M&J scandal: Gov't should aid CHRAJ with needed resources

The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) has called on government to provide the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) with all resources needed to investigate the Mabey & Johnson bribery scandal. The coalition, in a statement signed by its Executive Secretary, Mrs Florence F. Dennis, stated its satisfaction with government for referring the case to CHRAJ for investigation. The statement noted that government by doing this has demonstrated its “faith and confidence” in the commission as a constitutionally mandated body to fight corruption. “The handing over of this case to CHRAJ, a member of the Coalition, is a litmus test for the Commission which was set up under the Constitution to among other things investigate all instances of alleged or suspected corruption and the misappropriation of public monies by officials and to take appropriate steps including reports to the Attorney General and the Auditor General resulting from such investigations,” the statement said. According to the statement, the GACC is confident that CHRAJ has the track record and goodwill to investigate the allegations in a transparent manner. The Coalition also appealed to all relevant British Institutions, the public, especially public servants, politicians and the media to cooperate with CHRAJ to make its work easier. Investigations into the Mabey & Johnson(M&J) bribery scandal follows a ruling by a London court that cited some Ghanaian ministers, including, Dr Sipah-Yankey, Alhaji Amadu Seidu, Baba Kamara and Boniface Saddique as having taken bribes in the 1990s from officials of a UK construction firm, Mabey and Johnson. Meanwhile, CHRAJ’s Commissioner, Emile Short has promised that his outfit will demonstrate independence and neutrality in the investigation of the Mabey and Johnson (M&J) bribery scandal. He has, however, pointed out that the commission commenced its own investigations into the case before the President called on the them to initiate investigations into the matter. By: Dorcas Efe Mensah/myjoyonline/Ghana

President Barack Obama to visit Ghana

President Barack Obama

Ghanaians have decided to opt for democracy as a path to achieving economic development and need to be supported to do so. I will therefore  like to inform President Obama that trade and investment is what Ghana need at this point not aid.If the President does come to Africa it will be a deviation from the past US administrations who wait till the end of their term before visiting. President Obama should use his 'home coming' to urge leaders in the continent to embrace democracy and adhere to rule of law, freedoms and rights. He should also let them understand that years of decades of corruption, embezzlement, dictatorship, scant accountability, economic failures and incompetence leadership must give way to the opposite. 

President Barrack Obama of the United States of America will pay a state visit to Ghana from Friday, July 10 to Saturday July 11, 2009.

He will be accompanied by his wife, Mrs. Michelle Obama and other government officials. 

This was contained in a statement issued to the Ghana News Agency by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration in Accra on Saturday.

During his visit, President Obama will hold bilateral talks with his Ghanaian counterpart, President John Evans Atta Mills, aimed at strengthening the fraternal relations existing between the two countries.

The US President and his delegation will also visit the Cape Coast Castle.

GNA

Ghana Investment Forum held in UK

President Mills at Commonwealth Business Council

Professor Atta Mills says if Ghana is to make any meaningful progress, economically then a stronger partnership with business both home and abroad is of the essence. While forging these links, it was also necessary to be open, honest, confident in our own ability, and have the interest of the nation and the people at heart. These were his remarks when he launched the Ghana Investment Forum at Lancaster House in London, organized by Commonwealth Business Council.

This was a meeting of Business minds and they had come from different sectors with one agenda – in search of fertile ground to sow. And as it is with Business people not only must the soil be conducive but secure and free from risk and danger. 

The Chief Executive Officer of Stanchart Ghana, Hemen Shah made it prettier by expressing optimism in Ghana’s story, saying Ghana was an exciting business destination. With a staff strength in Ghana of over 1000 and also one-third of its shares held by Ghanaians, Mr Hemen Shah said Ghana had foundational strengths in doing Business and a strong talent base to grow the Economy and the Private Sector however, this was not without hurdles.

Professor Mills was of the view that there could be no development in an atmosphere of unrest, lawlessness and selective justice. He said Ghana was more than ready to prove to the World that racecourses accrued from investment could be positively used for the benefit of her people. He asked all who had an interest to come to Ghana but cautioned them to comply with the rules, laws and regulations of the country.

The Director – General of the Commonwealth Business Council, Dr.Mohan Kaul suggested the arrangement of a West African Business Forum to promote Ghana as the Gateway to Business in the Sub- region. This idea was supported by Standard Chartered, Ghana International Bank and Chevron.

Ghanaians must unite behind President Mills

Now that the elections are over and the president has finished enjoying his honey moon, the people of Ghana must unite behind him and his ministers as they try to move the nation forward. Democracy is not just about multi party elections but include the whole process of development and nation building. Citizens must therefore get involved in the building of the nation as they did during elections.

Since 1966 Ghana has been marking time while other countries are moving forward. We have been left behind in everything that matters to mankind. Our education, our health system, our environment, roads, electricity, water, agriculture, infrastructures, and above all our economy are all behind. We still wash our clothes with our hands and farm with cutlasses and hoes. Our houses and communities are without water, toilet facilities, electricity, shopping centres, children playgrounds and libraries. Our streets are unpaved and many of the houses in the rural areas are still built with mud and roofed with raffia leaves. This does not have to be so but because politics of lies and lack of strong, competence, dedicated and visionary leadership we have been forced to go begging as a nation. But the people also share part of the blame for tolerating their lies and not putting them on their toes to deliver on their promises. Our peers in Asia have moved forward socially and economically while we are still fighting over petty things.

There is time for everything. There will be time for politics in 2012 but now it is time for nation building and development. Therefore it is time for the government and the people of Ghana to stand up and be counted as human species. It is time for action and solutions to solve the numerous problems facing the nation. It is time to end the politicisation of every national issue in the country. Therefore every issue in the country must viewed away from party politics or be based on bi-partisanship. It is time to develop the nation and build the infrastructures.  And it is time for government to formulate sound economic policies to generate jobs, built the nation's infrastructure and resurrect the defunct factories so that jobs could be created for the millions of Ghanaians who remain unemployed and destitute. 

There are a number of things Government must do to make Ghana the new Africa Tiger. First of all the President and his team must have vision as to how they want to see Ghana after four years and those visions must be integrated into national policies and programmes. We all know Dr. Nkrumah’s vision led him to build Akosombo dam, two universities, Tema city and the harbour, nursing and teachers training colleges, numerous secondary schools and a number of factories most of whom have been sold or let to rot. All these were achieved during his nine years as president.

To revive the economy and create jobs for the youth, government must set aside a certain percentage of Ghana's Gross Domestic Product to build the infrastructures including roads, power plants, rail lines, hospitals, schools and housing. This will not only create jobs but will also provide the enabling environment for investors to invest in the country which will lead to further expansion of the economy. Government must work with the private sector to establish processing factories to take care of the waste that occur in the Agricultural sector.

Government must also take the opportunity to fight corruption which is slowly destroying the nation. Therefore, the president must ensure that anti corruption watchdog institutions are made independent, strengthened and adequately resourced so they can do their jobs properly. 

The years of aid dependency and loans and its associated odious debts must end. No nation has ever developed on hand outs and left over from other nations. Government must therefore come up with ingenious ways to mobilise internal and external funds for use in nation building. Government must market the nation abroad through bonds and stocks selling. Government must work vigorously and aggressively to sell the nation to those with private capital. What Ghana needs are investment, trade and not aid which cripples us and make us beggars in eyes of aid donors. Government must seek genuine partners in development not multinational corporations whose intentions are to rip the nation off.

All these require President Mills to show strong and dedicated leadership and commitment to diversify and build the nation beyond just exporting cocoa, gold and importing used stuff from abroad. Ghanaians deserve better than that. The broken promises and pledges by previous administrations have not done the nation any good. 

As the President and his ministers begin to travel abroad they should look at how the nations they visit have developed and how their citizens are enjoying better education, health, and high living standards and try to think about how they can help Ghanaians to do the same. Every travel by the president, his vice or any of his ministers must be a lesson and followed by action. The days of unfulfilled pledges, promises must be a thing of the past. While supporting the president and his ministers to meet their challenges facing the nation, the people must male sure the deliver on his campaign promises, pledges and targets he set for himself. 

Whatever Ghana receives as GDP must be used judiciously to develop all the sectors of the economy and must not be siphoned away by corrupt entities who only reason for asking for ministerial and district chief executive positions is to enrich themselves at the expense of millions of poor Ghanaians.

As president you ill be remembered for what you do and achieve for Ghana. Some of your ministers may be given credit for what they do but you will receive the blames or praises for whatever happens in your government. That is the more reason why you must be firm on your ministers and ensure that they are implementing your agenda and that the vision that you have is being pursued to the letter.

What is important is for your government to build on what the former government left off so that by the time your term end the nation will be more peaceful, more united and more developed than ever before.

Ghanaians must rise above party politics and contribute whatever they can to make the nation a better place today so that future generations will not experience economic hardship the way we are today. Please let us end the petty bickering and partisan politics and device more ingenious ways to build our nation so that by the time 2012 comes Ghanaians can proudly say we are no more the same four years ago. Every citizen must play his or her role in our quest to develop, however much depend on the president and his ministers as well as the leadership of the opposition parties and the entire population of Ghana.

The president must take steps to diffuse the tribal and ethnic tension in the country by bringing the tribal and ethnic leaders in the country together. Such tensions are unnecessary detraction and do not serve the country any good. All political and traditional leaders must work towards peace in the country. We must remember that instability anywhere in the country is a threat to stability everywhere. We cannot develop as a nation without political stability. Therefore our brothers and sisters in the north must work towards peace and eschew violence and anything that might undermine the development of the country. We must all recognise that there are more things that unite us as a nation than those that divide us and we must work to improve on those than unite us.

Ministers must not look at what they will get as ministers but what responsibilities have been placed on them to make Ghana the new Africa Economic Tiger. It should not be a harvest time for them but a call to duty. Projects costs should not be inflated because such activities deny the people the needed facilities to survive. Every penny of the state must be used to develop the nation for all to enjoy.

Ministers must not sit in their offices and expect the nation to develop. They get out and hit the ground to ensure that we are moving forward. They should be selfless, honest and be prepared to account for all the monies that go through their offices. We see children selling everywhere in the streets of Accra, Kumasi and many of our regional capitals. This is what the ministers are there for. These children are the future leaders of the nation. They should not suffer the way they are suffering now. Therefore the ministers and their lieutenants have a responsibility to make sure these unfortunate children will not endure the hardship they are today. 

The ministers must think about Ghana when they receive money from the Ministry of Finance to finance development projects. They must think about the electorate who elected them. They must think about the towns and villages without roads, running water, electricity, fertilisers, farming equipments, toilet facilities. Think about children going to school on empty stomach and parents without any economic opportunities. If they think about all these and begin to realise that the people need all that to survive then they should think about how they can help the people to build those facilities and infrastructures.

Ghanaians must not look to president and his government for everything. Traditional rulers must do more to use the resources they have to develop their communities instead of asking government for everything. It does not make sense as traditional leader when your people live in poverty while you claim to be a king, paramount chief. The traditional rulers in Ghana have been very passive when it comes to fighting poverty and that attitude must stop. As traditional leaders they should not defer their responsibilities to the government.

Whatever you do today as a minister, president, vice president and members of parliament will have its effects on the nation now and in future. Ghana must move forward. The Asia Tigers have made it. The gulf region made up of United Arab Emirate, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are making it.

 My only hope is that the future generation will not live to suffer the same chronic poverty, homelessness, unemployment, humiliation that has characterised the lives of Ghanaians in the last 40 years of our independence. Let us unite as one people with a common destiny and support the president and his ministers as they try to put the nation on the development map of the world.

I am a proud Ghanaian, are you?

 By Lord Aikins Adusei

The author is a Political Activist and Anti-Corruption Campaigner.

He blogs at www.ghanapundit.blogspot.com