The Ghana High Commission in Ottawa Saga

Part III

I have been overwhelmed over the past few weeks by the reaction and responses to my two previous articles on the rot, the deep-rooted corruption and looting at the Ghana High Commission in Ottawa, Canada. I have visited a number of Ghanaian stores, churches, and hang-outs in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal and Kingston over the past three weeks to gauge people’s reaction to the explosive issues raised in the two earlier articles. I must say that I have been very impressed as well as saddened by what I have learned. People’s reactions ranged from extreme anger to expressions of resignation and frustration at what they understand as the deep-seated structure of looting of public property and resources at our “diplomatic” Missions abroad. As some of you rightly pointed out, the rot at Ottawa is only the tip of the iceberg. The Ottawa Mission has only a staff of eight officials (excluding the drivers, cooks and other hangers-on). If the small staff of eight can engage in this open and naked looting with impunity, just think of the bigger Missions in London (England) Paris, Bonn, and Washington. I also visited the Ghana Consulate in Toronto and the Ghana High Commission on Clemow Avenue in Ottawa three times over the past three weeks to gauge the reaction of the Consulate and Mission staff. Wow! I haven’t seen the staff as nice as this before in my twenty-five years stay in Canada. The Consular staff in Toronto and the Mission staff in Ottawa now treat visitors to their offices with due respect unlike the previous arrogance and disrespect that they greeted you with when you showed up at the Missions. I think they are getting the message. I have also read the reaction of some top officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Accra to my articles. They have promised a thorough investigation. I hope that they will keep their word and carry through with that promise. I want to assure them that many Ghanaians around the world and in Ghana are watching and waiting for the results of the promised investigations. I am proposing the following to Hon. Kwasi Osei Adjei, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Mr. J. K. Mensah, high ranking official at the Ministry who is in charge of some of the top officials at some of Ghana’s Missions abroad:

Do not limit your investigations and “real” audit to the Ghana Mission in Ottawa. The audit should be done on ALL of Ghana’s Missions abroad. Many people I have spoken to doubt the integrity of the audit officials that are sent from Ghana. As happened in the case of the Ottawa Mission, these guys came, colluded with the very officers they were supposed to audit, wined and dined with them and left without doing the job that they were paid to do. I strongly suggest that instead of buying air tickets and paying for hotel allowances and per diems for these officers from Ghana to come and just chill with the thieves at the Missions, why don’t you hire competent accounting personnel from those countries where the Missions are located? In the final analysis we will pay less and get good outcomes for our money

2. Do not shift the thieves around the various Ghana Missions. If, as in the case of former FSO A1 Susan Annobil, she had been found to have abused her office and engaged in corrupt practices, she should be recalled back to Ghana to answer those charges. She should NOT have been sent to another Mission to continue the practice or teach other officers at the new posting on how to perfect the Mission “money acrobatics”.

I have credible information that another officer of the Ghana Mission in Ottawa, one of those implicated in the recent scandals, is contemplating absconding to claim refugee status in Canada if he is recalled to Ghana. I am therefore sounding the alarm to the Minister to be on the lookout for another possible refugee claim from the Ghana Mission in Ottawa citing so-called “abuse” from the High Commissioner.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should liaise with the Canadian Ministry of External Affairs to open investigations into all previous cases of defection from the Ghana Mission in Ottawa to unearth the sinister motives behind those defections. This will safeguard the reputation of Ghana in the eyes of Canadian officials.

Stop the practice of posting secretaries, drivers, garden boys, shoe-shine boys and cooks from Ghana to our Missions abroad. Apart from the Foreign Service officials, we should be hiring local staff for all the other supporting staff as the rich countries do in their Missions in Ghana.

I am withholding further financial malpractice information at the Ghana Mission in Ottawa until the promised second audit is complete. Stay tuned.

Let’s save Ghana our Motherland!