The public to provide input into decision to sign EPA with EU?

By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Folks, I have read on Peacefm a news report under this heading, and really laughed my head (heart?) out loud!!
Don't ask me why. Obviously, the government has been putting the cart before the horse all this while; and it must just have realized its waywardness to know that truth.
How can the government not know that such a damning and suicidal contract with the vampires banded into the European Union needed to be placed on the agenda for public discussion before moving ahead to commit itself to signing it?
I have read several news reports quoting its main spokespersons as justifying the importance of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU and why it is crucial for Ghana to sign it (even at the time that the ECOWAS leaders have pushed it to the back burner to do more homework/groundwork on it before taking the final decisive step to sign it)?
Thanks to Nigeria's resolute position, that obnoxious agreement was not signed at the Yamoussoukro summit because more work needed to be done to ascertain the usefulness or otherwise of such an agreement to the sub-region (not to mention the individual countries).
The truth is that all these 16 member-countries of ECOWAS are not equally endowed with natural and human resources; and the insidious EU members know it for a fact that they can create conditions to knock their heads together and slip through to reap windfalls!!
In Ghana, our government functionaries have been doing overtime to sell this anathema to the citizens, making conclusive statements that Ghana stands to lose a lot if it doesn't sign the agreement, or that Ghana has no other option but to sign it for fear of reaping a whirlwind in stiff opposition---all calculated to intimidate everybody but themselves!!
Now, some sense seems to be emerging. We are told that the matter will now be laid bare for public discussion and input sought on it to advise the government on where to go next. How "unthinking" can these government officials not be?
The first thing to do was to lay the matter bare at the doorsteps of the people for discussion so they could gather ideas and assess the sentiments of the people and use such input to good advantage.
Now that they have goofed and hit the brickwall, they are not ashamed to retrace their steps!!
This is part of what some of us have been complaining about all this while: that the kind of democracy that we are operating is walking with its head down.
Now, here is the detailed news report for you to read. Then, come back here with your comments:
http://business.peacefmonline.com/pages/economy/201404/196588.php
MY COMMENTS
It is clear that the kind of governance through "trial-and-error" that the Acheampong government implemented in the 1970s and suffered for is being replicated in our time. It has disastrous consequences that those who think they can abuse the mandate of the electorate should be wary of. Oh, Ghana!!
I shall return…
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