Arthur Kennedy: Protecting The People

The 1992 constitution requires the state to seek the well-being of all her citizens. Under the “DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY” which are under Chapter 6; article 35(2) states; “The state shall protect and safeguard the independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ghana, and shall seek the well-being of all her citizens.” Furthermore, article 40 (a) states that “In its dealings with other nations, the government shall –“promote and protect the interest of Ghana.”

This year, since we turned 50, we have been reflecting on our successes and failures. While it will be useful to examine all our post-independence years, I shall limit this communication to an examination of how effective the state/government has been in protecting the public interest.

Let us consider the following:

• There have been a significant number of killings and murders, beginning with the murder of eighteen women in Accra between 1998 and 2000; the mob-lynching of crime suspects as happened to the Presiding member of the Asunafo-North District Assembly, the death of citizens in police and/or military custody and a spate of executions that have excited concerns about contract-killings, all unsolved. One such killing in police custody was the death of Albert Good of Komenda-Domenase during an arrest for non-payment of child support. Two policemen, helped by some civilians beat him till he fell unconscious, was rushed to a hospital in Cape Coast and pronounced dead. Even though the civilians involved were detained, no policeman has been detained yet.

• Nearly two years ago, 44 Ghanaians were executed by Gambian security forces and to date, there has not been any conclusive investigation or forceful response from the state.

• Foreign nations, organizations and nationals routinely discriminate against Ghanaians without any protest from Ghanaian authorities. For example, it was reported that the drinking water of the people of Twerebribi in the Western region has been contaminated by the waste-products of a nearby goldmine. To underline our impotence, the Western Regional Minister just had a meeting with mining companies during which he urged them to be more considerate of local interests. While the Minister’s effort was commendable, what environmental safeguards were negotiated and what are the penalties for breaching these safeguards?

• A significant portion of foreign merchandise , including medications imported into our country and cleared for sale to the public by the Standards Board, are at best sub-standard or possibly harmful. Indeed, some reputable authorities’ estimate that up to 25% of drugs sold to the public may be fake produce. To underline the widespread nature of the problem in Africa, as I write, anti-malarial drugs are being withdrawn from Kenya while Colgate imported into Nigeria from China is being recalled because it is unsafe. Are we safe here in Ghana?

To add insult to injury, local entrepreneurs market herbs of doubtful efficacy and serious side-effects to a gullible public without any consequences.

• Our mobile phone rates are higher than those in most advanced countries while our service is mediocre and unreliable. In the United States, a mobile phone plan that gives a customer significant talking time within all 48 contiguous states and gives excellent quality service costs between thirty and sixty dollars per month. Here in Ghana, we spend an average of three dollars per day and get atrocious service without any authority standing up for the hapless Ghanaian customer.

• Importers trying to clear goods from our ports are harassed, intimidated and exploited routinely by our port authorities resulting in increased delays and costs to the detriment of commerce and the general public. A Ghanaian businessman resident in Canada imported a machine from China to Canada. When the machine got to the port in Canada, it took two days and two pages of paperwork for the machine to get to his premises. Six months later, when he imported the same machine from China to Ghana, it took six weeks, fifteen pages of paperwork and a couple of bribes to get it to his premises. In the era of the global village, such hindrances significantly undermine the “golden age of business” which is the cornerstone of the Kufuor regime’s economic policy.

• Our investment culture and climate, albeit inadvertent, appear to be more in favour to foreign interests, rather than our own, with the result that foreigners are steadily capturing the commanding heights of our economy, at the expense of our local entrepreneurs. This is manifested by the permitting of foreign subsidized products that undermine our local agricultural industries and, the ingrained preference for foreign expertise even when such skills are available here at home or through Ghanaians in the Diaspora at cheaper cost. As I write, the government of this day is in the process of selling of the Agricultural Development Bank; just as in its day, the government of that day sold Ghana Telecom and the National Lotteries. While the government is right that the bank needs capital in excess of the 66 million it currently has, the prospect of leaving the bank that supports agriculture to the tender mercies of a foreign bank should worry every Ghanaian: agriculture accounts for 36% of our GDP and employs over half of our population!

The fundamental questions that needs to be answered are; what is the public interest and, how well is it being protected? When so many are losing their lives at the hands of murderers, vigilantes and even law enforcement agencies while in lawful custody, who should fix it? How soon and how can we be sure that beyond empty exhortations for better behaviour and pledges to do more, something is actually being done? When innocent Ghanaians are killed by a foreign government as happened in Gambia, how long should we wait for answers from our government or for reparations to the families accompanied by an apology from the offending government? When sub-standard and potentially harmful products are permitted to flood our markets and harm us, who is accountable? When mobile phone operators are charging exorbitant rates and providing bad service to the public, who is responsible for holding them accountable? When the government of the day, whichever day, is selling off our strategic assets left, right and centre and maybe inadvertently handing over the commanding heights of our economy to foreigners, how do we react in a non-partisan manner in the supreme interest of the nation?

As these problems demonstrate, the solutions lie in action severally and jointly, depending on the circumstances, by our executive, parliament, law enforcement authorities, the judiciary, independent agencies, civil society and the general public. I believe that the solutions to these problems lie in a more energetic defense of the public interest and discharge of the state’s obligations to citizens. There must be a new and more assertive nationalism, centered on the vigorous protection of our people and national interests.

First, we need to make public security a more important priority. We should increase the number of our police officers, give them better training and equipment and hold them accountable for unprofessional conduct.

Second, we must provide adequate resources and manpower to the agencies responsible for protecting the public from inferior and harmful products both from within and without the borders of this country. The Standards Board and Food and Drugs Board need more resources and more accountability. Until they are up to the task, we should draft our universities and private labs to help in the task of keeping us safe. It is unacceptable that those charged with protecting us sit unconcerned while we are exposed to harmful products by greedy entrepreneurs with the assistance of corrupt officials.

Third, our parliament must rise up to the vital task of conducting aggressive, principled and nationalistic oversight over our ministries, departments and agencies. Devoid of partisanship, they must appropriate more resources where necessary and insist on accountability when it is clearly called for. Whether it is the murders by mobs or police, the sub-standard goods on our markets, the take-over of our economy or the discriminatory treatment of Ghanaians, all are being harmed regardless of party. I yearn for the day when the people’s parliament will hold hearings to inquire into the operations of the Standards Board or the operation of mobile phone companies. Where are the peoples’ representative when we are selling off the Agricultural Development Bank and maintaining GHACEM as a monopoly in cement production? When will parliament rise up and be the true guardian of the peoples’ interest?

Fourth, our governments, while living within the norms or the international community, must be aggressive in protecting the interest of Ghanaians; both at home and abroad. We have waited too long to solve the murder of the women in Accra and execution of our nationals in Gambia. As I write, there is increasing evidence that some foreign companies have for decades set out to deliberately corrupt African officials in pursuit of their business interest. SCANCEM is one such company and there may be many more. Let our President, as the Chair of AU call for a continent-wide investigation into the corrupt practices of foreign companies in Africa, beginning with SCANCEM.

Fifth, together, we must renounce and reject firmly, the wanton craving for foreign approval and validation. This attitude, an unfortunate relic from our colonial days, often blinds our leaders to our true national interests and impedes the vigorous defense of our interests by our governments’ officials. This attitude, coupled with an unspoken conviction that excellence can only come from other countries and bodies are the biggest obstacles to the realization of our God-given potential. As India’s first Premier Jawaharal Nehru said “Whenever the West starts praising me, I wonder whether I have done something wrong against my people.” Of course, he exaggerated a little bit and, when he said it, he had not seen the investment practices of new powers like China. Every third world leader must have that quotation on his desk to remind him/her of their obligations to the ordinary citizens of their nation, while adulation from foreign interests is pouring in. Admittedly friendship with other nations, institutions and peoples are valuable, however they are only supplements to self-reliance. Others can never do for us, what we must do for ourselves. The lessons from history are clear that, no nation can ever become prosperous owing to the generosity of others and, that nations who have improved the living conditions of their people, have done so mainly on the strength of indigenous talent and effort.

Finally, we the citizens must keep our leaders and institutions on their toes; always. We must demand action from our leaders when necessary and, hold them accountable with our votes. The press, civil society, religious leaders and the general public must all play their part. This effort will be helped immeasurably, by passing the “Freedom of Information Law.” It will help us hold our leaders to account for what the constitution requires and people demand: protection of the state from those who seek to harm them, from within and without.