Mr Lungu,there is nowhere in the constitution it states only people who work for constitutionally mandated agencies can travel with the president,it is the choice of the president to travel with whoever he wants so please lea ... read full comment
Mr Lungu,there is nowhere in the constitution it states only people who work for constitutionally mandated agencies can travel with the president,it is the choice of the president to travel with whoever he wants so please leave Asiedu Nketia alone.
If you are asking if Asiedu Nketia work for the people of Ghana,I don't know what you are thinking but let me remind you that Asiedu Nketia is the General Secretary of more than 50%+1 Ghanaians for that matter he works for Ghanaians,he is not a General Secretary of a political party in Togo or Nigeria.
In your DC,USA you don't know who travels with the president because they respect their president so much that they don't list every individual on the airplane with him as we do in Ghana so you don't know which private citizens travel with him.
Recently I read a comment which the writer wrote that the General Secretary of the ruling party in the UK attends cabinet meetings if I'm right,for that matter nothing wrong with a General Secretary traveling with the president.
PK 9 years ago
Corney, I'm sorry to say you're a big fool! If Asiedu Nketiah doesn't work for the people of Ghana, he cannot travel the world at our expense. It's that simple! And by the way, the President cannot do what he wants!
Corney, I'm sorry to say you're a big fool! If Asiedu Nketiah doesn't work for the people of Ghana, he cannot travel the world at our expense. It's that simple! And by the way, the President cannot do what he wants!
Kwadwo 9 years ago
Prof, do you really expect tribal and partisan political hacks in Ghana to focus on such a salient inquiry? Heck no. You and I have lived in America too long. Don't be surprise when you hear that the Unbearable dumso is a res ... read full comment
Prof, do you really expect tribal and partisan political hacks in Ghana to focus on such a salient inquiry? Heck no. You and I have lived in America too long. Don't be surprise when you hear that the Unbearable dumso is a result of an opposition sabotage.
Sikelela 9 years ago
Yes, it's true the questions you put forward are worth answering. What was his mission and who paid for the trip? We need answers from the government. Or maybe his wife bought him the ticket.
Yes, it's true the questions you put forward are worth answering. What was his mission and who paid for the trip? We need answers from the government. Or maybe his wife bought him the ticket.
Kwami- - US 9 years ago
What do say about Prez Kuffuor's driver's trip abroad? Was the driver politically more qualified than Asiedu Nketia? What was the driver's mission abraod then?
What do say about Prez Kuffuor's driver's trip abroad? Was the driver politically more qualified than Asiedu Nketia? What was the driver's mission abraod then?
DUKE 9 years ago
or to deliver the better ghana agenda; always politica equalisation.
or to deliver the better ghana agenda; always politica equalisation.
INXS 9 years ago
It's the president's prerogative to choose who to travel with overseas. If he wants to travel with the secretary of his ruling party, I think he has the right to do so.
The problem Prof. Lungu is raising is a more general ... read full comment
It's the president's prerogative to choose who to travel with overseas. If he wants to travel with the secretary of his ruling party, I think he has the right to do so.
The problem Prof. Lungu is raising is a more general one of if the president of a poor country like Ghana can travel abroad with a large entourage at state expense. If the entourage is made up entirely of people who really have something to do on that visit, then it won't matter if the entourage is big or not or the members are state employees or not.
The problem in Ghana is that often most members of the entourage (every government entourage at that) are unnecessary and just hangers on. Every worker in Ghana struggles to have the opportunity to travel abroad at state expense. They need the trip as a means of personal income generation. If the trip is sponsored by some foreign company or organisation, that is no problem with us. It is the state sponsored trips that are the problem. Often, most of them are not even necessary, not to talk of who is or is not on it.
Do we have a state organ that checks such things? Do we have a system that controls who is on the president's entourage and even which of the president's trips are necessary?
It is not only about Asiedu Nketia. It's about all the trips that Ghanaians make at state expense.
Prof Lungu 9 years ago
Agree!
This essay asks about those "checks."
But, the President should not have carte blanche to travel with any person at the Peoples' expense. It ought to be elementary, if we are all serious, and non-partisan.
So ... read full comment
Agree!
This essay asks about those "checks."
But, the President should not have carte blanche to travel with any person at the Peoples' expense. It ought to be elementary, if we are all serious, and non-partisan.
So, your question still begs for an answer: "...Do we have a state organ that checks such things?..."
Native Son Bashir 9 years ago
Prof. Lungu is wrong on this one, Aseidu Nketsia is the chairman of the Bui Power Authority and since the discussion in Germany was centred on the worsening energy crisis in Ghana it was right for Aseidu Nketsia to be there.
... read full comment
Prof. Lungu is wrong on this one, Aseidu Nketsia is the chairman of the Bui Power Authority and since the discussion in Germany was centred on the worsening energy crisis in Ghana it was right for Aseidu Nketsia to be there.
Therefore you should target those fools who made so much noise about the mans coat and negligent the substance of the state visit. And as a learned person a little research would have cleared your mind.
Prof Lungu 9 years ago
Nice try, Native Son Bashir!
But that is still part of the problem.
Why is the GS of the NDC the Chairman of a Power Authority, at the same time?
Who does he owe allegiance to?
Why is it not proper for Mahama to ... read full comment
Nice try, Native Son Bashir!
But that is still part of the problem.
Why is the GS of the NDC the Chairman of a Power Authority, at the same time?
Who does he owe allegiance to?
Why is it not proper for Mahama to ask for resignation from one, before appointment to the "public" position?
Finally, we think we've said enough about "...those fools who made so much noise about the mans coat..." In fact, the entire essay is about them, and their priorities, too!
Prof Lungu 9 years ago
And even if Nketia is Bui Chair...a solitary agency in the grand scheme of things in this case....!
Does he have the strategic plan to resolve the national power crises?
Are there not enough people in duly constituted ... read full comment
And even if Nketia is Bui Chair...a solitary agency in the grand scheme of things in this case....!
Does he have the strategic plan to resolve the national power crises?
Are there not enough people in duly constituted ministries paid to do those things on behalf of the People?
ITEM: Seem to us the head of say the National Development Planning Commission, for instance, will be seen by the Germans as more credible, compared to the GS of the NDC who just happens to be the Chair of that solitary agency (BPA).
Native Son Bashir 9 years ago
Prof. methinks you have a personal reason against the good general MOSQUITO if not what makes you think that the Germans will have credibility issues with him. I don't think it is strange neither it is the first time that a p ... read full comment
Prof. methinks you have a personal reason against the good general MOSQUITO if not what makes you think that the Germans will have credibility issues with him. I don't think it is strange neither it is the first time that a party official will be part of a presidential delegation to a foreign country.
The issue is that he was representing an institution that he is the head. The question we should be asking is? did he discharge that duty well ? how will the visit help improve the power situation in Ghana.
Lastly it is right to have party officials be head or board members of public institutions and does that advance the course of democracy.
Have a nice evening Prof
Prof Lungu 9 years ago
Native Son Bashir,
Do not get us wrong, please!
This essay is NOT about "...the good general MOSQUITO..." But there is a fundamental conflict of interest that will not be lost to serious policy makers any where.
ITEM: ... read full comment
Native Son Bashir,
Do not get us wrong, please!
This essay is NOT about "...the good general MOSQUITO..." But there is a fundamental conflict of interest that will not be lost to serious policy makers any where.
ITEM: We do not know the man and have respect for whatever he does for his party. We do not care!
So, let's be serious for a change please.
READ: "...Communications Officer of the...(NDC), Solomon Nkansah has described the Bui Power Project as a ‘stupid project’ which does not inure to the benefit of the country....The $622 million Hydroelectric Dam project built at the Bui Gorge...to provide the country with an additional 400 megawatts of electricity....Asked why the NDC continued with the project despite the Mahama administration knowing it would not be beneficial to the country, Solomon Nkansah said they were forced to do so ‘just to expose to Ghanaians how stupid the project is.”, to wit:
"....“Yes, we had to do so to point out to Ghanaians that the project touted by the NPP as part of their achievements was a stupid one which never inured to our benefit…,” he responded...."(Ghanaweb, Thursday, 29 January 2015)
So, what's the point about all the talk about Bui in Germany, if there were any. And do you not think the Germans, in this case, would have some basic intelligence about these things/matters?
ITEM: Democracy is not advanced when "...party officials...are head or board members of public institutions...", unless they are former "party officials", failing that, unless a "communist-style, authoritarian apparatchik system" has a special ring for the leaders of the Government that is "in power".
Kwame Birmingham 9 years ago
I salute, that is all I can say. How come these questions did not occupy the noise but on stupid fur coat
I salute, that is all I can say. How come these questions did not occupy the noise but on stupid fur coat
Paul 9 years ago
I thought it more important to question why the general secretary of a political party who is not a government appointee would be part of the president's entourage. Unless of course he has a particular board role which the re ... read full comment
I thought it more important to question why the general secretary of a political party who is not a government appointee would be part of the president's entourage. Unless of course he has a particular board role which the rest of us don't know about.
This to me is more important a question than his 'choice' of attire for he occasion.
Mr Lungu,there is nowhere in the constitution it states only people who work for constitutionally mandated agencies can travel with the president,it is the choice of the president to travel with whoever he wants so please lea ...
read full comment
Corney, I'm sorry to say you're a big fool! If Asiedu Nketiah doesn't work for the people of Ghana, he cannot travel the world at our expense. It's that simple! And by the way, the President cannot do what he wants!
Prof, do you really expect tribal and partisan political hacks in Ghana to focus on such a salient inquiry? Heck no. You and I have lived in America too long. Don't be surprise when you hear that the Unbearable dumso is a res ...
read full comment
Yes, it's true the questions you put forward are worth answering. What was his mission and who paid for the trip? We need answers from the government. Or maybe his wife bought him the ticket.
What do say about Prez Kuffuor's driver's trip abroad? Was the driver politically more qualified than Asiedu Nketia? What was the driver's mission abraod then?
or to deliver the better ghana agenda; always politica equalisation.
It's the president's prerogative to choose who to travel with overseas. If he wants to travel with the secretary of his ruling party, I think he has the right to do so.
The problem Prof. Lungu is raising is a more general ...
read full comment
Agree!
This essay asks about those "checks."
But, the President should not have carte blanche to travel with any person at the Peoples' expense. It ought to be elementary, if we are all serious, and non-partisan.
So ...
read full comment
Prof. Lungu is wrong on this one, Aseidu Nketsia is the chairman of the Bui Power Authority and since the discussion in Germany was centred on the worsening energy crisis in Ghana it was right for Aseidu Nketsia to be there.
...
read full comment
Nice try, Native Son Bashir!
But that is still part of the problem.
Why is the GS of the NDC the Chairman of a Power Authority, at the same time?
Who does he owe allegiance to?
Why is it not proper for Mahama to ...
read full comment
And even if Nketia is Bui Chair...a solitary agency in the grand scheme of things in this case....!
Does he have the strategic plan to resolve the national power crises?
Are there not enough people in duly constituted ...
read full comment
Prof. methinks you have a personal reason against the good general MOSQUITO if not what makes you think that the Germans will have credibility issues with him. I don't think it is strange neither it is the first time that a p ...
read full comment
Native Son Bashir,
Do not get us wrong, please!
This essay is NOT about "...the good general MOSQUITO..." But there is a fundamental conflict of interest that will not be lost to serious policy makers any where.
ITEM: ...
read full comment
I salute, that is all I can say. How come these questions did not occupy the noise but on stupid fur coat
I thought it more important to question why the general secretary of a political party who is not a government appointee would be part of the president's entourage. Unless of course he has a particular board role which the re ...
read full comment