Kufuor Sells Ghana

…Says Ghana is a trailblazer

President J. A. Kufuor has stated that Ghana is still a trailblazer because when compared to other countries it would be observed that the citizens are people who lived within the laws. Speaking in an interview on BBC’s ‘Have your say’ programme from the Castle aired yesterday, he said various religious groups living together peacefully and happily was something worthy of emulation.

“We are managing our economy very well these days and I expect it to continue; people are able to speak and question their governors; accountability and transparency are fast becoming the order of the day; when you look at all factors needed to measure the performance of a nation, Ghana is showing leadership,” he emphasized.

Responding to a question from the host, Peter Biles that Ghana had been a trailblazer back in 1957, setting examples to other African nations and whether the country again could be a trailblazer? He said, “I believe Ghana is still a trailblazer in many respects.”

The President was insistent that the hope of the country was that it would become a living example in the neighbourhood so others might copy.

He said this is the more reason why we should celebrate the 50-year anniversary to take stock of where we have come from, where we are, and where we expect to be.

Answering questions on what legacy he would like to leave for Ghanaians, the President stressed that he would like to continue the trend of respecting the national Constitution, in letter and in spirit.

“Our Constitution provides for two terms for a President at the most; I am fortunate that I am into my second term. When my time is up I will step aside for a successor to come through the ballot box,” he added.

He urged that there should be optimism for African Presidents because the era of extending their tenure of office when their term was ended had reduced remarkably, unlike what pertained 10years ago.

Kufuor advised that all citizens must respect the constitution and abide by its contents and if it were done the problem would be solved.

He said Ghana was moving forward. He indicated that even though the country was experiencing some problems in the areas of sanitation and potable water, Ghana was on top and therefore it was worthy to celebrate.

He said $20million dollars would sound big but Ghana, is a country with a population of over 20 million people and the world acknowledged Ghana so the country must seize on such opportunity to attract investors.

The President noted that the country should be cleaned and presented to the investors as a country, which was ready to make headway.

On corruption, he insisted that fighting corruption was not about saying the good works and preaching but setting up the institutions to support the precepts to ensure that the problem was eradicated.

He intimated that within the five years that his government had been in power they had promulgated the procurement law to curb corruption in procurement because procurement was where the biggest form of corruption was prevalent.

Not much abreast with the position of Ghana in the corruption index, the host wrongly said Ghana came out of the last report well, placing seventh among all the African countries, ignoring the score criterion which is a true measure of a country’s performance. That would have revealed that we performed poorer than in the previous year.

The President responded that once there was an institution, which was structured, and equipped to fight corruption then corruption moves would reduce.

He noted that old institutions like the judicial system and the policing system must be equipped to become efficient.

He said bad remuneration contributed to corruption and as a result the government had brought up a new wage system with the hope that workers would begin to earn living wages, thereby resisting temptations of wanting to top up through corruption.

He re-emphasized that the Whistleblower Act before parliament would be passed in the course of the year to enable Ghanaians expose corruption