Diasporans Unhappy with EC

The three million officially registered Ghanaians living in Europe, the Americas, Asia and other African countries are unhappy about their inability to exercise their franchise in the December 2008 elections.

This was discovered by this free lance Journalist ,recently during an interview with His Excellency Dr. Kwame Bawuah-Edusei, Ghana’s Ambassador to the United State of America.

He called for modifications of the National Constitution to enable all Ghanaians abroad enjoy their voting rights. Most Diasporas are of the belief he stressed, that having had the ‘Representation of the Peoples Amendment Act’ (ROPAL) approved and legislated earlier, the Electoral Commission has no excuse if it fails to allow its implementation this year.

He said there is still enough time to have this issue resolved, and with some efforts towards preparation to register Ghanaians in the embassies abroad simultaneously with the registration exercise at home, this is not impossible, as Missions are all prepared and fully ready to help. To facilitate this he suggested Centers could also be set up at selected locations in Europe, The Americas, Asia and Africa.

Underscoring the unfairness the denial of people, whose remittances to Ghana help in various developmental activities and projects, Dr. Bawuah-Edusei interjected:

“I have never had the interest of being a dual citizen because I believe in Ghana and very proud of being a Ghanaian; but there are some Ghanaians who find themselves in this situation and I believe once they contribute to the growth of the country’s economy, they should be given the chance to actively participate in political activities in Ghana”

It would be recalled that the Chairman of Electoral Commission, Dr. Afari-Gyan, in May this year said the ROPAL which empowers Ghanaians abroad to vote in elections could not be effected this year due to inadequate preparations. He further said the Commission needs an amount of GHc 41 million to run the 2008 elections.

This means diplomats, peace keeping forces and other officials sent on special duties whose numbers are insignificant can vote while greater majority of other Ghanaians will be disenfranchised unless they travel to Ghana to express their voting rights.

Dr Edusei-Bawuah observed this as unfortunate and rather an awkward issue. He therefore called for a modification of the national constitution to make it possible for Ghanaians living abroad to actively participate in elections as well as be eligible for Ministerial appointments.

The unprofessional behavior of some officials of Custom Excise and Preventive Service at the various ports of entry, another area of concern to Ghanaians abroad, came up during the interview.

According to Ambassador Bawuah Edusei, many Diasporas and some foreigners have experienced corrupt procedures that do not give room for transparency at the hands of these officials. Something, he said, must be done very quickly to salvage the situation which certainly can seriously affect Ghana’s investment drive.

This embarrassing condition his allowed many corrupt officials collect monies into their pockets instead of the government chest, he observed; but also added:

“I have been told they are getting better and I hope they will totally change to improve the image of Ghana on the International scene”

The outspoken Ambassador revealed that during his duty tour in Switzerland years back, he dealt stringently with all corruption by termination of appointment of such officials at the Mission.

He advocated strict and punitive measures which he believes will eliminate the menace in Ghana. He urged Parliament and Government to critically study and adopt the Laws of countries like Malaysia and Singapore which have controlled the rate of official corruption, all forms of robbery and drug trafficking effectively. To this end, he counseled the need for the Ministry of Interior to collaborate with the various security agencies to put good measures in place to protect both foreigners and nationals from robbery as such occurrences scare off investors.

Ambassador Bawuah -Edusei called for the revival of the Ghana Investment Promotion Council to assist in the registration of businesses owned by Ghanaians living abroad and to also attract investment and create employment. He however called for a radical change of outmoded bureaucracy in the country’s Civil Service which has created a fertile ground for corruption which makes business drives difficult and wrought with uncertainties.

His Execellency Dr. Bawuah-Edusei in conclusion he praised the systematic decentralization program of present government and expressed hope that more will be done to simplify things to help businesses thrive.

The Ambassador, who was honored with the Order of the Volta award at the just ended National Award ceremony, used the occasion to express his gratitude to the President John Agyekum Kufuor and promised to do more to improve the reputation of Ghana abroad.