Mr. Eric Boafo made some excellent points in his piece (Ghanaweb, 19 Jan 08). I for one have never understood some of the position statements I have read from Prof Atta Mills.
Take the case of Religious and Morale Education. Prof Atta Mill, a law professor, was the other day complaining that the Ghana Education Service has removed religious indoctrination from the Ghana public school curriculum. That is worrying for the simple reason there is no end. If you go the Prof Atta Mill route, you will in due course ?get to Kenya.? What happened to the program for science, rationality, technology, computer education, even at the primary school? How about 50 Laptops for each primary school in Ghana?
The next time, Prof Atta Mill was blaming the Government of Ghana for being slow to sending stranded pilgrims to Mecca. Prof Mills, in the same statement, did not ask the Government of Ghana to charge every pesewa spent to the tour organizers and to the pilgrims themselves, if necessary. Sadly, the President, through some officials who do not know what it means to manage the public purse responsibly, acted on the matter and failed to tell the people the circumstances under which those pilgrims were being assisted to go to Mecca to pray. I dare say that was a ?cheap shot? by Prof Atta Mills, the President, and the persons who hired the German company to provide transportation to the pilgrims. How much did it cost the tax payers, who will refund the expenses, what id the policy going forwar? Nobody knows!!
Now, as we speak about 1,000 of those pilgrims are reported to be stranded on the other side of the world, at Mecca. It is now the legal responsibility of the People to fund their return. Again, that is unsettling for the simple reason there is no end, if you go the Prof Atta Mills and President Kufour route, Ghana will in due course ?get to Kenya.?
What is a law professor comfortable with? What is a law professor supposed to champion, particularly a law professor who wants to lead a modern nation? Or does the law professor think that Ghana must have what he wants for himself and his small family. Is that reasonable?
DIVISIVE, REGRESSIVE, ANTI-DEMOCRATIC STANCE:
As far as I am concerned, there is nothing useful about those two positions of Prof Atta Mills. They are divisive, regressive, and anti-democratic. Those positions will get Ghana to Kenya as much as saying that Ghana will ?experience Kenya? because there is suddenly instability and deaths on the streets of Kenya due to political/ethnic differences and one individual?s quest to hold on to power. Did we not hear ?the response? (Ghanaweb, 17 Jan 08) from a Mr. Kennedy Agyepong, NPP MP, a ?close confidante of NPP candidate Nana Akuffo Addo,? about who will be the first to be ?butchered?? Have we heard a disassociation statement from Mr. Nana Akuffo Addo or the President, to date?
FAILING LEADERSHIP - GHANA & KENYA:
Prof Lungu does not think that Kenya is so much different from Ghana with respect to what their leaderships are failing to do - fast tracking accountable, transparent, and responsive governments that are fair to all the people. Although Mr. Rawlings did not fight unfairly and resist the transfer of power, is it not the case that his initial regimes, under the ?auspices? of the military in Ghana, clearly the most Ghana-centered institution, failed miserably to make ?One Ghana? a rallying call for development and progress? And are we not hearing from many responsible persons that the Kufour administration is ethnocentric, incapable of fairly selecting qualified persons to man the affairs of the state based on objective criteria of qualification, and not ethnicity, access, and association? How different is it with Kibaki in Kenya?
And what is the record of stability of the political systems since independence for Ghana and Kenya. Prof Lungu is old enough not to recall a military junta in Kenya since that country became independent in 1963. Needless to say, Ghana has had more than its fair share of military dictatorships, since 1957. And didn?t President Arap Moi actually vacate that office in 2002 following relatively fair and peaceful elections as happened in Ghana a year earlier? Did not Kibaki win on a coalition platform with anti-corruption campaign as its major focus, only for the multi-ethnic coalition to splinter in 2005 into what now is happening in the street of Kenya? Why should we just hope and not do concrete things to avoid a political mishap by strengthening Ghana?s democracy institutions?
ANTI-CORRUPTION FIGHT UNDER THE BED:
What has the Ghana anti-corruption fight achieved if an agency with a mandate to investigate white collar crime cannot instigate news corruption reports in the media? Are these things important factors for the long-term stability of Ghana? Why would any one say anything if the leaders himself says that ?Corruption is Perception??
We think that the anti-corruption fight is important for the stability of Ghana, and many persons are of the same opinion. Why? Because behind all that corruption in Ghana is nepotism, official oppression, discrimination on account of where one hails from, discrimination on account of ethnicity, etc. For example, by ethnic origin, would you like to visualize the spatial distribution of the origins of Ghana?s ministers and high level public officials today, going back 5 years? Would you like to see that information normalized by the percentage of vote received from every region or corner of the country?
My position is a government of the people must be transparent, accountable, and fair to all. A cursory search and memory recall will tell all that the current leadership in Kenya and Ghana are both sitting on Freedom of Information Bills (FOIBs). So the other question - if we are all interested in a well-organized and stable democracy, how many of the best integrated, cohesive societies in the world today do not have a FOIB or similar institutional mechanisms? And if there are no accountable governments without a FOIB, why is it that the Kufour administration is not interested in passing the Ghana FOIB. Why has the FOIB been converted into a Charter Association for Ghana?s public agencies under the bed and mattress, so to speak, to be controlled by the same Executive at its choosing, beck and call? Is that supposed to promote stability and Oneness?
The question again for Mrs. Mary Chinery-Hesse: When did Ghana?s public agencies become voluntary ?associations,? with the ?freedom? to choose to sign up to serve the people in whatever manner they choose, under or over the charter? Are you now hiding the FOIB under your beds and mattresses? And for the Opposition, how is it that such a conflict of interest and challenge to independence, accountability and democracy in Ghana, goes on unchallenged, unarticulated?
THE RIGHT THING ? PASS THE FOIB BEFORE THE VOTE:
The point remains, as the ruling party, President Kufour?s administration can and should consider swiftly passing a strong Ghana FOIB. The FOIB should be passed long before the first vote is cast in the up-coming Presidential elections next December. The lesson is Kibaki sat on a FOIB in Kenya and he is still sitting on it. If we truly know the capacity of a FOIB, who are we to write off the idea that the failure of Kibaki to approve the Kenyan FOIB is not associated with the on-going violence in Kenya? Does Ghana want to sit idle and hope, or does Ghana want to do the right thing for Ghana, before the first vote is cast?
In direct response to Mr. Eric Boafo, it really does not matter what the West thinks about Ghana. What matters is what Ghana?s leadership, as captains of the Ship of State, actually do or do not do in the areas of policy, administration, and governance. That is what matters. It is that performance that causes citizens to rally around leadership because they know and understand what the government truly stands for.
Further, there are good and bad stereotypes. Lack of will to pass a FOIB in this modern knowledge society and internet age, under hyper-globalization is not a good stereotype for any country in Africa, including Ghana and Kenya. It is an example of failed leadership ? jokes of government. This has nothing to do with what the ?West holds of Africa.?
Yes, we may want to disregard some of the incomprehensible and democratically-challenged policy proposals that frequently originate from Prof Atta Mills. For one, we do not even know where he stands on this important matter. But let Ghana hold the feet of the Kufour administration to the Freedom of Information Bill, before the first vote is long cast.
Pass the Freedom of Information Bill (FOIB) and require all public institutions to comply, including the military, the chieftaincy institution, and Ghana?s missions abroad.
Pass the Ghana FOIB now. You will be Ghana-Proud you did!
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