Days of Reckoning in Ghana Politics

“We should all be concerned about the future because we will have to spend the rest of our lives there”- Charles Franklin Kettering.

In the fullness of time, the husks shall surely be separated from the grains considering the nature of contemporary politics in Ghana. While some refer to it as witch-hunting others exceptionally regard it as political vindictiveness. Of any form of description it would take, it is increasingly clear that there would definitely be a day of reckoning for officials in government or persons that get into contact with state funds when their parties are voted out of office apart from the fact that eternal day of reckoning from God awaits them. To this end, it is lawfully defined as ‘willfully causing financial laws to the state’ when huge sums of state funds are believed to have been mercilessly misappropriated. This was started during the administration of Ex-President John A. Kufuor with many people including Tsatsu Tsikata being victims of the circumstance. The sixty-four thousand dollar question still remains ‘Are these acts really significant to cause growth and prosperity?’

It is striking to know that President John Evans Atta Mills has undoubtedly set the Thames on fire regarding the statement he made that there should be the conduct of a comprehensive audit into the operations of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) as well as their respective Chief Executives (MMDCEs). The work of MMDAs of late is nothing to write home about regarding their enormous accumulated debts. What is most disgusting is the fact that funds and operations in terms of projects and programmes virtually do not benefit the grassroots but goes to maliciously satisfy the selfish ambitions of the few officials. These steps by the president have indeed resonated his avowed strategy to clamp down on the menace of pandemic corruption in the country and believe it or not this is the best move ever realized so far under the NDC administration with regards to improving local revenue base as far as rural development and country-wide development are concern.

It is very unfortunate to tacitly declare that despite escalating rural development programmes and increase in amount of the District Assembly Common Fund, the gap between the urban and the rural areas continues to extremely widen. The reason being simply that the poor attitudes exhibited by public and civil servants including the MMDCEs at the MMDAs are vigorously soaring to sophisticated heights. Typically, Ghana has not duly benefitted from the current programme of decentralization which was initiated prior to the national democratic transition in the early 1990s. The standing of the MMDAs is clearly stated in the 1992 Constitution as “the highest political authority in the district…. [with] deliberative, legislative and executive powers [Article 241(3)]. In the same vein, it is of no wonder that the MMDAs using their deliberative, legislative and executive powers are the highest corruption record area in the country including significantly the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). The reality is that some MMDCEs connives with some persons in the assemblies to heartlessly squander state funds that instead should have been used to improve the lives of people in the urban and rural areas who are gravely exposed to the dangers of chronic poverty. Some MMDCEs appointed by the President and for that matter a representative of the President have been the cause of deepening poverty in the rural areas and a giant cause of Ghana’s underdevelopment. The report that assemblies in the Eastern Region are indebted to the tune of GH¢8 billion on the average according to the Regional Minister and his deputy, Mr. Samuel Ofosu Ampofo and Baba Jamal respectively is just the tip of the iceberg (The Enquirer, 10 August 2009). At the end of the audit ordered by the President, the darkness that has beclouded the MMDAs would come to light and the results would be very surprising to every Ghanaian.

We now live in a country where funds from the DACF are used to construct the wall of a MMDCE’s residence whilst children sit under trees to learn and where there is a classroom available children are packed like sardine. Also, it is unbelievable that a whole District Assembly under my own experience operated without electricity for two consecutive days because the units of their prepaid meter had finished and that the District Finance Officer was not available to be contacted for money. Are these the attitudes worth causing significant development for the local people? So what benefit did the National Institutional Renewal Programme (NIRP) established in 1994 and the Public Sector Reform that lead to the creation of the Ministry of Public Sector Reform in May 2005 under the administration of the New Patriotic Party bring to enhance the efficiency of work and attitude of public officials in the MDAs and the MMMDAs. They were all complete wastage since they virtually had no impact; corruption is still rife and contracts were awarded to family relatives and friends resulting in shoddy projects. These are examples of bigger problems happening in the country.

The audit of the MMDAs and the MMDCEs is a step in the right direction. Significant is the fact that, the audit should not be a nine days’ wonder but would be conducted on continuous basis (preferably every two years) and Ghana’s development realization would surely begin to come to light. What political parties are having it all wrong is that the day of reckoning applies only to those in opposition, turning blind eye to officials of incumbent government that misappropriate state funds. Indeed, the law should find its course and prosecute Ministers of State and MMDCEs who have uncaringly misused state funds amid the huge benefits they obtain from ex-gratia. It should be noted with concern that state or national office is not a family business where funds can be carelessly messed up with.

I never knew Ghana was so rich until after following closely the sittings of the Enquiry into Ghana@50 Celebrations. Though the celebrations were significant for Ghana’s historic moment, the expenditures of the ceremony are characteristic of an advanced/developed economy. It is unbelievable for an economy of a developing country desperately searching for the antidote to chronic poverty to expend so lavishly on unnecessary things with the majority of the people still on the firm grip of poverty. President Mills in this regard needs to be highly commended for the bold action he took towards setting up the commission. Wherever there is recorded misappropriation of state funds, culprits should be dealt with according to the law. For the country cannot suffer to watch the majority lavish in extreme poverty. It is certainly the sure way of ensuring probity and accountability, a key ingredient in development. President Mills should, however, set the ball rolling as he promised to deal with his own ministers who misuse public funds. The Muntaka saga still remains a figment of remembrance and the question is ‘will there be his day of reckoning?’

In conclusion, these and many others account for the reason why Ghana is still gravely wallowing in abject poverty and few political party stalwarts and government officials are greedily lavishing in illegal riches. There is no doubt that a government can sustain itself when issues of corruption surrounding the MDAs and the MMDAs are dealt with completely. It is therefore an advice to the Government of Ghana that if significant development is to be realised then try as much as possible to deal with corruption among government officials, civil and public servants. It is worthy of note that tackling these issues alongside tacitly devising strategies to arrest the high incidence of poverty and the ailing economy would resonate the possibilities of the dream of attaining a middle income status. However, dealing with corruption should not overshadow the importance of the socio-economic sectors of the economy where the dire needs of the majority poor should be dealt with. It is about time Ghanaians (leaders and the subjects) set the record straight regarding the best strategy to development. Ministers of State, MMDCEs, public and civil servants and all government officials past and present should note as a concern that a day of reckoning is awaiting them so I urge you all (the present) to work with diligence devoid of corruption to alleviate abject poverty among the majority people. The day of reckoning lies in wait and the corrupt government officials shall surely be separated from the good. The question that still lingers on is that “Who are the next people to fall prey to the overwhelming powers of willfully causing financial loss to the state?” Politics is not the podium to jump on the bandwagon.

The author Stephen Yeboah is at the Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. Email: [email protected].