The Enemy Within : We Are Our Own Worst Enemies

We have a problem ! Well, Ladies
and Gentlemen, fellow Ghanaians, we have a problem. We have a problem with the
body politic of Ghana, We have a problem with the moral fiber of our society.
We have a problem with leadership, and management of our country. We have a
governance problem and a moral decadence to deal with.


In major public fora,
international conferences, symposia, and also throughout my writings I have
identified corruption, mismanagement and bad governance as major problems
inhibiting African development. In most cases, I have had many who agreed with
my assessment of the situation in Africa but in some cases there have been some
disagreements, with some saying corruption is everywhere including even in the
developed countries. Let me say here that, corruption in all its forms is bad.
However, the corruption that is sometimes found in developed countries is
qualitatively different from what pertains in the Third World particularly in
Africa.


In the developed world hardly do
you see politicians dipping their hands into state coffers and embezzling state
funds or hardly do you see funds earmarked for state projects and national
development finding its way into private bank accounts and the projects
abandoned. What happens sometimes, is a contract may be awarded to a company or
a contractor with the $B!H(Bright$B!I(B connections political or whatever but the
contract gets awarded and the money is used for the purpose for which it was
intended and the public benefits.

Contrast that to the African situation, in
most cases the contract is not awarded at all, or if it is awarded at all the
project never gets done, no jobs are created, the public never benefits from
it, but the money finds its way into private pockets and the state is the
loser. We cannot move forward in such a situation. This has confined millions
of Africans into poverty and underdevelopment and unless we address these
issues no amount of foreign aid or Marshall plan can help lift Africa. We need to
come to the fundamental realization that development begins with the basics of
good governance, discipline, checks and appropriate punishment for nation
wreckers.



Now the recent Anas Aremeyaw
expose about the rot in CEPS, GPHA at the Tema harbor makes me sick. But
frankly who in Ghana didn$B!G(Bt know all that goes on at Tema harbor? You only need
to clear goods once from the harbor to see all the bribery and corruption that
goes on there. Going to Tema harbor to do business to me is like a living hell.
It is one place I hate most in Ghana. The frustrations, fruitless waiting one
goes through if you insist on doing it the right way without paying bribe and
demanding receipts for all payments made. I bet similar situations pertain at
Aflao border and all other places where CEPS personnel operate. The President
quickly went to the harbor to sermonize about the harm CEPS is doing to the
economy but in reality and in all fairness can Attah Mills say that until Anas
Aremeyaw$B!G(Bs video hit the airwave he didn$B!G(Bt know of the harm CEPS, IRS and other
revenue collectors for the state were doing to the economy? Come again
President Mills, you were IRS commissioner and corruption was rife then as it
is now. If the President claims he wasn$B!G(Bt
aware then he is not on top of his game.



We can collect all the money we
need to develop the nation right here at home instead of going begging from the
World Bank, IMF and other developed nations. All we need to do is to plug the
loopholes in the system.
Too many leakages in our revenue
pot......so many people are suffering while a very few are diverting all the
national resources that should have gone to make life a little comfortable for
the overwhelming majority into their pockets. As
much as about 50% of revenues due to the state ends in private pockets while
school children continue to study under trees, and babies die of malaria etc,
etc.



The tax rate in Ghana is very
high for such a poor country but the revenue returns to the state is just too
low. Why? Anas has given us the answer. Our revenue collection as stated by the
World Bank
country director forms just 15% of our GDP which is below the African average
of 18%. Ghana can and should
do far better than the African average !!! We need discipline and strict monitoring
of the system to stop the leakages else the better Ghana agenda will remain a
mirage.



All the evidence we need to prosecute and ensure the payment and
refund of monies due the state are there. The Finance Minister said the gov't
is negotiating with those who evaded import duties and tax to pay the money back
which isn$B!G(Bt
bad but you don't negotiate with a thief, you prosecute him punish him, and
force him to pay penalties
so it will
act as a deterrent to others. All those officials found to have abused their office
for private
gains should be dismissed and prosecuted. It is rather unfortunate that the
country$B!G(Bs judiciary instead of being part of the solution to this massive
canker of nation wrecking corruption has rather become part of the problem. Anas
Aremeyaw risks his life and that of his
team daily to awake us to this rot only for the judiciary to set the culprits
free. THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE.



These abuses could have come up
long time if the system was policed. Aren't there any checks in place like
periodically inspecting and checking the electronic system? Who checks the
GCNet? I am afraid without any checks on those who operate the system and those
who are suppose to police it, we will continue to toil in vain as a nation and
our people will continue to wallow in poverty. It seems that ANAS AREMEYAW is more
efficient than the government of Ghana with all of its law enforcement
agencies.



Now I know
why my secondary school buddy who dropped out and became a CEPS officer has put
up several storey buildings
and owns fleets of brand new cars. He is an enemy of the state. The State
must deal ruthlessly with all of them for raping the economy of Ghana and
milking the country dry. The single most serious problem inhibiting our growth
is CORRUPTION within and without of government.



Ben
Ofosu-Appiah,

Tokyo
, JAPAN.



The
writer is a senior socio-political analyst and a policy strategist based in
Tokyo, JAPAN. He welcomes your comments.