ceremony a classic display of national unity, a sense of common belonging, the acknowledgement of credit and good working attributes which, for decades, have been missing in our national political, economic and social discourse.
The very presence of three important personalities — President Mills and former Presidents Jerry John Rawlings and John Agyekum Kufuor — who, at different times have led and still lead governments in the management of the affairs of state, even for its symbolism, added beauty, colour and a sense of national pride to the event.
What we even found more heart warming was the profound sense of humility, candour and political astuteness demonstrated by President Mills in, among others, paying glowing tribute to his predecessors for laying a strong foundation and opening the way for the commercial production and export of oil.
In a society where political adversity is taken for enmity and where zero tolerance for the recognition and according of any credit to the opponent is the rule, this speaks volumes of the desire of President Mills to chart a new and positive political course for the country where credit due will be given and criticisms and corrections, where necessary, will also prevail.
The President's pledge to ensure that proceeds from the oil accruing to the state would be used judiciously and appropriately utilised to ensure maximum benefits for the people and thus make the oil find a blessing rather than a curse is also very re-assuring.
As a people with vested interest in this new resource, we have a bounden duty to assist the President to realise the duty he has placed on himself and all other officials to be guided by a keen sense of honesty, transparency and accountability by ensuring these important tenets are followed.
We wish to reiterate our position that the most important concern of the people is not so much about how the funds are utilised, including the vexed issue of whether to collateralise them or not, but what the funds are used for, whether there is value for money and whether such expenditure impacts positively on the lives of our people, especially those in the deprived and poverty-endemic areas.
The pledge of the government to ensure that significant resources, not only from the oil but others as well, will be devoted to an accelerated infrastructural improvement, including building more and better roads, clinics, schools, provisding good drinking water, etc in the Western and other regions must have gone a long way to assuage the feelings of the chiefs and people of the area who had earlier demanded 10 per cent of the oil revenue for development of the area.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

ROOF OVER OUR HEADS AT LAST (DEC 15, 2010)

THE good old books of Christianity and Islam assert that when society is led by a good, righteous, selfless and humane leader, it will witness the bounties of the Almighty which will contribute to the realisation of a just, peaceful and prosperous society for the good of all.
That Ghana is today a beneficiary of such uncommon grace is as true as the Machiavellian dictum which holds that one cannot make omelette without breaking eggs.
As early as the first quarter of last year when inflationary rates were in high double digits, the national deficit at an all- time high, the exchange rate depreciating fast and the general economic outlook very weak and uncertain, the support of many development partners, complemented by the hard work and the sacrifice of the people, helped to pull us from the brink.
Today, not only is inflation, the national deficit, the exchange rate and interest rates more stable but also Ghana is widely regarded as the gateway to business and investment in the West African sub-region.
Only last September, President John Evans Atta Mills, after trips to China and Japan, returned home with over $13 billion financial support from China and other forms of substantial assistance from Japan to support the accelerated expansion of national infrastructure.
These include the Eastern corridor road stretching from Hohoe in the Volta Region through to Bimbila, Salaga and Yendi in the Northern Region to Kulungugu in the Upper East Region, the Western corridor from the Sefwi and Nzema areas through the Brong Ahafo Region.
Others are the extension of the railway network from Kumasi through Kintampo in the Brong Ahafo Region to Tamale in the Northern Region to Paga in the Upper East Region and the rehabilitation of the Yamoransa-Cape Coast road.
Only yesterday, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffour, and the Chief Executive Officer of STX of Korea signed the Government of Ghana-STX Housing deal to construct 200,000 housing units, 90,000 of which will be given to the security services and other important sectors of the state.
The remaining 110,000 units are to be made available to the general public for hire purchase at affordable rates through the Home Finance Company (HFC), a mortgage company.
By all accounts, this STX deal is the largest, most comprehensive and, in terms of economic impact, most far-reaching in the country's history.
Out of the estimated 1,000,000 housing deficit the nation is said to be facing, the 200,000 STX housing units constitute the single most aggressive and ambitious onslaught on the spectre of homelessness and inadequate housing facilities for people in this country.
The project, which will be spread over five years, is expected to offer direct employment to over 400,000 people across the 10 regions of the country.
We are happy that at last the picture of uncertainty that was created about this project in sections of our society has been removed with the signing of this agreement and the commencement of work in January next year.
It has been a long-standing national shame to see large numbers of our security forces, especially our hardworking police, military, fire service, prison and other personnel, live in ramshackle, overcrowded and poorly ventilated colonial era barracks that have defied any renovation since they were put up.
It is gratifying to note that the priority accorded the building of 30,000 housing units immediately for the security services will, in addition to the greatly enhanced salary paid to the police and the other security services under the Single Spine Salary Structure, serve as great incentives to motivate them to give of their best.
Additionally, the availability of more houses will not only make it possible for more houses for the people in the lower income bracket and the middle-class to buy and thus liberate them from the shackles of Shylock landlords but also help increase substantially the national housing stock and in this way help bring down the prices of houses to affordable levels.
So let the houses flow.

OUR OIL SHOULD BE A BLESSING (DEC 14, 2010)

Ghana will make history tomorrow when President John Evans Atta Mills presses the button to inaugurate the Jubilee Oil Fields and thereby officially signal the first flow of oil from the country. (See front page).
With this event, Ghana will not only enhance its stature as a member of the powerful league of petroleum producing and exporting nations but also stand on the threshold of accelerating its wealth generation that holds the potential to significantly raise the quality of life of the people.
We are happy that many Ghanaians of this generation have lived to witness the day. In making this assertion, we are only conscious of the immense roles the various regimes that have steered the affairs of this nation have played in laying the foundation for the eventual pouring of oil that we are about to witness tomorrow.
It should be pointed out that the search for oil has taken us many decades; indeed, way back to the pre-colonial era through the colonial period to the days of our hard-won freedom as the first African country south of the Sahara to break the back of colonialism.
Over this extensive period, explorations have been done, precious data gathered, analysed and preserved and the critical human resource needed to safeguard the drive to find oil in commercial quantities trained.
Under the nation’s Founder, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, many exploration activities took place, both onshore and offshore, which led to the gathering and processing of vital information on the country’s petroleum resources.
In the 1970s, the exploration of oil actually commenced in the Saltpond oil fields in the Central Region and although the oil there was not in substantial commercial quantities, it served notice of the country’s real hydrocarbon potential.
The setting up of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), under the leadership of Mr Tsatsu Tsikata, by former President Jerry John Rawlings accelerated the tempo of the search for oil and concretised efforts at exploiting the resource.
The further streamlining of the system by the Kufuor administration contributed to the discovery of oil in the Jubilee Field.
It is worth pointing out that a great deal of work, including the commercial installation of oil rigs and pipes, the building of the mammoth FPSO Kwame Nkrumah, the laying of subsea infrastructure and others, has been done in record time by the Mills administration to ensure that production commences at this time. This is a credit which all Ghanaians must justifiably be proud of and which they must collectively share in.
The most important issue about this resource is that it must be of benefit to the people. The decision to collateralise part of the revenue accruing from the oil is, for us, a step in the right direction, as it will anchor the nation to undertake massive infrastructural development.
What we believe we should do is ensure that the relevant institutions and structures that will monitor the use of the funds are empowered to work to ensure that the funds are properly utilised for what they are intended.
We are also happy to note that traditionally important sectors of our economy such as agriculture will still get the attention they deserve from the government so that we do not catch the Dutch disease.
After all, this oil find cannot have and must never be seen as having the magic wand to instantly resolve all our economic difficulties and challenges.
While we rejoice on this occasion, let us all collectively work to protect and safeguard this resource for our collective benefit.

PROTECTING OUR NATURAL RESOURCES (DEC 13, 2010)

THE prosperity of every nation and the progress and well-being of its people are, to a large extent, a function of how much wealth it can create and sustain for itself.
Nations that have the capacity to create, retain and control a substantial quantum of wealth will, all things being equal, have the ability to ensure a qualitatively higher standard of living for their people than others with less capacity.
It is largely on account of these and other factors that nations and governments the world over which are keen on the positive transformation of their economies and improving the lives of their people take the exploitation, control and utilisation of natural resources very seriously.
The discovery of oil in the country in the 1970s and now in larger commercial quantities at the Jubilee Field has brought in its wake opportunities and challenges.
While the opportunities largely rest on raking in more revenue through crude exports and promoting local industries through the processing and utilisation of the by-products of the crude, the challenges have been many and varied.
One of such key challenges is in the domain of security; that is, how to effectively protect the oil fields from damage and sabotage, as well as theft of the product by well-organised gangs that have specialised in stealing the product.
Reports abound in many oil-rich nations, particularly our sub-regional neighbour, Nigeria, where criminal gangs and aggrieved local people have combined to siphon and destroy huge quantities of crude oil which, otherwise, could have brought more substantial revenue to the state.
The story of the Niger Delta, where shadowy groups are reported to have the capacity to load tankers with crude oil outside the knowledge and control of the Federal government, is ample testimony to this assertion.
If ever we had underrated the capacity of any such groups to operate in the country and deprive the state of the maximum benefits from the oil find, we need to rethink and react fast.
The report that eight people have been arrested for siphoning crude oil from the Saltpond Oil Fields in the Central Region at the weekend must awaken us to the reality of the existence of these groups in areas where oil exploration goes on.
The group was reported to have already siphoned a significant quantity of the crude, using an array of equipment, and had actually some how refined and transferred the product into a waiting tanker on the shore when they were apprehended (see front page).
We have reason to believe that this clandestine act has been ongoing for some time now and that it took the information provided and the appropriate response of the police to arrest the culprits.
This, in our view, is a practical manifestation of the kind of positive dividends we can reap as a nation when there is good police-public co-operation in the fight against organised crime and the activities of nation wreckers.
However, beyond this, the important question is, was there any security at the oil fields at the time of the incident or even before? If there was, where was the security? Why that negligence? Has the oil field been abandoned altogether?
As we get set to pour the nation’s first oil from the Jubilee Field in the next few days, we would want to remind all stakeholders in our oil — the government, the oil companies and the public — to take security at the oil facilities seriously in order not only to forestall similar incidents but also ensure a safe and conducive atmosphere for the exploitation of the resource for the collective benefit of the people.

THIS MUST NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN (DEC 11, 2010)

IN July 2005 an unspecified number of Ghanaians lost their lives under bizarre and tragic circumstances in The Gambia.
A number of accounts of the incident, including one from the sole survivor of the tragic event, alleged that as many as 44 Ghanaians had been killed and that they had been murdered with the complicity of Gambian security forces.
Following the intervention of the government of Ghana, investigations were conducted into the matter by a joint United Nations (UN) and ECOWAS team which found that the lives lost were far lower, while many others were unaccounted for.
Even though the report did not directly blame the Gambian government for the deaths, in recognition of its responsibility as the state within whose jurisdiction the said incidents occurred, The Gambia accepted some obligations, including paying compensation for the lives lost and facilitating the retrieval and return of the remains to Ghana for interment.
It is worthy of note that only yesterday the remains of eight victims of the said tragic event were finally laid to rest at the Osu Cemetery in a state-organised and assisted funeral (see front page).
While this event will forever leave a sour taste in the mouths of Ghanaians, the co-operation of the Gambian government, albeit one extracted largely from intense international pressure, and its acceptance of some obligations have helped to pull the matter from the brink.
The initial denial of the event and the shocking levels of disinterest in carrying out investigations by the Gambian government raised domestic pressure in Ghana for the matter to be probed and for the Gambian government to accept its responsibilities and obligations in the matter.
Among others, a number of international laws and treaties, including the International Refugee Law which The Gambia is a signatory to, oblige The Gambia to not only protect the lives of foreigners within its territory but also accord them certain basic or fundamental human rights.
The fact that both Ghana and The Gambia are members of the ECOWAS fraternity and the victims ECOWAS community citizens raised the level of obligation of The Gambia in the matter.
While we acknowledge that the current level of development of the matter does pave the way for a thaw and even an improvement in relations between our two fraternal relations and people, the entire case is by no means closed.
Like any other crime, local or international, there is no statute bar or closure to such cases and any time fresh evidence can be procured or adduced to support the reopening of the matter, it must and will be done in the supreme cause of ensuring that not only will justice be done but it will be seen to be manifestly done.
We see in this tragedy two important lessons, among others.
First, Ghanaians seeking asylum or economic opportunities in other nations need to take steps to regularise or legitimise their stay in those nations so that they can enjoy the full protection of both the laws of those nations and the diplomatic support of Ghana’s missions there.
Second, nations of the ECOWAS fraternity need to improve upon the enforcement of democracy and human rights protocols and agreements, as well as exert greater control on and accountability of the actions of the security services within their domain.
This is the way forward to enhancing the rights of all ECOWAS citizens and ensuring that this never happens again anywhere in the sub-region or on the entire African continent.
We once again express our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families, empathise with them in this difficult moment and pray that the Almighty God will give them the strength and the means to carry on with their lives.

Friday, December 10, 2010

ACCOUNTABILITY IS THE ANSWER (DEC 10, 2010)

IN a democracy, the process of governance is bound or dictated by the law.
Meanwhile, the law is supreme and, therefore, both the government and the governed are enjoined at all times to recognise, respect and adhere to the law. In this way, all individuals, groups, institutions and what have you are all equal before the law and no one, irrespective of status, colour or creed, is immune from sanctions of the law where a breach of it can be shown to have occurred.
We are, for the second time, returning to developments on the nation’s soccer front because certain developments are emerging that are not only an affront to our democratic process but also pose a veritable threat to the national interest.
Following the events of last Tuesday when the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), on the strength of a court order, took away computers and documents from the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to help in its investigations of alleged malfeasance at the GFA, a number of developments have emerged.
The Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA) has announced an indefinite suspension of the Glo Premier League.
The GFA has itself indicated that it is contemplating instituting a court action against the EOCO for its action taken at the GFA Headquarters..
Unofficially, some members of the GFA have made comments on the matter, seeking to link the government with the action of the EOCO.
The Minority in Parliament yesterday held a press conference accusing the government of interfering in football administration and calling on it to wash its hands off the GFA.
This action of the soccer controlling bodies, political parties and politicians is clearly designed to take the matter away from soccer and its management to the realms of politics and something else.
Given that none of those alleging government interference has provided an iota of evidence to support that allegation, it would seem to suggest that that allegation and the decision to halt the national league are calculated to embarrass and cause disaffection for the government in the public eye.
It is on record that about 24 hours after the documents and the computers had been taken, the EOCO, after taking whatever information it wanted, returned them to the GFA offices, even though no GFA official was ready to take them.
It does appear, from a dispassionate appraisal of the unfolding events, that these things are being staged to divert attention from the overriding need of the GFA to honour its obligation of being accountable for the public funds it has expended and win public sympathy and support it does not deserve.
The pertinent questions we are asking are: Is the GFA above the laws of Ghana? Is the GFA a law onto itself, such that it is immune from any action by other legally constituted bodies in the discharge of its duties? Does the GFA have the power to ignore or undermine lawfully administered court orders or impede other lawfully established bodies from discharging their functions?
As we pointed out yesterday, the resort to excessive indulgence in partisan politicking of national issues, including crime, and the undue haste on the part of political parties to take a plunge into such issues even before they are properly informed on them undermine the efficiency and effectiveness of state institutions.
This, we wish to point out, does not augur well in our bid to consolidate democracy as the system of government for our nation, as the effective functioning of the system rests solidly on the efficacy of state institutions, not strong individuals, as President Barack Obama pointed out.
It should be noted that FIFA, the world soccer governing body itself, has been under investigations by the Swiss authorities. So FIFA itself is not above the law.
Therefore, let the EOCO and other state institutions, including the GFA and even FIFA, all do their work.

ALLOW STATE INSTITUTIONS DO THEIR WORK (DEC 9, 2010)

ONE of the clearest signals emerging from the functional democratic order is the prevalence of the rule of law, which includes but is not limited to the unhindered and effective functioning of organs and legally established institutions of State.
When State institutions are recognised and allowed to function within their respective functions, they attain a higher national stature that anchors them to promote the public interest and, in so doing, function to meet public expectation.
This notwithstanding, there are certain important values we can lend to our democratic dispensation that will better protect and promote social peace, cohesion, order and stability and in this way help accelerate socio-economic development for the betterment of the lives of our people.
This is in the area of building, supporting and sustaining strong State institutions with the objective of protecting the interests of all.
Unfortunately, by virtue of the extreme partisan politicking we practise here, important State institutions whose effective functioning is crucial to efforts at building a successful nation are being unduly chastised, run down, sabotaged and even condemned by some members of our society on account of their narrow parochial interests.
The Police Service, the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), the Judicial Service, National Security, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), etc, have, at one time or another, suffered from such acts.
The latest to be visited with such negative acts is the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), the successor body of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) whose powers have been enhanced to empower it to perform.
First, it was some members of the public who sought to undermine the efforts of the EOCO as it commenced investigations into allegations of malfeasance in some State media organisations.
Only recently, similar efforts were made to attempt to stop the office from probing allegations of financial impropriety at the Ghana Football Association (GFA) which emerged largely from the sporting fraternity itself.
One of the key reasons advanced by the so-called protectionists of the independence of the GFA was that FIFA (the world soccer governing body) does not brook interference in soccer matters by governments and that such investigations as started by the EOCO amounts to interference and should, therefore, cease if the country is to avoid the furry of FIFA.
Some of the arguments have been stretched to indicate that money paid by private institutions as sponsorship to football authorities cannot be the subject of enquiry by bodies external to the football authorities.
No one can justifiably argue against the fact that the State has an uncontested right to demand and go for a process of getting the football authorities to account for every pesewa given to them, as they are officers who generate the expenditure.
Again, it is a huge fallacy to assert that money paid to the GFA by sponsors is private money and, therefore, the State cannot demand accountability on it.
It is worth pointing out that money paid by such sponsors to the GFA invariably gets back to those sponsors in the form of tax reliefs and other incentives given by the government.
These tax reliefs, in opportunity cost terms, are funds that the State could and should have taken from those companies into the Consolidated Fund to promote national development.
How, then, can one argue that such money is not State money or has no bearing on the State and, therefore, the government has no business demanding accountability on it.
If the GFA has nothing to hide, why is it resisting accountability?
Again, it must be noted that the GFA, as a legal entity registered under the laws of Ghana, cannot claim immunity from action by legally constituted bodies such as the EOCO whose mandate even entitles them to probe malfeasance in private entities that do not receive government money but money from the people.
We wish to urge the GFA, as a law-abiding entity, to recognise that notwithstanding FIFA’s non- interference regulations, it is not above the laws of Ghana and must, therefore, submit to and co-operate with all lawfully established probes.

WE WANT DEVELOPMENT NOW (DEC 7, 2010)

IT is not in contention that the global scene is characterised by huge disparities in the level of economic and social development and, by extension, varying levels in the standard of living of the people of individual nations.
While a number of factors usually combine to explain such a development, a key factor in this regard has to do with the quantity and quality of resources, including human and material, available to a nation and how and where such resources are exploited and utilised.
There are many nations on the face of this earth that are sitting on huge volumes of natural resources such as oil, gold, diamonds, etc and yet are tagged as poor, under-developed nations, with the standard of living of their people being nothing to write home about.
In recent times, the issue of the use to which we put our resources, including the new oil find, has engaged the attention of the nation, with the term ‘collateralisation’ gaining currency.
Only yesterday, we published on our front page the assertions of the former GIMPA Rector, Professor Stephen Adei, to the effect that collateralisation of the nation’s resources for national development was in the national interest and, therefore, the right thing to do.
We are sad that what should ordinarily have passed for a simple, straightforward issue of using national resources to help accelerate the pace of socio-economic development to promote better and more dignified lives for our people has degenerated into a partisan political matter and is posing a threat to the national interest.
This development particularly arises out of the bid by the government to effect amendments to portions of the Petroleum Bill which currently does not permit the collateralisation of the oil money for development.
It has been pointed out that the amendment being sought is for the collateralisation of a portion of the oil money, that is, about 70 per cent of what is expected to go into the Consolidated Fund, with the remaining 30 per cent going into the Stabilisation and Heritage funds.
One of the reasons advanced to seek to deny or stop the collateralisation of the country’s oil money is that oil is a non-renewable resource and that proceeds from it be largely put in a fund to cater for the needs of the future generations who may otherwise be denied such a benefit.
While it is true that oil is a non-renewable resource which will run out after a time, for which reason funds accruing therefrom must be judiciously utilised, the contention that a Heritage Fund be set up to hold the bulk of the funds for future generations is neither the most rational nor prudent way of utilising this important resource.
No one with a dispassionate and patriotic mind who has a true feel of the nation’s socio-economic developmental challenges will deny even for a moment that the country needs all the resources it can gather now to push for an accelerated infrastructural facelift to help improve the lives of our people.
It is common knowledge that millions of our people, especially those in the rural areas such as Otwebeweate in the Eastern Region and Asakai in the Western Region are condemned to drinking contaminated water infected with all sorts of parasites, pregnant and sick people being carried on poles for many kilometres in order to seek medical care, children, even in those urban centres, still learning to read and write under trees, of tens of thousands of people having no place to lay their heads and forced to sleep on the streets.
How can the government, in the face of these monumental challenges, stay away from using whatever natural resources it can get to accelerate the pace of infrastructural development in order to ameliorate the suffering of our people?
The state and the government have a bounden duty to secure the well-being of the people and whatever resources are available must be used now to answer the pressing needs.
It begs the argument to contend that if roads, bridges, railways, hospitals, schools, etc are built with oil money and other resources, collateralised or otherwise, it will only serve the interests of the current generation and not those yet unborn.
We are already late in building our infrastructure and need no further waste of time.
The time for accelerated infrastructural development is now, collateralisation or not.

Monday, December 6, 2010

THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE MUST PREVAIL (DEC 6, 2010)

IT is true that in a functional democracy, strong institutions, more than strong individuals, are what is needed.
When institutions are independent or autonomous and are alive to their responsibilities, they are neither petrified into inaction nor prompted to act by anyone on important matters of state within their jurisdiction.
They act in the supreme interest of the state because the law empowers them to do so.
Thus it is a cardinal principle in a democratic order for everyone, ranging from the Head of State or government through ministers of state to the ordinary people on the street or farm, to abide by the rule of law..
There is no denying the fact that the acceptance by all parties or stakeholders of the verdict of the people expressed in elections adjudged by the relevant electoral body to be free, fair and transparent is a sine qua non for the successful functioning of the democratic order.
Last week, Ivorians went to the polls in what many across the world saw as a wonderful opportunity to bury the last decade of political infamy and instability and open a new chapter of hope, democracy and prosperity it was once known to be in the sub-region.
It is a sad commentary on that country’s political leaders that they have woefully failed to utilise this wonderful opportunity to extricate Cote d’Ivoire from the quagmire it has been stuck for the past decade.
In is important to state clearly that the unwillingness of the government of President Laurent Gbagbo to allow the Independent Electoral Commission do its work of announcing the verdict of the people and respect the will of the people, as corroborated by virtually all observers of the polls, has driven Cote d’Ivoire back to the anarchy in which it found itself a decade ago.
By getting the Constitutional Court to overturn the verdict of the Electoral Commission and proceeding swiftly to have himself sworn in, in flagrant disregard for the clear mandate of the Ivorian people, as well as appeals from ECOWAS, the African Union (AU) and other members of the international community, President Gbagbo has placed premium on clinging to power and damned the consequences.
No one needs to look into the crystal ball to predict that the country is on the brink of a devastating explosion if something very urgent and appropriate is not done now to tackle the crisis.
As the AU itself noted, the crisis could have “incalculable consequences” for the nation and, we dare say, the entire West African sub-region.
We wish to appeal to the AU mediator, former President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, to employ all his diplomatic and political skills to help pull back Cote d’Ivoire from the brink.
Additionally, we wish to urge ECOWAS leaders who are due to meet shortly to demonstrate in clear terms their abhorrence for short-changing the democratic process and strict adherence to their own protocols on democracy and good governance which frown on what the Ivorian leaders are doing now.
If need be and if flexibility towards finding a reasonable way out is not forthcoming, the necessary actions, including political, diplomatic, economic and other sanctions, should be brought to bear to force the leadership to rethink.
We are sad that after many painstaking efforts at consolidating the democratic system in the sub-region and improving the image and standing of Africa in the eyes of the international community that Africa is capable of managing its affairs, Ivorian political leaders have engaged in this anti-democratic and counter-productive practice
Finally, we wish to point out to the Ivorian leaders that whatever they do in respect of this crisis will not only affect Cote d’Ivoire but also the West African sub-region and Africa as a whole. Therefore, they have a duty to subsume their narrow political ambitions in the greater supreme interest of the Ivorian and African people.
This is the only sane way forward to resolve the crisis.

WE SALUTE OUR FARMERS AND FISHERMEN (DEC 4, 2010)

NO nation that has travelled the path of greatness has lacked the ability to feed itself.
Indeed, securing domestic or national food self-sufficiency is a prerequisite for a nation to truly assert its independence, sovereignty and freedom and by dint of this be in a position to stand tall and demand equal and fair treatment in the comity of nations.
It is, therefore, no accident that those nations that have laid claim to the status of great or developed nations have met their domestic food requirements leaving surpluses for export to food-deficient nations.
It is a puzzle for some that a nation like China, with one quarter of the world's population, can feed itself and have surplus for export while some other nations in Africa and Latin America with smaller populations cannot feed themselves.
For nations like Ghana located in the tropics and with smaller populations and huge tracts of uncultivated arable lands, there is clearly no excuse for our inability to feed ourselves and even become net exporters of food.
Yesterday, as we marked yet another Farmers Day in honour of our hard-working and dedicated farmers and fishermen, the evidence of their ability to feed this nation was made manifest.
Reports from across the country indicate that the nation, through the hard work of our farmers and for the good climatic conditions, is set to record one of the best harvest in recent times. Cereals like rice, maize and root crops like yam and cassava are reported to have done so well that they will outstrip the impressive record chalked up last year.
In the face of these developments, we are duly concerned about the lack of adequate machines to facilitate a speedy, timely and efficient harvests of huge quantities of these crops which still remain on the fields.
Many farmers, especially those who cultivate rice and maize, are compelled to harvest those crops manually because of the lack of combine harvesters and the very huge cost of the few available.
This not only results in significant post-harvest losses and thus reduces yields and incomes of farmers but also exposes large hectares of produce to the threat of bush fires, which are, particularly, devastating during harmattan, which is the period we are experiencing now.
The government, through the Minister of Food and Agriculture, must do something urgent about the procurement of combine harvesters, which should have come to enhance the work of the tractors the government imported and distributed to farmers late last year and early this year.
We are also aware that steps are being taken by the Bulk Produce Buying Company to purchase available produce from our farmers and thus guarantee them ready market for their produce.
This is clearly an incentive to ensure greater production of food and so steps should be taken to ensure that prices for farm produce are good as the case was last year, to keep the enthusiasm of farmers going.
We would want to use this occasion to appeal to the government to endeavour to enforce its own decision that public institutions, especially schools, would patronise or be supplied rice and maize produced locally.
This should help provide additional ready market for our farm produce and in this way encourage our farmers to produce more.
On this important occasion of Farmers Day, we would want to join millions of Ghanaians who appreciate the sacrifices and hard work of our farmers and fishermen to say Ayeekoo to all of them for continuing to make food and fish available at reasonable prices for all of us. We salute you our hard-working farmers (both crop and animal farmers) and fishermen.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

WE CANNOT WAIT FOR ACTION (DEC 3, 2010)

ONE of the key attributes of a true democratic system is that government is a product of the will or consent of the people expressed freely and under conditions that are conducive to the free and fair participation of all qualified and willing parties.
It, therefore, follows from this that such a government must not only be responsive to the needs, interests and aspirations of the people but must also actually be accountable to them.
A government (the executive) which exercises the right to steer the affairs of state on behalf of the people does so on the strength of a social contract it has reached with the people.
This contract, among others, implies that government, in the exercise of this mandate within a stipulated period, is enjoined to act in a manner that would help maximise and efficiently use resources to promote a qualitatively higher level of well-being or to secure the barest minimum level of deprivation and suffering possible.
Thus, using the manifestos of political parties, on the strength of which they get elected into government, the people who are the original owners of power can and oftentimes do hold government to their promises.
This obviously keeps governments, all of whom seek the renewal of their mandates, on their toes and push them to endeavour to deliver.
Since our adoption of this system of governance nearly two decades ago, our political parties which contest elections to form governments, have largely functioned along these lines and with the electorate getting ever more sophisticated by the day, no government that cherishes a renewal of its mandate can afford to toy with such ‘sacred’ commitments as contained in their manifestos.
It should be noted that in the process of fulfilling such pledges, development projects such as the building of roads, bridges, railways, hospitals, schools, industries and the provision of jobs are brought to the society.
In what appears to be a re-affirmation of his determination to redeem promises made in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) 2008 manifesto for a Better Ghana agenda, President John Evans Atta Mills has declared 2011 as a year of action.
According to the nation’s Chief Executive, next year would see physical evidence of the Better Ghana agenda, especially in the area of infrastructural development (see front page).
We are happy that the President is focussed on redeeming his pledges and that his government has put in place a variety of measures to ensure that next year is one in which many development projects and programmes would see the light of day.
Any public-spirited person who hears and sees the prospects of more development projects and programmes being actualised must be elated because not only do our suffering people deserve them but also such levels of progress are sine qua non for a better life for the people.
We take particular note of key projects such as the Eastern and Western corridor roads and railways which are not only unprecedented in the country’s history but also hold a huge potential for opening up the entire country for efficient exploitation of our human and material resources and the uplift of the lives of our people.
Only recently we carried reports and pictures of very bad roads in the Northern, Volta and Western regions with many trucks carrying cocoa and foodstuffs having been stranded and the people of those areas issuing desperate appeals for help.
As the saying goes, the sweetness of the pudding is in the eating. Let the government, therefore, expedite action on those projects so that they can take off quickly to affirm that its pledges have been translated into concrete phenomena which bring the much needed relief to the people.
The people of Bimbila have said in reference to their bad roads that government after government had promised them good roads but none actually walked the political talk.
Will it be the same again?
We cannot wait to see the action, Mr President.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

COMBATING AIDS (DEC 2, 2010)

IT is a truism that a nation’s health is its wealth.
The quality of a nation’s workforce, its productivity and its capacity for hard and sustained work depend, to a great extent, on the state of health of its people.
Indeed, it has been universally acknowledged that the qualitative differences in health conditions between people of different nations contribute largely to differences in the magnitude of wealth created and thereby the standard of living of nations.
Given this important role of health in the lives of nations and people, it is no surprise that many governments the world over allocate a significant chunk of their budgetary resources to cater for the health needs of their people.
In Ghana, this has been the trend over the years, with resources for the health sector being either the single largest item or the second.
Most of these resources have, however, been devoted to the curative aspects of health where diseases ranging from malaria, cholera and dysentery to HIV/AIDS are tackled at various health facilities across the country.
Outside of malaria, which has been the most prevalent and pervasive disease in the country, HIV/AIDS has gained the most attention and resource mobilisation both locally and foreign.
Within a few years of its introduction into the country, it has grown into a pandemic, creating fear and panic in society and demanding an even greater share of national resources to contain.
Even as substantial sums of money are spent to procure medicines, including vaccines and anti-retroviral drugs to help combat the disease, additional sums are expended on organising workshops and mounting other forms of educational campaigns to help increase the level of awareness of the pandemic to help reduce it to manageable levels.
Notwithstanding the availability today of detailed knowledge of the disease and ways of avoiding it, there are still a good number of people who believe that they are somehow immune to it and, therefore, can do whatever they like with any sexual partner and still escape HIV/AIDS.
This lackadaisical attitude has, in no small way, contributed to the spread of the disease, which has claimed the lives of many who, otherwise, could have contributed more to wealth creation and a better life for this nation.
It is on account of developments such as these that we find timely and appropriate the call by the Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, on the occasion of World HIV/AIDS Day, on Ghanaians to endeavour to lead healthy lifestyles and refrain from reckless behaviour in order to lend a boost to the fight against the pandemic.
We also believe that one other way that society could be more helpful in the fight against the pandemic is changing our attitude of stigmatising those afflicted with the disease.
The scorn, discrimination and isolation meted out to those afflicted with the disease not only infringe on their fundamental rights and freedoms as citizens but also create and sustain a situation where many who may unknowingly be carrying the virus will be afraid to go for tests to determine their status on account of the fear of similar treatment.
Let us, therefore, treat victims of the disease like anyone of us in society and a better atmosphere will be created to enhance the crusade against it.
Additionally, we wish to urge the government, the private sector, the nation’s development partners and all stakeholders to pool resources towards increasing prevention, that is, reducing new cases, especially mother-to-child transmission and the common usage of shaving and blood transfusion instruments.
These interventions will help make important contributions to ensure a further reduction in the number of infected people and thereby save more lives to boost national development.

ENTRENTCHING OUR DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM (DEC 1, 2010)

IT is no accident of history that Ghana, under its illustrious Leader and Founder, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, broke the colonial yoke on March 6, 1957 and rose to the status of the first African nation south of the Sahara to take its destiny into its own hands.
Among others, this nation has been blessed by the Almighty with visionary, selfless and dedicated leaders who, when it matters most, live up to the expectation of the people by rising to the occasion.
In the early 1990s when most parts of the African continent were still caught in the throes of military regimes and other forms of non-constitutional governance, Ghana, under former President Jerry John Rawlings, led the way to institute a multi-party democratic political dispensation to give vent to the realisation of the interests, wishes and aspirations of the people.
Along with a few African countries, including Benin and Botswana, which were the early trail blazers, this example in representative and accountable governance has blossomed and, today, almost the entire continent is practising this system of governance in which those steering the affairs of state not only derive their mandate from the people but are also accountable to them.
We will not for a moment pretend to present the Western democratic political model we are practising as one that has the attribute of infallibility or even all the answers to the interests, needs and aspirations of our people. Far from it, as no such system or act of human endeavour has as yet been unveiled.
It is only to say that against the other systems that we have practised so far, this model, on the balance of probabilities, appears better.
Ghana’s example in this endeavour particularly appears commendable, not only for the fact that it holds elections periodically (every four years) to elect a President, members of Parliament and local assembly members but, more so, because painstaking and transparent measures have been put in place to ensure that only the true will of the people in the free and fair exercise of their franchise emerges.
Indeed, this has already resulted in two change-over of governments, changes in which the incumbent parties or governments were defeated by parties in opposition, a rare phenomenon on the continent.
Therefore, in the bid to entrench our democratic dispensation, further boost our credentials as a haven of peace and stability and give way to business and investment and protect and promote the well-being of the people, we find the pledges of the government to ensure that the 2012 elections are free, fair and transparent very appropriate and assuring.
The pledge to further increase the independence of governance institutions such as the Electoral Commission (EC) and the Judiciary is particularly refreshing (see front page).
Today, there are many nations and people across the world who visit our country to imbibe the useful lessons of political and social stability we have chalked up as Ghanaians, which also lend a big boost to the nation’s stature in the eyes of the international and business communities.
Image, and a positive one at that, is hard to build and maintain and we would, therefore, urge all Ghanaians, irrespective of their political, ethnic and religious differences, as well as the difficulties and challenges we face individually and collectively, to strive to rise above these and work together to safeguard and further advance these gains.
Let us be good corporate and individual citizens with selflessness, discipline, honesty, respect for the law and the protection and promotion of the national interest being positive attributes that should inform our actions.

ACCELERATING PACE OF INFRASTRUCTURAL DEV (NOV 30, 2010)

THERE is so much meaning and substance in the saying that those who depend on others for their sustenance cannot assert their freedom and independence.
At least, if for nothing, freedom and independence for many people begin with the stomach and whoever controls what goes in there, when and at what frequency wields a lot of influence, if not total control, over the one at the receiving end.
This development transcends to the international level where nations which are unable to feed themselves and are dependent on food aid handouts from others are prone to manipulation and being dictated to by their more independent and self-reliant counterparts.
In our own history, there have been times when we have taken advantage of our advantageous geographic location in the tropics to produce enough food to feed ourselves, with surplus for export.
The period from 1972 to 1975 when the military government of the National Redemption Council (NRC), led by General Kutu Acheampong, launched the Operation Feed Yourself (OFY) programme really comes to mind here.
It is unfortunate that over the years, through a combination of factors, including the lack of political will, inappropriate agricultural policies and adverse climatic conditions, we lost this initiative and drive and have had to import food to feed ourselves.
We are happy that today, courtesy selfless and visionary leadership, committed and appropriate support for the agricultural sector and the hard work and perseverance of our farmers, the good old days when we beat our chest in pride that we could feed ourselves and even take care of our brothers and sisters in the sub-region and beyond are here with us again.
Reports from across the country speak of a bumper harvest in food and export crops and this looks set to outstrip the impressive over six per cent growth the agricultural sector chalked up last year.
In the Northern Region, which has been recognised as the nation's granary, food crops ranging from maize through rice to yam are reported to have been harvested and are still being harvested in record quantities.
Sadly, however, in a number of areas in the eastern corridor of the region, large quantities of foodstuffs, particularly yam, have been locked up, unable to reach the urban centres of consumption owing to the bad state of the roads there (see front page).
First, the inability of farmers to get their produce purchased and taken to the consumption centres means, among others, that they have been denied the legitimate and just rewards they richly deserve.
Again, the loss of such income not only erodes the capital base of farmers and limits their capacity to grow and expand but also serves as a disincentive to increased production. After all, what is the point in expanding production if produce cannot be marketed?
These setbacks notwithstanding, we are comforted by some interventions put in place by the government to address these serious challenges.
The government, in September this year, after President John Evans Atta Mills's return from Japan, had announced that assistance been secured for the construction of the eastern corridor road network stretching from Hohoe in the Volta Region through Bimbila and Yendi in the Northern Region to Kulungugu in the Upper East Region.
We wish to urge that in the face of this emergency, the government, in consultation with its Japanese counterpart, take urgent steps to fast-track the commencement of the project to help bring relief to the people of the area.
Again, we are aware that the establishment by the government of the Bulk Purchase and Storage Company to absorb farm produce at guaranteed prices will go a long way to ensure that all farm produce are bought for farmers to earn just rewards for their toil and sweat.

BUILDING UNITED AND PROSPEROUS NATION (NOV 29, 2010)

THE importance of the adage, “United we stand, divided we fall”, can neither be understated nor overemphasised.
The unity of all forces in a nation, among others, ensures that the collective wisdom, talents and energies of the citizenry are harnessed, mobilised and channelled into productive activities to create wealth for the benefit of all.
If all or the vast majority of people in a situation of unity pull together in the common pursuit of progress and the good of society, the strength, if at all, of forces of opposition to the national goal will be relatively minimal to undermine or overcome such a mass convergence towards the national good.
In the history of nations, various means, tactics and strategies have been adopted at different times and stages to forge unity among the people and proceed on that basis to mobilise them for national development and progress.
In the United States in the 19th century, Abraham Lincoln had to take charge of the war effort by the Federal forces of the North to defeat the slave-exploiting South of the Union and institute empowerment policies and programmes to reunite and rebuild the US into a powerful nation.
As he pointed out then, a nation could not be united and prosperous if half of its citizens were slaves living in bondage, with the other half living as free men and women with fundamental rights and freedoms.
In China, it took Chairman Mao Zedong to organise a decade of cultural revolution from which China emerged not only as a united and strong nation but also each citizen thought of himself or herself as the best in the world and second to nobody.
These two examples bear testimony not only to the vision and selflessness of their leaders but also the unity and resolve of the people to attain the heights of economic and social progress and live better and more dignified lives.
As a people who attained freedom from colonial servitude and subjugation within the last five decades and a country where the practice of the Western multi-party democratic model is only slowly gaining root, national unity and cohesion in Ghana has been a challenging endeavour.
The divisive nature of party politics, which has been aggravated by the policy of winner-takes-all by the party system we currently practice, has, undoubtedly, thrown up more issues that challenge our national unity and development effort.
There are some who, unable to come to terms with their inability to secure political power, consign themselves to the fringes of the system as “fence sitters” and act in ways that can undermine the peace, unity and progress of the nation.
It is, therefore, not strange, in circumstances such as this, to hear the expression, “I will only give of my best when my government is in power.”
This kind of mindset is as unfortunate as it detracts from national unity and progress.
It is important for all of us to understand and appreciate the fact that once elections which are adjudged free and fair are over and a government has been formed, everyone who means well for the State must work hard, honestly and selflessly to increase the stock of national wealth, peace and stability without reference to political, ethnic, religious or social symbols.
Working hard and conscientiously for the progress, peace and stability of one’s nation should be seen as a civic responsibility.
It is on the strength of this that we agree with President John Evans Atta Mills that it is better for us, in this post-election era, to shelve our differences and work together as one people bound by a common destiny to build a better Ghana.
If all of us put our shoulders to the wheel and give of our best, the Lord Almighty will hear our prayers and bless our efforts for a better Ghana.