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Fight against corruption – need to review remuneration
The former President John Agyekum Kufour is on record that “Corruption has been with us since Adam.” This is an honest admission that corruption is a canker in our society. We all recognise that it has a very negative impact on our socio-economic development and must be uprooted by any means possible from our society. It is estimated that it cost the country about $3 billion each year, which is about 4.6% of GDP.
Some of the causes of corruption are due to certain perceptions of inadequate remuneration or compensation for effort, greed, unpatriotic behaviour etc. It is not for nothing that certain categories of workers are given some special treatment like bank employees for instance. This issue must be critically taken into account if the issue of corruption is to be seriously tackled. Consider a judge who sits on a case that involves an accused person who has stolen several millions of cedis. This judge is about to go on retirement and he does not have a house to his name in which he will go to rest on retirement. The potential for him to be easily influenced to condone crime is quite huge. Recent events involving some judges who have compromised their moral stance and judicial ethics are still fresh in our minds.
There is an attitude that has to be dealt with because it is endemic in our society, and if we are to do away with corruption, it must be given priority. Greediness is so entrenched in our cultural setting that there must be a concerted effort from government, civil society, opinion leaders, the clergy and every stakeholder to eradicate it. Education must start from the kindergarten level right up to the top to make sure that it becomes a negative value that must be frowned upon.The situation where people celebrate when their family members are appointed to governmental positions must be critically examined. The cause of the celebration is that once their brother or sister or son or father etc. is now in a position of authority, the financial situation of the entire extended family is going to improve. This puts pressure on the office holder to indulge in activities that are illegal and corrupt in nature to satisfy the family members and the community they come from.
One of the most important arms of government is the parliament, and if we are to ensure that corruption is eradicated from our society, they must actively be involved in it. It therefore becomes imperative for the parliamentarians to be treated in a special manner due to the sensitive role they play in our social and more importantly economic life. international transactions involving huge sums of money that impacts our national debt are approved by these people and the potential for their being influenced by unscrupulous business entities is very great. To ensure that the temptation of being induced to engage in corrupt acts is eliminated or reduced to the barest minimum, require that a second look is taken at the conditions of service of the parliamentarians. There are issues that have to do with their personal protection where they do not have personal bodyguards offered by the state as done for ministers of state. The quantum of money going into their pockets at the end of the month must be critically re-examined to ensure that their loyalty to the nation remains steadfast.
The need for a focused attention on our parliamentarians must be prioritised so that as a nation, the fight against corruption would be a collective national agenda in which parliament plays a pivotal role. It is very important that a national dialogue should be initiated to find appropriate ways of addressing this threat to national security called corruption. Currently, each budget the minister of finance comes up with each year has to be funded in part by donor support. There is research which shows how much we lose to corruption as a nation, and it is my humble opinion that if holes through which these monies are lost can be plugged, parliament has a big role to play. Public accounts committee sittings reveal a whole lot of corrupt practices and it would take parliament to enact laws that can make this practice a very expensive venture to contemplate so that it would be a deterrent to future potential perpetrators.
Another group of people that must be given priority attention is the executive arm of government. A look at the salaries of some CEOs of public institutions makes me wonder why they can earn salaries much higher than the President and the Vice-President who have been entrusted with the resources of the nation. There is a need to permanently resolve the nation retirement packages for the executive arm of government and the legislature because they can make or unmake the fortunes of the nation. The perennial back and forth concerning what end of service remuneration for the executive arm and the legislature must come to an end once and for all.
The practice whereby when a person is being vetted for a public office, you find a whole entourage of chiefs and opinion leaders of the community as well as extended family members, accompanying him, must be discouraged with immediate effect. This would go a long way to prevent the perpetuation of this subculture of corruption brought about as a result of greediness and selfishness in our society. COVID-19 has shown us that we can change and adapt to new ways of doing things. We now go to church wearing face masks as well as wearing masks in town. The nation has come to accept it as the only way to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 and everybody is abiding by the safety protocols although it is a bit uncomfortable. When we put in place certain regulations aimed at eradicating corruption, and we decide to make them work, they would, and the nation would be the better for it.
THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 
The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.
Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.
Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.
So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.
“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.
Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?
When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.
So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.
The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day.
The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.
He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.
The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.
The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat.
The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!
This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006
When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.
Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.
On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.
One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road. A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month. Thus is clearly unacceptable.
Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies. Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.
We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk. Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads. Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm. Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.
It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon. Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.
When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent. It is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since Adam. Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media. It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.
Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes.
Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters. He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.
Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling. It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are. This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.
It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning? I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.
The police must however be seen to be active in this matter. God bless.
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