Judge decries poor leadership in Ghana

An Appeal Court Judge, Justice Mrs. Gertrude Torkornoo has pointed out that where there is good leadership there is always law and order, and the results are there for everyone to see, and where there is poor leadership there is utter confusion and poor results.

“Leadership is the ingredient on which success is measured”, Mrs. Torkornoo said at this year’s Global Leadership Summit held in Accra from October 29 and 30th 2014.

The Summit is an annual global event which builds the capacity of Christian leaders to provide godly leadership wherever they are.

Mrs. Tokornoo identified leadership as a potent mix of skill, a clear vision and the ability to engineer progress.

“If we are afraid of cholera, if the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is not working and if school standards are falling, there is lack of leadership”, she said to the approval of the audience.

The erudite Appeal Court Judge asked, “Is leadership how much noise you can make, or how much money you can throw about, or is leadership the title? That is not leadership”, she pointed out.

In her view, leadership is not about the status quo, instead, there must be measurable progress if a leader is leading well.

She emphasized that leadership must have a clear vision, and illustrated visionary leadership with the achievement of Dr. Mensah Otabil.

According to her, as early as 1984 when the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) was established, it was clear that the church would make a huge mark in education.

She also cited Pastor Dag Heward Mills as one of the visionary leaders Ghana has produced. From a small church, she said the Light House Chapel is now one of the biggest churches in Ghana, thanks to a clear vision by its leader.

As if to underline the above point, she said, “Where there is a clear vision, there is uplifting, excellence and progress.”

She drew an analogue between Ghana and Singapore and underscored the fact that at independence Ghana was far richer and developed than Singapore.

While Ghana had a Gross National Product (GNP) of US$ 1.20 billion at independence, Singapore had US$ 0.70 billion.

But by 2013 Singapore had a GNP of US$297.97 billion while Ghana had a mere US$47 billion GNP.

Thus, over the last 50 years, Singapore has become six hundred times richer than Ghana. “If the person leading you is immersed in good leadership, there will be change”, she stressed.

She worryingly pointed at the growing levels of poverty and deprivation in Africa in the midst of abundant natural resources.

She noted that Africa is the richest continent in the world by way of natural resources, with gold everywhere, and yet people are dying needless deaths, due to the lack of visionary leadership.

In her view, leadership comes with integrity and that the true face of integrity is competence and that a leader must be ready to protect integrity.

Asked to comment on what saddens her most in Ghana, she mentioned corruption. “If there are no medicines in the hospitals, it is because some stole the money.”

She said corruption is not only found in high places, but if a nurse is selling at the hospital, instead of attending to patients, it is corruption; if a teacher is charging for extra classes and teaching what ought to have been taught during normal classes, it is corruption.

“We have deprived our society of the best. A whole generation has been short-changed and we should give it back to them”, she concluded on the way forward for Ghana.