'CPP not opposed to privatisation'

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Category: Politics

Created on Tuesday, 17 September 2013 00:00

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'CPP not opposed to privatisation'

{sidebar id=10 align=right}The Convention People's Party (CPP) has said that it does not oppose privatisation.

It is important to dispel the notion that we are opposed to privatisation and by extension the private sector, the Chairman of the Political Committee of the party, Mr Ekow Duncan, told •he Daily Graphic in an interview.

Explaining further, he said the CPP was not opposed to the privatisation of non-strategic public investments that had profitability and management challenges.

Under a CPP government, Mr Duncan promised that "all such strategic investments that have challenges would have an overhauled management structure with clearly spelt out goals and lon-interference by government to achieve investment goals."

According to Mr Duncan, the CPP would pursue a policy of privatisation of any identified non-strategic asset based on true market value of the investment, and commit the buyers to a realisation of the strategic objectives, mission and vision of the investments.

He said no asset stripping would be allowed by a CPP government in the implementation of its privatisation policy.

In short, he said a CPP government would execute a privatisation that was transparent and consistent with national development aspirations and not a corrupt one dominated by cronyism.

He said that the public investments of the CPP government of the First Republic was due to the fact that colonialism precluded the development of an indigenous private sector.

Public sector investments, Mr Duncan pointed out, were thus the only alternative for economic development and the creation of national wealth.

He further said that the private sector in the development policy disposition of the CPP still needed the active and direct support of the public sector for capacity development to contribute to national economic growth and development.

Unlike the NDC and the NPP, the CPP believes that this support should not be limited to the passive and elusive creation of an "enabling environment" but by the direct intervention of government, he concluded.

Source: CPP

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Is Election 2016 President Mahama’s Priority?

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Category: Politics

Created on Tuesday, 17 September 2013 00:00

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Is Election 2016 President Mahama’s Priority?

{sidebar id=10 align=right}Some people in the NDC are doing overtime to cause needles hiccups. They have begun muddying the waters by doing what one would expect to be left to the political opponents of the NDC to worry themselves over because agitations toward choosing a flagbearer fits them more than it does the NDC.

Here is what I am leading to:

'Plans are afoot at the National level to allow President John Dramani Mahama run unopposed in 2016 on the ticket of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC). The NDC's National Executive Council (NEC) is meeting and Peacefmonline is reliably informed that one of the issues tabled before the executives is a proposal that nobody contests a sitting President for the flagbearership position.

Mr. Kojo Twum Boafo, Executive Secretary of the Ghana Free Zones Board dropped the hint on Peace FM's premium morning show 'Kokrokoo'. If consensus is reached on the issue, it will mean President Mahama will run unchallenged in 2016.' (See http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=285720).

Misplaced priority!! A dangerous move to make at this time. Thinking caps lost!!

Say it loud and clear: The immediate challenge facing President Mahama and his government, not to mention the NDC, is how to administer affairs so that living standards can improve for the millions of Ghanaians who are finding it difficult to make ends meet because of sky-rocketing prices of goods and services and the shaky economy. How does President Mahama instill hope in the people with good governance?

Ghanaians are looking forward to seeing drastic changes in governance style so the country can be moved forward, and are bothered about whether President Mahama will contest Election 2016 on the ticket of the NDC unchallenged or not. That is a matter for the future.

Their question is: What is President Mahama doing with the mandate that he won at Election 2012?

For now, they want to know what President Mahama will do to retain their goodwill in the exercise of the four-year mandate that they gave him at the polls, which the Supreme Court confirmed on August 29 to reinforce his legitimacy as the captain of the ship of state.

What he does to steer the ship ashore is their concern, not whether he will be challenged for the slot at Election 2016. That is in the womb of time. This talk of retaining President Mahama for Election 2016 is moot but is being raised by people with narrow personal interests in how much credence they give to it to catch the President's eyes for who-knows-what?

The Greater-Accra Regional Chairman of the NDC (Ade Coker) set the ball rolling on this score but immediately lost traction when he was taken to task. Those who promptly reacted to his pronouncement felt it was inopportune and rashly made. I agree with them.

But now that the issue is being blown out of all reasonable proportions and presented as if that is the President's main priority, it irks me to the marrow because it is not only misplaced but it is also irrelevant to the agenda in front of the President for immediate attention.

What will make it desirable for anybody to stand up to be counted as a flagbearer will depend on how President Mahama performs. If he acquits himself well and provides good quality leadership to boost good governance and national development, nothing will prevent him from getting the nod to lead the NDC and be endorsed by the electorate.

The buzz phrase is 'good leadership'! We know what 'good leadership' entails and should be the first to keep President Mahama on his mettle so he does what is expected. Anything short of that will not redound to his political fortunes. That is when he will be challenged by others who think they can do better if given the mandate. So, why should anybody begin ringing the alarm bells now instead of drawing attention to how the President will implement his agenda for the country?

I am more interested in goings-on, especially with the sporadic deterioration of the economy and rising cost of living. How is President Mahama handling affairs to ensure that all the sectors of the national economy are resuscitated and productivity boosted? What are his appointees doing to ensure that habits of mind and attitudes that have perennially doomed the country's economy are done away with?

Day-in-day-out, reports indicate that nothing has changed to give Ghanaians hope for a brighter future. Is that what will encourage them to keep faith with President Mahama or will he move fast to change the trend and retain public goodwill to carry out his agenda for national development?

Over the past few years, there has been too much laxity in government business, not to mention the erratic nature of policy formulation and enforcement. There seems to be too many inconsistencies that demoralize the people. Of particular concern is the wobbling economy.

We've read news reports about the summit held on the national economy recently held by government functionaries, technocrats and others with the requisite expertise to breathe life into the economy. As usual, will their words speak louder than actions (that they won't take to solve problems)? With what consequences for the President's future political direction?

Right in front of our eyes, many unpleasant things are happening to dampen spirits and instill fear in the people that the future is bleak. Political intolerance, ethnic strifes, widespread indiscipline, economic sabotage, and wanton theft of public funds are on the ascendancy. How will the government tackle these problems to prove its mettle?

How will the government fulfill its electioneering campaign promises to Ghanaians so that they can trust it and be willing to cooperate with it when called upon to contribute their quota? Not until the people are convinced that President Mahama has risen above the inadequacies that characterized previous administrations, no matter what anybody does to position him as the unchallenged flagbearer of the NDC at Election 2016, the going will be tough for him. That is what I expect these NDC people to bother themselves with instead of fouling our air with these self-serving pronouncements that won't put food on anybody's table.

There is a certainty to it all. Until the major electioneering campaign season opens for Election 2016, we can confidently say that President Mahama's status is not endangered. He is well settled in the groove of governance and should now look beyond who in the NDC will threaten his grips on power. What he has to do now is to use that power to make the much-expected difference so he will continue to endear himself to the citizens. As soon as he does so, he won't need to spend time and resources campaigning all over the country to seek the people's goodwill.

We recall that he spent barely 40 days as against the years spent by his main political opponent (the NPP's Akufo-Addo) but won the elections, apparently because he has what it takes to reach out to the electorate. Why won't he use that trump-card to remain poles ahead of the pack?

He isn't any problem for any well-meaning NDC member or citizen who values his worth. He was voted into office barely 9 months ago and survived his political opponents' intrigues to be confirmed as the legitimate choice of the electorate. No doubt about that electoral legitimacy because he won a clean victory at the December 7 and 8, 2012 polls. What he does with that victory is the rub now, not who challenges him for the NDC's flagbearership.

Now that his political opponents have been disarmed by the Supreme Court and risk falling into disarray, the least any NDC member can do is to stoke the fire on who will lead the party to the 2016 elections. It is not the party or the government's priority; it is consequently misplaced and demonstrative of sycophancy on the part of Ade Coker.

Clearly, it will be the height of mischief, chicanery, and treachery for anybody in the party in power to bulldoze his/her way through to attempt dislodging the sitting President for the party's flagbearership. If the President is doing well, who will be foolhardy as to make manouevres of the sort to undermine him?

Of course, it is not impossible, as was the case in Nigeria with Atiku Abubakar and the late Yar' Adua or what the incumbent Jonathan Goodluck has acted swiftly to stem. Again Atiku's involvement in the machinations is clear. But in all instances, he has turned out to be the loser.

In Ghana, we haven't yet had such a spectacle. What happened between the late Kow Nkensen Arkaah and Rawlings in 1998 doesn't come any close to it because Arkaah was in bed with Rawlings' political opponents, not seeking to dislodge Rawlings. But he also suffered the nasty consequences.

In the military governments that we've had, attempts by others to challenge the authority of the leader often resulted in either palace coups (in the case of the late General Acheampong) or counter-coups.

So, we insist that in our current democracy, it will be politically unwise for anybody to attempt overshadowing the sitting President, more so when the incumbent hasn't exhausted the constitutionally guaranteed two-term tenure. It doesn't mean that once elected, the President must serve a mandatory two-year term; but circumstances haven't clearly necessitated anything weird yet. So, why the rush to anoint President Mahama, barely 9 months into his four-year term?

Now, here comes my beef. We don't need anybody to remind us ofand to bore us withany tell-tale references to President Mahama's personal streaks of character (as being affable, self-effacing, youthful, and dynamic, or what-have-you?). We have already drawn that conclusion about him, which is why we weren't (and still aren't) surprised that the electorate would go for him and not those flaunting their professional accomplishments and longstanding (or is it grandstanding) political activities.

The electorate chose him to prove to his opponents that he has what they trust will help him move the country forward.

Moving the country forward is not an easy task; it is not an individual's affair either. That is why any public declaration of the sort being made about his chances as flagbearer for Election 2016 is not only premature but also distracting.

What President Mahama needs most at this time is unalloyed support from his own party and the citizenry who value his leadership style so he can accomplish he was voted into office to do.

For that matter, his immediate constituency, which is the NDC, has to be his bastion of support. It calls for unity and commitment to the cause of the party so its agenda of 'Social Democracy' (whatever it entails) can be implemented and the country's problems tackled to improve living standards.

Can Ade Coker and anybody thinking like him openly come out to say that they are doing what will ensure unity in the ranks of the party? What is it that they've been able to do to prove that the party has reached out to the populace and expanded its membership? Building the party into the formidable force that it must be is not an easy task, and those in leadership positions should know better how to relate to the members so no bad-blood relationship crops up to destroy the support base.

Over the years, the NDC has been rocked by in-fighting apparently because of problems that can be traced to the doorstep of the leaders. The anger seething in the foot-soldiers didn't just spring up overnight. It is the result of their being neglected as well as the arrogance, and selfishness/greed on the part of the party's leaders. How to solve the internal crisis and ensure unity for the party to provide a solid base for the Presidency is an imperative.

Unfortunately, those who matter in the party act and behave as if all is well in the party. Then, they turn round to make pronouncements hinging on sycophancy in the hope to be noticed and rewarded with contract awards. This kind of morbid sycophancy is a major national worry; and we must see it behind all the pronouncements that raise the President sky high even when there is no need for it. Praise will be given when it is due but not when it is coloured with parochial interests that belie political intrigues.

What President Mahama doesn't need now is this kind of sycophancy (bootlicking), and ostrich behaviour. He needs better food-for-thought than this premature manouevring to clothe him in the attire of a flagbearer for Election 2016. Let him do the job now and be ready to cross the bridge when he gets to it.

As is often said, a good thing sells itself. The President is good and must be seen as selling himself through good performance. Only then will he merit going it again at Election 2016 without having to look over his shoulders. Mr. President, on your mark! Get set! Goooooooooooooooooooooooo!!

I shall return...

Source: Michael J.K. Bokor, Ph.D./ • E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. • Join me on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/mjkbokor

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What Does NPP Want? A Flagbearer Or A President?

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Category: Politics

Created on Tuesday, 17 September 2013 00:00

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What Does NPP Want? A Flagbearer Or A President?

{sidebar id=10 align=right}Ghana's electoral process has established some facts since the country turned to the multiparty democracy as the means by which to choose its leaders in 1992. One of these facts is that no political party can win an election outright relying ONLY on the votes of its core supporters.

That is to say, if all the supporters of the NDC or the NPP without abstentions (no apathy, no travels, no sicknesses or any other thing that can prevent one from voting) voted for their Presidential candidates, neither of these two great parties can muster more than fifty per cent of votes to win an election in the country.

This fact has been proven over and over again, with Presidents Rawlings, Kuffuor, Atta Mills and now John Mahama. So then, it will appear that in looking for a candidate to represent a Political Party in a Presidential Election, the consideration should go beyond the candidate's control or popularity in his or her own party, particularly so, if the ultimate desire is to win power and not just present a flagbearer.

As has been established, there is a critical floating voter population of three to five per cent that every Candidate needs to be able to cross the fifty per cent line and win an election. So then like one Presidential Candidate once put it, 'it is not what you want to sell but what the market wants to buy.'

Whilst it is true that candidates have to be popular in their political parties and also need the support of their members as a prerequisite to offer themselves for elections, it makes a lot of sense as well as good management practice for leaders of these parties to test the market especially outside of the party's core supporters in order to make an informed choice of candidate.

Like money, power as they say, has no emotions or sentiments. Power does not know brother, sister, friend or classmate. Power is neutral and will come only if one does the things that will attract it.

Very much unlike the Scandal we have decided to express these opinions today because of the kind of clamour that is going on within the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the party's 2012 Presidential candidate- Nana Akuffo Addo to stand again as the party's candidate for the 2016 Presidential Elections.

There is no doubt that Nana Addo is a formidable political force not only in his party but also in the political affairs of Ghana. His role in the struggle against dictatorship and the return of democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights in this country, cannot be over emphasized.

To date, he is the only Foreign Minister in Ghana who ever chaired the Security Council of the United Nations at one of the most difficult times of that World Body. But Nana Addo has also had the longest run at Ghana's Executive Presidential Seat without success. He first appeared in 1998 at the NPP's primaries for the flagbearership position but lost to John Agyekum Kuffuor in Sunyani.

In 2007 Nana Addo again mounted a vigorous campaign for the Party's Presidential candidature and this time he won after his closest challenger opted out of a mandatory run-off in Legon-Accra. Since then, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo has been the NPP's Presidential Candidate.

He represented the Party in the 2008 Presidential elections but failed to cross the 50 per cent line for an outright win. In a run-off between him and the late President Mills he again failed to make the mark. Then at Tain in a third round of the same election the NPP again lost it to make Professor Mills Ghana's Third President of the fourth Republic.

In 2010 Nana Addo stood at the NPP Primaries again and won over 80 per cent of the votes of the party's Electoral College to become the Party's Candidate for the 2012 Presidential elections but lost the general elections albeit under very bizarre circumstances to John Mahama. The matter did not end there; for the fifth time Nana Addo contested the results in Ghana Supreme Court where he met with Atuguba's disagreeable verdict.

This is the Presidential journey of this great son of Ghana-Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo. Anybody in his shoes will definitely want to take a rest and ponder over his life; find out what the matter is and also decide on what to do next.

It is under these circumstances that we find the clamour for Nana Addo to stand again as NPP's Presidential Candidate as a bit strange. The Scandal would not have commented on this matter if these calls were coming only from party foot soldiers who are no doubt in love with the man.

What surprises us is the fact that some of these calls are coming from the managers and frontline members of the party. The big questions to ask then are; what is the basis for these calls? What are the considerations for choosing a party's leader for an important election? Has any work gone into determining what the 'market' wants at all? Even Nana Addo himself realizes the urgent need to consult (God). Have the party Executives consulted anyone; be it God, the Ghanaian Voters, the 'Market' (and by that we mean forces in the market that make things happen).

In modern day management, no one embarks on a project for mass patronage of this kind without first carrying out some feasibility, bankable or marketable research before taking a decision. How this could have happened in the NPP is still difficult to understand. There have been suggestions that some national executives of the party are afraid of loosing their positions and so they are in a hurry to tie their apron strings to Nana Addo for survival.

Nana Addo is very strong and popular in the NPP. If market research shows that he is ahead of all other possible candidates that the party may present for the Presidential race then off course Nana must be allowed to go irrespective of his age. Even for greater determination it is usually very important to peach the possible candidates against the candidates of the opposing parties to see how they each fare against the opponent. That is how it is done and not just some emotional and sentimental outburst about who has suffered or is most popular in a political party.

What is dangerous is the assumption that because a person is liked in his or her political party then that person should automatically be the one to be selected as Presidential candidate. That way you may end up with a FLAGBEARER and not a PRESIDENT.

Source: The ScandalEditorial

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K.T Hammond To Appear Before Judgment Debt Commission

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Category: Elections & Governance

Created on Tuesday, 17 September 2013 00:00

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K.T Hammond To Appear Before Judgment Debt Commission

{sidebar id=10 align=right}Former Deputy Energy Minister, K.T. Hammond, is to be summoned before the Judgment Debt Commission for giving conflicting accounts in various radio interviews as to how an oil shipping drill of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) was sold in 2001.

The ship was sold for $24 million, but the whereabouts of $3.5 million balance taken from an escrow account to be deposited in government of Ghana's coffers still remains a mystery.

Mr K.T. Hammond had said apart from paying $19.5 million dollars of the $24m to Societe Generale in judgment debt, $3.5 million was paid to the Finance Ministry, and $1 million was used in settling other debts including fees for government's counsel.

But officials of the Energy Ministry and GNPC previously told the Judgment Debt Commission they cannot confirm the claim that $3.5m was paid to the Finance Ministry because there was no official documentation covering the transaction.

The Commissioner Justice Yaw Appau on Monday noted that K. T. Hammond’s role in the sale of the oil shipping drill was confusing.

Justice Yaw Appau commented: "September 24, 2001 was when new (GNPC) board was appointed, so when it was sold there was no board. So we cannot tell specifically who took the decision to sell, if there were no board in place then it could not have been the board.

"....the former deputy minister [K.T. Hammond] said on radio that he was directed by president [Kufuor] to go and sell the ship and defray the cost...in another vein he said he was given the power of attorney to sell by the GNPC. If there was no board then who granted the power of attorney to sell?"

Lawyer for the Commission, Dometi Sokpor told Joy News that K. T. Hammond would soon be summoned to answer questions over the transaction.

"Everybody whose presence is needed here to clarify issues that are bothering our mind, we will invite that person...but for now it is KT Hammond who is talking so he would be invited first."

Though it is not clear when the former deputy minister would appear before the commission, Mr Sokpor affirmed Mr Hammond would "definitely" come before them.

But K.T Hammond has again told Joy News he doesn't recollect saying that President Kufuor gave him the power of attorney. The power was rather given to him by the then Acting Managing Director of GNPC, Dr A. Ofori Acquah, he said.

President Kufuor only directed the Energy Ministry to reshape the highly indebted GNPC, he clarified.

He said he has been informed that in such transactions, monies paid to the Finance Ministry would be forwarded to the Controller and Accountant General's Department, and was sure the whereabouts of the $3.5 million was traceable.

He also declared his readiness to assist the Commission to demystify the mystery.

His boss and former Energy Minister Albert Kan-Dapaah earlier submitted a letter to the Judgment Debt Commissioner, Justice Yaw Appau, expressing his willingness to appear before him to explain the issues.

He told Joy News' Joseph Oppong Gakpo that "two issues have come up; how was the ship sold and how do you account for the money we got out of the sale? What actually happened to the $24 million? In the letter that I have given to him, I have tried to provide answers to some of these things."

He is, however, yet to submit the documentation covering the actual transaction, Joy News gathered; but is ready to appear when needed.

Communication Consultant at the Energy Ministry, Edward Bawa, told Joy News they have finally chanced on a letter from one Kweku Owusu who was the advisor to the then minister asking the ministry to pay Aquatic Investments for its involvement in the transaction gave them a clue to the whole deal.

He said after searching for documents on the transaction, they turned to the handing over notes of Mr Kan-Dapaah to his successor, Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, but the transaction was "never mentioned".

Though document on the sale and purchase agreement was not available, he suspected that the minister managed the transaction without necessarily following the bureaucracy in the civil service.

Meanwhile, officials of the GNPC have retracted their earlier claim when they appeared before the commission that they were unaware of the transactions.

Chief Executive of GNPC, Nana Asafu-Adjaye, conceded that a letter about the transaction sent to the GNPC by then Minister Kan-Dapaah informed them about the amount and how it was used.

Source: myjoyonline

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