Kufour’s Ex-gratia comment unfortunate but typical

I wish to use this opportunity to touch on the comment made by ex-president Kufour on the ex-gratia that he signed for himself and the MPs. This topic has attracted the attention of many Ghanaians at home and abroad. My hope is that after (if at all) the ex-president gets to see or hear about these pictures presented here he may rethink. I present here two pictures that I took while I was visiting the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital last year. These are the doors of the medical ward 3 of Korle-Bu in the 21st century.

After 52 years of independence including 8 years of Kufour’s administration these kinds of sceneries are a commonplace in Ghana. Unfortunately this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are worse things to see and hear in Korle Bu. Based on my observation, I will say that about 7 out of 10 fluorescent tubes in Korle-Bu were dead and some I guess have been dead for many years without being replaced. The floors of the wards were like playing grounds for some wild beasts. I could not enter into the bathrooms to take pictures because of how badly they smelled. Broken louver blades, cobwebs and dust were just some of the eye saw.

I visited the administration building at the hospital and needed to use the private room, I found a bathroom and saw that it was half opened then I attempted to push the door open but I experienced some resistance from inside. Guess what? There sat another man defecating. I later found out that the toilets did not have locks. That means that one cannot relax and ease oneself in these restrooms. In Korle-Bu, water to wash your hands after examining a patient is a quandary. Children and mothers die because of lack of water at the theatres for doctors to perform operations and so on. When one looks around the hospital one finds many benches and other furniture which were donated by churches and other benevolent organizations. The government is enjoying a free ride while poor private people do the work.

So, the question is: does Mr. Kufour still believe that the ex-gratia is not much as he said? If the ex-president Kufour does not find this troubling then what is he going to do with a foundation? People who set up foundations do that to help but not to amass wealth out of the foundation. By the time someone becomes a president; they should consider all Ghanaian kids as theirs and should therefore not try to get all they can for their biological kids at the expense of the rest of Ghanaians. While the rage over the news of the ex-gratia dragged on, the outcry from the public is on the size of the package. However, my main concerns are both on the size and the whole idea of ex-gratia. Is this not a colonial thing that we have inherited? I am not an expert in the area of pension but I will posit that a good and decent pension/retirement schemes will be more sustainable and economical for a country like Ghana. First, such huge lump sums of money coming out of a country that is already so indebted can be indefensible. With pension schemes the payment can be spread over a period for those that retire and the burden on government will be tapered. Second, the chunk of money can be put in a retirement savings and investment accounts that may accrue some interest for the state. The point here is that we need to explore other alternatives and with the calibre of Ghanaian scholars and professionals I believe this is possible. I applaud the Ghanaian people and the media for the way they responded to the news. It shows how far Ghana has come in its quest for development and democracy.

Amin Ussif