BRAVO, POLICE ADMINISTRAATION (JULY 30, 2010)

THE directive by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, to the Police Hospital to extend healthcare services to suspects in police cells across the country is welcome news for which we say, ‘Bravo!’.
According to our front page story yesterday, a medical team from the Public Health Department, led by Dr Iddi Musah, had been formed to immediately offer services to inmates in police cells in the Greater Accra Region.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra, the Director of Police Public Affairs, Superintendent of Police, Mr Kwesi Ofori, said the police clinics in the regions and districts would also follow suit in their respective locations, adding that where the conditions of suspects were critical, they would be immediately referred to specialists.
This novel initiative of the Police Administration is very commendable and has been necessitated by the poor healthcare conditions in police cells, which are the first port of call for suspects, as well as some remand prisoners.
It is a fact that there are serious sanitation problems in our prisons, not to mention police cells where inmates are made to sleep under inhuman conditions.
Such deplorable conditions where visitors are greeted with obnoxious stench are debasing and go against the fundamental human rights of the inmates. Even persons who have been convicted and sentenced need not be treated this way because they have a right to healthy living.
We should be mindful of the fact that inmates of police cells are mere suspects until they have been tried, convicted and sentenced by a court of competent jurisdiction. Under no circumstance, therefore, must inmates be treated shabbily.
It is our hope that this novelty will be sustained to assist in speedy and efficient justice delivery in this country because reports of suspects being unable to attend court because of sickness is replete in our courts.
There have been reports of situations where sick suspects and, for that matter, inmates have been left to their fate because of the lack of medical facilities. In some instances, relatives of such persons are asked to see to the proper treatment of the inmates just because they seem to have been neglected because the police do not have the resources.
The DAILY GRAPHIC commends this initiative and appeals that it be implemented to the letter so that it does not become a mere public relations gimmick.
Prison and police cell inmates suffer all kinds of ailments and infectious skin disorders partly because of the unhygienic conditions in which they stay and it is sheer providence that there has not been any major outbreak of diseases.
All well-meaning Ghanaians and institutions must embrace this initiative to make it a reality to save lives and create a positive image for our justice delivery system.
Another problem that hinders the system is the lack of vehicles to convey inmates from the prisons and police cells to the courts, a situation which poses serious danger to security personnel and inmates alike.
It is a common to see inmates or suspects being paraded through crowded streets in handcuffs because of the lack of vehicles to convey such persons to court. In other cases, some of them are left to languish in custody for long periods, their cases virtually forgotten.
These are critical issues that must be tackled with urgency and the police need support in order to execute their duties because they are handicapped by the lack of resources.
For now, we say bravo to the Police Administration for coming up with this laudable initiative on the provision of health care.

LET THE CRUSADE CONTINUE (JULY 29, 2010)

PUBLIC outcry against the H1N1 vaccine appears to be mounting, even as the health authorities try to allay the fears of the public.
The Minister of Health, Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, has personally taken up the crusade to convince the public not to entertain any fear about the safety of the vaccine.
The campaign has taken him to the floor of Parliament and other platforms to drum home support for the efforts of health officials to vaccinate people against the H1N1 influenza.
Media reports indicate a certain level of apprehension for the vaccine following some complications attributed to the vaccination.
There was some panic among the population when the H1N1 influenza was reported to have infected some people, including schoolchildren, leading to the closure of certain schools throughout the country.
In the circumstances, the option available to health authorities was to appeal to the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the vaccines, called Pandemrix.
When the vaccines were made available to the health institutions, many people rushed to those facilities for the vaccines to protect themselves against the disease.
It appears that the health professionals were unable to educate the people who trooped to the hospitals on the influenza which was causing illnesses in people.
Furthermore, public education on the influenza and preventive and corrective steps that must be taken have been limited, leaving those in need of help to rely on hearsay.
We think all hope is not lost yet, as media and public concerns have forced the health authorities to step up their actions to obtain the co-operation of the public.
The DAILY GRAPHIC is happy that the Ministry of Health has instructed all health staff involved in the vaccination to follow strictly the inclusion and exclusion criteria and procedures before and after the vaccination.
We call on the health authorities to step up public education on the flu so that the people can take precautionary measures to prevent infection and assure them that even if they are infected, they can act fast to avoid any danger.
Presently, we even wonder if majority of our people know that the symptoms of the flu virus include fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, body ache, headache, chills and fatigue. It is even said that some people may vomit and have diarrhoea.
The flu can also be spread from person to person through coughing, sneezing or talking to people with the influenza. Sometimes people may become infected by touching something such as a surface or an object with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouths or noses.
The health professionals should advise those who are not eligible for the vaccination not to go for it, while the adverse effects of the vaccination should be made known to those who are vaccinated.
It is also important for health professionals to educate the people on the services they offer. For instance, it is necessary to tell the people to cover their noses and mouths with tissues when they cough or sneeze.
During this period of the flu, it is advisable for people to often wash their hands with soap and water. Indeed, often washing one’s hands will help prevent any infection.
The DAILY GRAPHIC reiterates its call on health professionals to work extra hard in order to gain public acceptance of the vaccines.
The H1N1 will not go away if the people refuse to take the vaccination for fear of its adverse effects.
We need to allay the fears of the people and encourage them to take advantage of the exercise to keep society hale and hearty.
The DAILY GRAPHIC also appeals to the public to co-operate with health officials to ensure the success of the vaccination exercise.

GET THEM ADMITTED BY ALL MEANS (JULY 28, 2010)

The Ministry of Education yesterday reassured parents of candidates who wrote this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) that preparations for the admission of first-year senior high school (SHS) students in September this year were on course.
Consequently, there should be no panic or fear, as there would be admissions in September this year for the 2010-2011 academic year.
Ordinarily, this assurance should have put matters to rest and assuage the fears of not only parents and their children but also all Ghanaians concerning the rumours making the rounds that there will be no admissions to SHS next academic year.
But we are worried, and for genuine reasons too. First, we know that September is barely a month away and we fear that the government may not be able to provide the needed infrastructure to cater for the SHS One students who will enter our SHSs this September
At best, some of the new classroom blocks and dormitories have just been started and the likelihood is there that they will not be ready by September when SHSs will reopen for the new academic year.
Second, it is obvious that every school, not some selected schools, needs those facilities to cater for the fresh students. Therefore, if the government has begun construction works in schools that are in high demand, then what will be the fate of those schools which are not in high demand but which must still admit their quota of fresh students in September?
That education is the means to develop the human resource of our country has never been in doubt. That is why the Daily Graphic strongly believes that at this critical period in our history the government must dig deep into its coffers to find the wherewithal to provide the classrooms to cater for the fresh students.
It may have to do this by cutting expenditure to other sectors of the economy or even over-borrowing. Whatever it takes to do this, it will be money well spent on a good project.
However, if we fail to do this and rather end up either suspending SHS One admissions for one year or carrying out partial admissions to some selected schools, the ramification will be with us for a long time to come.
We must also consider the trauma we are likely to put our BECE candidates to and the impact it will have on them and their parents.
The DAILY GRAPHIC would want to seize this opportunity to call for the depolitisation of our educational sector, so that we can have one continuous educational policy, no matter the party in power.
That way, we can, as a country, work with an educational policy for a long time, without having to truncate it when there is a change in government.
We pray that when the bill to restore SHS education to three years is passed, it will stay like that for as long as possible for the country to work with it.
Any moment from now, the results of this year’s BECE will be released and the least we can do to the thousands of would-be SHS One students is give them hope that their toils in JHS will not be in vain.
Let us will ourselves to provide the facilities in ALL SHSs in the country, after which we can pat ourselves on the back for a good work done.

STOP THESE ILLEGAL MINERS (JULY 27, 2010)

THE contribution of mining to our national development efforts is quite phenomenal, as it rakes in a substantial portion of the country's budget.
In spite of the environmental challenges confronting the country, mining continues to offer employment and jobs to a large segment of society at both the formal and informal levels.
It is, however, worrying that despite the potential of this sector to leap-frog our economy (if proper steps are taken to mainstream the industry into our economic agenda), the activities of illegal miners have rather cast a dark shadow on this sector.
The report of illegal mining activities that are endangering the River Ankobra and other water bodies, as reported in the Monday, July 26, 2010 issue of the DAILY GRAPHIC, is disturbing and very irritating, to say the least.
The report that foreigners are at the forefront of this attempt to destroy some of our important water bodies exposes the weakness in our state institutions tasked with the responsibility to regulate the mining sector.
As disturbing as this issue is, and especially coming immediately after media reports about hundreds of illegal miners trapped to death in recent galamsey activities in the Central and Ashanti regions some few weeks ago, one would expect that state institutions would wake up from their deep slumber to start cracking the whip.
The DAILY GRAPHIC would like to ask: How many more of our people should have to die from these illegal activities before the appropriate agencies begin to act?
Throughout the country, the activities of illegal miners can be seen. All our policy makers have done is pay lip service to issues concerning illegal miners.
From the Western, through the Central, Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions and even the northern part of Ghana, the activities of these illegal miners have polluted water bodies and threatened the livelihood of residents of these localities.
The law on mining is very clear — that individuals and groups can obtain licences and undertake the business of small-scale mining subject to the rules of the game.
However, the inertia shown by the regulators to apply the laws has given these illegal miners a strong conviction to pursue their agenda and damn the consequences. It is no wonder, therefore, that even foreigners have noticed that this is a country where the law remains only in the books.
The DAILY GRAPHIC has, time without number, exposed the harmful activities of illegal miners on the environment. The only response has not gone beyond rhetoric.
It behoves our political leaders to de-politicise the issue of galamsey or illegal mining. The issue has more implications and deals with the livelihood and the very existence of every Ghanaian.
Action, rather than words, is what is needed. The DAILY GRAPHIC is watching with keen interest how the authorities are going to react to this situation.
If we are going to tackle serious national issues with the same lackadaisical attitude, the DAILY GRAPHIC will not hesitate to state that our rich resources will not stimulate growth.

ACTION, NOT WORDS (JULY 26, 2010)

THE sensitive issue of extra classes for pupils and students has come up again. A Deputy Minister of Education, Mrs Elizabeth Amoah-Tetteh, revisited the issue yesterday when she warned teachers to stop organising what she described as “compulsory extra classes” for pupils and students.
Her reasons were two-fold: One, that the exercise brought untold financial burden on parents and unbearable pressure and stress on the children and, two, that for a number of teachers it was an easy way of making extra money when they could deliver whatever they had to teach within the normal time allotted for the subject.
As far as the records go, this is not the first time (and it may not even be the last) that this matter has engaged public attention. The DAILY GRAPHIC recalls that in April 2009, the Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, announced that his ministry would begin issuing circulars that would make it illegal for both public and private schools to organise extra classes. The new directive, he said, would also prescribe punitive measures for teachers who refused to comply.
A year on, however, little or nothing seems to have been done by way of the minister’s directive. Rather, some teachers, as well as students, in the Accra metropolis kicked against the government’s decision to ban extra classes because the ban was not in the best interest of students.
Indeed, the teachers argued that extra classes had become a necessary evil because classes were congested as a result of the lack of structures, thereby seriously compromising the teaching and learning process. What made matters worse, they said, was the syllabus to be covered within the relatively short period.
In fact, the holding of extra classes can be traced back to the period before the introduction of the 1987 educational reforms that brought in the Junior Secondary School (JSS) concept.
Long before that time, students were attending vacation classes, remedial classes and other classes. Today, whether it was a felt need or a created one, the holding of extra classes, vacation classes, remedial classes, pre-senior high school classes, etc has become part and parcel of our educational system.
The Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS), on the other hand, has been of the view that extra classes for students could be very exploitative, as teachers often charge very high fees, and suggested that the issue should be subjected to a national consultative discussion.
Sadly, the matter has since been left on the drawing board, while our officials continue to bemoan the practice at the least opportunity. To say the least, that is not good enough. Nothing will be resolved by the rhetoric.
The DAILY GRAPHIC thinks the way forward is to seize the bull by the horns and streamline the practice. Ultimately, what we must do is take a radical look at the whole educational enterprise.
We need to have the necessary learning and teaching equipment and materials. Buildings alone may not make a school.
We need teachers who are academically good, professionally competent and have the right kind of attitude towards their work. We also need to motivate them. Until we reach that desired goal or get closer to it, extra classes will be with us for some time.
The DAILY GRAPHIC acknowledges that education holds the key to accelerated and sustainable development. Although the ends are competing for scarce national resources, it behoves the authorities to find more innovative ways of mobilising resources to invest in the people.

SANITATION COURTS WELCOME (JULY 24, 2010)

THE time-tested saying that cleanliness is next to Godliness underlines the fact that one can only be holy and Godly by being clean at all times.
The essence of this saying was not lost on policy makers during the pre-independence and the immediate post-independence eras when town council officers or sanitation officers were visible in all corners of the country to enforce sanitation bye-laws.
Their presence alone was enough to deter anybody from flouting the law on sanitation by ensuring that waste materials were disposed of in good time. Also, the enforcement of the regulations spurred people on to clear the weeds around their surroundings or prevent their domestic animals from straying into town or city centres.
The activities of these public officials were so visible that the maintenance of clean surroundings became part of our socio-cultural way of life and at any given time residents could “saman” (report) their unsanitary neighbours to the elders of the villages for the appropriate sanctions to be applied.
Sadly, as we expand the country's economic frontiers, we grossly overlook the important role sanitation officers play in the daily lives of Ghanaians. The result of that lapse is a country whose cities remain largely unplanned and filthy.
The Daily Graphic, therefore, welcomes the decision by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to reintroduce the concept of sanitation courts in the metropolis. Indeed, this is refreshing and we commend the authority for returning to our roots in its efforts to keep the city clean.
Accra, and for that matter the major cities in the country, is engulfed with filth and the situation has overwhelmed the authorities tasked with the responsibility to keep the environment wholesome.
The blame cannot be placed solely at the doorstep of the local authorities because the citizens who dump refuse indiscriminately must be made to answer for their waywardness. The careless abandon with which some residents of the city dump waste indiscriminately cannot be tolerated any longer.
The Daily Graphic is of the view that all resources must be marshalled to help the sanitation courts to take off devoid of the usual bureaucratic tendencies.
This is one project which, if implemented with the zeal with which sanitation issues were pursued in the past, can help transform Accra into a Millennium City. It will also curb the high incidence of dangerous diseases.
We are aware of the efforts being made by Zoomlion to keep our surroundings clean but we also know that very little can be achieved if the people do not change their attitude. These actions will yield the desired results only if the indiscriminate disposal of waste is made a risky business by naming and shaming residents who do that.
An important element to consider is public education which, to a large extent, will help change the attitude and habits of most citizens who have deviated from societal values to engage in counter-productive activities.
The Daily Graphic pledges its support for this programme, as well as any other programme or policy that will make our cities clean.
We only hope this decision does not become one of the many failed projects because of the lack of political will to apply the rules.
The Daily Graphic has confidence in the Chief Executive of the AMA, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, who, by his actions so far, has demonstrated that the AMA will not compromise on its statutory functions, not even for political advantage.

THIS ROW MUST END (JULY 23, 2010)

THE row between journalists and the security agencies, especially the police, over the invitation extended to two journalists concerning their reportage must have sent shivers down the spine of lovers of press freedom and democracy.
Mr Ato Kwamena Dadzie, the acting News Editor of Joy FM, and Mr Enimil Ashon, Editor of the Ghanaian Times, have been at the centre of this saga; a caution statement has been taken from the former in contravention of the law while the latter had been invited because of a publication in last Wednesday’s issue of the paper.
Chapter 12 of the 1992 Constitution guarantees freedom of expression but that freedom is not absolute as Article 164 places a limitation in the interest of national security, public order and public morality and for the purpose of protecting the reputations, rights and freedoms of others.
However, any move to criminalise free speech reduces the capacity of the press to play its role as a watchdog of society without let or hindrance.
Perhaps, our Constitution recognises this danger and created the National Media Commission (NMC) to adjudicate in such circumstances. Before the repeal of the criminal libel law, some journalists had gone to jail for expressing their opinion on certain national issues.
But even today, there are still some legislations on our statutes that criminalise free speech like the one being evoked by the police in the case of the two journalists.
The DAILY GRAPHIC will not condone irresponsibility on the part of the media in any form but we plead with the authorities to avoid actions that tend to criminalise free speech.
Indeed, some of the issues being complained about by the police are not protected under Chapter 12 of our Constitution and, therefore, we appeal to journalists to exercise circumspection in their reportage.
But again, if we all recognise the crucial role of the media in national development, we may decide to resort to the NMC to seek redress for any irresponsibility on the part of journalists or go to court in a civil action.
The DAILY GRAPHIC acknowledges the crucial role of the media in national development, but we must stress that journalists are also obliged to exercise the freedom guaranteed them by the Constitution with responsibility.
Our Constitution frowns on censorship but journalists can help build a better society if they choose the path of self-regulation in all that they do to avoid hate language and insults that a section of the media have become notorious for in recent times.
Basic journalism lessons admonish journalists to make sure they check and cross-check their sources before going to press, and anytime they are in doubt they should spike their stories rather than publish and be damned.
A journalist who chooses the path of publishing and being damned can be an instant hero depending on the political divide they belong in our politically-charged environment. But in doing so, we must remember that the “crown of martyrdom is not easy to wear”.
We have made tremendous progress in promoting media freedom in the country, and as such journalists and society at large must do everything to protect media freedom to ensure good governance, accountability and transparency.
The irresponsibility by a section of the media has also necessitated the call by some people in society that the NMC be clothed with more powers to deal with errant journalists.
The NMC was not established to clamp down on the media but it has been empowered with enough jurisdiction to protect and promote high journalistic standards and professionalism.
Finally, the DAILY GRAPHIC appeals to the government, security agencies and the society at large to exercise restraint when dealing with media infractions so that in our attempt “to teach” the media a lesson, we do not throw away the baby with the bath water.

OUR BANKS MUST LISTEN (JULY 22, 2010)

ONE often cited factor that is said to contribute to the high cost of doing business in the country is high interest rates.
Many players in the manufacturing sector have found reason to complain about the rather repulsive interest rates that sometimes tend to stifle the growth of businesses.
In the past, there have been concerns that although there has been some commendable decline in the base rate of the Bank of Ghana, there had not been corresponding reductions in the interest rates.
There is usually the temptation to lash out at the banks for putting profit considerations above all others, ultimately contributing to the slow growth of the industrial sector over the years.
Thus, in a situation where the banks evidently record good profits while industries suffer, the natural inclination is to blame the financial sector for the woes of the former.
Yet, the banks have usually rebutted such claims and cited the huge risks associated with the granting of loans as a justifiable basis for the retention of what has been described as high interest rates.
In that regard, there is usually reference to the fact that many people who go for loans do not have fixed addresses and are very difficult to locate once they have been granted the loans.
It appears that as far as the banks are concerned, the business climate is a competitive one and all businesses, including the banks are out to optimise their profit margins. But that may not serve as a positive way to address the difficulties other businesses continue to encounter in their bid to facilitate their growth and ultimately provide more jobs for the people.
During a visit of a delegation of the Ghana Employers Association to the Castle last Tuesday, the issue of high interest rates came up for discussion and President John Evans Atta Mills urged financial institutions to reduce their lending rates in response to the drop in the inflation and base rates.
There is very little argument about the fact that the industrial and manufacturing sectors play a very important role in the growth of an economy, hence any situation that tends to stifle the growth of that sector needs to be effectively addressed.
Aside serving as an important development indicator, the growth of the industrial sector provides more jobs, and the resulting taxes paid by those in the sector are vital to growth of the economy.
The DAILY GRAPHIC believes that the call by the President is not only justifiable but must be urgently heeded to in order to salvage the manufacturing sector that is witnessing continuous dwindling fortunes in the face of cheap imports.
Indeed, loan repayments made quite arduous by the high interests on them continue to be an albatross around the necks of some manufacturing concerns, and others having to fold up with loans they had contracted still unpaid.
While the DAILY GRAPHIC shares the view that one of the main objectives of businesses is to make profit, it is also reasonable to argue that the success of any business endeavour and in this particular instance, the financial institutions, should not only be expressed in the profits made but also the impact made on other businesses.
Thus, we also urge the financial sector to review their lending rates by providing more effective advisory units to ensure that businesses that borrow from them make prudent investments to ensure that both the lender and the borrower benefit from such transactions.
The banking sector can do more than it is doing at the moment. We also believe that it is not enough to just dole out money to businesses that make requests for loans without ensuring that such businesses have viable business plans to ensure that money given out do not go down the drain.

PLUG THE LOOPHOLES (JULY 21, 2010)

THE role of education in national development is crucial for every country, especially Third World countries, including Ghana.
It is for this reason that the framers of the 1992 Constitution, under Article 25 (1), guaranteed the right of all persons to equal educational opportunities and facilities by ensuring free compulsory universal basic education.
This constitutional provision also ensures that secondary and higher education shall be made available and accessible to all.
In order to achieve the goals set by the Constitution, the government has also committed itself to the achievement of universal primary education as part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG II) that by 2015 Ghanaian children everywhere, boys and girls alike, would complete a full course of primary education.
To boost this laudable initiative, therefore, in 2005 the Ministry of Education (MoE) began to implement the Capitation Grant scheme (the policy of school fees abolition by providing grants) with the objective of increasing access to education.
Since the introduction of the scheme, much seems to have been achieved regarding increased school enrolment and also relief to parents from the burden of paying school fees.
That notwithstanding, there have been allegations of malfeasance associated with the implementation of the scheme.
These allegations or perceptions have been given an empirical basis by a survey conducted by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) which has seriously indicted officials of the Ghana Education Service (GES), especially head teachers, for corrupt practices in the disbursement and utilisation of the grant.
The DAILY GRAPHIC shares in the suggestion by the researchers that the spending pattern of the Capitation Grant must be evaluated to determine whether it is conducive to improve education as anticipated by the policy.
The researchers, in their report dubbed: “Public Expenditure Tracking Survey in Ghana: Tracking Capitation Grant in Public Primary Schools for the 2008 and 2009 Academic Year”, noted that because of the discrepancies in the enrolment figures from the various quarters, there was the likelihood of the Ministry of Finance releasing funds for “ghost pupils”, with more going into the wrong hands.
As was rightly pointed out by Mr Daniel Armah-Attoh, one of the researchers, at the launch of the report, the inconsistencies in enrolment figures should be worrying because they gave room for corruption and lent credence to the already existing perception of the public about the scheme.
The report might have opened the Pandora’s box for a firm action to be taken to correct the rot in the scheme and ensure that the objective of this laudable initiative is not thrown overboard as a failed policy.
There should be cause for alarm, since the report indicated that comparisons of the financial records of the district directors and those of head teachers also confirmed leaks in the system.
In spite of the scheme, some school authorities still go ahead to impose some questionable fees clothed in the name of parent-teacher association (PTA) dues, over which some pupils have been reportedly sacked from school for non payment.
We are not saying that PTA dues should not be paid. Our concern is that school authorities must be realistic with the fees being charged.
All these must attract the attention of the educational authorities in order not to draw back the objective of the Capitation Grant.
Let us take decisive action now to plug the loopholes in order to save the scheme from collapse.

OPENNESS IN USE OF OIL REVENUE (JULY 20, 2010)

EVER since the announcement of the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in the country, many people have expressed views on how to effectively manage the resource in order for it to benefit all Ghanaians.
There have been allusions to occurrences elsewhere, particularly in some African countries where reference is usually made to the “oil curse” because the discovery of the resource has done very little or virtually nothing to alleviate poverty.
On the contrary, the environmental scourge oil companies sometimes leave behind has served to plunge many host communities into more woes and chaos.
In Ghana, the bane associated with the extractive industry has sometimes been well expressed in the mining sector and sometimes the case is made that despite the fact that the country has served as a rich source of gold for many multinational companies, mining communities have virtually nothing to show for it.
While sometimes companies in the extractive industries have been lambasted for contributing very little to alleviate poverty in their host communities, some have also argued that the blame must be laid squarely at the door of local and national government officials and authorities who have failed to manage properly the revenue from the extractive industry.
One of the instituted mechanisms to ensure transparency in the management of revenue from the extractive industry is the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which is a coalition of governments, companies, civil society groups, investors and international organisations.
Countries which have signed onto this initiative are expected to meet some obligations in the declaration of revenue from the extractive industry with the view to managing those revenues better.
Under the initiative, mining companies are expected to publish what they pay to the government which, in turn, must publish what it receives from mining companies.
This is to ensure that the people are well informed about the dealings between the government and the mining companies to help enhance transparency in the utilisation of revenue from the extractive industry.
The news that the country is making steady efforts to sign onto the EITI to ensure that oil revenue is published is, therefore, heart-warming and the DAILY GRAPHIC fully supports the efforts of the government in that regard.
Ironically, many Third World oil-producing countries are steeped in poverty and squalor and it is natural to expect that revenue from resources obtained from those communities will be judiciously used to better the lot of the inhabitants of those communities.
It is our hope that the government, having demonstrated good intentions in the management of oil revenue, will not lull into a state of complacency that can significantly contribute to the reckless use of oil revenue.
So many lessons abound on the continent about how the poor management of oil revenue has sparked violent conflicts and contributed significantly to poor living conditions and the DAILY GRAPHIC believes that these lessons should inform our desire to remain truly transparent in the use of oil revenue.

C'SSION MUST LEAD DEVT AGENT (JULY 19, 2010)

LAST Friday, President J.E.A. Mills fulfilled another constitutional mandate with the inauguration of a 38-member National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), under the chairmanship of Mr P. V. Obeng.
The NDPC is provided for in the Fourth Republican Constitution (1992) as part of the Executive. Article 86 of the Constitution prescribes the composition of the commission, while Article 87 delineates its functions.
The principal function of the NDPC is to “advise the President on development planning policy and strategy”.
The commission, at the request of the President, Parliament or on its own initiative, is also expected among other issues to:
• Study and make strategic analysis of macro-economic and structural reform options;
• Make proposals for the development of multi-year rolling plans, taking into consideration the resources, potential and comparative advantage of the different districts of Ghana;
• Make proposals for the protection of the natural and physical environment with a view to ensuring that development strategies and programmes are in conformity with sound environmental principles;
• Make proposals for ensuring the even development of the districts of Ghana by the effective utilisation of available resources.
Simply put, it sets the development agenda of the nation and its work is very crucial to the success of any government.
It was, therefore, not surprising that the President, among other things, told members of the commission that “the economic destiny of the country, to a greater extent, rests on your shoulders” and challenged them to come up with best practices and ideas which would facilitate the economic development of the country, making it one of the strongest economies on the country.
The DAILY GRAPHIC shares the vision of the President, and rightly so, because the NDPC occupies a strategic position in the government’s quest to resolve the plethora of problems which threaten its forward march.
What makes the NDPC’s work even more critical is the fact that the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in the Western Region has shot up everybody’s expectations of the need for an economic and social road map to better the living standards of the people through massive economic empowerment.
Against this background, the DAILY GRAPHIC is happy that the men and women who serve in the NDPC are people of integrity and experts of immeasurable experience in their chosen fields.
We are particularly delighted that its Chairman, Mr Obeng, is not new to the operations of the commission. Indeed, he was one of the first officers of the commission in 1995 and served in that capacity as chairman, with Professor E.A. Boateng, a former Head of the Environmental Protection Council and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, as Vice-Chairman and Dr Kwabena G. Erbynn as acting Director-General.
The DAILY GRAPHIC, therefore, expects Mr Obeng to bring his experience and expertise to bear on the work of the NDPC and present the government with a blueprint that will deal with the social and economic issues that will impact postively on the country’s development and the well-being of the people.
Happily, Mr Obeng himself recognises the critical nature of the assignment offered his team and he has made it abundantly clear that members of the commission are committed to the development of the country.
Everything is perfectly in place so let’s set the ball rolling to actualise the “Better Ghana” dreams and objectives of the government.

GHANA WINS

OVER the last few weeks, the country has been engulfed in a debate over a housing deal to accommodate the security agencies and a cross-section of the people.
Although all the commentators agreed that it was a good decision by the government to provide houses for the people, there was dissent over the terms of the agreement the government wanted to enter with STX of Korea.
It is disheartening that the country has a housing deficit of about 1,000,000, which means that even the decision to construct 200,000 houses under the Korean deal would not have resolved the housing challenge. However, the move would have been a giant step by the government to address the country’s social housing needs.
It is being said that so long as we have governments formed by political parties, we cannot divorce national development strategies from partisan considerations. But we should remember that nobody gains from the poisoning of the village borehole because there will be no potable water for all.
The DAILY GRAPHIC is aware that power is won in a multi-party democracy by political parties with well-defined visions and missions and the ruling party is expected to fulfil its campaign promises based on its manifesto.
That position is understandable, but the success of any government will be judged by how it is able to harness the resources of the country for the benefit of all, not just its supporters.
President J.E.A. Mills espoused this position very well during his inauguration on January 7, 2009 when he said, among other issues, “I will be father for all.”
We need, therefore, to seek consensus on all major development issues, especially those concerning health, education, the economy and housing, so that the national agenda will remain the same even if there is a change of government.
The DAILY GRAPHIC appeals to all players in the political arena to make a conscious effort to refrain from the repeated reference to the past to rationalise their decisions and actions.
On that note, the DAILY GRAPHIC commends President Mills for mustering the courage to advise that the Finance Committee of Parliament reconsider the deal.
Mr Alban Bagbin, the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, said on the floor of the House on Thursday, “The President is of the view that since members on both sides agree that it is a good project, the national character of the project should not be swallowed by any partisanship.”
Our prayer is that in future, everybody, including the government and the Minority, will take a cue from the President’s admonition and maintain the national character of all state projects.
We are gratified that the STX deal is going to help us gravitate towards one goal and that is the will of the people. Nobody can contest the fact that the will of the people remains the basis of governmental authority. It is the foundation of democracy and good governance.
The DAILY GRAPHIC has no doubt that our politicians campaign for the mandate of the people in order to effect positive and immediate changes in the lives of their constituents.
We salute both sides of Parliament for working together to get a good deal for the people, even if at certain times the debate had been acrimonious. All the stakeholders have demonstrated that we can disagree without being disagreeable. You are giving new life and new direction to politics.
The DAILY GRAPHIC reminds all our compatriots of the words of Edmund Burke, that “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”.
The President has demonstrated that we can have politics of integrity. This is victory for our democracy; it is victory for all Ghanaians.

SUPPORT FISHERMEN TO DELIVER (JULY 16, 2010)

ANOTHER fishing season is here and it is heartening that oceanic watchers and chief fishermen along the country’s coastline have predicted a bumper harvest between now and September. (Read our special news feature on pages 16 and 17.)
But the joy, euphoria and sheer ecstasy surrounding the whole event will quickly evaporate when the problems confronting the fishing industry hits us in the face.
Indeed, it is sad to learn that the absence of proper landing beaches and inadequate tools and facilities can aggravate post-harvest losses and make it difficult for the fishermen to reap the fruits of their labour.
The use of the light aggregating device in fishing, pair trawling, the use of chemicals such as DDT and carbide, as well as dynamite and other explosives, are some of the enigmas that have confronted the fishing industry.
A few years ago, pair trawling especially attracted some of our fisher folk onto the streets, demanding solutions from the government.
Even though the situation appears to have improved, it still remains an issue yet to be resolved, especially with wooden semi-industrialised vessels also getting involved in the practice.
The case of the light aggregating device for fishing has become an almost lost case. The practice was largely undertaken with some levels of apprehension until fishermen were made to believe that there was no regulation prohibiting the practice in Ghana’s Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ).
Today, fishermen, with impunity, display their equipment with blatant disregard for the harm they are causing the very resource bequeathed to them and on which their livelihoods and those of their descendants depend.
The situation appears to have improved at the front of premix supply but there are still key concerns over the distribution of outboard motors.
For instance, out of 1,000 outboard motors promised fisherman through the National Canoe and Fishermen Association, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) took 650 for distribution, leaving only 365 for the association to distribute.
As for the lack of cold stores with refrigeration facilities in many of our fishing communities all these years, the DAILY GRAPHIC believes the time has come for the government to take a swift action to put the facilities in place.
In September last year, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, announced that the Spanish government was providing Ghana with a seven million euro facility to construct and equip six cold stores with refrigeration facilities in some selected fishing communities in the country.
In addition to that, he said the government was sourcing for funds to construct two fishing harbours and 12 landing sites, estimated at about $200 million, as part of measures to address the challenges of safety and post-harvest losses in the industry.
The DAILY GRAPHIC hopes these lofty dreams will be translated into reality very soon. These are basic necessities for the fishing industry if it must thrive.
Mr Ahwoi has already demonstrated a deep passion for the sector that he heads with the strong conviction that any country that begs for food handouts lowers its esteem in the international community.
The signs of growth in the agricultural sector are showing with the availability of certain staples on the market at reasonable prices.
The Daily Graphic believes that if the right policies are put in place and the proper incentives given to farmers and fishermen, we shall have enough to feed ourselves and for export.
The weather conditions give hope for a bumper harvest during the fishing season and so we urge the government to help fishermen with the inputs to flood the market with fish at very reasonable prices.

SIGNS OF BETTER THINGS TO COME (JULY 15, 2010)

CURRENT economic indices point to the fact that the prudent austerity measures taken by the Mills administration have started yielding results.
There can be no denying the fact that the disclosure by the Government Statistician, Dr Grace Bediako, that inflation for last month hit 9.52 per cent presents the nation with not only good news but also hope that the nation will soon emerge from the economic wilderness into positive growth and prosperity.
According to the Government Statistician, the impressive 9.52 per cent inflation comes from a backdrop of consistent drops in the inflationary rate over the last many months, with the possibility of further decline (see front page).
It is important for this achievement to be placed in the proper context to truly appreciate its scope and significance.
As late as January last year when the Mills administration took over the reins of government, inflation stood at over 20 per cent and was set to rise even higher, with an overall deficit of about 18 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
It is also important to point out that the value of the cedi, which has an effect on the inflationary spiral, had also fallen significantly and looked set to depreciate further.
In such a situation, it required the taking of difficult and politically unpalatable but necessary measures to first arrest the escalating inflationary spiral, even it out and sustain the progress to induce it to begin to drop.
Thus, if within 18 months the inflation figure has been more than halved and is even set for further decline, we as a people rightly deserve to pat ourselves on the back for a good job done.
While it cannot be denied that the myriad of sacrifices made by the good people of this country have contributed significantly to the attainment of this achievement, the fiscal discipline, cut back on wasteful and ostentatious spending and the general prudent management of the economy has been a decisive factor in this respect.
In a sense, it does appear as if history is repeating itself, as it was the Economic Management Team, under the same Professor John Evans Atta Mills, then as Vice-President of the Republic during the second term of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, which chalked up a similar single digit inflation of 9.8 per cent.
We are aware that as inflation falls, so the purchasing power of any given quantum of money appreciates, thereby enhancing the money in people’s pockets. The reverse is the case with a galloping inflation.
With inflation on the decline, all things being equal, the general cost of doing business will be relatively lower, business people can plan better, especially in the medium to long term, and this will have a significant impact on job creation, the value of the cedi and other important economic indices.
We are heartened by the explanation of the Finance and Economic Planning Minister, Dr Kwabena Duffour, to the effect that the occurrence of this appreciable decline in inflation in the face of increased government spending pointed to the prospect of good economic growth.
A good growth, coupled with the introduction of fairer means of distributing national resources such as the Single Spine Salary Scheme (SSSS) should help reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of our people.
Finally, we wish to counsel against complacency so that we do not slip back and compromise the impressive gains we have chalked up.
The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter and we need to work harder and remain focused and disciplined to get us to the much sought after economic prosperity we all dream of.

WE SALUTE THESE PATRIOTIC ACTS (JULY 13, 2010)

IT cannot be denied that the impressive performance put up by the players of the senior national soccer team, the Black Stars, brought dignity, honour and pride to our nation.
Indeed, the whole of Africa and Africans in the Diaspora felt proud of and ingratiated to the Black Stars for being worthy ambassadors of the continent in the face of stiff opposition mounted by the nations from the other continents.
In a fitting tribute to this heroic feat chalked up by the Stars, the government announced a package for them, which included monetary and other national awards.
That the Stars, in holding high the flag of Ghana at the mundial, greatly enhanced the image and standing of our dear nation and continent in the eyes of the world is a truism that needs no recounting.
As if that was not enough, 10 per cent of the earnings of each of the 23-member team is to be paid as tax to the state.
Initial estimates put the tax figure for the 23 players at $349,600 (see front page).
There are many Ghanaians who, riding on the crest wave of the honour the Stars have brought the nation, will advance sound reasons to justify why the Stars should, at least in this instance, be exempted form paying taxes on their earnings.
The popular refrain in this respect is that by sacrificing their talents and energies to do us this great honour, they have already paid their dues and, therefore, need not be saddled with a further burden.
It is further contended that this instance provides a suitable justification for granting tax waivers to the Stars so that they could derive maximum benefits from all their earnings.
Be that as it may, the laws of the land, supreme as they are, require that these deductions be made for the national good, irrespective of who is involved or the circumstance or occasion at stake.
It is no secret that many individuals and corporate bodies either under-declare and under-pay their taxes or evade the payment of such taxes altogether.
This, among others, has contributed substantially to the prevailing situation where the tax burden is on the shoulders of a smaller segment of the population.
This means that the burden of generating funds internally to prosecute the government’s development plans and programmes to make life better for all disproportionately rests on the shoulders of only a few.
For years, individuals and groups, acting in collusion with some tax officials, have devised ways of persistently evading taxes, either without being caught or, where exposed, the sanctions are not commensurate with the crime.
It is in the face of such unpatriotic and nation-wrecking acts that we highly commend the sacrifices of our gallant Stars and others in honouring their tax obligations and putting the government in good stead to honour its development plans and programmes.
We urge the government, in its bid to reform the system, to endeavour to plug all loopholes in the tax system and widen and deepen the net so that more revenue will be secured for government programmes.
Additionally, we urge that stiffer sanctions be imposed on tax evaders and all those who collude with them in the commission of such criminal acts.
Such stiffer penalties should help serve as a disincentive to such nation wreckers to dissuade them from persisting in those negative acts.
We also need to improve the conditions of service of staff of the tax collecting agencies to motivate them and also reduce their susceptibility to taking bribes from tax dodgers.
Lastly, we wish to appeal to the patriotic instincts of tax officials and tax dodgers that it is ultimately in their interest to ensure that the right things are done, since any deficiency in resources for the government will reflect in poor infrastructure and other developments that will impact adversely on all.

WE NEED ACCOUNTABILITY WITH EFFICIENCY (JULY 14, 2010)

THE incidence of corruption is a menace to all societies. It is largely so because it is a practice or an act perpetrated, supported and sustained by human beings.
In so far as there are and will continue to be greedy and selfish human beings in society, this canker will not be extinguished.
In the face of this reality, society’s best antidote is to institute mechanisms to check and manage it with the view to exacting sanctions on those found culpable. This, among others, is to help ensure that society does not unduly suffer from the want of resources from unbridled greed and avarice on the part of a few of its members.
The enactment of the Procurement Act has been one way of dealing with the haemorrhage of public resources and their being siphoned into private pockets.
It is estimated world-wide that billions of dollars of state resources are lost annually due to procurement fraud and that that whopping amount of money could match or even outstrip the financial assistance to developing countries.
It is, therefore, a matter of course that the Procurement Act, Act 663, is targeted at ensuring adherence to due process, a system of transparency and fairness and prevalence of value for money in the utilisation of public resources.
Given the rather huge quantum of state resources involved in the public procurement process, it is important that safeguards, as well as checks and balances, are carried out to protect those resources from being siphoned by politicians, public officials and private individuals.
This notwithstanding, we are not oblivious of the potential or even latent drawback to national development that the operation of the Procurement Act has posed since its enactment in 2003.
One of the key areas of concern in this regard is the relatively long delay involved in the working of the system.
It is estimated that carrying through one transaction under this system takes, on a conservative basis, between one and a half and two months.
This, of course, not only introduces significant delay in the execution of government projects and programmes but also comes along with additional cost which unduly goes to overburden taxpayers.
Given this delay in the award of contracts and the execution of projects, it stands to reason that the disbursement of funds will also be delayed, local enterprises hindered, job creation adversely impacted and the state or national interest not maximised.
It is on the basis of the above that we give a qualified endorsement to President John Evans Atta Mills’s directive to the Finance Ministry to initiate the process for the possible review of the Procurement Law.
We believe that any system or measure that unduly sacrifices efficiency and also loses significant time cannot confer maximum benefit on society.
This explains why we think the act ought to be looked at again to rectify those shortcomings.
Nevertheless, we wish to urge that in the bid to fashion out amendments to inject more dynamism and efficiency into the operations of the Procurement Law, care must be taken not to erode aspects of the law that safeguard transparency, fairness, due process, accountability and other positive attributes that constitute a barrier to the theft of state resources.
We believe that it is possible to strike a healthy balance between transparency, fairness and accountability, on the one hand, and injecting into the system efficiency and more enhanced time management, on the other, for the overall public good and interest.

A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION (JULY 12, 2010)

When the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) announced increases in utility tariffs about two months ago, it generated mixed reactions.
While there appeared to be consensus across the social spectrum on an upward adjustment in tariffs, the area of controversy centred around the quantum of the increases.
Even as most vulnerable sections of society were shielded from the increases with zero-rated tariffs, users in other categories, principally commercial or business concerns, raised the issue of affordability and the adverse effects the increases would have on their operations.
Following those and other developments in the industry, the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the vanguard organisation for working people, called on the PURC to review the rates, failing which it would initiate nation-wide demonstrations.
We are happy that today, following a meeting between the leadership of organised labour and President John Evans Atta Mills at the Castle, Osu, at the weekend, positive dialogue and good sense have prevailed and the PURC has been urged to engage the TUC to help arrive at an amicable resolution of the matter via a possible downward review of the tariffs.
This has subsequently rendered unnecessary the threat of demonstrations and strikes by the TUC which, undoubtedly, would have undermined the industrial peace and harmony the country has enjoyed for some time now.
We have been an eloquent champion of the resort to dialogue as a means for the amicable resolution of disputes because it almost always yields positive and durable dividends that embody the attributes of win-win for all stakeholders.
We commend the President and the leadership of the TUC for this demonstration of leadership and foresight because the reverse could have resulted in some form of social strive and tension, the loss of considerable hours of productivity and a reduction in our wealth-creating momentum which has recently been on the increase.
This is not to forget that such a development would have undermined the existing cordial and mutually beneficial relationship between organised labour and the government as active partners in the national development effort designed to secure a better nation and improved livelihoods for the people.
We wish to appeal to both the PURC and the TUC to enter these talks not from entrenched positions cast in iron but with flexibility and pragmatism anchored on the supreme national interest.
This, among others, calls for the trading of compromises which, inter alia, will ensure the prevalence of the interest and aspirations of not only the parties involved but also the rest of society who are as much stakeholders as the two parties are.
While we would expect a conclusion that will further enhance the growth and prospects of our business concerns, especially small and medium-scale enterprises, we also wish to urge that sight should not be lost of the interest of large sections of our underprivileged people who live in compound houses in the urban centres and cannot benefit from the zero-rated tariffs for the vulnerable because they cannot have separate meters for electricity and water.
We call on the PURC to endeavour to prevail on the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to provide these meters to such people to help bring them the much needed relief.
We also take note that in making this move, the government has not issued clear directives to the PURC as to what position it should take, since doing so may undermine the independence of the utility body, even as we are the first to admit that the government as the body with oversight responsibility for the PURC and, as the prime promoter of social peace, order and harmony, has a key role to play in such matters.

DIALOGUE PAYS (JULY 10, 2010)

THE recent upward adjustments in utility tariffs — 42 per cent for water and 36 per cent for electricity — have attracted the ire of consumers across the board, especially those in large households and industrial consumers.
In addition to domestic consumers, the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the Ghana Employers Association (GEA) and other income earners have kicked against the hikes. Their mantra is that the increases will adversely affect their well-being.
Organised labour, for instance, issued an ultimatum to the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to review the tariffs or it will mobilise its members to stage demonstrations in the country.
The GEA has also appealed to the PURC to stagger the adjustment in a two-step approach now and next year to reduce the negative impact on consumers and businesses.
Ghana has been rated a friendly investment destination but captains of business and industry are of the view that if the PURC fails to adjust the tariffs downwards, the competitiveness of goods and services will be affected.
It is believed that the upward adjustments will reduce the profitability of many organisations, especially those in the steel, textile and garments, pharmaceutical and household manufacturing industries that consume high volumes of power and water.
During the last two years or so, the environment for business operations has not been very conducive due to the global economic downturn. Some businesses are just about recovering from the shock of economic challenges.
The government has, through pragmatic and austerity measures, arrested the decline in the value of the cedi, while interest rates are falling, due to the drop in the rate of inflation.
Now that the indicators point to a recovery of the economy, the Daily Graphic thinks nothing should be done to disturb the plan to attain a single-digit inflation as soon as possible.
High utility rates and labour agitation for more salaries will certainly cause some amount of disequilibrium in the economy.
What, then, do we do in the circumstance? The option may not be the introduction of subsidies for services across the board nor astronomical increases in the prices of goods and services.
The Daily Graphic believes the time has come for a tight balance to be found between cost recovery and affordability in our quest to put the economy on an even keel.
We believe that the efficient functioning of public utilities and organisations depends on our collective resolve to help the system to work. This could include our readiness to pay realistic rates and work hard enough in whatever positions we are placed in the public service.
That is why we all need to assist to avert the looming strikes by organised labour and other groups in protest against the upward adjustments in utility tariffs.
We urge organised labour to sustain the spirit of its crucial meeting with President J.E.A. Mills at the Castle on Thursday to plan a way out of the current impasse between the PURC and the TUC over the hikes in utility tariffs.
These are challenging times for all and it is important that the parties in the discussions for a possible review of the tariffs remain at the negotiating table until a compromise is found.
The option of a strike or street protests by organised labour may not be in the interest of the country, for it is said that when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. In other words, when two powerful forces are engaged in a tug of war, it is the ordinary people who suffer.
The challenges in the economy should not be compounded by walkouts and street protests because the nation requires the services of everybody to reconstruct a better Ghana.
The Daily Graphic calls on the stakeholders to stick to the outcome of the meeting the President had with the leadership of workers in order to sustain industrial harmony.
The President’s efforts at meeting organised labour to build rapport for nation building is commendable and we urge his men to sustain the spirit to reach a compromise on utility tariffs.

CLASSROOMS WITHOUT TEACHERS (JULY 9, 2010)

THE disclosure by the Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, that the Ghana Education Service (GES) can provide only 8,625 teachers out of the 33,185 vacancies that have been declared for 2010 is really worrying, to say the least.
The minister, who was answering a question in Parliament concerning the measures his ministry was putting in place to ensure the adequate supply of qualified teachers for schools in the rural areas in particular, noted that the problem facing the ministry was that the number of teacher vacancies declared every year far outstripped the number of newly trained teachers who passed out from the colleges of education and teachers returning from further studies.
If we understand the minister well, what he said means that the problem has been recurring over the years; maybe starting with just a few vacancies until it has snowballed into a very serious national predicament which must be tackled with great tact and zeal.
The questions to be asked are: Why did we allow the problem to grow out of hand? What has been done over the years to get it resolved? How do we, as a nation, resolve this matter once and for all so that the problem of classrooms without teachers would be a thing of the past?
The DAILY GRAPHIC is worried about the implications of having pupils in classrooms without teachers to attend to them. Many a wayward pupil can easily take advantage of the situation to get themselves into trouble, in addition to influencing others negatively.
Government policies over the years, especially the capitation grant, the school feeding programme, the supply of exercise books to pupils and the distribution of free school uniforms to pupils in deprived communities, are all geared towards motivating children to go to school and remain there until they finish.
To all intents and purposes, that objective has been achieved, with statistics indicating that school enrolment has gone up over the past few years.
Thus it is ironic that at a time when the state is stretching every sinew to get children in school, there seems to be no teachers in the classrooms to teach them.
We believe strongly that one of the causes of this state of affairs is the high attrition rate in the educational sector, which in turn can be traced to the rather poor conditions of service for our teachers.
In short, one cannot find any other sector where the workers quit in droves to join other sectors than the educational sector.
The DAILY GRAPHIC suggests that as a first step towards resolving the matter, efforts must be made to retain those teachers who are at post, so that they don’t leave to create more vacancies.
It is our hope that the Single Spine Pay Policy which was recently introduced will satisfy teachers and keep them in the classrooms. If it succeeds in doing this, the policy will surely entice those who left the service to return and motivate others to join the service. The introduction of a professional allowance for teachers should also help to stem the high attrition rate in the classrooms.
We also revisit the suggestion that was made some time ago that metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies should be able to sponsor students to the colleges of education, after which they can bond the trainee teachers to serve in schools in communities where they are needed.
By extension, even traditional authorities, individuals and corporate entities such as mining companies could get on board this sponsorship train, all in the effort to get teachers in our classrooms all over the country.
Education is the bedrock of any meaningful development and the teacher is the centrepiece of that rock. Therefore, we must do everything within our means to get them into our classrooms and, more importantly, retain them there for as long as possible.

NOT JUST ANOTHER PAPER TIGER, PLEASE! (JULY 8, 2010)

THE country's development landscape is in a confused state due to the utter disregard for rules and regulations.
The present state of affairs is self-inflicted because institutions of state and public officials have developed cold feet in enforcing the laws to deter those bent on erecting illegal structures in the country.
It is common knowledge that no structure can be erected in our communities without the prior approval of the statutory authorities, including the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies.
Sometimes the Daily Graphic wonders whether there is the need for any new laws, since the challenge has not been with the quality and number of pieces of legislation but with enforcement.
Our inaction, otherwise known as systemic failure, has condemned the entire society to the tragedies of floods and fires.
The recent floods that claimed more than 30 lives were attributed to the erection of unauthorised structures on watercourses. It is the wish of many Ghanaians that we never again subject ourselves to the pain and suffering caused by those floods.
The DAILY GRAPHIC finds it very difficult to engage in the blame game, although the state has assigned distinctive roles to public institutions and public servants.
We do not think it is difficult to sanction those who flout regulations in society. Perhaps action has been slow in this regard because majority of the people condone wrongdoing.
Every now and then precious lives are lost but very little is done to prevent a recurrence, thereby making the flood situation, particularly in certain parts of Accra, a perennial one.
The development agenda in every society is ordered by a master plan. Do we have a master plan for Accra? If we do, is anybody enforcing that plan?
We are told that the country can boast the Town and Country Planning Law of 1994 and this is to be replaced by the Land Use and Planning Law, which is in the draft form.
The Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Ms Sherry Aryittey, said at a stakeholders’ consultative meeting on the draft law in Accra yesterday that the enforcement of the proposed law would “help regulate national, regional, district and local spatial planning to promote health, safety and a decent living environment for all”.
The DAILY GRAPHIC is happy that the minister acknowledges the challenges posed by the disorder in the development process and wants that addressed, not just through the promulgation of yet another law but the strict enforcement of the law.
There is a correlation between the erection of structures and the quality of life of the people. For this reason, there must be ecological balance, spatial planning, the protection of water bodies and the maintenance of clean drains.
Therefore, the government should not just be interested in the change of name of the Town and Country Planning Department into a Planning Authority to enforce the proper planning of buildings and decongestion of depressed settlements in the country.
Yes, there is something in a name in our society, but the people working in state institutions must recognise that they were recruited to serve the people. The change in name will be meaningless if the employees ignore this rule.
It is unfortunate that the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), a creation of the Constitution, is not adequately resourced to promote balanced development in the country. Instead, successive regimes have treated it as a ‘Siberia’ for public servants, thereby undermining the crucial role of the commission in national development.
It is our hope that the Land and Planning Law will be given teeth to bite to bring about the proper planning of our communities and not just become another paper tiger.

WELL-DESERVED HONOUR (JULY 7, 2010)

IT was Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, who once said that “any nation that does not honour its heroes will not long endure”, while his compatriot, John F. Kennedy, later added that “a nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honours, the men it remembers".
The two great men are perfectly right, for every country has men and women whose services and extraordinary achievements for their country cannot go unnoticed.
Yesterday, our dear nation had the opportunity to pay glowing tribute to one such group of people — the 23-man senior national soccer team, the Black Stars, their technical handlers, as well as members of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) who made all of us proud in the ongoing 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament.
Not only did President Mills announce a huge financial reward of $20,000 each for the players and $10,000 each for the technical men and the FA members; he also disclosed that the State would soon confer on them appropriate national honours in acknowledgement of their superlative performance in the tournament.
The fact is that the remarkable achievement of the Black Stars in South Africa did not only win the hearts of Ghanaians but also those of the entire African continent and they richly deserve every bit of what is being accorded them.
Indeed, the DAILY GRAPHIC is not only happy that the Black Stars equalled the record of Cameroun and Senegal by reaching the quarter-final stage of the tournament but, more important, we proved to the entire world that African soccer has come of age by holding our own against highly rated opponents and that but for the HAND OF THE DEVIL in our match against two-time world champions, Uruguay, we could still be in the reckoning.
Certainly, there is no need crying over spilt milk. There is also no need for the blame game. What is important now is to gather the pieces, thank the Good Lord for the blessings bestowed on us and move on as a people and a nation.
It is said that football has now become a tool for social integration and international diplomacy because it brings people from different social and financial backgrounds to stand together. And nowhere was this so evident as in South Africa where other sister African countries threw their weight behind the Black Stars when it became obvious that they were the lone hope for glory for the continent.
It is also refreshing that back home, the achievement of the Black Stars engineered unity in the country and we are happy that the President has admonished Ghanaians “not to allow our differences to undermine the quest for a better Ghana”.
But while we rejoice over our feat, the DAILY GRAPHIC wishes to drive home the stark truth that all is not well with Ghana soccer domestically. Our local league, which is expected to be the foundation for our future, is nothing to write home about, while colts soccer and soccer in our schools are virtually non-existent.
It is, therefore, important that steps are taken, as a matter of urgency, to invest adequately in the game by building appropriate structures which will ensure growth and development.
Again, while we celebrate the Black Stars, let us remember that we have heroes in all walks of life — men and women with unique achievements in medicine, music, as well as unsung heroes in our classrooms, at the marketplaces and on the boulevard of life.
In due time, let’s honour such people too, for it is said that those who are drinking from the well must not forget those who dug it.

KAYAYEE DESERVE BETTER (JULY 6, 2010)

THE problem of the migration of our youth from all parts of the country to the urban centres has been a major challenge for policy makers from time immemorial.
Sadly, our governments have failed to take bold and pragmatic measures to provide opportunities for the youth in their localities to stem the rural-urban drift.
As a result of our economic realities, we are unable to take decisive action to bridge the development gap between the urban and the rural communities.
The extent of deprivation in certain parts of the country is beyond human comprehension. That after 53 years of political independence we have only succeeded in reducing the vulnerable in society into beggars on the streets of Accra cannot be something we should be proud of as a nation.
The Daily Graphic has huge expectations that the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) will help bridge the gap between the northern part of Ghana and the south and give a sense of hope and opportunities to all.
The SADA initiative is commendable and the acknowledgement of the lack of development in the three northern regions needs to be acted on if the country is to achieve even development.
The Daily Graphic draws attention to the development gap between the north and the south because a country which does not guarantee equal opportunities for its citizens cannot be one that can unleash the potential of its people.
The Vice-President hit the nail right on the head when he said, during an interaction with head porters in Accra last Saturday, “It is natural for people to migrate to areas where their conditions of living will be better.”
The root cause of the rural-urban drift is poverty, but we think that in all these challenges the buck stops with the government to give guidance and policy interventions that will help prevent social inequalities.
The conditions under which our head porters live in the city of Accra can only be described as dehumanising, to say the least.
We appeal to the government to devise the necessary policy actions that will help alleviate the plight of our sisters, in line with the NDC administration’s credential as a social democratic government.
Time without number, we have been told that the northern part of Ghana has the capacity to become the food basket of the country and beyond.
The potential to transform the arable land there into commercial and viable profit-making ventures is very real and the time for action is now because SADA can mark that watershed.
We urge the government to reverse the situation in the north because our compatriots deserve nothing short of their constitutional right to decent living.
The Daily Graphic commends the government for establishing SADA to lead the crusade to improve the well-being of the people in the operational areas of the authority.
However, we hasten to caution against the failure of policy interventions to address the yawning poverty gap within the country so that we can avoid civil strife in future.
We salute Smarty’s Management and Productions Limited and Mr Kofi Wayo, a politician, for bringing the plight of the Kayaye to the attention of policy makers.

WELL DONE, ROTARY CLUB (JULY 5, 2010)

THE security of the people, as well as general law and order, is a major prerequisite for any meaningful development. Governments and communities spend a big portion of their resources to secure lives and property.
Business concerns and investors also look out for secure environments to invest their money because no human endeavour can thrive where miscreants have a field day.
It is for this reason that President J.E.A. Mills, on assumption of office, pledged to do all in his power to ensure the security of the people. That pledge came in the wake of widespread armed robberies and other criminal activities in the country that made many people live in a state of fear.
The Ghana Police Service was forced to go back to the drawing board to map out strategies to deal with the menace of armed robbery and other criminal acts.
In retrospect, the fight that the police and the other security agencies took to the criminal gangs was not a walk-over, as the armed robbers engaged in gun battles with the security agencies on many occasions.
The Daily Graphic expresses its condolences to the families of the security men who lost their lives during the fight against armed robbery and the victims of the robberies in the country.
While we commend the police for their efforts at dealing with criminal activities, we are also happy with the awareness on the part of some members of the public of the need to partner the police to fight crime.
Police-public partnerships are required to fight crime, for, after all, the criminals live among the people in the communities. Recent concerns over the lukewarm attitude of residents to distress calls from their neighbours do not augur well for crime combat.
Although our natural instincts tell us not to come out when guns are booming, the people in the neighbourhood can devise a means to fight the criminals if they strengthen their neighbourhood watch committees.
The Daily Graphic appeals to the Police Administration to revive moribund watch committees in the country so that they can complement the efforts of security personnel to fight crime.
This move is urgent because of the low number of police personnel in the country, presently put at about 23,000, against a population of 23 million.
The constraints facing the police and other security personnel do not relate only to the human resource levels but also poor office and residential accommodation and lack of logistics such as vehicles and communication gadgets.
The government has been doing its best within the constraints of the budget but the support is not enough to resolve the challenges facing the security agencies.
The Daily Graphic, therefore, commends the Rotary Club of Tema for constructing a police station at Tema Community 11 to serve four other communities in the Tema metropolis.
The Rotary Club has demonstrated that it is a public-spirited organisation that is willing to contribute to the fight against criminals.
It has been said time and again that crime combat cannot be effective if members of the public refuse to lend their support.
The Daily Graphic again uses this platform to echo the plea to the public to assist the police with information to prevent or detect crime.
Some members of the public are reluctant to volunteer information, for fear of reprisals from criminal gangs who are fed information from their agents in the security agencies.
The Daily Graphic thinks the need to open a new chapter in police-public relations is long overdue, since the partnership will help deal more decisively with the menace of criminal gangs.

STARS, GALLANT LOSERS (JULY 3, 2010)

THE Black Stars yesterday came very close but narrowly missed out on a golden opportunity to become the first country on the continent to reach the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup.
In agonising manner, the Stars fought very hard but missed out on penalties after a gruelling 120 minutes that saw them missing chance upon chance including the last-minute penalty by Asamoah Gyan.
It is quite ironic because Gyan’s goals had kept the Stars in the competition until last night.
It was not just a heart-breaking experience for the Stars who felt dejected and disappointed and broke down in tears, but the hope of the entire nation’s and that of the continent of Africa were shattered by that miss.
Nonetheless, the Stars did themselves very proud as they fought tooth and nail to achieve the desired results and write their names in the history books, but perhaps, it was simply not their game to win.
They showed their superiority in all areas of the game. They also exhibited great commitment and resilience but unfortunately, they could not go beyond the stage reached by Cameroun in 1990 and Senegal in 2002.
The Stars have not only demonstrated the promise football in the country and on the continent holds; they have also sent a strong signal to the rest of the world how ready Africa is to take on the game’s traditional superpowers.
Despite this painful loss, the DAILY GRAPHIC congratulates the Black Stars on fighting so gallantly.
It is our hope that the unity that is said to be breezing in the camp of the Stars will be preserved to ensure the team performs better in future.
The DAILY GRAPHIC also commends the technical handlers of the team for their tactical discipline that has no doubt provided the team with an excellent disposition throughout the tournament.
We urge the technical handlers to continue to analyse their tactical and technical approach to future matches, fortify their strong areas and address any weaknesses to put the team in a better position for the challenges ahead.
The DAILY GRAPHIC also urges all Ghanaians to put the defeat behind them and still feel proud of the team. It will be very unfortunate to villify any player, particularly Gyan, in a typical hero to villain style.
He is not the first key player to have missed such crucial penalty kicks. The likes of legendary Diego Maradona, Zico, Roberto Baggio to name a few all went through that painful experience.
On their return, it is our hope that they will be accorded hero’s welcome just as they received in 2006.
Yes, it is painful to bow out in this manner but life must go on and we must all put this behind us, help the Stars move on and pray that come 2014 when the teams line up in Brazil, the Stars will be among the 32 teams and perhaps the dream will be realised.

LET'S BE CIVIL IN OUR DISCOURSE (FRIDAY, JULY 2, 2010)

YESTERDAY marked the 50th anniversary of the day our dear country consolidated its independence by becoming a Republican State, thereby attaining full sovereignty by weaning the country off the British monarchy after 113 years of colonial rule.
As has been the practice for some years now, the day was marked with a luncheon and awards ceremony in honour of senior citizens and political authorities who have paid their dues to the State in their various fields of endeavour.
It is said that a nation that does not honour its heroes is not worth dying for and the DAILY GRAPHIC, therefore, thinks it is fitting and proper that we recognise the efforts and contributions of those who, through diverse means, contributed towards the development of the country.
Speaking at the function at the State House in Accra yesterday, President Mills expressed grave concern over the continuous use of verbal violence on the political landscape.
Indeed, this is one issue the DAILY GRAPHIC has commented on from time to time and we are glad the President has added his voice to it.
It is really unfortunate that we have virtually reduced our political discourse to invectives and name-calling. How can we develop as a nation if all we do daily is trade in verbal violence and intemperate language in the media?
The DAILY GRAPHIC hopes the citizenry will appreciate the President’s concern and turn over a new leaf in the days ahead.
We also hope that our compatriots will learn useful lesons from the President’s admonitions and desist from launching verbal attacks on those they disagree with.
The DAILY GRAPHIC thinks political discourse can be carried out in a civil atmosphere, bearing in mind the popular dictum, “Although I detest your views, I will not prevent your right to express them”.

BLACK STARS, IT'S OUR TIME (FRIDAY, JULY 2, 2010)

TONIGHT is a glorious night. It is the night everybody has been waiting for with bated breath. It is a momentous occasion for Ghana and Africa and we simply cannot fail to make history.
On African soil in the Soccer City Stadium tonight, the Black Stars have the finest opportunity to rewrite the history of African football in the FIFA World Cup tournament which came into being some 80 years ago.
Indeed, as the 11 young men line up for their quarter-final duel against Uruguay, one thing will be uppermost in their minds — to improve upon the previous best mark achieved first by Cameroun in 1990 and equalled by Senegal in 2002 by booking a place in the semi-final round of the competition.
Looked at from any angle, the task facing the Black Stars is quite Herculean. The fact is that the Uruguayans are very formidable. Not only have they won the tournament on two occasions — in 1930 and 1934 — but also the current team boast some quality players, including the deadly striking duo of Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan who, so far, share five goals between them in the ongoing tournament.
And come to think of it: On a night when it matters most, the Black Stars will be without their inspirational winger, Dede Ayew, who is serving a one-match ban, having attracted two yellow cards in the course of the tournament.
But whatever it is, the Black Stars must not allow the absence of the creative and influential player to impact negatively on their performance. As they have done on many occasions, the DAILY GRAPHIC expects the players to once again draw on their inner strengths and keep their focus on the mission ahead.
In football, many gloomy situations have always been changed into glorious moments by the determination, dedication and devotion of the men at the centre of the drama and given the huge motivation the Black Stars are currently enjoying, the DAILY GRAPHIC strongly believes they will not allow the South Americans to stand in their way and dream of moving to the next stage of the tournament.
We are happy that the entire continent and Africans in the Diaspora, have thrown their weight behind the Ghanaians. In South Africa, for instance, local officials of the governing party are said to be distributing Ghanaian flags to fans for tonight’s duel, while the team has been urged to change its name to ‘Black Stars of Africa’ or ‘BaGhana, BaGhana’.
Fortunately, the importance of the occasion is not lost on any member of the team. It is also good to learn that the players have not become swollen-headed or over-excited as the match approaches.
But, above all, the DAILY GRAPHIC is proud that discipline and unity have been the hallmark of the team since they made their debut in the tournament in Germany in 2006.
Indeed, Skipper Stephen Appiah summed it all up when he said, “The atmosphere here is wonderful. The way we talk to and the respect we have for one another is amazing. We practise together, laugh together, do everything together. In fact, you can't even see the difference between the junior players and the senior ones. That's the secret; that’s our greatest weapon. It's the nicest thing about this team."
Surely, no motivation can be greater than that; no wonder the team’s confidence has been rising match after match. Our prayer and our hope are that tonight they will reach greater heights by putting the icing on the cake for a semi-final berth — which will be a fitting reward for their fighting spirit and tenacity.
Black Stars, ‘KINA KO-O-O-O’ (it is our time).

NO ACRIMONY OVER SSSS (JULY 1, 2010)

From time immemorial, the labour front has witnessed several forms of agitation for better conditions of service. This agitation has led to prolonged industrial actions, even by those in sensitive sectors of the economy.
Until the National Labour Commission (NLC) arrived on the labour scene, strikes by health professionals had led to avoidable deaths, while our classrooms and other areas were left unattended when teachers and other workers walked away from their jobs.
The bone of contention during the agitation did not relate to general conditions of service but dissatisfaction with poor pay structure.
Negotiations for new collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) have always been very adversarial, as employers or management and workers of the same organisations take entrenched positions, the acrimonious nature of some of the negotiations not auguring well for industrial peace and harmony.
Local unions and labour as a whole are always accused of taking interest in only the conditions of service of their members, instead of showing concern for the good economic health of the organisations.
Anytime attention is drawn to the fact that there ought to be a correlation between productivity and wages, some workers have been quick to point out that it is not their responsibility to provide the necessary inputs for increased productivity.
The Daily Graphic thinks that the time has come for companies to reward achievements in order to motivate workers to increase productivity to avoid the situation where workers pretend to be working because their employers also pretend to be rewarding their services.
As the country migrates to the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) from today, it is our expectation that both labour and employers will recognise the importance of the reward system, which must not only be about salaries and bonuses but also include promotions and even simple ‘thank you’.
It is unfortunate, however, that the Civil and Local Government Staff Association, Ghana (CLOGSAG) has kicked against the SSSS, citing unfairness in the new salary administration.
The good news is that the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) has reached an agreement with other labour unions and associations to commence the implementation of the SSSS.
The SSSS is meant to address distortions in public sector salaries and wages and the Daily Graphic hopes that the parties in the agreement will remain at the table to address the grey areas without any adversarial posture.
Unfortunately, signals from some labour unions indicate that a lot more education is required to get the understanding and appreciation of all the stakeholders in the implementation of the system during these early days.
The new salary system can only bring about equity and improve compensation for the same work and qualification in the public sector if all the workers and employers sit together to amicably iron out their differences.
The Daily Graphic calls on the FWSC to learn lessons from the challenges that confronted the Ghana Universal Salary Structure (GUSS) in order not to repeat the mistakes of the past.
Let us now resolve to reward the right attitudes to work, as well as hard work, during this phase of salary administration in the country because by rewarding achievements, others will be inspired to contribute to the growth of their organisations and the national economy.
The Daily Graphic believes that the new salary structure will motivate and encourage workers to make quality contributions to the productive endeavours of the country.