Robberies and rights - strange bedfellows

The former UN Secretary-General, Busummuru Kofi Annan addressed a special closing ceremony of the Third Session of the Fourth Parliament of the Fourth Republic organized in his honour in Accra on Tuesday 31 July 2007. He was brilliant as usual.

For me the most important aspect of his address was his reminder to the honourable members assembled about the importance of security, development and respect for human rights.

"The Former UN Secretary General said in order to achieve security and development, there was the need to respect human rights and the rule of law."

Presently, the world is inhabited by some six billion people. According to experts the world population may reach nine billion by 2050. More specifically, Ghana's population is set to rocket to 30 million by 2030. What chance is there that these vast numbers of culturally diverse people can live together in peace ? if more than 75% of us have to live under extreme hardship and deprivation?

If under current circumstances, armed robberies and thuggish behaviour are prevalent and rampant, imagine what the situation would be like in 2030 if we carry on in the same vein of creating a society of haves and have nots; a two tier society?

Unless we tackle the causes of poverty and eradicate them; in other words, unless we create an equitable society and reduce poverty, the long-term internal security of the country will remain elusive. Effectively, we need a strategy for development as an antidote to the robberies, muggings, contract killings, and any eventual internal (tribal or class) conflict.

Most of us think that personal security is the answer. In the short term, maybe but it is not a long term solution for the nation. Spending on arms and employing security personnel to protect us is like sticking our behinds in the air, with heads firmly stuck in the sand.

Currently, in many African countries large sections of society have no access to their nation's natural wealth or political processes. How many slum dwellers in Ghana have access- direct or indirect- to the proceeds of our natural wealth? My earlier articles have already tackled the inequalities in our society. No one special person has a divine right to the wealth of our nation; it belongs to all of us. Therefore, to pocket the proceeds of say, a whole ship-load of cocoa while others starve is mindless and a blatant disrespect for the human rights of the citizens of this blessed nation. This sort of Ghanaian ?smartness? will eventually put the stability of Ghana at grave risk. This is because, money meant for national development would be going into one stinking man?s pocket, and it is not right.

New concept of security

In modern times, the old concept of personal security is no longer sufficient. It is no longer sufficient to have security guards, a personal gun, several cars, a secure job, and live in a nice, well-protected suburb, ect. We need to reassess what it means to be secure to include the socio-economic and cultural surroundings of the society we live in. The UN uses the term 'human security' to classify the concept. Security in this sense is understood to mean protection of people's basic freedoms and human rights but also protection against different kinds of threats. It is a new form of security, which is underlined by good governance, and the creation of a more equitable, accountable and fairer society.

This new form of security must also mean giving people in the nation's poorest areas real hope for the future, hope for a life free from fear and want, a life lived in dignity and in keeping with their own cultural values and traditions. What we need ultimately is a concept of good governance for this one country (Ghana) that is home to us all.

Where should we start?

There are many things we can do to improve matters straight away. For example, there should be an introduction of better communication between the government and the people. This could include amending the constitution so that the president and members of his cabinet can be grilled daily in parliament in a 'despatch box' like all British Prime Ministers. Having instant answers and removing the menace of persistent rumours would shove us into the path of accountability. In addition, political parties need to make long-term commitments to building viable government structures and instruments, and public institutions, including the introduction of the long awaited 'Freedom of Information' act.

Mutual Respect

Economic development is a necessary condition for greater internal and personal security. However, it is not a sufficient. It is crucial that we also seek to create and establish confidence in the majority of people through good governance, openness, equality and fairness. An important part of this is recognising and respecting the cultural identity of those we perceive as different from ourselves. When I have read responses to some of the articles on GhanaWeb, I have seen a lot of hatred, tribalism and general intolerance from a lot of contributors. That means we need to engage with each other's cultures in a process of mutual discovery and eventual respect.

Functional Government

There could also be all party parliamentary select committees to scrutinise policy decisions and make recommendations to the government on critical issues. I do not know if such provision appear in our constitution, but the aim is to monitor, investigate, and submit to parliament reports on the national issues and their implications on the overall benefit to the nation. This ensures that we have a functional government.

To assess this functionality, It is helpful to look at the modern state of Ghana and perhaps peer into the broad functional categories of social welfare, economic development, and national/personal security.

Social welfare refers to the acquisition of and respect for the rights of people that guarantee their security and safety. It implies preventing tribalism, religious bigotry and limiting risks, crises, poverty and conflicts. It involves the establishment of institutions, governmental and non-governmental organisations, different types of regulations, and reactive, interactive or proactive attitudes on the part of decision makers. Insecurity in Africa as a whole and Ghana in particular, is the result, to varying degrees, of natural or man-made catastrophes, the vulnerability of people and groups, and institutional failures that promote corruption and inhibit accountability and open governance.

Economic development is an innate national cumulative process of increasing productivity and of the long-term reduction of inequalities, enabling a growing number of the population to move from a vulnerable and insecure situation to one where there is better control over uncertainty and instability, and greater satisfaction of fundamental needs.

Security is now a big issue affecting people in Ghana presently. With rising crime and unemployment, and with traditional economic survival initiatives (farming, hunting, fishing, basket weaving, ect) having lost much of their significance, development aid and remittances from abroad have overtaken national self-development initiatives and in the very short term prevails over long-term projects. It is the responsibility of the government of the day to provide greater safety through real, long term sustainable development.

We have to recognise that the menace of armed robberies and the general rise of crime in the country is a major threat to the collective security, human rights, and overall development of our nation. It is essential to emphasise that public authorities have an imperative role to play in order to install safety and security measures. I am not talking about the erection of high walls, possession of guard dogs, employment of macho gatekeepers and night watchmen (now fashionably called security guards) to improve security. I am talking at a national level and the institution of systems of binding accountability, improving informal access to capital such as micro-finance, instituting decentralised administrative systems that are able to limit bureaucracy (and prevent corruption), creating employment initiatives that limit risks of poverty and avoid consigning people to slum dwelling and alienation, provision of improved access to facilities, and institution of better communication between elected and electorate; such measures will go a long way to improve security ( from hunger, disease, crime, drugs, ect) for the most vulnerable in our society.

The aim is to implement measures that would benefit all of us, starting with information and rapid intervention systems. In the long run, the disappearance of poverty depends on development policies which will lead to an increase in employment, security, availability of wealth through greater productivity, as well as an increase in credit worthy demand linked to redistribution policies. Eventually, we could eliminate the insecurities (the rich feel insecure about their wealth, the poor fear penury) which are currently blighting our lives and threatening to derail our drive towards long term stability. Busummuru Kofi Annan has seen it and told us and he means well so let us act on his wisdom.