The Rumpus Over Awards And National Unity
The Word of God tells us that there is a time and a season for everything in this world:” A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to harvest that which is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up.” (Ecclesiastes 3: 2 & 3).
On Thursday, July 3, 2008, it was time for a number of Ghanaians who had served the nation diligently in various capacities to be duly appreciated by the state. I hereby extend my congratulations to all the award winners, numbering about 250.
Shortly after the initial announcement of the award, nominations were made and ever since, several remarks and commentaries have been passed on the essence of these awards.
Some of these have been complimentary while others have been critical. This is as it should be in a multi-party democratic dispensation.
And don’t forget, we’re supposed to have about 23 million “coaches” in Ghana!
One could infer from the comments before, during and after the event that the principle of awarding people was generally acceptable, except that some sections of the population had a problem with either the selection criteria, the timing, or the number of recipients.
What is obvious, however, is that since there is no perfection in human endeavour, whatever was done was bound to be greeted with one form of criticism or the other, especially in an exercise of this nature which is not subject to scientific process.
That is why I found it most unfortunate that some politicians and social commentators denigrated the awards to the extent of calling them “agbeli kakro” or “doughnuts” awards, because the list included some recipients they didn’t favour.
According to President Kufuor, the rationale behind the awards was to recognise the enormous contributions of various Ghanaians at various levels and in different areas of national life over the years.
Many others had received similar state awards in previous years under various governments.
As far as I am concerned, the impact of these state awards is that apart from the psychological satisfaction to be derived by the recipients, their families, friends and loved ones, the awards would also serve as a source of encouragement and motivation to other Ghanaians, especially the youth, to offer their best services in whatever field or community they find themselves.
A cursory glance at the award winners shows that some of the recipients have served the nation very well since its birth and are still doing so.
I was happy that the awards covered a wide range of people from both the public and private sectors.
The most significant aspect of the awards, in my view, is the effort aimed at promoting national unity and cohesion, reconciliation and peace.
This is because whether we like it or not, our nation has been polarised since the First Republic following the throwing of bombs by opposition elements, and Dr Nkrumah’s declaration of a one-party state, the subsequent military coup d’etat on February 24, 1966, and similar aberrations along the way.
Unfortunately, the polarisation appears to have deepened since the New Patriotic Party (NPP) took over from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in 2001 because of the intense rivalry and antagonism between these two parties, for whatever reasons.
Though a certain level of success may have been achieved, it is unfortunate that efforts made through the establishment of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) in 2003 as a process of healing the wounds of the nation could not yield maximum results due to a variety of challenges.
These included the general public misunderstanding of the NRC’s modalities, apprehension by a section of the population that the NRC was a ploy aimed at vilifying and exposing some specific regimes and personalities to public ridicule, and the refusal of some people to appear and testify before the commission.
In the spirit of promoting what I choose to describe as a holistic national restoration, reconciliation and rehabilitation, I would have personally been much happier if the President’s advisors had prevailed upon him not to bestow the newly created Grand Order of the Star and Eagles award only on himself and Flight Lt. Rawlings, but to also recognise and honour all his predecessors, even if posthumously.
This view is based on the fact that these past leaders (whether civilian or military) had also occupied the highest office of the land and had made equally valuable contributions during their time.
Some of their initiatives, programmes and regulations are still on our statute books and serving as a point of reference in guiding national policies and development.
There were those who had the view that the former UN Secretary-General, Busumuru Kofi Annan, who for 10 solid years made this nation’s star to shine on the global map as the first Ghanaian and first-ever black African to have served successfully for two terms as the world’s number one citizen and public servant, also deserved the highest honour to serve as an inspiration to the younger generation.
It is also believed that in the spirit of promoting reconciliation, unity and peace at this time, a gesture from the father of the nation such as unconditionally dropping all charges preferred against the former first lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings and others, as well as using his prerogative of mercy in doing whatever possible to set Tsatsu Tsikata free, would have given a new impetus to our national reconciliation process and taken it to higher levels.
After successfully participating for the first time in the World Cup in Germany, celebrating the country’s Golden Jubilee anniversary, hosting the historic African Union (AU) Conference and Ghana 2008 football tournament, the recent national awards ceremony provided yet another glorious opportunity for Ghanaians to come together smoking the peace pipe, leaving the past behind, and forging ahead as one people with a common destiny.
But this was not to be. The largest opposition party, the NDC, issued a statement through its General Secretary, Mr Asiedu Nketiah, instructing its members not to go for the awards, because the government had failed to address the hardships facing Ghanaians as well as turned a deaf ear to the numerous grievances previously outlined by the party.
The former President, Flight Lt. J.J. Rawlings, NDC flag bearer Prof. Atta Mills, Minority Leader and his deputy, Alban Bagbin and Doe Adjaho, Mr E. T. Mensah, as well as Capt. (retired.) Kojo Tsikata, all publicly rejected their awards for personal reasons.
Whether the various reasons assigned by those who refused to be honoured were justified or not is now a moot point, but they had exercised their human rights as citizens to either accept or reject an offer.
Some Ghanaians on both sides of the divide have expressed the wish that the nominees had accepted the awards in good faith, since two wrongs do not make a right.
When President Kufuor, on assuming office, promised to operate an all-inclusive and transparent government, which would have “zero tolerance for corruption”, my understanding of these concepts was not that ministerial and other positions would necessarily be given to everybody, or that there would be no more corruption in Ghana.
My understanding was that there would be created an open space for all Ghanaians to freely participate in governance and socio-economic activities in all spheres of life and benefit thereby in all areas without discrimination, and that steps would be taken to reduce corruption to the barest minimum since human beings are not infallible.
As things stand now, the issue that is debatable is the extent to which these objectives have been achieved by President Kufuor and his administration and not whether somebody got an award or not as awards do not determine the outcome of elections.
The question to ask ourselves is whether we have made any progress as a nation or gone backwards.
It is time we moved away from the age-old “winner takes all” mentality and the usual blame game, an attitude which I believe informed some of the negative and harsh initial reactions from some NPP activists and officials when the first list of award nominees, including Prof. John Atta Mills was announced, which in my opinion, sparked the whole ‘awards saga’.
Indeed, the controversy generated by the recent awards and the latest “boom” speeches by former President Rawlings, Founder and Chairman of the Council of Elders of the NDC, and his wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, must serve as a sharp reminder to us all on the seriousness of how deeply divided the nation has become on partisan lines.
In view of these latest developments, some analysts have predicted that the tension is likely to increase as we get closer to the December general election.
This is because, they claim that while economic hardships persist in many parts of the country amidst perceived corruption among public officials, some of the military and police brutalities and infringements on the human rights of citizens which formed the basis for setting up the NRC to soothe past pains and avoid any repetition now or in the future, are allegedly being perpetrated today in different forms, though we are in a democratic civilian dispensation.
Serious as the challenges are, we must not lose hope. Ghanaians must bear in mind that since the polarisation of the society did not happen overnight, but has developed over a long period, finding a lasting solution would require a deliberate long-term approach and sustained policy of accommodation, constructive engagement and dialogue, with a sense of candour, boldness and mutual trust on the part of all stakeholders to confront the various issues.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the role of the church, religious and community leaders, as well as civil society groups is very critical in moving our nation forward in unity.
It must be hammered home, especially to our political leaders that the spirit of envy, unforgiveness, revenge and self-indulgence should now give way to mutual love, respect, humility, forgiveness and co-operation.
That is the best option forward for Ghana’s survival. We all need to do a thorough self-examination and remind ourselves that reconciliation is not a one-man’s affair, neither is it a one-way street.
We must all take responsibility for the safety and security of all because, as one great philosopher said, “no man is free until all men are free.”
It will certainly take nothing, but the hand of God to heal our nation. So let’s all keep praying without ceasing and trust that all will be well. God bless our homeland, Ghana!
Source: Daily Graphic
Big Beef With JAK’s Awards
Yesterday, President Kufuor handed out national awards to selected citizens of Osagyefoland and most incredibly, there were enough of them to get around, so that everyone in town got one except one bloke-me.
I woke up this morning to find that I had grown red and pink whiskers where a man’s moustache would normally be, and it is all out of sheer envy of the recipients.
That is why you may take my views about the awards as prejudiced crap from an embittered man. What do you expect a man to do when envy threatens to choke him dead, Jomo? Grumble, fret, throw up tantrums and raise the great hackles all about. That is what!
Amid the rumpus over the President’s nominations for the awards, a friend from my home town who has not had the benefit of formal education asked what was stirring up all the commotion.
I told him it was about awards. “Awodz? Never heard of the chap. Who is he? What has he done wrong?”
I explained that the subject of the rumpus was not a “he”, but an “it” and that awards came in the form of medals presented by the President to selected citizens.
“You mean those things ex-service men wear?” “Why would anyone miss those things? Can one of them buy a loaf of bread?”
Award. It was the most repeated word in the media last week, thanks to fairly widespread criticism of JAK’s list, but like my good townsman, ordinary people had only the haziest idea what the fuss was all about.
I spent hours myself wondering how the President went about this business of identifying citizens deserving of national awards.
Did the President lock himself up in his office, sit at his desk and proceed to go meticulously through the last population census register identifying and ticking names according to his fancy?
Ah, here is Dr Dompreh’s name. I hear the man is a patriotic physician doing a great job at Kenyasi Number One Hospital. Well then, he gets an award. Tick.
Nana Quarcoopome. The name sounds familiar. That must be the fellow who calls every frequency modulation station in town every blessed morning to sing hosanna and other exquisite praises to my good name. He gets an award. Tick.
Ah, here are three aides and two advisors in a row. Tick, tick, tick… Kwame Kwabone? No way. The man had made a past time of disparaging my administration.
I very much doubt that, that is the way the president went about it but try telling that to some of those who have bitterly criticised the president’s nominations.
It is most likely that recommendations for the awards were received by the president from advisors in various fields of endeavour. Questions arise regarding what informed the choices of the referees and advisors who fed JAK’s nomination list.
Take careful note, Jomo: Criticism of the wards list is not a blanket one. It has been acknowledged that many citizens on JAK’s list truly deserve the honours. It is the inclusion of many others that has provoked derisive snorts.
“Hey, what has this fellow done to deserve a national award, for Heaven’s sake?” That was an echoing refrain.
Typical word and phrases which qualify anyone for national awards would include “excellent”, “very outstanding”, “out-of-the ordinary”, “ highly distinguished”, “very exceptional” “highly accomplished”, “of profound impact…”
National awards should not be so administered as to give the impression of being rewards for politically sectarian loyalty, with some deserving recipients and a few old time enemies thrown in for scheming measure.
The inclusion of National Democratic Congress front liners in the list promptly backfired, as questions were raised in some cases where the nominees had previously been denigrated by pro-establishment politicians and elements with a singular consistency.
Then too, should someone be given an award for having been elected or appointed to high political office? I don’t know about you, Jomo, but it does not make sense to me at all.
Some African countries are moving to replace flawed national awards systems with standardised ones. A group of senators in the National Assembly in the Nigeria led by Senator Anthony Ago recently moved a bill in the house demanding a thorough review of the country’s national awards system to reflect national aspiration to excellence.
Their collective view was that, “for a nation to achieve and sustain uninterrupted ascent on the ladder of progress and to consistently break new barriers, advance to new frontiers and keep pace with the speedy dynamics of scientific, political and economic identity of the ever evolving and advancing world, the principle and culture of reward and achievement must be elaborately institutionalised.”
Agbo and his colleagues are convinced that national awards presented by the Assembly , would “possess the inspirational strength, psychological inducement, depth, appeal, impact and dimension very close to the highest awards anywhere in the world.”
A National Awards Committee should select and publicly debate the meritorious qualifications of nominees for national wards, don’t you think?
A citizen nominated for a national award for his contribution in any field of endeavour should be easily acknowledged by his peers in the field and the public as deserving of the honour.
Where the peers of a nominee and the public laugh at, ridicule or scoff at the nomination, you can bet that something is indeed amiss with the national awards system, yes sir.
Folks pointed that the awards list was one recipient too many, to which spin agents countered that it comprised only a couple of hundred citizens in a population of 20 million. Do you reckon national awards have or should have anything to do population and equity?
Methinks if only one individual from a particular area of public endeavour is deserving of a national award in keeping with a standardised criterion for rewarding excellence and as many as ten citizens from another area qualify for awards, that should be it!
With George Sydney Abugri
The Kente Industry Has A Great Potential In Ghana
That the traditional Ghanaian Kente cloth is the pride of the nation that enhances the nation’s image internationally cannot be disputed.
It is against this backdrop that the Ghanaian Kente industry must be critically examined now with the view to finding out whether this industry has been encouraged enough and given the necessary attention in the interest of the country.
The cultural policy of Ghana states categorically the following concerning the Ghanaian Kente industry. “The state shall assist the small and medium scale indigenous clothing industries to develop and improve their marketing strategies and their presence on the world market.”
In fact, clothing constitutes an important aspect of any culture in the world today; be it American, British, French or Japanese culture. Apart from giving identity to a nation, it identifies individuals as to where he or she comes from. It also advances and enhances the image of a country. Clothing therefore plays a very important role in the development and propagation of any culture in the world; and has also great potential of contributing to the development of a nation’s economy.
The textile industry is indeed a lucrative business on the world market today! The most economically powerful countries of the world such as the U.S, Britain, France, Japan, China etc have a large part of the revenue generated for their economies coming from the textile industry! Thus, these countries do make great investments in their textile industries with the view to boosting their economies.
It is unfortunate however, to note that Ghana has never taken into consideration the great economic potential that the Kente industry has for Ghana. The Kente industry has been neglected and not given the necessary attention and development as it deserves to the detriment of the country. Thus, Ghana is losing heavily in terms of her economic potential in the textile industry on the world market today.
In order to reverse this unfortunate situation in the interest of the country, some drastic measures must be taken as a matter of urgency to develop the Kente industry so that it can compete favourably with other textiles on the world market scene.
It is also unfortunate to note that many Ghanaians have developed a strong taste for wearing European clothes at work places, offices, churches, social gatherings, state functions etc. at the expense of Ghanaian clothing such as the Kente cloth, smock etc.
Opinion leaders and influential Ghanaians, who are in positions to advance the cause of the Kente industry have failed to do so because they are somehow affected by the European cultural influence by the way they eat, dress and project themselves generally. For instance, one can often see Ghanaian lawyers, doctors, academicians etc. dressed in suit and tie to work, church, parties etc and occasionally putting on the Kente cloth, smock etc. as a way of projecting the Ghanaian culture.
In fact, Ghana is losing heavily on the world market as a result of her continued neglect to develop the Kente industry which has great economic potential as other textiles industries of many rich and powerful countries of the world as mentioned earlier on in this presentation.
It is therefore high time that Ghana turned her attention to the development of her viable Kente industry in order to bring economic benefits to the country. This should take place right now!
As far as the development of the Kente industry is concerned, I will like to make the following suggestions: The Ministries of Trade and Industries and Chieftaincy and Culture must collaborate to find out the most effective means of promoting and developing the Ghanaians Kente industry.
To this end, a special committee made up of exports should set up to develop a workable and efficient mechanism that will facilitate the development of the Kente industry to put it on the world market as other textile industries of the world.
Government must make huge investments in the Kente industry as it is done in many rich and powerful countries of the world.
The Ministries of Trade And Industries and Chieftaincy and Culture should embark on an elaborate and country wide education programme on the patronage of the Kente cloth so that Ghanaians will develop the taste for wearing the Kente cloth.
Since charity begins at home, this will be the basis upon which the Kente cloth will make a strong impact to attract the tastes of Europeans and other foreigners to partronise the Kente cloth on the world market. Thus, there will be a kind of acculturation where by Ghana will be in a position to sell her culture to the world.
In conclusion, I have the conviction that the Ghanaian Kente industry can contribute immensely to boost the economy of Ghana. To this end, I am of the opinion that the development of the Kente industry should become one of the priorities of the government’s development programmes for the country.
By Michael Akenoo
The Writer is a Theatre Critic.
The College Of Health Sciences Must Be Supported
Despite substantial progress made in our health delivery infrastructure in the last two decades, Ghana’s health delivery system can hardly be described as satisfactory, with only about 50 per cent of the population having access to medical facilities.
Statistics from the Ghana Health Service put the infant mortality rate at 64 per 1,000 live births, maternal mortality at 186 per 100,000 live births in institutions, the doctor to population ratio at 1 doctor to 17,733 and the nurse to population ratio at 1 nurse to 1,570.
At the heart of Ghana’s health care system is a severe shortage of health workers. According to one University of Ghana Medical School report, between 1986 and 1995, 61 per cent of the school’s output had left the country, while a United Nations report on International Migration also stated that by the end of 2005, Ghana had lost over 50 per cent of her highly-skilled labour, out of which 90 per cent were health professionals, comprising doctors, nurses and laboratory technicians, among others.
The cost of this loss is registered in the decline in quality of care, longer waiting hours for patients and loss of support and supervision from experienced supervisors.
An unhealthy people can neither achieve optimum productivity nor reach the full potential for wealth creation and poverty reduction.
In other words, good health is an important human resource, without which the individual’s quality of life is diminished, thereby reducing his or her capacity to contribute effectively to national development efforts.
It is, therefore, in the interest of the nation to direct attention to training and empowering the nation’s health professionals to enable them to deliver quality health service to the people.
Health professionals need to be well paid and provided with an environment that promotes professional development.
Training and empowerment, it is important to note, are inextricably linked to the proper functioning of the institutions that train the professionals.
One such training institution is the College of Health Sciences, whose vision is to bring good health, comfort and happiness to people.
To realise this vision, the College of Health Sciences strives to ensure that highly qualified health professionals and medical scientists who are competent enough to provide promotive, preventive and curative services to meet the health needs of the people are trained.
Presently, however, indeed, as of September 26, 2007, the picture painted of the College of Health Sciences is that of an overstretched facility, unable to accommodate large numbers of qualified students, while a building project started a few years ago cannot proceed as scheduled.
The College has, therefore, embarked upon the establishment of a School for Biomedical Sciences and Post-graduate Research to be situated at the University of Ghana campus where land has been acquired, while the establishment of a new Teaching Hospital at the University of Ghana, Legon, is also being considered.
The School for Biomedical Sciences and Post-graduate Research, when established, will be responsible for providing basic and para-clinical science education to large numbers of students.
The school is also capable of attracting students from the sub-region and other parts of the world.
At the first College of Health Sciences Annual Scientific Conference held in Accra recently, the Minister for Education, Science and Sports, Prof. Dominic Fobih, indicated that a report on the establishment of the School of Biomedical Sciences and Post-graduate Research was being studied for necessary action to be taken and that the new Teaching Hospital project at the University of Ghana, Legon, was also receiving attention.
Also identified as crucial to a satisfactory healthcare delivery system are accessibility to essential medicines for which the Food and Drugs Board and the Pharmacy Council have been urged to continue to work together to review the medicines handled by pharmacists and drug sellers and to regulate the procedures governing their operations and the prompt release and adequacy of funds to ease cash flow problems for health managers and for National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) managers.
An Endowment Fund for the College of Health Sciences has also been advocated.
Also relevant to the healthcare needs of the country, apart from a well-trained human resource, well-structured, well-resourced and well-run healthcare institutions, is the critical role of preventive and promotive health.
There is, therefore, the need to appreciate the linkages between health, the environment and economic activity and respond to the challenge by activating the culture of preventive medicine which has to do with adopting regenerative health and nutrition, and healthy eating habits, ensuring greater cleanliness, exercising regularly and generally abstaining from lifestyles, such as alcoholism and smoking.
The focus now, however, is the proper functioning of the institutions that train our health professionals, particularly the College of Health Sciences.
The Minister for Education, Science and Sports had indicated at the first Annual Scientific Conference that a report on the establishment of the School of Biomedical Sciences was being studied and that the Teaching Hospital project was also receiving attention.
It is expected that the necessary action, on the part of the ministry, will be taken to aid the efforts of the college to make a positive impact on the country’s health delivery system through research and capacity building.
The minister had also expressed the desire to visit the site of the stalled building project to enable him to identify the real challenges and determine the next course of action and have further discussions with the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Legon.
That visit, I believe, has been undertaken and the discussions with the Vice Chancellor successfully held.
What may be left now is collaboration with the Ministry of Health for the implementation of the two projects and the completion of the stalled building project for the School of Allied Health Sciences.
By G. D. Zaney
Rough Road To The Home Of The Gunners
Welcome, to the Volta Barracks, Ghana The Home of the Ancient Order of Field Artillerists We are proud members of the Historical Brotherhood of Stone hurlers, Archers, Catapulters, Rocketeers Now referred to as GUNNERS.
With these impressive, valiant and proud words, the visitor is welcomed to the Volta Barracks, Ho, in the Volta Region.
This is the home of the 66 Artillery Regiment of the Ghana Army. The unit came into existence on February 16, 1966 to enhance the fire power of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and was called the Medium Mortar Regiment (MMR), under the command of Captain Ekow Jones.
On June 3, 2003, the unit was upgraded with more artillery weapons, including the 107mm RL, the 122mm Howitzer and the 122mm MRLS and its name changed to the 66 Artillery Regiment.
Like any other unit of the GAF, the 66 Artillery Regiment has, as its mission, to protect and defend the territorial sovereignty and integrity of the Motherland.
The unit no doubt, is one of the elite units in the GAF and had and continues to have some of the finest officers and brave men in uniform this country ever produced who have a distinguished record of achievements at both national and international levels.
Officers and men of the 66 Artillery Regiment have left an impressive mark on their peacekeeping operations throughout the world.
It will be an arduous task trying to mention names, since there will be that natural tendency of leaving out some important ones.
However, as an illustration, one can, without any fear of diluting the menu, mention Lt General Seth Kofi Obeng, the immediate past Chief of the Defence Staff of the GAF, who, as a Gunner, was one time the Commanding Officer of the then MMR.
The presence of detachments of the unit is always conspicuous at ceremonial parades at the Independence Square in Accra and their home base in Ho, with their heavy guns and, lately, the multiple missile launchers.
Whoever chose the location of the Volta Barracks in Ho has a good taste for scenic beauty.
Straddling between Ho-Dome and Takla, which shares boundaries with Hodzo and Kpenoe, the barracks is perched on a hill overlooking the town below.
The first-time visitor cannot but admire the neatly-mowed green lawns which welcome him to the home of the Gunners as he/she enters the wide gates of the entrance to the barracks.
Many can only imagine seeing cannons and metal devices designed to kill in a military establishment such as the Volta Barracks.
Far from that! Unless you are told, on a normal day you may mistake the barracks for a sanatorium where the sick come to convalesce for its greenery, freshness, neatness and quietness.
The officers and men of the 66 Artillery Regiment have historically maintained a kind of umbilical relationship with the inhabitants of Ho in particular and the Volta Region in general.
As the only military establishment in the region with such a huge reputation, the people of the Volta Region have accepted the soldiers as part of them and the soldiers who set foot there hardly think of any other place as home.
Ask Lt Col Ekow Jones, the first Commanding Officer of the unit, who virtually became a citizen of Ho.
This natural bond has been strengthened by social activities such as clean-up campaigns and blood donations embarked upon periodically by the soldiers.
The Supreme Cannons, which is the resident band of the unit, is always available to satisfy the entertainment needs of the community.
That is not to say there have been no misunderstandings. There were times when revolutionary zeal took the better part of the soldiers who became too harsh on law breakers, especially during the so-called revolutionary era.
Troops from the unit were quick to respond to emergency situations such as the escalation of violence in volatile land disputes between the people of Tsito/Peki and Alavanyo/Nkonya.
The 66 Artillery Regiment is a unit any military establishment will be proud of and the Volta Barracks, the home of the Gunners, should be an attraction to all. Unfortunately, the journey to the barracks can be nightmarish.
I do not know whether it is deliberate to remind the soldiers and members of the public that military work is not a smooth one and, therefore, driving on a well-paved road to the barracks is itself a luxury that should not be encouraged.
I would have settled for this argument if all roads leading to the country’s other military establishments share common features with that of the Volta Barracks.
It is a short distance that cannot be more than two kilometres, starting from the Ho-Dome Roundabout.
The road to the Volta Barracks, which houses one of the country’s most powerful military units, cannot be better than a farm road used mostly by tractors which do not deserve a well-tarred road. Nobody driving on that road will have an inkling of the fact that he/she is heading towards a military installation which holds strategic importance to the security of the state.
It could be just another miserable road leading to nowhere.
The deep potholes give the impression of a road that has come under a barrage of mortar fire.
Heaps of sand and chippings that gave hope that the road was going to be constructed have themselves become obstacles that must be surmounted before grabbing a fair share of the mumbo-jumbo road.
This cannot be a question of a lack of funds.
A well-constructed two-kilometre road from the Ho-Dome Roundabout to the Volta Barracks should not be too much for the sovereign state of Ghana which derives pride from it military.
For now, the GUNNERS have been neglected and treated with scorn, thereby diminishing their national importance.
The poor nature of the Volta Barracks road is just the story of Ho, the regional capital. I have heard the Regional Minister, Mr Kofi Dzamesi, praising Ho town roads at every opportunity.
Well, someone may say something is better than nothing. But for a regional capital, Ho lacks roads.
A short stretch of road from the Ho-Dome Roundabout to the Ahoe-Heve Roundabout, which is less than a kilometre, has taken more than three years to construct, without any sign of completion.
Other regional capitals have asphalted dual carriageways. If Ho cannot get asphalt, why not the good old bitumen on its roads? A good road can never be hidden.
It will be there for everyone to see and every motorist to drive on. Ho has the potential of becoming a beautiful town that can attract investors and ordinary visitors if only those who have the power will show a little more interest in its development.
There are a lot of roads earmarked for construction, which, when done, can raise the status of the town and encourage more people to invest in it in particular and the municipality in general.
A beautiful hotel called Executive Gardens, which had the potential to promote tourism and commercial activity in Ho, has virtually collapsed because those who matter do not see the need to improve the Ho-Adaklu Road and thus open up the hotel to visitors.
Ho has a naturally endowed beautiful landscape and a hospitable people who sometimes accept their fate rather too quietly. Sometimes, out of desperation, the people of the town wonder aloud whether they are part of this progressive nation called Ghana.
The Volta Barracks is actually part of Ho, the Volta Regional capital, and its fate cannot be detached from that of the town.
It is, therefore, not out of order to say that the Volta Barracks is suffering from a disease called NEGLECT that has afflicted its mother.
To the officers and men of the 66 Artillery Regiment, good road or no good road, I know they will continue to live by their proud motto: “Once a GUNNER, Always a GUNNER”, and their battle cry:
“Where there is ARTILLERY, there is GLORY”.
Source: Graphic
The Man From Bawku
George Sydney Abugri
An enterprising black magician called Abomsam appeared on a morning programme on Ghana Television last Friday, conjuring 24-carat gold watches straight from the air, and turning scraps of plain paper into hard cash, some of which he donated to charity, much to the delight of television viewers.
I scrounged up from the news, more stories about the smartest fellows around, the idea being to figure out what makes them tick, so that I could try and get smart too, see?
There was this other fellow, who does not possess even a ward assistant’s work experience testimonial, but who travelled abroad and presented academic and professional papers on the advancement of medicine in Ghana at international conference attended by global medical big wigs.
He got to eat big conference banquets and stuffed his wallet with conference per diems, see?
Back at home, he undertook surgical operations of some of his patients, and pocketed more good money.
Now the chap is in trouble with the law, but hey, has he not proved the point that there is a lot more raw gumption in the skull than in books?
As for the magician, the sooner the authorities lay hands on him before he does a disappearing act, as magicians are often wont to do the better, Jomo.
We need him to change warehouses full of plain paper into every international currency with a name, before poverty and economic hardship exterminate our good people.
My regret was that I could not locate in any of the stories, the kind of smart guy with the expertise to help us resolve the conflict in my home town Bawku.
I have been distressed by some of the commentary on the conflict. It is not fair that anyone, should after swallowing big lumps of fufu and bush meat, proceed to belch all manner of gases along with his own poorly informed opinions about the conflict area and its people.
In times of armed conflicts like this, we need the opinions of experts in conflict prevention and resolution, cross-ethnic psychologists and anthropologists who have taken a hard and careful look at the problem on hand, and not anyone at all who fancies a rant.
How could anyone hold up the spontaneous and reflexive behaviour of people in a situation of armed conflict, to the standards of normal human conduct and then proceed to pole-vault to the unscientific conclusion that the people of such an area are numbskulls or genetically disposed to violence?
I heard one bloke say on radio the other day, “We are fed up with them. Let them fight till they are all killed or get tired of fighting.” There are some aspects of the Bawku conflict that should make smart people like that do some sober thinking about the implications for their own security.
You should see television and newspaper pictures of the type of weapons being used in the Bawku conflict. The average bloke cannot grab one of those heavy, unconventional and ugly-looking military weapons, and begin to fire away without blowing off his own skull to kingdom come.
The use of these weapons require special training outside the conventional weapon training curriculum of even police personnel. Where do you reckon the combatants got the training?
Once in a while you hear unsubstantiated rumuors about Bawku being a reservoir for the recruitment of mercenaries, but you are inclined to dismiss them because mercenaries have become extinct in wars these days, or have they?
What if unemployed people able to use these weapons spill over into an area where such a reckless commentator is “chilling out” in his perceived comfort zone of presumed peace and security?
Anyone who wants to have a fundamental understanding of the causes of the Bawku conflict and why it has recurred unrelentingly, needs to pore through a colossal amount of information:
The reports of various committees of enquiry into the conflict since the 1950s, the various court rulings and judgements, newspaper clippings on the conflict through the years, minutes of various meetings related to the conflict and the undistorted testimonies of trustworthy individuals.
Bawku is not just a densely populated geographical area buried far away in the centre of the jugged horn jutting out of the very north-eastern tip of Ghana’s map.
Bawku is one long, rumbling anthropological poem with complex and unending stanzas.
The stanzas are about the contradictions of our colonial heritage, the complicated dynamics of cross-ethnic relations, the African psychological and cultural obsession with ethnic identity and the difficult-to-prove manipulations of meddling politicians in pursuit of political power.
What many see as an ethnic and chieftaincy conflict has tended to recur when there is a change of government or in an election year.
Do you remember what happened at Bawku during the 2000 elections? There was sudden chaos and bloodshed in Bawku which saw more than a hundred people killed in a matter of days.
It is time to admit that the Bawku conflict is complex ethno-political one, requiring official support if it is to be permanently resolved.
The guys at the Centre for Development and Democracy wrote up a report on the 2000 blood bath.
It concluded that “the factor of politics, and especially electoral politics, is central to an analysis and understanding of the Bawku conflict.”
Between the two ethnic groups, the critical arguments regarding the original causes of the conflict and the reasons for its unending recurrence are played back and forth between the Kusasis and Mamprusis like a ping pong ball, but the buck must stop somewhere.
From the point of view of the rule of law, the buck must stop with the judicial judgement on the conflict, yes?
To reject the rule of law is to condemn Bawku to systematic destruction until it is no more. Already Bawku is a phantom of the town we knew in the 1960s and 70s.
At the peak of its commercial boom, Bawku was one of the government’s highest sources of local council revenue.
The commercial bustle within the town was surrounded by vigorous farming activity. There was a time when long caravans of push carts transported sugar cane from my village of Zawse to the Bawku market on market days.
From a valley at the foot of the Agolle Hills at Zawse, also came cassava, sweet potatoes and fresh water crabs. That sounds like a fairy tale today, but it is true.
As the years have gone by, Bawku has gallantly absorbed the environmentally devastating impact of the advancing Sahel. Now the ecology can barely support agricultural production.
Smuggling, an alternative illegitimate commercial activity which made some locals rich, is no longer lucrative.
In the mean time the population density of Bawku is now about 200 people per square kilometre, a figure which is way above the national average of 92 people square kilometre.
The net result? An increasingly impoverished population and a huge army of unemployed, despondent and secretly armed youth trapped in an over populated conflict area.
Let any social psychologist go and find out for himself: There appears to be nothing tangible to life, that the youth can look forward to and this is extremely dangerous.
Afari Gyan: EC Won’t Allow Intimidation
The Electoral Commission (EC) has stated that it will not allow any political party to pressurise or intimidate it to implement suggestions in favour of that particular party.
The Chairman of the EC, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan who stated this, said the EC was not bound to implement suggestions of any political party. “We are not supposed to take instructions from any person or group,” he stated.
At an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting in Cape Coast, the Chairman of the EC said though the Commission treasures interactions with the political parties and suggestions from such meetings, it does not take instructions from the political parties or any group of persons.
Dr Afari-Gyan said the EC had to look critically at all suggestions and consider whether such suggestions were cost effective and lawful before implementing them.
The meeting which was sponsored by the Friedrich Ebert Stifung and KAB Governance Consult, was attended by representatives of political parties such as the National Democratic Congress (NDC), New Patriotic Party (NPP), Convention People’s Party (CPP) and People’s National Convention (PNC), and members of the press.
He advised the parties to recognise the independence of the commission and allow it to do its work. He said if any person or group did not agree with any decision of the EC, it could go to court.
The EC chairman said it could not assure Ghanaians of the integrity of all its polling station officers as they would be recruited from amongst the public.
He, therefore, urged political parties not to depend on “macho men” as agents but to recruit knowledgeable people as agents at the various polling stations to avoid controversy at the stations.
On presidential aspirants, Dr Afari-Gyan explained that presidential aspirants of the political parties were not presidential candidates yet until they were duly certified by the Electoral Commission, explaining that any of the aspirants could be disqualified before the general elections.
The Director of Human Resource and General Services of the EC, Mr Samuel Yorke-Aidoo, said the registration of new voters had been postponed indefinitely until the EC settled all controversy over the voters register.
He cautioned against multiple registration, impersonation and unlawful possession of electoral materials.
Mr Samuel Tettey, Central Regional Director of EC, said a total of 33,431 people applied to have their voters identity cards replaced and that the exercise was generally successful.
Ms Eunice Roberts, a member of the commission who chaired the function, advised political parties to conduct their campaigns based on facts and not on inflammatory pronouncements that would incite people to do the wrong things.
The meeting called on the EC to ensure that the police do not intimidate people at the various voting centres.
Story by Shirley Asiedu-Addo
Welcome: Ghana Correctional Service
By Kofi Akordor
At the passing-out of new prison officers in Accra about a week ago, the government declared its intention to address the poor conditions in the country’s prisons.
This should be good news to those who have a fair knowledge of conditions in our prison facilities.
The Prisons Service, like many other public institutions, has over the years suffered under the proverbial ‘No funds’ syndrome and those who know the system very well, will admit that there is very little correction in our prison system.
Overcrowding, poor sanitation and lack of learning and training facilities have made the prisons more of concentration camps than centres of reformation.
Last year, Daasebre Gyamena, a very popular Ghanaian musician, came out of a London jail proclaiming that he had, during his period of incarceration, composed a number of songs that were soon to be released.
According to Gyamena, while in custody, he took advantage of facilities available to take courses in Information Technology and Mathematics, for which he was awarded a certificate. That is where the difference lies.
In Ghana, very few can claim that they came out of our prisons better equipped than when they went in. Some claim spiritual development, which only confirms the physical deprivations they went through while in prison custody.
I must admit that I do not have figures to prove it, but most convicts go back to prisons not because they enjoy conditions there, but mostly because they have improved upon their criminal skills and have very little means to lead decent lives.
The workshops that are to transform the unskilled inmates into a pool of employable talents do not exist or at best, lack the necessary equipment and tools and trainers needed to do the transformation.
Those with skills and some level of academic qualifications come out stale and rusty because facilities such as libraries to encourage academic discourse are simply not available in our prisons.
These deprivations and the stigma associated with prison life have seriously contributed to the situation where most convicts come out from the prisons ready to exert revenge on society.
Any programme to reform the penal system and turn the prisons into correctional centres should be applauded. My only problem is that this reform is being tied to a change in name.
Our penchant for changing the names of our institutions and ministries as part of improving or transforming them is not only disturbing but intriguing.
We are told that a draft Prisons Service Law and Regulations that will rename the Ghana Prisons Service as the Ghana Correctional Service is awaiting Presidential assent.
Do we always have to change names before improving conditions in our institutions and making them more effective and relevant to our needs?
We know the problems of the Ghana Prisons Service. We know the solutions do not lie in new names. So why do we think by giving an old institution a new name, everything will change for the better overnight?
Take our educational system for example. We have transformed the primary and middle to the junior and senior secondary schools without seeing the fundamental changes we expect in the system.
Quite recently, we went further to the junior high and senior high schools with our changing of names without any improvement (change) in infrastructure, facilities and service conditions. So which should be our concern? Changing names or improving facilities?
We have elevated our polytechnics to tertiary status with corresponding upgrading in facilities, academic structure and service conditions.
The agitation by the polytechnic graduates for recognition stems from the fact that much work did not go into the upgrading of the polytechnics before going public with the declaration.
We came to realise rather too painfully that it is easier changing a name than living up to that name. Thanks to the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), the polytechnics are seeing a lot of improvement in physical infrastructure.
But we still have a lot to do to bring them to a level where they can adequately produce the middle-management power of the country, especially in the sciences and technical fields.
Our ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) have changed names several times in recent times so much so that it will be difficult for any examiner to attempt posing a question like; “How many ministries do we have in Ghana?”
in any examination and expect the students to pass. It will even be more difficult if the students were asked to name those ministries.
By separation, attachment or elimination, we have created so many ministries in so short a time as if that is the panacea for our problems.
For just one sector, there have been different ministries. For instance, the energy sector alone has seen many ministries including, Fuel and Power; Fuel and Energy; Energy and Mines and we are still searching.
There was, or were once, Ministry of Transport and Communications; Ministry of Roads and Transport; Ministry of Roads and Highways and those readers can remember.
These changes are not reflecting on the standard of roads, which the ministries are to tackle anyway.
We once had the Ministry of Trade and Industries. It became Trade and Tourism; then Tourism and Modernisation of the Capital City (many might have forgotten this); Tourism and Diasporan Relations and those to follow.
What is Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) when agriculture is mainly about food anyway? With every change in ministerial name comes shuffling of staff, redesignation of officers, and change in name or transfer of departments from one ministry to another.
We have done it so much that sometimes members of the public and the business community do not find their way clear as to which ministry to do business with.
A road contractor may shuttle between the Ministry of Roads and Highways and the Ministry of Transportation, for even though it may sound simple, sometimes, one file for a particular project may be in one ministry while another file on the same project may be in the cabinet of another ministry.
Such is our obsession with bureaucracy that we spend more time creating new ministries and renaming others instead of ensuring that the existing ones do the right thing.
This is the fear I harbour for the Ghana Correctional Service, which is to replace the Ghana Prisons Service. It may end up as a change in name but the service will remain the same.
I think it is time we ended up somewhere and began to understand that names do not do the work and creating and recreating ministries will not change our fortunes if our vision and attitude do not change. Somebody may ask; “What is in a name?”
What Work Do We Expect The President To Do?
By K. B. Asante
Most Ghanaians agree on the importance of leadership and commitment at all levels of the administration, if the aspirations of the people are to be met.
It is therefore important that at election time we assess the level of these qualities in those who seek our votes.
To do this adequately, we should be clear in our minds what we expect of our leaders. We the people influence their behaviour a great deal.
We should find out what we expected of our leaders in the past and what we want them to do now. As the distinguished Prof. Irene Odotei often reminds us, we should interrogate the past.
At independence we believed that ministers were working hard when we heard a lot about them in the news.
I remember my good friend Krobo Edusei asking me to warn my colleagues in the information sector to expect his wrath, if they continued in their biased ways.
“You know Asante”, he would say, “they gave me only one minute two seconds on the news while they gave one whole minute and three seconds to that Minister, who does nothing”.
So far as the President was concerned, there was a conscious effort to keep him on the front pages and dwell at length on what he did to impress upon the people that he had replaced the British governor.
Many will find it difficult to believe it today, but despite the big celebrations and fanfare about independence, it did not fully sink into the inner recesses of the minds of quite a few that Ghana was really in charge of her destiny and that Kwame Nkrumah was the ‘Governor’.
I remember a fairly educated person asking me whether the British would allow President Nkrumah to take a certain line of action!
And so it was that any meeting the President attended as well as his public functions became headline news in the national papers and was the first item on television news.
The practice has not changed much over the years. It had given the impression that trivial protocol duties constitute the major preoccupation of the President.
But our Presidents are expected to do much more and in fact they try to do their real work. We should disabuse our minds of the role of our Presidents and not help to saddle them with trivialities.
Again an excursion into history may help. Kwame Nkrumah was in the office at 7.30 a.m. in those days when work started that early.
His first assignment was a meeting with his officials, i.e. civil servants in flagstaff house. Matters of state were discussed and the Secretary to the Cabinet, who was also the Head of Civil Service, conveyed the appropriate information and suggestions to Ministers and Principal Secretaries.
Ministers would meet the President between 10.00 a.m. and 11.00 a.m. as appropriate. Meanwhile between 8.00a.m. and 9.30 a.m. the President was engaged in his favourite subject, African Affairs.
Foreign visitors called between 10.00 and 11.00 a.m. usually on the advice of Ministers who had been briefed by the Principal Secretary (now Chief Director) and so even in those days protocol calls formed only a small part of the President’s work.
Ambassadors, High Commissioners and other foreign dignitaries called on Ministers and Principal Secretaries and the President was well briefed before such personalities would meet him, if that was necessary.
From 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. was devoted to mainly local political matters and the high functionaries of the Convention People’s Party(CPP), the governing party, had easy access to the leader.
The good news is that the practice has not been completely abandoned. President Kufuor is reported to work hard despite the distractions of unnecessary protocol chores.
I have this on the authority of a reliable distinguished young lawyer friend of mine who still works hard for his living after the retiring age because he shunned bribery and corruption.
Apart from general observation at close quarters he analysed the President’s performance at a closed meeting on legal matters and came to the conclusion that the Leader worked hard, was fully informed and was seized with solutions to current problems.
We do not expect anything less from our Presidents and those who aspire to that position should take note.
Generally, over the years however, the President does not appear to be so easily accessible to Ministers. Senior Civil Servants seem to find their Ministers inaccessible, let alone meet the President on matters of national interest.
The fact that meetings with officials and ministers on important issues, at say Akosombo, are given much publicity in the media and television gives credence to the perception that major national issues are not normally discussed with Ghanaian officials, experts and technical personnel.
The other day I had the great honour of a visit by Ghana’s distinguished veteran engineer, Dr E. L. Lartey.
We discussed the sand and stones, which have occupied half the road in front of my house for about two years.
I lamented how some officials appeared quick to award contracts so that they might be given part of the mobilisation money as bribe.
The contractor then assembles sand and stone and material required and absconds because his resources are exhausted or funds are not available to continue the work.
Dr Lartey then recalled history. When he was in charge of awards, contracts were rightly going to expatriate firms, which satisfied the contract or procurement conditions.
President Nkrumah called a meeting of Dr Lartey and his colleagues and asked them to give some contracts to Ghanaians who came third or thereabouts and could manage the assignment.
He said if they did not do that, Ghanaians would never develop the necessary expertise. As the banks were unlikely to give credits to Ghanaians without collateral, it was agreed that they would be given “mobilisation money” to enable them to obtain the wherewithal to start the work.
Dr Lartey shook his head in lamentation. “They used the mobilisation money in buying cars, high living and marrying second wives,” he said.
In spite of the disappointment, what was done was in the right direction. In seeking solutions to our problems, our leaders should interact constantly with Ghanaians, especially public officers and civil servants who are paid to assist them and who are the guardians of institutional memory.
More important, preoccupation with photo-opportunity functions should be replaced by hard work behind the scenes. It is the result of such work which will give the public a real insight into what leadership demands.
The impending food crisis for example can be contained in Ghana by Ghanaians and not primarily by foreign investors or even the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
I remember a woman by the name Cotton who disgraced us all by fooling us that she could grow rice for us and took away thousands of dollars of the taxpayer’s money.
She gave part of the money to her American church in thanks to God for his assistance in duping us! Meanwhile, she got a good friend of mine into serious trouble.
I was therefore taken aback when I came across this story in the Daily Guide of May 2, 2008. The caption was “Lady Rosa Duncan-Williams at Castle”.
The story followed. “President J. A. Kufuor on Wednesday granted audience to an American business delegation led by Lady Rosa Whitaker, wife of Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams of the Christian Action Faith Ministries International.
Lady Rosa, a business consultant of international standing, led a textile investment group, 1888 Mills of Chicago, to seek investment opportunities in Ghana”.
Have we no institution for dealing with investments? If the investor wants a political contact are there no Ministers who deal with Finance, Trade and Industry?
We should not cheapen ourselves and the office of President. We should make it clear to those who seek the leadership of this nation that we are not impressed with colourful trivial protocol engagements.
We expect hard work behind the scenes to move the nation forward. On our part we should not troop to the Castle to take much of the President’s valuable time for personal or group advertisements and photo opportunities.
On his part, the President should allow his officials to save him from such unnecessary intrusions. We have come a long way since independence. We know the President is in charge.
We expect him to work round the clock without fanfare to make our nation great and strong.
‘Bola’ Crisis Looms In Accra
By Dr Doris Dartey
We have experienced power outages – on-off; off-off-on; off-on-off-on-off-off! Some of us go for weeks, even months without a drop of water flowing through our pipes.
We even forget what it is like to have ‘pipe’ water and become content with well water, ‘Kufuor gallons’ or ‘delivery-truck’ water.
Worst of all, we have been asked trick-questions like: “What’s your preference – to be without water or electricity?” to which we find ourselves too unintelligent to give an informed answer because we are too dazed to make that bizarre choice.
For some, those ‘tragedies’ pale in comparison with Accra floods especially if caught in storm run-off that push water with varied levels of pollutants into places they do not belong. OK, so we are currently weathering Accra storms, again! But I want to dare say that you ain’t seen nothing yet in Accra, that is, unless some proactive measures are taken – urgently!
There is a disturbing situation that is rarely talked about. It is the status of Accra ‘bola’. This is probably because solid waste, rubbish, trash – better known as ‘bola’ – is a nasty word. Once you throw your household rubbish away, you never pause to wonder what happens to it. It belongs to the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ category of matters. Bola stinks. Bola looks nasty. Bola is like vomit; it comes out of your mouth and you don’t want to see or ever have anything to do with it again.
Fact: Only a dead person does not create waste; well, the corpse is the last waste every person generates, akin to the last show of a ‘blow-man’. Being alive therefore implies that we constantly create waste – everyday of our lives. The food we eat and easing ourselves are all definite opportunities to generate liquid and solid waste.
Where does yours end up? When was the last time you paid for your ‘bola’ to be collected? Do you ever factor in ‘bola’ bills as important life expenditure? It appears that paying for ‘bola’ has not fully made it into our expenditure psyche. Why should you gleefully spend money on food but unwilling to consider paying for the waste – its inevitable outcome? Who should be responsible for picking after you?
There is a crisis looming over Accra, the capital city of 51-year-old Ghana, the ‘Gateway into Africa’. A city of the profile of Accra has no sanitary landfill. What we have are traditional refuse dumping sites. They are like ‘kakai (scary)’. Shameful!
Currently, we have Oblogo ‘bola’, abandoned stone quarry sites, which are about full. On the way to Oblogo on the Weija road, you can’t miss to notice that you’re approaching a mighty ‘bola’ because of the unsightly droppings from ‘bola’ trucks.
Accra also has a monstrous sorry pathetic mountainous ‘bola’ dump at Teshie-Nungua Estates, in a neighbourhood where real people live. It started off with good intentions as a composting plant to produce fertilizer for farming. But in no time, with the usual neglect and irresponsible management, some machines broke down and ‘bola’ dumping overwhelmed the technology. The plant has been allowed to turn into a sanitation hell and a health disaster waiting to happen.
Leachate (fluids from the ‘bola’) seep into people’s homes and on the wings of the wind, unhealthy breezy stench blows in the direction of homes. From the books, there are no plans to restore the composting plant. The health hazard remains. The stinky matter rests!
Then, there are several other odd locations for ‘by-heart’ rubbish dumping all over our capital city. Apart from being eye sores, such refuse dumping sites help to entrench a ‘bola’ mentality of indiscriminate dumping of refuse into our psyche.
To bring the state of Accra ‘bola’ to your consciousness, the next time you see a ‘bola’ truck, pause to wonder: Where is its final destination? The answer will shock you. If your preference is to stay peacefully in denial, then never mind! Don’t even read on. Simply wait around until the unavoidable ‘bola’ disaster occurs!
Accra has several things to learn from Tamale. One of them is that Tamale has a well-maintained engineered landfill. An engineered landfill is high on maintaining sanitary environmental standards. It’s safe, well-organized with drainage systems
