Citizens for Accountable Governance (CEFAG)
Press Statement: For immediate release
Tuesday, September 19, 2017.
GOVERNANCE IS AND MUST BE A SERIOUS BUSINESS
Citizens for Accountable Governance (CEFAG) has been observing with a heavy heart the manner in which governance under His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been reduced to a joke.
For the avoidance of doubt and for emphasis, governance is a very serious business which must be undertaken by serious-minded people. Governance, to say the least, is not child’s play or some comedy of a sort. The world over, governance has been viewed as a discipline which needs serious thought, focus and attention. Our survival as a people depends on the extent to which we prosecute this business with all seriousness and alacrity.
CEFAG can vividly recall the speech which was delivered by His Excellency Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice President for the Republic of Ghana, on the 17th day of April, 2017 to commemorate the 100 days in office of the Nana Addo-led government. In that town hall event which was under the tutelage of Joy FM, my Vice President, your Vice President, our Vice President sought to play to the gallery and to reduce the whole event into some ‘concert party’, as it were. He was shockingly disappointing especially now that he is Vice President and not Vice Presidential Candidate. It was on that occasion that our Vice President mentioned, inter alia, that the Nana Addo-led government had chalked 103 achievements within 100 days suggesting that, on the average, each day within the 100 days saw one achievement. This is a joke of the century and thus, reduces governance to pettiness. Apart from the joke this assertion reduces governance to, the factual inaccuracies associated with some of these ‘103 achievements’ are worthy of note. As part of the 103 achievements, His Excellency Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia claimed that for the first time in 50 years, Air France had announced that it was going to start operating in Ghana and that this was Nana Addo’s achievement. It is true that Air France did announce that it was going to begin direct flight from Accra to Paris in February 28, 2017 but the announcement was made way back in August 2016. At a press conference in Ghana, the CEO and Chairman of Air France KLM, Mr. Jean Marc Janaillac, announced that starting February 28, 2017, Air France was going to start direct flight from Accra to Paris. The date for this event was August 8, 2016 and the caption for the news item is, ‘New Air France Destination in Ghana,’ source: www.airfranceklm.com. The then government had had all necessary engagements with Air France and all was set for operation to commence in February 2017. This cannot therefore be a Nana Addo’s achievement. Besides, our Vice President on that occasion made a very bold and heroic statement to the effect that the Nana Addo-led government had arrested the cedi and handed it over to the IGP whereupon the IGP had it locked up perpetually. That meant the cedi was no longer going to see any depreciation against the dollar. On the very day the declaration was made, i.e., 17th April, 2017, the cedi was 4.2 to the dollar. On the same date the previous year, the cedi was 3.8 to the dollar. Since then, the cedi has been depreciating against the dollar up to date. As we speak, the cedi is 4.4 to the dollar. These are just some of the many inaccuracies and jokes in the Vice President’s speech.
After this, we at CEFAG thought that some lessons would have been learnt particularly the fact that the 100 days’ speech was our Vice President’s maiden official speech since the Nana Addo-led government was investitured. We were wrong. More of such jokes and pettiness were being heaped on Ghanaians by appointees of the government and others. This has got to a point where intentions, initiatives on paper and promises have suddenly transmogrified into achievements and got flooded on social media and mainstream media. We think that these developments are worrying and that they have the tendency to expose our country to international ridicule. Since when did intentions, initiatives or promises become achievements? For the purposes of this discussion, it’s worth the while to define ‘achievement.’ According to Cambridge Dictionary, an achievement is something good and difficult that you have succeeded in doing. Interestingly, we woke up to find a write-up cataloguing Nana Addo’s achievements in 8 months and this is making the rounds in social media. Find below this write-up:
PRESIDENT AKUFO-ADDO’S ACHIEVEMENTS IN 8 MONTHS;*
1.Free SHS
2.National Identification Card
3.Paperless Billing System
4.One District, One Factory
5.Planting for Food and Jobs
6.Teacher Training Allowance
7.Nursing Training Allowance
At first, CEFAG thought that it was some NPP serial callers or party communicators at their usual propaganda, typical of the Ghanaian political landscape. We would not have given any attention to this but for the fact that some media houses and some government officials who should have known better and should have grown above this pettiness and joke are discussing and attaching value to this trash.
On free SHS education, our position is clear. We support any government who will want to give meaning to the constitutional injunction as found expression in article 25 (1) (b) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana. To this extent, CEFAG commends the Nana Addo-led government for continuing with efforts by successive governments to make education free. We are particularly thankful to the government for recognizing the fact that resource constraint makes it unwise to go the whole hog but to roll out free SHS education program progressively just like the Mahama-led government started with. We think it is in order. Let us, however, quickly caution that we are not there yet. The program has just kick started. It’s not an achievement yet but we hope it becomes an achievement some day.
On 1 District, 1 Factory Project, CEFAG is of the candid opinion that the government has done next to nothing as of now. The last time we checked, the government had not committed a pesewa torwards the Ekumfi Pineapple Project which was recently launched by the President ostensibly to open the 1 District, 1 Factory Project. It is a purely private project ably supported by the immediate past government which the current government inaugurated. In view of this, the project hasn’t, technically speaking, started in earnest. It will therefore be laughable for anyone to call it an achievement. It is still a dream which is not actualized yet.
As for the nursing and teacher trainees’ allowances restoration, we have been told by the government that it will be done but no nursing or teacher trainee has received any such allowances yet.
Planting for Food and Jobs is a long term project whose impact cannot be felt even in the medium term. It will take some time before we can measure its success/impact or otherwise. How then will any serious-minded person claim that it’s an achievement?
Paperless Billing and National Identification Projects are both infant projects. They don’t and can’t pass for achievements. It’s instructive to point out that the Paperless Billing System at our ports is already fraught with challenges resulting in job losses and near collapse of businesses of importers.
To conclude, CEFAG reiterates the point that we should as a people demonstrate to the outside world that we are serious. The pettiness and mediocrity that have engulfed our body politic will only draw us back. Let’s grow above pettiness and be serious for once.
God bless our homeland
Ghana and make us great, strong and serious!
David Adama
(Executive Secretary)
Phone contact: 0243008166
Adama Ali
(Deputy Executive Secretary)
Frederick Addai
(Executive Director)
William Kofi Adzowu
(Deputy Executive Director)