AVOIDABLE TRAGEDY (JUNE 30, 2010)

MINING, as an economic activity, has impacted both positively and negatively on the development of the country.
In situations where mining activities are regulated, they have helped the local economy, as well as boosted the national exchequer. But the unregulated operations of illegal miners, otherwise called galamsey operators, have undermined the eco-system.
Some commentators hold the view that the government should outlaw mining operations in totality because our society has not benefited from the exploitation of our mineral resources.
This school of thought has always cited the degrading spectacle of most mining communities to buttress their argument. Any casual visitor to mining communities, such as Obuasi, Tarkwa, Prestea and Akwatia, will notice the harm that mining operations have done to the environment in those towns.
The Ghana Chamber of Mines and environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are engaged in an unending debate over the merits and demerits of mining.
The government and the mining companies which are worried over galamsey operations have tried to find an antidote to the problem. The government has tried to legalise the operations of galamsey by registering its operators and allocating concessions to them so that the regulatory authorities can monitor their operations.
Mining companies, which do not seem to be in agreement with the government, have rather proposed alternative livelihood for the galamsey operators.
Successes have been recorded in certain areas, but in most of the instances the galamsey operators have refused to abandon their traditional but dangerous jobs.
Every now and then, there are reports of miners getting trapped underground but these fatalities do not deter the galamsey operators. For whatever reason, the youth in mining communities prefer galamsey operations to other income-generating activities, even if their operations cause havoc to the vegetation and their heritage.
The latest report that an unspecified number of people from a group of about 124 are believed to be trapped underground at Dunkwa-on-Offin in the Central Region following a galamsey expedition that turned tragic last Sunday should prick the conscience of the nation to act decisively to end these avoidable deaths.
The death toll in the tragic galamsey expedition is yet to be determined, but even if it is only one person who died, the State should be worried and take steps to stop these dangerous economic activities.
The Daily Graphic knows that the issue of galamsey is not a simple matter. Perhaps some of the people reluctantly go into it because of economic challenges, as well as the unemployment situation.
Nonetheless, the feeling of want and hopelessness should not force the youth into this dangerous economic activity through which many precious lives have been lost.
There are other economic activities in the mining communities, such as farming, although the returns may not be as quick and lucrative as galamsey operations. However, those in agriculture are more secure than those who are into galamsey operations.
The Daily Graphic calls on the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to put in the necessary interventions to prevent last Sunday’s tragedy from recurring. The regulatory authorities should also put in the necessary policies and regulations to make galamsey operations less hazardous.
The Daily Graphic extends its condolences to the bereaved families. It is our prayer that the Good Lord will strengthen them to endure the pain caused by their bereavement.

HOUSING THE PEOPLE (JUNE 29, 2010)

IT may be argued that every society tries to prioritise its basic needs so that a big chunk of its scarce resources can be used to provide for the most important of those basic needs.
The resources of our society cannot provide for the basic needs in equal measure because the central government’s intervention is constrained by the limited budget.
The inadequate provision or the lack of these basic needs has caused social upheavals in many countries that have led to the collapse of regimes.
The lack of food or hunger can erode the dignity of any individual society or country, while inadequate shelter and our inability to clothe ourselves have adverse effects on our well-being.
Our lack of capacity to regulate the housing sector in our attempt to provide shelter over the heads of majority of the people is partly to blame for the creation of slums in our cities.
All kinds of structures are springing up in the name of shelter in all urban centres because the State has reneged on its responsibility to maintain order in planning and development.
Providing roofs over the heads of the people, especially the working class, has, however, engaged the attention of successive government. In recent years, the State has tried various policy interventions to bridge the housing deficit in the country.
Some of these interventions include support for the private sector to engage in estate development, but this has been hampered by the unfavourable land tenure system and the high cost of building materials.
The State itself has intervened to provide housing units with the establishment of the State Housing Company (SHC) and the mandate given to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to provide accommodation for workers.
It was through the intervention of the SHC in the 1970s that Dansoman in Accra, considered the largest estate in West Africa, was developed, as well as others throughout the country.
However, today, because of economic challenges and other factors, these housing institutions have not been able to provide the accommodation needs of the people, thereby deepening the housing crisis in the country.
The irony of the situation is that a casual glance around the cities and the countryside reveals increased brick and mortar work. This means that more people are constructing their own houses in order to free themselves from the shackles of landlords. Another lesson is that the problem of housing deficit and homelessness cannot be tackled through individual efforts.
The Daily Graphic thinks that the central government’s intervention in this regard is required to bridge the housing deficit without discounting the efforts of the private sector.
We are, therefore, enthused by the efforts of Goodwill International Group to provide 14,360 affordable houses of various kinds in all the regions in fulfilment of the government’s pledge to provide decent accommodation for the people.
While commending the efforts of Goodwill International Group, we think that the stakeholders need to do something about the high cost of accommodation in the country that makes it unaffordable to those in the low income bracket.
The Daily Graphic believes that the challenges in the housing sector should inspire the government to revisit the use of local materials in the housing industry.
We ask whether it is not possible to reduce the use of cement in the housing industry and place the focus on the use of sand and clay, which are in abundance in the country.
The Daily Graphic has time and again called on the government to take another look at the land tenure system with the view to reviewing it to bring it in conformity with productive efforts in the country.
Presently, the land tenure system is counter-productive because it does not stimulate productive activities such as agriculture and estate development.
The individual efforts at providing shelter for the people should be encouraged, but we need to do more at the State level.
The Daily Graphic, therefore, calls on the government to streamline other interventions so that the State can be empowered to change the fortunes of the housing industry.
We encourage the government to do all in its power to regularise the operations of the STX Group, the Korean estate development company, to provide 200,000 housing units for the people.
The Daily Graphic also appeals to Parliament to ratify the agreement between the government and the STX Group as soon as possible, if the national interest is served, to enable the company to begin operations.
We do not think anybody’s interest is served by situating the debate on the agreement in partisan politics.

BLACK STARS, AYEKOO! (JUNE 28, 2010)

LET the drums beat out a hero's refrain and let the gong-gongs spread the good news from Paga to Tema. Let the church bells ring across the length and breadth of the country and let the people of God/Allah sing songs of victory and shout a loud 'Hallelujah' to the Lord God Almighty.
But let the doubting Thomasses wake up from their deep slumber and let the faint-hearted stand firm. For, the Lord has been good to us; the Lord has been mighty in battle and has brought a nation with a population of 306 million people bowing at the feet of a mere 23 million.
Sometimes it looked like a mission impossible; it appeared as if we were going to collapse under the weight of the huge responsibility we were shouldering as the lone hope for Africa in a tournament that had seen even the host nation, South Africa, and four other giants, namely, Nigeria, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire and Algeria, fall by the wayside.
But totally wrapped up in confidence and fully clad in the whole armour of God, 11 dedicated and devoted young men, who go by the name Black Stars, brushed the heavy odds aside and brought glory and honour not only to their Motherland but also the entire African continent and, indeed, Africans in the Diaspora.
By that victory, the Black Stars have not only confirmed their superiority over the United States US, whom they ousted in similar fashion in the same competition in Germany four years ago, but, more important, have become the third African nation, after Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal in 2002, to reach the quarter-final round of the prestigious FIFA World Cup tournament.
The Daily Graphic salutes our heroes for this great feat which, in many ways, will help reshape the destiny of our dear country.
However, we must be quick to point out that our players must not see our momentous qualification for the quarter-final round as an end in itself. We must refuse to be drawn into a state of complacency by our achievements so far. Rather, our goal must be to surpass the record set by Cameroon and Senegal.
Unlike in 1990 and 2002 when England and Turkey stood between Cameroon and Senegal, respectively, and their desire to give Africa greater respectability on the world soccer map, we must not allow anything stand in our way at this stage of the tournament.
As we prepare for the quarter-final battle against Uruguay on Friday, July 2, we must not be overawed by the occasion but have the trust and confidence that the Good Lord, who has brought us this far, will neither leave nor forsake us if we work very hard.
The news is that the Black Stars will, on Friday, miss the services of our young inspirational star, Andre Dede Ayew, having been shown a second yellow card last Saturday in the match against the USA, as well as the brilliant defender, Jonathan Mensah.
But the absence of the two budding stars must not create any panic in the team. If anything at all, it should provide great opportunities for those called upon to fill those positions to showcase their skill and talent to the world and prove that we are, indeed, more than conquerors.
While we continue to savour our success, it is important to remind ourselves that the success story of the Black Stars so far will be meaningless without the full support of the entire nation.
It is no secret that the collective will to die for one another, the willingness to forgive and move on, coupled with unity and determination, are some of the fine qualities that are propelling the Black Stars to glorious heights in the ongoing tournament and it is about time we imbibed these great virtues in our everyday life as a people and as a nation.
The Daily Graphic calls on Ghanaians to use the electrifying atmosphere created by the brilliant showing of the Black Stars to galvanise our people to pool our resources to build a better Ghana.
Bravo, Black Stars! You are, indeed, the pride of Africa.

YOU ARE THE HOP OF AFRICA (JUNE 26, 2010)

FOUR years ago, Ghana's Black Stars stunned the world of football and made history when they beat the United States 2-1 in their final Group E clash in their World Cup debut in Germany to qualify for the one-sixteenth round of the tournament.
As fate will have it, the two sides come face to face in a crucial round of 16 duel to be played in Rustenburg this evening. Whichever way one looks at it, this is another unique opportunity for the Ghanaians to improve upon their previous showing by advancing to the quarter-final stage of the competition.
When they first met, it was considered a David-and-Goliath affair, with many doubting the football credentials of the Americans. But the same cannot be said today by any stretch of imagination.
Indeed, not only have the Americans improved their game tremendously over the years but, more important, they have produced younger and skilful players over the period.
In the ongoing tournament, we saw them come from behind on two occasions to draw 1-1 with England and 2-2 with Slovenia, before pipping Algeria 1-0 to book the date with the Stars.
The Ghanaians, on the other hand, beat Serbia in their opening match, drew 1-1 with Australia and, despite losing 0-1 to Germany, managed to squeeze themselves into the one-sixteenth round, thanks largely to Australia’s 2-1 defeat of Serbia.
It is against this background that the DAILY GRAPHIC, like most anxious Stars' fans dotted around the world, would expect the Black Stars to lift their game and come out with flying colours tonight to ensure that Africa's interest is sustained in the tournament.
As the only African country to have come this far in the competition, a lot of pressure will, no doubt, be on the Black Stars to continue to shine and keep the African dream on course.
The Ghanaians enter the field tonight fully aware that they carry the hopes of all Africa in this second round match of the World Cup tournament.
They must, therefore, not break any hearts but help mend those already broken elsewhere on the continent by the tragic failures of hosts, South Africa, Cameroun, Nigeria, Algeria and Cote d'Ivoire.
On this account, the DAILY GRAPHIC advises the players not to allow anxiety or over-confidence to creep into their performance. Just as they displayed against Germany last Wednesday, they must keep an ice-cool composure and stride the game with determination, dedication and devotion and wrap up the victory.
Again, it is important to alert the Ghanaians not to underrate the Americans, given the 2-1 victory they recorded over them in their first meeting in 2006. The fact is that there is no logic in the game of football and nobody needs to remind the players that our victory over the Americans some four years ago is no guarantee for another success this evening.
Indeed, victory in tonight’s duel will only come from hard work and determination and we know the Black Stars are capable of rising to the occasion.
Happily, the players know that they are on the threshold of making history, as qualification to the quarter-final round will make them the third African nation — after Cameroun in 1990 and Senegal in 2002 — to reach the quarter-final round of a FIFA World Cup tournament and they cannot allow such a great opportunity to slip by.
On behalf of the teeming soccer fans of this nation, the DAILY GRAPHIC wishes the Black Stars tonnes of luck in tonight’s battle.
Gentlemen, our prayers are with you. You are the hope of Africa. We trust you will deliver.

PREPAID METRES' IDEA IS GREAT (JUNE 25, 2010)

ONE of the essential ingredients to determine the progress of any country is efficient power supply. In the home or industry, nothing can run effectively if electricity is not available at all times.
Not quite long ago, power generation and distribution companies started agitating for an upward adjustment in utility tariffs. Public reaction to that demand came from all consumers of power, including industrial consumers, who made it clear that the demands of the utility companies would create increased challenges for industrialists.
Everybody accepted that the utility companies faced real challenges that required immediate attention in order to protect plant and equipment and guarantee constant supply of power to the people. Indeed, they required huge resources to renew plant and equipment, such as sub-stations and turbines.
Generally, consumers acknowledged that something had to be done about the tariffs in order to keep the system running. The dilemma, however, had to do with the level which all consumers could afford, without causing disruptions to family and company budgets.
As the debate raged on, the PURC announced a 42 per cent adjustment in tariffs, leading to public outcry. Many consumers have complained about the upward adjustments, with certain reports putting the increase way above what the PURC officially announced. As of today, many consumers think that the PURC has not made full disclosures about the tariff adjustments.
Whatever the concerns, including the threat by textile industries to lay off workers and protests by unionised labour, the utility companies have the legitimate right to collect the new tariffs.
The DAILY GRAPHIC has, time and again, acted as a spokesperson for domestic consumers, particularly consumers in compound houses. Although those in this group are in the lower income group, they end up paying higher bills because their aggregate consumption is always higher than those in apartments.
The solution lies in the provision of prepaid meters in all office and residential buildings.
We are aware of efforts by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to improve services but action has been very slow, resulting in majority of consumers still relying on post-paid meters.
The use of prepaid meters will lead to a win-win situation, with the ECG and consumers no longer in a tussle over unpaid bills and levels of consumption. Consumers can regulate their bills, while the ECG will have no headache collecting bills.
Through that arrangement, the ECG will save cost by deploying meter readers for the performance of other duties. The directive by the government to all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to shift onto prepaid meters from August 1, this year must, therefore, be enforced. This way, the ECG will not accumulate huge amounts in unpaid tariffs owed by the MDAs.
However, the effectiveness of this directive rests solely on the shoulders of the government because MDAs run on government budget.
If the government refuses to release funds to the MDAs according to schedule, they cannot carry out their activities, including purchasing power to run their offices.
The DAILY GRAPHIC calls on the government to enforce the directive to put to rest the ‘business as usual’ mentality whereby inter-governmental institution accounts are never reconciled, resulting in government institutions owing the ECG GH¢80 million in utility bills.
The long and short of our mantra is that the time has come for all Ghanaians to accept that there can no longer be “free lunch” in the country.
The DAILY GRAPHIC believes that we can enjoy a better standard of living if we agree to pay realistic rates for all services while encouraging the government to provide safety nets for the vulnerable in society.

NEVER AGAIN (JUNE 24, 2010)

FOR very good reasons, we return to the issue of the floods that hit parts of the country last Sunday, leaving in their wake tragic consequences. We do so because it appears that we have learnt few or no lessons from the mistakes of the past and we are continually faced with the same problems or worst conditions.
It is said that those who do not learn from history are doomed. And it is precisely for this reason that we call on Ghanaians to take a cue from President J. E. A. Mills’s plea.
During his visit to the affected areas in Greater Accra and parts of the Central Region on Tuesday, the President made a passionate appeal to Ghanaians to learn from the havoc caused by last Sunday’s downpour.
The DAILY GRAPHIC salutes the President for hitting the nail right on the head. We also think the downpour should serve as a wake-up call for all stakeholders in the physical development process, such as government agencies, landowners and developers, to respect the regulations.
We mince no words in saying that the weekend flood disaster was caused largely by the failure of leadership at the various levels of society to enforce law and order.
For instance, landowners have been given a field day to do anything with their land, without due regard for central planning and development. Land sale and development in Accra and other urban centres in the country are in a complete mess.
The lands in these urban centres have been sold to estate developers and individuals to undertake the construction of residential and office accommodation, leaving no green land for agricultural activities, parks and land reserves.
Unfortunately, in Ghana, lands in the urban centres have been mortgaged for brick and mortar enterprises, to the detriment of sustainable development. The district assemblies have reneged on their statutory functions of ensuring that physical development is subjected to laid-down standards and regulations.
In cases where district assemblies decide to act, they do so only because they have some personal interest or gain. The enforcement of regulations has become such a huge joke that some developers believe that officials of the assemblies write “stop work” on some physical structures only as a euphemism for “come and see us in chambers”. Thereafter, nothing happens until a disaster such as what happened last “Black Sunday” when some 35 lives were lost to the floods.
Our various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) cannot escape blame, either. The Town and Country Planning Department, for instance, looks on in helpless amazement while developers encroach on government land.
Most developers who have constructed on government lands and water courses also claim they have appropriate documents to the lands to construct those structures.
The Daily Graphic thinks that the time to act decisively to bring those who are bent on making life uncomfortable for ordinary citizens to order to avert what happened last Sunday.
We think that if the law cannot catch up with landowners and developers because they act in their private capacities, at least the officers of state who connive with these people can be made to face the full rigours of the law.
The Daily Graphic calls on all Ghanaians to de-politicise the debate on land and its use in order to avoid any disaster in future. We also urge our compatriots who, through their toil and sweat, want to put roofs over their heads to do the right thing and avoid encroaching on government lands, water courses, school lands and forest reserves.
Never again should we have a repeat of ‘Black Sunday’.
The Daily Graphic extends its condolences to the families who lost their relations through the floods and wishes those on admission a speedy recovery.

PROTECTING OUR TEXTILES INDUSTRY (JUNE 23, 2010)

SHORTLY after the country’s independence, industrialisation and agriculture were identified as the two-pronged strategy by the first President of the Republic, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, to facilitate the economic development of the country.
The prosecution of such an economic agenda gave birth to the construction of the Akosombo Dam and the establishment of many local industries. With special focus on import-substitution approach, the first President set up the Juapong Textiles Limited (JTL) primarily to produce and supply gray baft to feed other textile industries in the country.
Inadequate liquidity, high production cost and influx of cheap imported textile materials from the Far East were among some of the difficulties which led to the collapse of the Juapong Textiles Limited in June 2005.
Fortunately, the company was given a new lease of life in 2007 under the name Volta Star Textiles. Sadly, the cost of producing the gray baft was expensive compared to the cost of imported finished products from China, and that has created an unhealthy competition for the company.
The ailing company has been dealt yet another blow. The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has decided to cut power supply to Volta Star because of its indebtedness to the ECG. The decision will not only worsen the company’s fortunes but has the potential to create job losses, since workers will be laid off.
The DAILY GRAPHIC is not happy with this development. And we think every effort should be made by the stakeholders, particularly the government, to salvage Volta Star, which was once described as the ‘The Pride of Volta’, from eventual collapse.
Reviving the company and, by extension, the textile industry will lead to the creation of jobs and incomes for cotton farmers. Much as the government might intervene to save the situation, we believe that the survival of the textile industry will also depend on the patronage of local wax prints.
In an attempt to go round the problem, the state at a certain stage introduced the Friday wear. The action in this regard is not enough to turn around the textile industry. In a way, the state is saying that we should use imported clothing for four days and devote Fridays for local wear.
The reverse is the case in our neighbouring countries of Cote d’Ivoire, Togo and Nigeria where they proudly showcase their national identity by wearing dresses made from local fabrics.
It is time to roll out national programmes to protect our own. For even in the advanced democracies and liberal economies, there is conscious effort at protectionism.

WATCH IT, FATHERS (JUNE 22, 2010)

ANOTHER Fathers Day celebration passed last Sunday with little or no fanfare in many Ghanaian homes and our society at large.
Unlike Mothers Day that is always commemorated with so much revelry and merrymaking worldwide, the Fathers Day event, which is essentially to celebrate fatherhood and male parenting, was so low-key that it left many observers wondering what could have caused the lack of interest in such an important occasion.
Is it simply because many Ghanaians do not recognise and appreciate Fathers Day, which has been religiously celebrated since 1910? Or is it a way of protesting the irresponsible fatherhood many homes in this country have had to live with?
The Daily Graphic strongly believes the latter reason may have influenced our disposition to the event and this is further buttressed by views expressed by majority of people interviewed by Ghana Television (GTV) to mark the day.
The respondents, ironically mostly women, said they were not interested in the observance of the day because their fathers did very little in their upbringing. According to them, they decided to work on the day instead of honouring their fathers because their survival depended solely on themselves.
Whichever way one looks at it, the DAILY GRAPHIC thinks the posture of these respondents brings to the fore the general acknowledgement of irresponsibility of fathers in our society and it is urgently necessary that we deal with the situation before it gets totally out of hand.
The question is: What role should fathers play in the everyday lives of their children, beyond the traditional breadwinner role? Besides, how much traditional nurturing activities of mothers should they emulate and how much masculine sex role model should they represent to their children?
Essentially, responsible fatherhood is getting fathers to engage with their children. If fathers can get them involved right off when they are babies then it will continue throughout life.
Indeed, studies in some advanced countries have shown that children who have an ongoing, positive connection to their fathers do better in school and get along better with their peers than children without such a relationship. Those children whose fathers play a positive role in their lives also tend to stay out of the juvenile justice system.
Psychologists also believe that the roles men and women play in their families are equally difficult and important. Yet, they say fathers play a distinctly different role than mothers in raising children. In fact, while mothers are more interested in holding their children close, men nurture by encouraging the children to try and take risks.
We are aware that much as some fathers want to be caring and responsible, they are unable to provide economic support, often as a result of educational deficits. But this is normally more of the exception than the rule.
In his annual Fathers Day event, President Barrack Obama urged fathers to mentor their own children — and also reach out to those in the community who do not have strong parental or guardian support.
Not only does the DAILY GRAPHIC share in Obama’s message but would also like to send a clear message to our fathers that there is no excuse for failing to meet their obligations.
Fathers need to spend more time with their children, expand their knowledge of child development and build their child-rearing skills to change the public’s perception and attitudes of men and their roles as fathers.

DEALING EFFECTIVELY WITH THE FLOODS (JUNE 21, 2010)

Reports from various parts of the country indicate that many towns and cities have been hit hard by serious flooding, following torrential rains across the country.
In a number of places, reports have it that fatalities occurred when flood waters inundated residential areas and swept a number of people from their homes (see front page)
In many of these areas, property running into millions of cedis have either been carried way or completely destroyed, and dozens of people rendered homeless in other cases where residential buildings have collapsed.
The issue of flooding is not new, indeed it is an annual affair with the onset of the rainy season.
Through a combination of lack of proper planning, the non-enforcement of building regulations and sheer indiscipline on the part of land developers, the problems have been aggravated over the years.
It is common to see buildings sited on watercourses, on roads or in other areas earmarked for public places.
Notwithstanding markings of "Stop Work, produce permit or face demolition" nothing gets done and more and more of such buildings continue to spring up by the day.
These illegal activities, without doubt, block watercourses, thereby preventing storm waters from accessing drains constructed to convey these waters to their destinations.
We have had to, on many occasions, call on the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDCEs) to endeavour to rigorously enforce building regulations to help restore sanity to our towns and cities.
It is well known that, the lack of enforcement of these regulations coupled with the lack of the will to carry through some of the demolition notices posted on illegal structures have, over the years, bred a multitude of recalcitrant land developers who have an insatiable appetite for infringing the law.
They have come to believe that these regulations will never be enforced and, therefore, it pays to treat such regulations with contempt.
It is, therefore, against this background that we single out for commendation a few of the MMDCEs, such as the Accra and Tema Metropolitan assemblies, for mustering the requisite political will, this time around, to rigorously enforce building regulations within their respective jurisdictions.
Largely, as a result of the demolition of structures hitherto sited on watercourses, the flood situation in Accra and Tema, in the face of these heavy rains, has been better managed than what used to be the widespread reports of flooding in virtually all areas previously.
It shows that with action, the right things can be done and the requisite results attained.
Let all of us take a cue from these actions and do the right things for our collective good.
We also believe that for planning and other public interest purposes, the Meteorological Service, which basically does the forecast of the weather, must be better equipped to make accurate weather forecasts to help facilitate better planning and preparations during the rainy season.
It would be recalled that in a forecast before the onset of the rains, the Meteorological Service predicted that the country would not experience much rains this year.However,this is exactly the opposite of what we are seeing already.
More accurate forecasts will, among other things, help us to prepare better for these floods and, thus, help prevent the costly loss of lives and the unnecessary destruction of property.

LET'S DO THE RIGHT THING (JUNE 19, 2010)

It is a truism that discipline is the bedrock of success in any human endeavour.
Without discipline things cannot be done right for the requisite level of success to be chalked up to move society forward.
It cannot be denied that indiscipline constitutes a serious drawback to our socio-economic development as a people.
Simple laws or rules and regulations crafted to regulate our behaviour in various spheres of national life are more often than not flouted with impunity.
Indeed, there are times when some patriotic citizens, in seeking to draw attention to violation of the law have had their good intentions being greeted with scorn, including from onlookers who should have joined in insisting that the right thing be done.
In recent times, metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies have launched crusades against this canker in towns and cities across the country in a bid to restore some semblance of normalcy in these areas.
One has seen structures illegally constructed in our towns and cities. Many of these structures have been erected on watercourses and this constitutes a principal cause of flooding and destruction of lives and property whenever there is a torrential downpour.
The Accra and Tema Metropolitan Assemblies have, as part of their efforts at restoring sanity in their areas, embarked upon decongestive exercises that have involved the demolition of illegally sited structures.
The TMA only this week had to defy stiff resistance from some dwellers to demolish many such structures at Lashibi. And only yesterday, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, after years of indecision and hesitation, finally moved to demolish the dense concentration of illegal structures behind the COCOBOD head office popularly called Abuja (pages 16 & 17).
We wish to commend these assemblies and their respective Chief Executives and urge them to do more to help return a sense of normalcy to our towns and cities.
It is no secret that taking a decision to demolish illegal structures and actually moving to demolish them requires a strong political will and personal courage and vision of political leaders.
It is on record that political leaders higher up have on a number of occasions put the brakes on the efforts of the areas of the nuisance of illegal structures through directives to halt or end such exercises.
These acts have only served to embolden the indisciplined members of society to persist in their nation-wrecking activities, making all of us the losers.
We note with a sense of pride and relief that today there is free and unhindered movement of traffic in the Central Business District of Accra where hitherto it took several hours or more to make that short distance.
While commending these assemblies for a job well done, we would also like to urge them to endeavour to be proactive in helping detect and stop the erection of illegal structures at their very onset before they develop into small townships and therefore becoming more difficult to uproot.
We also wish to urge all citizens to co-operate with the assemblies in these endeavours so that together we build and operate the clean, efficient and prosperous cities we all crave for.

LET'S DDDDOD THE R

It is a truism that discipline is the bedrock of success in any human endeavour.
Without discipline things cannot be done right for the requisite level of success to be chalked up to move society forward.
It cannot be denied that indiscipline constitutes a serious drawback to our socio-economic development as a people.
Simple laws or rules and regulations crafted to regulate our behaviour in various spheres of national life are more often than not flouted with impunity.
Indeed, there are times when some patriotic citizens, in seeking to draw attention to violation of the law have had their good intentions being greeted with scorn, including from onlookers who should have joined in insisting that the right thing be done.
In recent times, metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies have launched crusades against this canker in towns and cities across the country in a bid to restore some semblance of normalcy in these areas.
One has seen structures illegally constructed in our towns and cities. Many of these structures have been erected on watercourses and this constitutes a principal cause of flooding and destruction of lives and property whenever there is a torrential downpour.
The Accra and Tema Metropolitan Assemblies have, as part of their efforts at restoring sanity in their areas, embarked upon decongestive exercises that have involved the demolition of illegally sited structures.
The TMA only this week had to defy stiff resistance from some dwellers to demolish many such structures at Lashibi. And only yesterday, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, after years of indecision and hesitation, finally moved to demolish the dense concentration of illegal structures behind the COCOBOD head office popularly called Abuja (pages 16 & 17).
We wish to commend these assemblies and their respective Chief Executives and urge them to do more to help return a sense of normalcy to our towns and cities.
It is no secret that taking a decision to demolish illegal structures and actually moving to demolish them requires a strong political will and personal courage and vision of political leaders.
It is on record that political leaders higher up have on a number of occasions put the brakes on the efforts of the areas of the nuisance of illegal structures through directives to halt or end such exercises.
These acts have only served to embolden the indisciplined members of society to persist in their nation-wrecking activities, making all of us the losers.
We note with a sense of pride and relief that today there is free and unhindered movement of traffic in the Central Business District of Accra where hitherto it took several hours or more to make that short distance.
While commending these assemblies for a job well done, we would also like to urge them to endeavour to be proactive in helping detect and stop the erection of illegal structures at their very onset before they develop into small townships and therefore becoming more difficult to uproot.
We also wish to urge all citizens to co-operate with the assemblies in these endeavours so that together we build and operate the clean, efficient and prosperous cities we all crave for.

HOMOSEXUALITY? NOT HERE (JUNE 18, 2010)

ONE of the key attributes of a democratic system is the equality of all citizens before the law.
That, among others, is designed to ensure that the law is uniformly applied to all citizens and that there is no set of laws for one group of citizens and another for another group.
That notwithstanding, these rights and freedoms conferred and enjoyed by the people are not open ended but limited by the rights and freedoms of others in society.
Limitations also exist in the definition and enforcement of the value of each respective society, in particular its perception of good and evil, social peace, order and good governance.
It is not for the sake of fancy that no society sanctions the formation and open operation of an association of armed robbers or cocaine sniffers, even as cocaine sniffers may wish to exercise their freedom to freely associate.
In the same vein, kleptomaniacs who are born with the penchant for taking other people’s property without their consent cannot exercise their rights of freedom to associate and practise “their gift of nature”.
For some years now, a noticeable trend in Western democracies has been the recognition and enforcement of the rights of homosexuals, that is, gays and lesbians, to function openly in those societies.
The result has been an explosion of those abnormal human relationships in those societies.
In recent times, this spectre of same-sex relationships is fast creeping into our society, with their practitioners emboldened and increasingly advocating in public for their clandestine acts to be legalised for them to operate publicly.
Some time in 2007 and again in 2009, there were reports of attempts by homosexuals to organise conferences in Accra and Takoradi but because of their current illegal status and the threats of disruptions from many Ghanaians, the conferences were called off.
Only recently, Muslims in Takoradi staged a massive demonstration to draw attention to the social menace and urge all authorities, and for that matter all Ghanaians, to endeavour to check it before it gets out of hand.
It is from such a background that we feel duly concerned about human rights activists wading into this matter and advocating the legalisation and recognition of the rights of these gays and lesbians to function openly.
While we are unequivocal in our defence of the rule of law and the protection and promotion of the fundamental human rights of all citizens of this land, we wish to make our position clear that this does not include supporting any attempt to legitimise this unethical and abnormal practice of homosexuality in our society.
The issue here for us is not just one of law or human rights from Euro-American perspectives. It has so much to do with morality, social peace, societal good, as well as the inalienable rights of our nation and its people to procreate and renew themselves as ordained by the Almighty God.
We wish to counsel our compatriot human rights activists that while it is all right to exercise their professional duty in this and other matters, they nevertheless must be mindful of the need to strike a healthy balance between what they perceive as the rights of these homosexuals, on the one hand, and the values, interests and aspirations of the larger masses of our society, on the other.
They especially should take due cognisance of the over-riding need of the social good, peace and orderly progress of our society.
What will, indeed, become of our nation if we allow such an immoral and abnormal practice to take root? How will we procreate and renew our society?
Again being a predominantly religious and God-fearing society, don’t we risk inviting the wrath of the Almighty God on our nation and people if we allow this evil practice to get entrenched? Let us not forget what happened to Sodom and Gomorra when such immoral acts reigned supreme.
We, therefore, call on all people of religion and good conscience, all who truly cherish the survival, peace and orderly progress of our nation to join hands to stop this attempt at importing such moribund, decadent and destructive foreign cultures and practices into our society.
The time to act to stop this menace is now, not later when it is already entrenched.

COLLECTIVE VIGILANCE IS THE ANSWER (JULY 17, 2010)

For the second time within the week, we have had to return to the subject of the ongoing limited registration exercise on account of a new development that has emerged from the exercise.
In our previous issue on the matter, we had occasion to call on the Electoral Commission (EC) to endeavour to address complaints about the shortage of registration materials at some registration centres which clearly had the potential of disenfranchising many eligible voters.
Information available to us indicates that while some action may have been taken to address some of the shortages, reports emerging from a number of registration centres still speak of people who have so far not been able to register.
As if these reports are not enough, reports are also emerging about allegations of extortion levelled against some registration officials at some centres.
The reports, in the main, allege that owing to the long queues at some centres, officials at those centres have been collecting between 10Gp and GH¢1 from each person wishing to register and allowing them to join the queues to await their turn.
This is reported to have created disorder and chaos at some registration centres, as people who have waited very long in the queues have reacted angrily to such acts.
There are also reports of allegations of unqualified persons such as minors attempting to register, as happened in the Zogbeli area of the Tamale metropolis which sparked off trouble.
Additionally, unqualified persons such as aliens are also reported to have attempted to register at some centres in the Western Region (see front page).
We wish to make it abundantly clear that the onus of attaining a clean, credible and, therefore, reliable voters register to ensure that the true will of the Ghanaian people is expressed and respected in free and fair elections rests on all of us.
It is a collective duty of all towards which we cannot and must not be derelict.
While party agents are there to help expose and stop any malpractice, the need to protect the integrity of the exercise demands all of us to take an active interest in the exercise and point out for action and remedy any lapses or malpractice that we find.
This is because there have been instances, such as the Zogbeli case, when some party agents have themselves been behind the clandestine acts of getting minors to register, in flagrant violation of the law.
We also need to ensure that only Ghanaians who qualify have their names featured in the register, as to do otherwise could empower aliens, minors and other unqualified persons to decide the destiny of over 22 million Ghanaians.
However, we hasten to counsel that such patriotic acts must be undertaken within the confines of the law.
The EC has elaborate procedures for challenging the eligibility of those wishing to register and it is important that these are adhered to to avoid lawlessness and chaos at the centres.
There have been situations where the nationality of some eligible voters have been challenged on the strength of the belief that their faces do not resemble those of Ghanaians or that they speak languages those at the registration centres do not understand.
Neither the faces of people nor the languages they speak should be taken as the exclusive criterion for disenfranchising them, since using that could compromise the inalienable rights of some Ghanaians.
The law spells out how other evidence, such as residence, parentage and other hard evidence, must be procured to prove the eligibility or otherwise of those against whom such challenges have been mounted.
Let us, even as we exercise the highest collective vigilance, endeavour to act within the law to ensure a smooth and successful exercise that will give us a credible and reliable voters register for free and fair elections to further consolidate our democracy

ENSURING THE SUCCESS OF THE SSSS (JUNE 16, 2010)

for many decades, the issue of the determination of decent and dignified remuneration for the labour of working people has dogged the relationship between organised labour and employers, principally with the government as the single largest employer.
The effort at balancing the competing and often conflicting interests of working people against those of employers in settling on a minimum wage and other conditions of service has, on many occasions, hit a stalemate.
Such a situation subsequently degenerates into the adoption of strikes and other confrontational tactics by workers against employers, thereby poisoning the industrial atmosphere.
Fortunately for our country, industrial relations within the last few years have shifted from being confrontational to negotiations and positive engagement.
This has opened the floodgates to the trading of ideas and positions in order to reach mutually agreeable positions, resulting in a win-win situation for both labour and employers, including the government.
We are happy that as part of this culture of positive engagement, the government has, over the past many months, been holding discussions with representatives of organised labour and other bodies with a view to putting a seal on the agreement to implement the Single Spine Salary Structure (ssss) by July this year.
It is not in dispute that one of the main objectives of that decision is to help end the existence of distortions in wages and salaries, especially in the public service, for workers doing the same work under similar conditions or circumstances in different sectors of the public sector.
The distortions, among others, have largely undermined the principle of equal pay for work of equal value.
This, in the contention of many, has been a disincentive to hard work and increased productivity, both factors crucial for accelerated national socio-economic development.
It is heart-warming to note that the remaining vestiges of active opposition to the SSSS are giving way, paving the way for the full implementation of the scheme by July.
The call by the General Secretary of the Public Service Workers Union (PSWU), Mr Richard Ampaabeng, on public servants to remain committed in their support for the SSSS to help ensure its smooth implementation in July is a step in the right direction.
According to him, the SSSS, in the current circumstances, held the best prospects for working people and that whatever outstanding problems remained were clearly surmountable so that the way for improved earning for workers could be cleared (see page three).
We wish to take his opportunity to urge all stakeholders in this important exercise to give it all the support it needs to tie up the remaining loose ends so that the July date for the commencement of the scheme will be a reality.
Schemes, being the construct of humans, are not infallible. Indeed, as schemes roll on and problems emerge, solutions are found to them. In this way, we refine them and enhance their efficacy.
Let’s not delay the SSSS further.

ENSURING THE SUCCESS OF THE SSSS (JUNE 16, 2010)

for many decades, the issue of the determination of decent and dignified remuneration for the labour of working people has dogged the relationship between organised labour and employers, principally with the government as the single largest employer.
The effort at balancing the competing and often conflicting interests of working people against those of employers in settling on a minimum wage and other conditions of service has, on many occasions, hit a stalemate.
Such a situation subsequently degenerates into the adoption of strikes and other confrontational tactics by workers against employers, thereby poisoning the industrial atmosphere.
Fortunately for our country, industrial relations within the last few years have shifted from being confrontational to negotiations and positive engagement.
This has opened the floodgates to the trading of ideas and positions in order to reach mutually agreeable positions, resulting in a win-win situation for both labour and employers, including the government.
We are happy that as part of this culture of positive engagement, the government has, over the past many months, been holding discussions with representatives of organised labour and other bodies with a view to putting a seal on the agreement to implement the Single Spine Salary Structure (ssss) by July this year.
It is not in dispute that one of the main objectives of that decision is to help end the existence of distortions in wages and salaries, especially in the public service, for workers doing the same work under similar conditions or circumstances in different sectors of the public sector.
The distortions, among others, have largely undermined the principle of equal pay for work of equal value.
This, in the contention of many, has been a disincentive to hard work and increased productivity, both factors crucial for accelerated national socio-economic development.
It is heart-warming to note that the remaining vestiges of active opposition to the SSSS are giving way, paving the way for the full implementation of the scheme by July.
The call by the General Secretary of the Public Service Workers Union (PSWU), Mr Richard Ampaabeng, on public servants to remain committed in their support for the SSSS to help ensure its smooth implementation in July is a step in the right direction.
According to him, the SSSS, in the current circumstances, held the best prospects for working people and that whatever outstanding problems remained were clearly surmountable so that the way for improved earning for workers could be cleared (see page three).
We wish to take his opportunity to urge all stakeholders in this important exercise to give it all the support it needs to tie up the remaining loose ends so that the July date for the commencement of the scheme will be a reality.
Schemes, being the construct of humans, are not infallible. Indeed, as schemes roll on and problems emerge, solutions are found to them. In this way, we refine them and enhance their efficacy.
Let’s not delay the SSSS further.

GO, BLACK STARS GO (JUNE 15, 2010)

Last Sunday, the senior national team, the Black Stars, beat their much-fancied opponents, the Serbian national team, by one goal to nil in their opening match in the ongoing World Cup tournament at the Rustenburg Stadium in South Africa.
By that victory, the Black Stars chalked up the enviable feat of being the first and only African nation to have so far recorded a victory at the soccer mundial.
The victory of our gallant Stars, without doubt, means a lot not only for Ghana and Africa but also the entire Black race.
Last Sunday, moments after the referee blew his whistle for the end of the match, Ghanaians from all walks of life and all social, political, religious and ethnic orientations crowded onto the streets in wild jubilation.
Indeed, the streets of cities, towns and villages across the country took on a carnival mood, with people singing, drumming and dancing well into the night.
By this feat, the Stars brought Ghanaians of diverse backgrounds who, hitherto, did not see eye to eye on almost everything together to celebrate and at least temporarily bury their differences.
Thus, our boys, per their victory, were able to do in grand style what politics, religion, chieftaincy, among others, have failed to achieve by way of uniting our people.
The victory of the Stars, coming in the wake of a draw and two losses by the three African representatives which had already played their matches (including host nation South Africa), enabled the African continent to heave a huge sigh of relief.
Among others, it lent a new lease of life to the yearning expectations among Africans that in this first World Cup on African soil, the least the African representatives can do is play in the finals, if not lift the coveted trophy for the first time.
Gone is the era when, as a result of inferiority complex, African nations felt petrified in matches against their opponents from Europe, South America and Asia and became pushovers at world tournaments, receiving in their nets large numbers of goals which could be the envy of even cricket matches.
Today, Africa is a match for any continent when it comes to soccer and African nations can and do stand toe to toe against any opposition, hence the expectation that the World Cup can remain here.
It is not in dispute that the success of the Stars can largely, if not solely, be attributed to cohesion and compact teamwork in which all members give of their best and play with so much commitment and dedication.
Ghana went to the tournament without Michael Essien and many were those who doubted something meaningful would come out of the match against the Serbians and, by extension, the tournament as a whole.
But the Stars proved the sceptics wrong and said loudly, “Yes, we can!”
And, yes, they did!
While congratulating our gallant boys on making Ghana and Africa proud, we would like to counsel against any complacency on the part of the team, as that could prove fatal.
The Australians, our next opponents, are a frustrated and desperate side, having been walloped 4 – 0 by Germany.
They should not be underrated but rather be tackled with an even greater zeal and determination than what was displayed against Serbia to ensure qualification into the second round.
We are conscious that the Stars are properly psyched up and ready to blow the Socceroos apart and thus lend credence to the saying that it is not the size of a person in a fight that matters but the size of the fight in the person.
Go, Stars! Go, go, go!

BEHIND THE CHRAJ RULING (JUNE 12, 2010)

THE Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) yesterday suffered a setback in its bid to investigate the Mabey and Johnson (M&J) bribery allegation when the Human Rights Court in Accra ruled to prohibit it from further probing into the matter.
The court held that it was improper for the Commissioner of CHRAJ, Mr Justice Francis Emile Short, to have expressed his opinion on a matter then pending before the Supreme Court on Metro TV, an Accra-based TV station (see front page).
The impact of the ruling, among others, is that this controversial matter which has witnessed some heated arguments between CHRAJ and the affected persons via their counsel is practically dead in the water, at least until the ruling is reversed on appeal by a higher court.
The court’s decision that it was prejudicial for the Commissioner of CHRAJ to have made those remarks is incisive, as it especially sends a reminder that Mr Justice Short was legally stopped from commenting either directly or indirectly on a matter pending before the commission he heads.
The probability of bias in the matter before CHRAJ is high, in the face of these public comments, and, therefore, the benefit of the doubt will enure to the affected persons.
But even before this case travelled this far, there had been real questions regarding what CHRAJ was actually investigating, what level of co-operation and information it received from the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and what findings and rulings it would have made.
This is largely on account of the fact that the UK court which heard the UK SFO case did not sentence any of the affected persons for the said offence of bribery.
In a case on the matter brought before the UK SFO and the court by Dr George Sipa-Adjah Yankey, who resigned his position as Minister of Health to clear his name over the allegation, both the UK SFO and the court said Dr Yankey (and by extension all the affected persons) was, at no material time, before the court and could, therefore, not have been tried, let alone be convicted on the said allegation.
Indeed, the CHRAJ Commissioner himself had occasion to bemoan publicly the lack of access to the requisite information from the UK SFO on which CHRAJ had sought to rely to make its findings and give its ruling.
It is important to recall that in recognition of the need to respect the rights of persons against whom no substantive findings of guilt had been established, the UK SFO decided not to make public the names of the UK M&J officials allegedly involved in the scandal but, in breach of standard rules, mentioned the names of the Ghanaian officials.
This case, which can be said to have emanated from a hazy background, has become murkier and more controversial.
Among the key issues in the face of this ruling are: What will CHRAJ do next? What avenues are now open to Dr Yankey and Alhaji Amadu Seidu, both public officials who resigned to clear their names, and the rest?
If another anti-corruption body must investigate the matter to clear any lingering doubts on the matter and also give impetus to the anti-corruption drive, it must draw very useful lessons from how this case originated, how it has developed and how it ended the way it did.
Be that as it may, we think the rights of the affected, especially those who held pubic office and had to resign to contest the case, should be restored until there is further reason to curtail them.
We should not endeavour to punish people whose guilt has not been established by due process, given the law-and-order society on which we seek to firmly base our democracy, especially where, in the case of Dr Yankey, he was publicly acknowledged as a competent and hardworking minister who was set to work to improve the quality of life of our people.

CONSOLIDATING OUR DEMOCRACY (JUNE 11, 2010)

DEMOCRACY as a system of government is generally regarded by many as the most preferred way of running the affairs of state, its many shortcomings notwithstanding.
Properly adhered to, it seeks to establish and anchor government on the pedestal of the rule of law.
This implies that the process of governance is governed by the law and that the law is superior to any other thing and, therefore, the actions and inaction of the government must be carried out in conformity with the law.
It follows from this that equality of all people, particularly the citizens of the State, before the law constitutes one of the cardinal principles of any democratic system.
Since January 7, 1993 when the Fourth Republic commenced, we have, closer to two decades now, been trying to work our way through the democratic system with mixed but, nevertheless, commendable results.
While we certainly cannot say we have come of age and can behave or function as a mature democracy, we surely can pat ourselves on the back for the modest gains we have chalked up over these years.
It is against this backdrop that we believe we, as a people, must do all we can to ensure that our democracy continues to be anchored on respect for the rule of law and that it grows further and beyond, instead of being an instrument of control and domination in the hands of individuals or some select groups.
It must grow more to be driven, directed and firmly based on the interests and aspirations of our people and also accountable to the masses.
That is why we would not hesitate to advocate the need for all our political parties, especially the dominant ones (the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the biggest opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to work more towards achieving and strengthening internal democracy and the rules and regulations they have crafted to govern and regulate the behaviour and conduct of their members.
It is gratifying to note that both the NDC and the NPP have reiterated their confidence in the democratic process by, among others, moving to ensure their members’ respect for the rules and regulations embodied in their respective constitutions.
While the NDC has made clear its determination to ensure the full compliance of all its members with the party’s laws, the NPP has indicated its conformity with its laws by announcing that the five persons vying for its flag-bearer position have been cleared to contest the position (see front page).
One of the most serious challenges to the bid to widen and deepen the frontiers of democracy, especially internal democracy, is the creation and sustenance of personality and group cults and their elevation to a status well above the constitutions of their respective parties.
Clearly, the existence of this state of affairs compromises or undermines the growth and development of internal democracy, as such individuals and groups could run roughshod over others or flout the rules and regulations of their respective parties and get away with it.
When lesser members of the same fraternity indulge in similar acts of transgressions or even lesser offences, the wrath of the party is made to descend heavily on them almost immediately.
The pockets of confusion within the two dominant parties bear eloquent testimony to this.
We find it reassuring that the parties are giving an undertaking of their determination to put their feet down and ensure that the laws, rules and regulations that bind all their members together are rigorously enforced without fear or favour, malice or ill will.
We wish all our parties well in this noble endeavour because we believe that this is the way forward towards the entrenchment of our democracy and the consolidation of peace and socio-economic development which guarantee better lives for our people.

MODESTY IN GOVERNANCE IS THE ANSWER (JUNE 8, 2010)

a Deputy Minister of Information, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, yesterday shed light on savings the government of President John Atta Mills had made since its assumption of office last year.
According to the deputy minister, a substantial sum of GH¢8 million had been saved through prudent and cost-saving measures embarked upon in the past year.
That development, to us, is very significant for a variety of reasons.
It is worth pointing out for a start that at the beginning of January last year, the country had run up a huge deficit estimated at about 20 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which posed serious challenges to our socio-economic development and progress.
To bring it down to levels that would be conducive to the sustained growth and health of the economy, the government chose to tackle the problem from its expenditure angle, since raising substantial revenue to fund the huge deficit in the short term did not appear to be prudent or sustainable.
It is commendable that in painting the true picture of the state of the economy and counselling Ghanaians to embrace austerity, the government itself led by example and substantially cut down on its expenditure, a large part of which could be tagged profligate expenditure.
We are particularly elated at the significant savings that have been made in respect of the realignment and elimination of certain ministries and the substantial cut back on both the number of presidential trips and the size of delegations.
We cannot but commend the decision of President Mills to attend the opening ceremony of the World Cup in South Africa with a 14-member delegation whereas in the past 35 people were taken to such events.
The importance of this lies in the example that should show from the leadership to the people.
When the people see their leaders living the austerity and sacrifice they preach, they (the people) will be encouraged to embrace the sacrifices being espoused so that all hands will be on deck to steer the ship of state back to safe waters.
On the contrary, if the people see their leaders living lives of vulgar opulence while admonishing them (the people) to continue to sacrifice, they cannot and will not readily be co-operative in that regard.
While commending the government for this feat, we urge it not to rest on its laurels, as many more need to be done to purge the ministries, departments and agencies of waste, inefficiency and corruption so that more savings will be made to spur national development.
We hasten to counsel that the need to realise this noble objective of securing savings from the various sectors of national life is a bounden duty of all.
Every Ghanaian has a role to play in either unmasking corrupt or greedy elements who continuously siphon our resources to satisfy their lustful ends or stopping such nation wreckers before they execute their evil deeds.
We wish to put on record that the onus rests squarely on us as a people, and not on our so-called development partners, to generate the requisite level of resources to prosecute our national development agenda.
This is especially the case today in the wake of the financial meltdown when even the developed economies are struggling with their finances and cannot give as much to meet our development needs.
No one will do it for us but ourselves and our leaders must continue to lead and show us the way forward.

INCOMPETENT OFFICERS MUST BE FIRED (JUNE 7, 2010)

IT is not for the sake of personal aggrandisement nor empty platitudes that the State sets up public offices and appoints public officers to man them.
Those offices and officers are there principally to serve the people, who are the owners of the offices and who, through their sweat and toil, pay taxes to sustain them.
People, regardless of their gender, age, political persuasion, social status, etc, are entitled to be accorded dignified services in institutions of state when they so stand in need of them.
This constitutes a form of social contract, in which the people agree to fund the institutions, in return for dedicated and selfless services from the officers entrusted to man them.
It, therefore, goes without saying that this duty of public servants to the people, of necessity, includes the duty to take proper care of public property put in their custody and ensure that the property is maintained or rehabilitated, as and when the need arises.
Only last Friday an incident happened at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra during one of the surprise visits by President John Evans Atta Mills which clearly brought out the ineptitude of some public officers at the hospital and the reneging of their responsibilities to the people.
In the course of his tour, the President realised that basic facilities such as lifts were not functioning at key facilities such as the multi-storey Surgical Block and he had to issue directives to the Ministry of Health to replace the obsolete lift at the unit (see pages 16/49).
We are saddened by this state of affairs at no mean a place than our premier hospital, Korle-Bu.
Should it take a visit by the President for efforts to be made by the authorities at the hospital, and for that matter the Ministry of Health, to rectify problems affecting basic facilities such as a lift?
Were the authorities there oblivious of the fact that the lift was not working? Or did they feel that the non-functioning of the lift was immaterial to healthcare delivery at the hospital and, therefore, maintained a lackadaisical attitude towards it? Did they really think about the comfort and well-being of their patients or clients?
Our concern here is heightened by the fact that what is happening at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital may be happening in many public offices where officials may be struggling over one another to exhibit an abysmal level of incompetence and ineptitude.
If one may ask again, can and, indeed, must the President be everywhere before such simple things are rectified or done right?
We believe that the time to practically hold public officers to account for their acts of commission or omission is now and that this must go beyond the usual “action will be taken soon” to positive sanctions.
No one can tell how many lives may have been lost or damaged for all the time the lift remained malfunctioning until the President’s intervention.
We recall that Dr George Sipa-Adjah Yankey, a former Minister of Health, and his successor, Dr Benjamin Kunbour, had at various times toured health facilities and issued similar directives.
The fact that these shortcomings persist serve notice of the need for more drastic action before more lives are lost.
We wonder how our hospital authorities (and those elsewhere where such facilities are also not working) expect our physically challenged brothers and sisters who have as much the same rights as any of us to such facilities at the hospital to access health care without lifts, given the absence of any other means for them to do so.
Let us embrace the practice of firing public officers who are derelict of duty or are incompetent.
It is only by so doing that people will sit up and take the right and prompt decisions to move the fortunes of our public offices forward.
Enough of this incompetence.

DIALOGUE IS THE WAY FORWARD (JUNE 5, 2010)

THE beauty of democracy is that a veritable platform is provided for the ventilation and cross-fertilisation of ideas and views from diverse individuals and groups constituting the socio-political systems.
Through this social discourse, an opportunity is created for individuals or groups to listen to, understand and appreciate the opinions and views of others they hitherto never heard of, let alone understood or appreciated.
This, among other things, provides a more harmonious and amicable means for resolving otherwise intractable problems or disputes, thereby creating social harmony and peace.
Given that conflict is central to every society, dialogue is generally perceived as an effective means of managing social conflict, this way protecting and promoting the diverse interests society has to contend with.
In the wake of the announcement by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) of an upward adjustment in electricity and water tariffs, varying views have been expressed, ranging from justification of the necessity of the increases to protests that the increases are too high and, therefore, unjustifiable.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC), the key umbrella grouping for workers in Ghana, at a press conference in Accra yesterday, expressed displeasure at the increases and indicated its resolve to take matters to more serious levels if the government did not prevail on the PURC to review the increments downwards (see pages 16/17).
There can be no denying the fact that the increases will have the cumulative effect, along with other competing demands on the income of workers, of reducing the purchasing power of workers who operate on fixed incomes.
We agree that it is within the rights and duties of the TUC to echo these sentiments for and on behalf of working people and seek ways of getting the PURC and, by extension, the government to take measures to ameliorate the situation.
We, however, wish to state that the other side of the equation, principally the survival and effectiveness of the utility service producers, be also factored into the debate.
While it may be true that some degree of inefficiency does characterise the operations of these utility companies and reflects ultimately in the cost they pass on to consumers, the stark truth is that through the combined fault of all of us, the utilities have over the years come to be saddled with huge debts, without whose redemption the companies face total collapse.
Over the years, we have not been able to match the tariffs accorded the utility companies with the real cost of delivery of service on a regular and sustained basis.
These under-recoveries, taken along with the massive theft of electricity and water through illegal connections and political decisions to shy away from increasing tariffs, have today brought our utility companies to the brink of collapse.
We are clearly on the edge of the cliff; either we take bold steps, which unmistakably require extra sacrifice from all of us, to salvage our utility companies to position them to deliver to public expectation or we continue with the wishy-washy approach of the past and have them collapse on our heads, with no prospect of delivery at all.
The choice should be clear.
We take particular notice of the fact that the utility companies today have a bigger task of serving a greater populace and a larger geographical area than ever before, given the expansion of government projects and programmes in the past and now.
We believe the answer to this chicken-and-egg situation of the utilities is one that offers them the resources and then hold them to account on delivery targets set for them and rigorously monitored and evaluated.
Given all these, we wish to appeal to the TUC to commence a process of dialogue with the PURC and the government, with a view to reaching an understanding that protects the interests of not only its constituents but also those of the utilities and the nation as a whole.
It is only through constructive dialogue that we can decipher the true national interest and protect all.

A LESSON TO THE UTILITIES (JUNE 4, 2010)

IN what can aptly be described as a landmark ruling, the Kumasi High Court has ordered the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to pay GH¢22,030 in general and special damages to a resident of Kumasi for the illegal disconnection of electricity to his residence.
The court also awarded GH¢2,000 costs against the ECG.
Nana Paul Kwame Boateng, a resident of Ayigya in Kumasi, had filed a suit at the court, claiming damages for the illegal disconnection, which had resulted in prescribed drugs for his sustenance in his refrigerator being destroyed.
The treatment meted out by the ECG to Nana Boateng, who had paid his bill seven clear days before the disconnection took place, is so common a practice in dealings of the ECG with its customers that many tend to believe that when it comes to the payment of electricity bills and the threat of disconnection, the onus is on the consumer to prove payment.
Thus the common practice in this country is that whenever the ECG and the other utility companies decide to undertake disconnection exercises as a way of collecting customer debts, the announcement on radio, if there is any, is to ask domestic customers leaving their homes to leave their bills behind as evidence of payment to show to ECG staff undertaking the exercise, failure of which they risk disconnection.
So much wonder that in this day of high technology when bills are generated from computers, when the ECG purportedly stores data of its customers in its computers, it cannot compile its data and its staff carry along a list of defaulting consumers, particularly in metropolitan areas such as Accra and Kumasi, when undertaking such exercises.
While in the distant past members of the public showed great tolerance and goodwill to the ECG as it battled with challenges such as inadequate capitalisation leading to inefficient services, illegal connections leading to loss of revenue and load shedding as a result of low levels of water in the Akosombo Dam, the company does not seem to be doing much to reciprocate this good public gesture.
The loss to consumers as a result of long power outages which affect the jobs of many artisans, not to mention industry, erratic power supply which has led to the destruction of household appliances, particularly those belonging to workers who are out of the house for a greater part of the day, just to mention a few, seem not to bother the ECG because these problems continue unabated.
The ruling of the Kumasi High Court against the ECG should serve as a wake-up call to the company, and for that matter the other utility companies, that the public is now very much aware of its rights as much as it is of its responsibilities.
For this reason, the ECG and the other utilities must henceforth do what is right and proper by providing bills for their customers on time, knowing defaulters before embarking on any disconnection exercise and also providing good and better services for the public.

OUR YOUTH, OUR FUTURE (JUNE 3, 2010)

TO say that a nation’s youth constitute its future is to speak a truism.
The character, disposition and orientation of the youth of a nation today can help point to the future of that nation when the current generation of leaders is gone.
It is largely on account of this crucial role the youth all over the world can play in shaping the destinies of their respective nations that progressive and people-centred nations do not toy or play games with the task of nurturing their young people.
From the family at home, through the school in the community to the national level, values, morals, principles and other attributes that society cherishes are consciously taught to the youth who, when they imbibe and live by them, grow up to be useful to themselves and the nation.
It cannot be disputed that at the core of every successful individual or entity is his or her adherence to discipline, which includes consciously obeying rules and regulations, hard work and dedication to a productive vision.
Without this key attribute of discipline, the future is, at best, murky and bleak; at worst, miserable.
It is from this background that we are very concerned, indeed, very worried, about the growing incidence of lawlessness and reckless behaviour put up by sections of our youth, especially those in our educational institutions.
Barely a week after old students of the Ghana Senior High School (GHANASCO) in Tamale, under the distinguished patronage of Vice-President John Dramani Mahama, had launched the 50th anniversary of the school with the contribution of money and other materials to enhance its status, students of the school went on the rampage, destroying school property and the belongings of teachers.
What was the cause? That the authorities had seized the mobile phones of some students who, according to the rules and regulations of the school, should not have been in possession of, let alone use, those phones in the first place.
Hardly had that died down when a similar disturbance erupted at the Navrongo Senior High School in the Upper East Region.
We cannot mention the tall list of such students’ disturbances in senior high schools and even tertiary institutions, such as happened at the Kumasi Polytechnic.
We are not the least enthused about these incidents of instability in our institutions of learning and believe that decisive actions must be taken to both nip them in the bud and also serve as a deterrent to other deviants waiting in the wings to unleash similar acts of violence.
As a first step, we welcome the setting up of a committee to investigate the GHANASCO disturbances and the two-week deadline given to it to complete its work (see back page).
We believe the committee will get to the bottom of the matter and bring out all the salient issues, including the principal characters behind the disturbances and the real motive(s), so that action can be taken to help restore normal academic work in the school.
We wish to state that all efforts must be made to ensure the implementation of the recommendations of the committee and not seek to vary those recommendations on the pleas or interventions of influential personalities whose children or wards are implicated in the disturbances.
We also want to take this opportunity to call on the Ghana Education Service (GES) to consider the formulation of a concrete policy on the use or non-use of mobile phones in second-cycle institutions so that there can be uniformity in the application of that policy in those institutions across the country.
We wish to remind students that their primary objective in school is to study and excel in their academic work, so that they can assume leadership roles in our society tomorrow. They cannot achieve this if they exhibit such high propensity to flout the rules and destroy school property.
Above all, we remind them that they are enjoined to be disciplined so that they can grow to be useful to themselves and society as a whole.

TOWARDS BETTER SERVICE DELIVERY (JUNE 2, 2010)

THE Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) last Monday announced increases in tariffs for electricity and water, effective this month.
Under the new scheme, the cost for the use of electricity has risen by 89 per cent at the upper limit, while that for water is up by 32 per cent.
It is important to note that these increases have come from a background of demands from the utility companies, principally the Volta River Authority (VRA), the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), for increases ranging from 120 per cent to 136 per cent.
The basis for this demand by the utility companies for tariff hikes is that for some years now they have not been given tariff increases to keep pace with increasing cost of generating, transmitting and distributing power and water.
It has particularly been argued that the depreciation in the value of the cedi over the last three years, until recently, has created a situation where the companies are unable to recover loss, leading to significant levels of indebtedness and, therefore, their inability to deliver good services.
We are not oblivious of the implications of these hikes on consumers who, in the face of these increases, will have to pay more for the use of power and water. This, in turn, will eat more into their incomes, in the face of other pressing demands.
While we sympathise with these legitimate concerns, we believe, like so many others, that an increase in tariffs has become inevitable, not only to recover costs but also make funds available for retooling and investment in modern equipment decisive for improvement in service delivery.
While some may argue, with some justification, that improved service delivery must come before increases in tariffs, the truth of our situation is that not much by way of improvement in service delivery can be secured with the present array of bottlenecks afflicting the utility companies.
Given that development, it is better to accept to pay more and then secure a binding commitment from the utility companies to, within a stated period, show practical evidence of improvement in service delivery.
With this, the utility companies will have no valid excuse or pretext for not delivering to public expectation. Rather, they will be under a clear obligation to accelerate the tempo of their performance to meet this objective.
Additionally, this situation can result in closer monitoring and enforcement of better performance benchmarks on a more regular and sustained basis so that the utility companies could constantly be put on the spotlight regarding their performance so that shortcomings will be shown and the requisite steps taken to remedy them.
We wish to take this opportunity to call for an effective partnership among consumers, the PURC and the utility companies to help push this positive agenda of improving service delivery.
We also wish to alert the utility companies to the fact that the public and consumers, for that matter, will no longer accept excuses for poor quality service and that those unproductive attitudes to work that engendered the inefficiencies in their operations should be done away with so that they can deliver to public expectation.
This is the time for the VRA, the ECG and the GWCL to deliver quality service to consumers to justify the PURC’s tariff hikes, difficult as they may be for both the PURC and consumers

SAVE THE NHIS (JUNE 1, 2010)

HEALTH insurance is serious business and in many developed countries huge sums of money and quality personnel are usually committed to ensuring the success of the scheme.
The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) introduced by the previous government was hailed as a critical policy which had the promise of ensuring that Ghanaians access quality health care.
But ever since its introduction, the scheme has been bogged down by many challenges, including difficulties related to the issuance of health insurance cards and also the payment of claims to health care providers.
These challenges threaten the effectiveness of the scheme and the caution issued by the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) in relation to the fate of the scheme no doubt paints a disturbing picture of gloom and doom.
The GMA, at the end of its third National Executive Council meeting at Tegbi near Keta, said the NHIS was collapsing and urged President John Evans Atta Mills to make a personal intervention to save the scheme from collapsing.
According to the GMA, most facilities owed substantial amounts in medicines and consumables procured on credit, adding that as a result, suppliers were no longer willing to supply on credit.
Although the Deputy Director of Corporate Affairs of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Mr Eric Ametor-Quarmyne, has disputed that claim, the DAILY GRAPHIC believes that the concerns expressed by the GMA must not be dismissed with a wave of the hand.
This is because being the men and women on the ground, members of the GMA are faced, on a daily basis, with the health challenges of the people and are very well placed to comment on the country’s health prospects and challenges.
The relevance of their concerns is also accentuated by concerns that have already been expressed by some health administrators in respect of the payment of health insurance claims.
The DAILY GRAPHIC has no doubt that the government is committed to ensuring that the citizenry are healthy enough to be able to contribute more meaningfully to the national development agenda. However, there is the need to aggressively pursue that commitment.
We are aware that more people have registered under the scheme and that appears to be putting so much pressure on it.
The DAILY GRAPHIC duly notes the explanation offered by Mr Ametor-Quarmyne that the arrangement made with the health facilities would always leave some debts unpaid. According to him, in 2009 alone, GH¢372 million was paid to service providers, adding that the NHIA would continue to make payments.
While that is commendable, it is important to note that for as long as the scheme does not meet the expectations of the people, then they are likely to express their right to grumble.
That is why it is also important for the scheme managers to address the weaknesses that mitigate against the efficient utilisation of resources allocated to the scheme.
Health is wealth and health should receive the government’s priority attention to help build a stronger citizenry capable of effectively meeting the rigorous demands of their daily schedules.
The GMA has declared its intention to focus its annual lecture at the College of Physicians and Surgeons on August 25, 2010 on the way forward for the NHIS. We are hopeful that this will be pursued in a very constructive manner to help make the NHIS very efficient and effective to cater for the health needs of the people.