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28 January 2013

Statement By Committee For Joint Action On Expectations Of The Mahama Administration, 21 January, 2013

The Committee for Joint Action (CJA) wish to outline our expectations of the administration of National Democratic Congress (NDC), led by President John Dramani Mahama in the next four years.
On 21 April 2009, we organised a press conference to set out our expectations of the Mills’ government. We addressed issues which included avoidable increases in the prices of energy and fuel; corruption and maladministration, mismanagement, incompetence and malfeasance in public administration, the need for planning, the need for greater transparency and accountability in the way government operates, the issues of sale of strategic national assets, ostentation and profligate spending, as well as the provision of potable water and the indebtedness of the Tema Oil Refinery,
Considering that this administration is a follow-on of the Mills’ administration, we take note of the efforts that were made to clear the Tema Oil Refinery debt as well as the more favourable political space that was created. We are also cognizant of the fact that for nearly the whole of 2012, the ordinary people were not overburdened with astronomical fuel and utility price increases that had become a constant ritual in previous administrations. Furthermore, apart from the sale of smaller entities such as rubber plantations, we did not witness the wholesale disposal of strategic national assets merely to balance the national budget.
We are however concerned that issues such as maladministration, corruption and abuse of power in the public sector were allowed to fester. We recall the grabbing of state bungalows and lands by a few political appointees, which, in spite of our appeals to the government, were allowed to go on.
Pursuant to our objectives of fighting corruption, we call on President John Mahama to demonstrate the commitment of his government to the fight against impunity by taking back all the government bungalows and lands that were grabbed by those officials and to halt future asset grabs.
We are aware of the ways in which government lands and bungalows in Ringway Estates, Ridge, East Cantonments and Kwabenya, all in Accra, were shared among some officials in the Lands Commission and their friends.
While it is important to bring corrupt officials to book, it is even more important that the various loopholes identified within the public sector that make it possible for crooked officials to line their pockets with the taxpayer’s money are sealed and laws regulating the utilization of public funds tightened and rigidly adhered to in order to protect the public purse.
We would also expect the government to institute measures that would improve the standard of living and economic health of the people of this country. Statistical figures that do not translate into improvements in the well being of ordinary people are meaningless, especially for a government that professes social democracy as its guiding principle.
For example the CJA expects that statistics on social development and progress should translate into increasing the literacy ratio, improving the health, security and safety, as well as other areas that enhance the general welfare of ordinary citizens. The fact that in the last 46 years, the manufacturing base of Ghana’s economy has been seriously and deliberately eroded and replaced with a buying and selling enterprise.has negatively affected the state’s ability to generate sustainable employment.
This is one of the main explanations for the massive unemployment situation in the country. We are concerned that almost every government promises to generate jobs but is unable or reluctant to take any action to establish manufacturing and processing industries. It is not enough to make claims about economic growth when the ordinary people do not see any improvement in their ability to secure decent means of livelihood.
We are of the view that the country should try to achieve modernization and industrialization in order to achieve meaningful economic development.
We are painfully aware of the inability of government to pay its contractors. On this issue, the CJA is of the view that the massive corruption within the tax collection agencies, particularly the corruption at our ports, diminishes the ability of the government to mobilize adequate revenue for the government. The CJA is prepared to engage government on this issue to make concrete proposals on how the hemorrhage of potential custom and excise revenue can be halted.
We expect the Mahama administration to halt the passing on of huge utility bills to the ordinary consumer. The current situation in which the Ministries, Departments and government Agencies (MDAs) fail to pay their utility bills and the cost is passed on to the poor consumer must be halted. We expect Government to set a good example by paying off its massive debts to the utility companies.
In conclusion, we expect the Mahama administration to live up to its campaign promises of improving the quality of life of all Ghanaians.

Kwasi Adu
Convener
CJA