Editorial News of Friday, 14 November 2003
Source: ISD
Pratt - Government should not finance political parties in this country. We have an economic crisis and the country is underdeveloped so we should use the few cedis available to take care of the poor. If political parties are funded they will waste our resources and the small political parties will benefit most. The government should use national resources to finance education, health and engage in community development projects in the rural areas.
Darko - There are so many unemployed politicians in all the political parties so they will use the funds to pay themselves and buy expensive vehicles and live in luxury. Presidential aspirants will take advantage and engage in corruption and mismanagement of these funds. Government has no business funding these parties. The economy is in recession and government doesn’t have the resources and capacity to fund parties.
Pratt - Our educational institutions in this country are facing major problems which should be addressed by Ministry of Education and GES. If you go to Tamale in the Northern Region, some school children study under trees with no blackboards and furniture. Sometimes, they sit on stones and wood. The government should improve upon the transportation network to the northern sector and we should improve upon the electrical and water supply system in all the regions of Ghana. Education at the JSS and SSS level is very important for national development. We should begin to improve upon all the educational infrastructure and avoid politicising issues in the educational sector.
Darko - I think government has achieved much in the educational sector in the past few years. It is taking quick measures and initiating programmes to promote elementary education. It is very important for government to monitor the GETFUND. The fund should be used to assist the poor students in the country. It will help them acquire skills in the public schools and universities. The fund is not enough to finance all the private universities in the country.
Pratt - We don’t have accurate facts and figures on most of the political parties in this country. Even the NPP don’t have offices in the required number of districts in the country because of the lack of logistic support and funding. It was reported sometime ago that it was only the CPP which submitted annual financial statements to the EC.
Darko - It is very important for all the political parties to submit accounts to the EC every year but all the political parties have failed to achieve that objective. In 2001 the CPP submitted an accurate financial report to the EC and in 2002 the People’s National Convention submitted their report. This year I think only NPP has done a good job by submitting their statement of accounts on time. We should all try to comply with the electoral laws and if possible amend them for acceptance by all parties. Dan Lartey’s party has not even got a chairman or organising secretary. I think, it is time we began to re-organise our various parties for effective elections in 2004.
Wiredu - The Ministry of Education and the GES should play a supervisory role over the GETFUND and use it effectively to achieve good results. Some students have got certificates but they cannot perform in the field. Most students also want to work in the Banking and Financial sectors of the economy.
Wiredu - The Consolidated Fund is moving towards bankruptcy and the Electoral Commission should not invest money. Many people don’t like joining political parties because it is risky investing in a party which will not come to power.
Wiredu - Ethnicity is an agenda being set by some private newspapers in this country. Most of these stories are not news worthy, accurate or factual so we should make the truth known to the public. We have lived with tribalism for many years and the media has an important role to play to unite the people to move forward. We should also advise editors of all newspapers to stop publishing tribal and ethnic stories which can create confusion and anarchy in the society. About half of Ghana’s population are Akans so definitely they will dominate the political scene.
Sowu - Boarding schools promote unity so the Ministry of Education and the GES should encourage the boarding school system. We should promote unity and bring children together. When I was in the military, we were educated to work in unity and our commanders ensured that we worked together as brothers and friends. The President has the right to appoint his family men or friends if he finds them efficient, effective and experienced.
Coffie - We should move away from the IMF and World Bank and generate local revenue to support our development aspirations.
Nana - Government should look at our export base by exporting more cocoa and minerals for foreign exchange. Donor fatigue is the major problem facing the IMF. They are feed up with giving us more which is spent on only food and shelter.
Coffie - We should improve upon the infrastructure in the private tertiary institutions. We should provide, science laboratories and good lecturers.