Recent news reports make me believe that failure by the erstwhile NPP administration to enact the Freedom of Information Bill (FOIB) will haunt its members and ex-ministers, including Mr. Kuffour, for a long time to come, possibly even after death.

Take the case of the reported 300 “remand prisoners held illegally at Nsawam under the NPP.” Sorry, for the tomato, Mr. Joe Ghartey! Seriously, Mr. Ghartey’s protestations come more than 2 months late and a Ghana Cedi short. You see, Mr. Ghartey is reported to have said that the “…facts are available to all who want to verify except those who do not want to accept the truth". The question for Mr. Ghartey is this: How is the ordinarily person from his hometown able to “verify…(and)…accept the truth…” when the person has no recourse to a FOIB that he and the NPP woefully neglected to pass?

Then take the case of the “reported retrieval of 39 high-performance vehicles” from former NPP officials. Will it not have been a whole lot easier for all Ghanaians if persons living in the hometowns of Mr. Akuffo-Addo, Mr. Kan Dapaah, Ms. Ama Busia, Mr. Kwadwo Mpiani, Mr. O. B. Amuah, Mr. D.K. Osei, and the wife of Mr. Joe Ghartey, etc., could have written the Director, Estates & General Services Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to confirm or deny, when, what, how, by whom, and in what condition the 39-plus high-performance vehicles were delivered?

ITEM: Our sense is, some individuals from the erstwhile-NPP government will keep government assets and resources, and even find new ways of hiding them because the average Ghanaian has no recourse to finding out anything about government affairs. This, of course, works out very well for politicians like Mr. Ghartey, just as intended. Yep! Works out mighty good for the Night Peoples Party (NPP)!

No sir! Ghanaians cannot and should not take any Mr. Joe’s word as “the truth.” Give Ghanaians the process and mechanism to seek and verify. Yes FOIB!

This brings us to the new M&M crew of Mr. Mills and Mr. Mahama, and the NDC government. Straight off the bat, we will tell Mr. Mahama and Mr. Mills that no society ever delivered or institutionalized a humane or transformational socio-economic justice program without first making sure the peoples’ access to information held by government is at the cornerstone of public governance, accountability, and transparency. It is the FOIB, stupid!

By the way, was it not Mr. Alban Bagbin, the current Majority Leader, who, a few short months ago, told Ghanaians that the NDC government will swiftly pass the FOIB if Ghanaians gave the NDC another chance? Well, do we need to remind Mr. Bagbin that Ghanaians have given the NDC another chance?

Where are you, sir, Mr. Bagbin?

Where are you, sir, Mr. Mahama?

Where are you, sir, Mr. Mills?

Or must we all squander our time learning and reading about why someone has to apologize because they said Ghanaian courts tended to be Kangaroo Courts, or that some officials are crooks who pilfer public assets, and/or use public resources they do not have a legal or administrative right to?

The question for Mr. Bagbin is, what name do you give a court that held Tsikata on practically trumped up charges and kept that sorry dance on an on, until the change in government? Tell us, Mr. Bagbin, what name do you give the “Court” of a Chief Justice who decrees that the administratively-challenged Council for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) cannot pursue reports of abuse of public authority, power and resources, if the report is conveyed through the Ghanaian media? What are your legal minds telling you, Mr. Mills, Mr. Bagbin, and Chief Justice Wood?

Prof Lungu says! “….Smells like a Kangaroo Court, feels like a Kangaroo court, looks like a Kangaroo court, it is probably a ……. …..!”

Our advice to the M&M Administration 1. You are perpetuating massive rumors through your inaction on the FOIB. Understand that the best run governments of today have fewer rumors around them. FOI bills kill rumors and promote good governance, if you care to know! That ought to be elementary to a lawyer worth her/his salt!

2. Your NDC government has practically no option where the FOIB is concerned – you must pass it right away or be forever consigned to a status worse than the minimalist NPP government of Mr. Kufour.

3. It is prudent and clever public policy to pass the FOIB now. Allow Dr. Asemfofro-types in any town, village, or city, and the objective media, to follow up on all those rumors and reported abuses of power by former and current government officials. That would include those who have told tales about their qualifications, degrees, associations, income, and undeclared assets, in exchange for government benefits/favors. After you enact the FOIB, your stance about not wanting to go on a witch hunt will appear more realistic, Ghana-centered, and reflective. Govern with the people, we must tell you!

4. When you soon decide to pass the FOIB, do not give Ghana a Mugabe-access-to-information-bill. Rather, give Ghana a strong FOIB. Give Ghana a hybrid FOIB, one that takes the best from the US, British, German, and Swedish models, and combines them to arrive at a Ghana-centered FOIB that will make the Founding Fathers/Mothers of Ghana proud about the nation they helped found. It will forever remind all that Ghana, the Black Star of African nations, is a lot bigger than 2, 3, 4, or even 5 of its parts! Move Ghana on! Hold up high the FOI banner.

Pass the FOIB right now, NDC!

ITEM: FOIB – Are You Pickable? Listen to the hit song. This 2008 hit song from Prof Lungu (http://www.ghanahero.com/the_cause.html) has proven that the NPP was clearly not pickable as they sat on the FOIB all those 8 years. Rather, the Night Peoples Party (NPP) chose to run Oman/Nation Ghana’s affairs as if it was they personal property. NPP promoted darkness. As a result, Ghanaians showed them that they are a lot wiser and do expect a lot more from their government.

One only hopes that the NDC government has learned.

FOIB – Will you be pickable in 4 years?

4 Notes: 1. Visit www.GhanaHero.com for more information about the FOIB. Read more from Prof Lungu!

2. Congratulations to Ms. Samia Nkrumah for winning the CPP’s “Lone Star” seat in the last elections, from the Jomoro Constituency. Ms. Samia Nkrumah has proven that she can be, and ought to be right smack at the center of a resurgent CPP, one that gives Ghana even more grounding in democratic dispensation. In that regard, it is a magnificent shame that Dr. Nduom did not use the occasion of Ms. Samia Nkrumah win, and the corresponding CPP loss, to pivot to the future of the CPP, but instead, chose to junket to several cities and towns, ostensibly to “thank” Ghanaians. What a way to celebrate a loss and amazing poor showing!

3. It is a nerve wrecking that the most useful and “important” news item from Africa this year, the Ghanaian elections that sacked the ruling NPP and gave power to the NDC without ruckus, did not feature prominently in world media reports. It is a mighty big shame that World Cup soccer/football in South Africa is bigger, as we are finding out!

4. FOIB. Visit www.GhanaHero.com. Read, learn, listen, act on it!

Prof Lungu Okinawa, Japan 16 Feb 09