Fight against corruption: Govt to set up complaint centers

Read Article

Comments (39)

This article is closed for comments.

Read Comments Comments (39)

Nana Akomea 12 years ago

He knows this is a gimmick

He knows this is a gimmick
OBIBINI 12 years ago

Pepeni or not he is your president and will be your president for 8 years.It is such a tribalistic attitude that will never let the NPP get power in Ghana again.Shame!!!You are a tribalist.

Pepeni or not he is your president and will be your president for 8 years.It is such a tribalistic attitude that will never let the NPP get power in Ghana again.Shame!!!You are a tribalist.
Nana Akomea 12 years ago

Yes, because of the stolen votes.

Yes, because of the stolen votes.
GHFUO, change ur thinking 12 years ago

PERSECUTE, PROSECUTE, PROSTITUTE!

WE NEED CORRUPTION COURTS IN GH!
WE NEED CORRUPTION COURTS IN GH.!
Maxwell Kofi Jumah who claims to have "concrete evidence" to support his allegation says, President Mahama is the archi ...
read full comment

PERSECUTE, PROSECUTE, PROSTITUTE!

WE NEED CORRUPTION COURTS IN GH!
WE NEED CORRUPTION COURTS IN GH.!
Maxwell Kofi Jumah who claims to have "concrete evidence" to support his allegation says, President Mahama is the architect behind the huge monies given to RLG and Zoomlion, both service providers to the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Agency (GYEEDA).
CORRUPTION IS SIPHONING WANTED REVENUE AWAY FROM THE COFFERS OF THE STATE. MONIES NEEDED TO PAY NURSES, DOCTORS, TEACHERS, INCREASE POLICE SALARIES, BUILD MORE SCHS, HOSPITALS, ROADS, RAILWAYS ETC ARE ALL BEEN CHANNELED ILLEGITIMATELY INTO THE POCKETS OF UNDESERVING PPL. THIS HARMING THE GROWTH OF THE NATION.
FOLKS, HOW CAN Salaries Of Ghanaian MPs BE THE 3rd Highest In The World? HIPC, 3RD WORLD NATION GHANA?...NO WAY!
REDUCE THE SALARIES OF THESE USELESS , OVERINFLATED EGOS N USE THE CASH TO DEVELOP OUR RAILWAYS, HIGHWAYS, MARKETS, STADIUMS, POLICE FORCE, SECURITY AGENCIES.
OH GH. TOO MUCH STRIFE, HUNGER. PPL ARE DISILLUSIONED. THEY DONT EVEN USE THEIR THINKING CAPS ANYMORE. THEY ACT AND BEHAVE LIKE ZOMBIES. ALL BECAUSE OF
CORRUPTION N GREED FROM OUR SO CALLED POT BELLIED LEADERS.
MOVIE: APOCALYPTO....."A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within."
This is a great quote, but extremely problematic for the movie that follows.
Durant's quote talks about corruption within being followed by external conquest, what we usually associate with the
decadence that preceded the fall of Rome, but that does not apply to what happened to the Maya.
Besides, even those Mesoamerican cultures that did not engage in human sacrifice were going to be immune to the myriad
diseases that Europeans brought to the Americas and which decimates entire peoples.
BILL GATES USING GMO FOODS, GENERIC DRUGS, CONDOMS, FLU AND TB SHOTS ON AFRICANS UNER THE GUISE OF HELPING THEM.
IN ACTUALITY, HE IS ENGINEERING AND FOSTERING A REDUCTION AND A SLOW REMOVAL OF OUR POPULATIONS, SLOWLY.
WE NEED A SYMPOSIUM TO ADDRESS WHY BRIBERY N CIRRUPTION STILL PERSISTS IN GH.
WHY DO PPL ENGAGE IN BRIBERY N CORRUPTION?
IS THE SALARY NOT ENUFF? FIX IT, PAY THESE WORKERS WELL
IS IT GREED? IF YOU FEEL YOUR SALARY IS NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU, GO N GET 2ND JOB. DONT HARASS PPL FOR BRIBES.
THIS IS UNLAWFUL AND A CRIME IN ITSELF. YOU DONT COME INTO PUBLIC OFFICE TO STEAL.
YOU MUST COME THERE TO PROTECT GH'S INTERESTS, NOT YOUR PERSONAL INTEREST.
WEN U BRING IN PPL ARE ARE NOT QUALIFIED FOR THESE CABINET JOBS, HAVE NO TRACK RECOD OR REPUTABLE PREVIOUS OCCUPATIONS. THEY WILL ROB THE STATE.
THOSE IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR WHO EMBEZZLE FUNDS MUST BE CHARGED WITH CORRUPTION BY THE POLICE/STATE AND SHOULD BE PROSECUTED IN THE COURTS.
MALAYSIA HAS A SIMILAR CONCEPT AND IT IS REAPING REWARDS. LOOK AT MALAYSIA'S POSITION ON THE GLOBAL CORRUPTION INDEX?
IF GH STARTS PROSECUTING CORRUPT PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS. MORE FOREIGN INVESTORS WILL COME IN BCOS THEY CAN COUNT ON THE RULE OF LAW TO WORK N BE FAIR.
OUR PPL WILL HVE JOBS, TAXES WILL BE PAID, MORE DEVELOPMNT IN GH. ALL WILL BE HAPPY. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY THESE STUPID ANIMALS WILL EVER LEARN.
ARREST THESE FOOLS, JAIL THEM UNTIL A HEAVY BOND/BAIL IS PAID. GATHER THE EVIDENCE AND TAKE THEM TO COURT. THE CHIEF JUSTICE MUST PUT THEIR FUCKING FOOT DOWN!
CONFISCATE THEIR ASSETS AND PAY OFF THESE MISMANAGED PROJECTS WITH THEIR PROCEEDS FROM THE PUBLIC AUCTION.
THEN JAIL AND PUBLISH THEIR NAMES IN THE MEDIA. NAME AND SHAME THEM. NKWASIAFOUR! NOT UNDER MY WATCH! AHA NA WO B3 DA!
the pressing immediate problems confronting the countRY GHANA ARE - GALAMSAY EVERYWHERE, no electricity, no water, rife in corruption, high incompetence levels, etc.
At the moment JOHN MAHAMA has NOT articulated any vision for the country and his governance. Ghanaians don't know what he stands for except his mere promises and lies.
For sustainable socio-economic development Ghana needs ACCOUNTABLE GOVERNANCE not mere promises without action as characterised BY MAHAMA'S "leadership".
Argentina’s president has announced increases of as much as 35 percent in cash handouts to the poor, students, pregnant women and retirees.
President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner said the programs also will reach nearly 700,000 more children, expanding the social safety net and encouraging consumer spending this election year. She said the total cost of the subsidies would grow $7.8 billion a year.
GH MUST FIND A SOLUTION TO THESE PRESSING ISSUES: high level corruption, CITIZEN IDENTIFICATION, insecurity, unemployment, LACK OF INFRASTRUCTURE and infrastructure decay as the major problems confronting africa's development.
LOOK, YOU CAN BROADEN THE TAX BASE AS MUCH AS YOU WANT...UNREALIZED CAPITAL GAINS, GIFTS TO FAMILY/PERSONAL CHARITIES, TAXING THE RICH, ETC...YOU CAN CLOSE ALL THE LOOPHOLES ALL YOU WANT, BUT IF YOU DONT FIND A WAY TO DEAL WITH PUBLIC SECTOR CORRUPTION. U END UP PREACHING TO THE CHOIR.
REDUCE GOVT SPENDING. LOWER PUBLIC SECTOR SALARIES. MORE MANUFACTURING. CORRUPTION COURTS. MORE PRIVATE SECTOR ROBUST BUSINESSES. LOWER IMPORTS AND FREE TRADE.
WE NEED AN ATTITUDINAL CHANGE TO MAKE THE ECONOMY WORK IN GH.
PROGRESS IS A MODEL OF PRODUCTIVE DESTRUCTION. U NEED TO MAKE MISTAKES BEFORE YOU SUCCEED. THE GOVT SHOULD PULL BACK AND ALLOW THE ECONOMY TO PROGRESS. TOO MUCH GOVT INTERVENTION STIFLES PROGRESS.
06/17/2013: Just this morning, Montreal Mayor Michael Applebaum was arrested at his home by the city's anti-corruption police.
"Tens of thousands" were paid in bribes in return for permit approvals police say.
06/28/2013: A Brazilian congressman sentenced to 13 years in jail for corruption has given himself up after two days on the run. Natan Donadon is the first serving congressman to be jailed in Brazil since military rule came to an end in the 1980s.
Mr Donadon was convicted three years ago of siphoning off nearly $4m (£2.6m) from the State Assembly in Rondonia, in Brazil's Amazon region.
THE GH GOVT MUST CONTACT RAMON ANG, PRESIDENT OF SAN MIGUEL CORP IN THE PHILLIPINES. WE ARE SLEEPING IN GH, JOKER$!
HE CAN ADVICE AND HELP GH WITH AIRPORT INFRASTRUCTURE, OIL EXPLORATION, ROAD, RAIL PROJECTS. VERY INTELLIGENT MAN
"GHANA'S early hopes were dashed by exclusionary politics, poor economic management and corruption, which created and perpetuated political instability"...KOFI ANNAN
ARE WE GOING TO LEARN FROM OUR MISTAKES AND FIX THEM OR ARE WE GOING TO BLINDLY LOOK AWAY N CONTINUE TO WALLOW IN MEDIOCRITY?
Most of the over $541 million revenue received from oil in 2012 was drained by Government due to poor planning and spending decisions rendering most of the projects incomplete.
Compared to its African neighbors like Malawi, Tanzania and the DRC, Ghana’s cost overruns are at least 18 percent higher.

GARGAUNTUAN CORRUPTION 1, 2 3...
IM WAITING FOR ANANSEKROM TO COME OUT WIT GARGANTUAN CORRUPTION..1, 2, 3..STARRING AKROBETO, EGYA KOO, MERCY, LIL WIN, MCBROWN, DUMAS, DONTO...MORE CHOPPING OF GH TAX PAYERS MONEY.
YET, MAHAMA HAS THE NERVE TO HIJACK TARRIFS? LOOK AT THE HIGH LEVEL OF CORRUPTION GOING ON? THE BABIES WITH SHARP TEETH ARE ALL WACTHING
don`t care !!! 12 years ago

My President!you have WON my heart with ur right step in right direction!it will work!come that period

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, sufferi ...
read full comment

My President!you have WON my heart with ur right step in right direction!it will work!come that period

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals

Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

Hmmmmm!It is not when truth is dirty, but when it is shallow, that the lover of knowledge is reluctant to step into its waters.
SO WHAT? 12 years ago

GHANAIANS ARE VERY SENSELESSLY SIMPLISTIC. I'M NOT OFFENDED WHEN CALLED PEPENI. I DON'T SEE ANYONE GETS OFFENDED WHEN CALLED AKAN NI. PEPE IS PEPE, AKAN IS AKAN.

GHANAIANS ARE VERY SENSELESSLY SIMPLISTIC. I'M NOT OFFENDED WHEN CALLED PEPENI. I DON'T SEE ANYONE GETS OFFENDED WHEN CALLED AKAN NI. PEPE IS PEPE, AKAN IS AKAN.
ABBA 12 years ago

Mahama, don't throw dust into our eyes. This is another way of creating job for the boys-WASTE OF OUR MONEY.Almost all the corrupt people, nation wreckers in this country are known and most of them have been mentioned. It is ...
read full comment

Mahama, don't throw dust into our eyes. This is another way of creating job for the boys-WASTE OF OUR MONEY.Almost all the corrupt people, nation wreckers in this country are known and most of them have been mentioned. It is up to you to prosecute them and punish them, but for party politics you behave like you don't know them. We don't need any centres to identify the nation wreckers they are all known. We know Wayomi Barton Oduro, Betty Mood, ISOFOTON, .WATERVILLE etc,etc.These people and companies do not require centres to be prosecuted. All that is required is firmness, boldness, and true leadership.
Ato John 12 years ago

Thank you ABBA, but this is not only to throw in our eyes and create jobs for the boys, it is also going to be used to witch hunt. EOCO has got offices in all the regions, what are they there for?

We are wide AWAKE.

Thank you ABBA, but this is not only to throw in our eyes and create jobs for the boys, it is also going to be used to witch hunt. EOCO has got offices in all the regions, what are they there for?

We are wide AWAKE.
Kofi 12 years ago

Until the truth about cocaine-turned-soda is unravelled, Woyome money and similar ones get back to its rightful owners, setting up all these centers will only be job for the boys.

Until the truth about cocaine-turned-soda is unravelled, Woyome money and similar ones get back to its rightful owners, setting up all these centers will only be job for the boys.
GHANANI 12 years ago

Not only that for the government should consider appointing Corruption Preventing Offcers with the sole responsibilty of detecting and preventing crimes in government organizations.Workers should be encouraged to report inci ...
read full comment

Not only that for the government should consider appointing Corruption Preventing Offcers with the sole responsibilty of detecting and preventing crimes in government organizations.Workers should be encouraged to report incidences of corruption to the Corruption Preventing Officers and such whistle-blowers should be rewarded where possible.

asanyka 12 years ago

lets see more action and less talk. Ghanaians are overfed with politicians talk shows while they implement little to none of their words and promises. we wait to see what positive effect this will bring to uproot corruption f ...
read full comment

lets see more action and less talk. Ghanaians are overfed with politicians talk shows while they implement little to none of their words and promises. we wait to see what positive effect this will bring to uproot corruption from our society.
CAPII 12 years ago

DO YOU MEAN GHANAIANS AT A CENTER TO FIGHT CORRUPTION? THIS IS ENTRUSTING "STINK-FISH"(KOOBI) BUSINESS TO THE CAT. LOL !!!!!! IF GOD BECOMES GHANAIAN TODAY,ALMIGHTY WILL BE CORRUPT TOMORROW.ALL GHANAIANS ARE NOT TRUSTWORTHY.

DO YOU MEAN GHANAIANS AT A CENTER TO FIGHT CORRUPTION? THIS IS ENTRUSTING "STINK-FISH"(KOOBI) BUSINESS TO THE CAT. LOL !!!!!! IF GOD BECOMES GHANAIAN TODAY,ALMIGHTY WILL BE CORRUPT TOMORROW.ALL GHANAIANS ARE NOT TRUSTWORTHY.
OMANBA 12 years ago

Why futile? Does it mean we should never attempt to fight corruption?I know why you are sceptical but something has to be done to fight corruption which is the main cause for the nation's slow development.Any attempt to fight ...
read full comment

Why futile? Does it mean we should never attempt to fight corruption?I know why you are sceptical but something has to be done to fight corruption which is the main cause for the nation's slow development.Any attempt to fight corruption in Ghana should be supported by all.
Great 12 years ago

What a joke.This guy think he's smart.

What a joke.This guy think he's smart.
OMANBA 12 years ago

The government should at times use private auditors to undertake 'snap' auditing in certain government organizations.This will be a very potent fight against corruption in government organizations.

The government should at times use private auditors to undertake 'snap' auditing in certain government organizations.This will be a very potent fight against corruption in government organizations.
THE LONE PROPHET OF JEHOVAH 12 years ago

First the CID police at headquarters and Attorney General's office Accra.....for corruption and cover ups of murder cases? a crime against humanity.

First the CID police at headquarters and Attorney General's office Accra.....for corruption and cover ups of murder cases? a crime against humanity.
The wise man 12 years ago

Thanks Mr. Prez for the initiatives taken to combat corruption prevailing and ruling the country at large. It seems to me you have glaring ideas but they can hardly be implemented. Your glaring promises and conduct speak so l ...
read full comment

Thanks Mr. Prez for the initiatives taken to combat corruption prevailing and ruling the country at large. It seems to me you have glaring ideas but they can hardly be implemented. Your glaring promises and conduct speak so loud that I can hardly hear what you say. It is easier said than done! You seem as an amateur type of president you are found not able capable of implementing any policy you sparkingly tell the nation. You think by your promises you can fool us. What have you done so far in terms of corruption of Wayome? Isn't he walking as a free man on the streets in Accra. You are a damn stupid, useless, clueless, dirtiest "tani" ever seen on the face of this earth. woho kankan, robber wanim se akonfem, guinea fowl.
kk 12 years ago

The first is 'punishments to offenders' not just identifying them and letting loose. People are not interested in that Sir.

The first is 'punishments to offenders' not just identifying them and letting loose. People are not interested in that Sir.
Nana 12 years ago

You better hurry, Regional officers in-charge of school selection system for SSS are making so much money by charging between Gh 3500-5000

You better hurry, Regional officers in-charge of school selection system for SSS are making so much money by charging between Gh 3500-5000
citizen 12 years ago

Complain Center should have the power to prosecute even the president. That will be nice.

Start with the port harbour officials and the police. Then ECG and school headteachers. Now watch how Ghana will change

Complain Center should have the power to prosecute even the president. That will be nice.

Start with the port harbour officials and the police. Then ECG and school headteachers. Now watch how Ghana will change

Vuvuzela 12 years ago

We can't wait to see how that plays out. Essentially, it is not complaints that matter, it is the prosecution. But since Mahama is a different person, time will offer the best judgment as to whether or not he is being truthfu ...
read full comment

We can't wait to see how that plays out. Essentially, it is not complaints that matter, it is the prosecution. But since Mahama is a different person, time will offer the best judgment as to whether or not he is being truthful and serious about tackling corruption.
Pelicles 12 years ago

Efo, who are those who will man these centers? Ghanaians alright so, I have serious doubt about its effectiveness. There are law to combat corruption but its implementation is the problem because as long as we are not truthf ...
read full comment

Efo, who are those who will man these centers? Ghanaians alright so, I have serious doubt about its effectiveness. There are law to combat corruption but its implementation is the problem because as long as we are not truthful, this exercise is dead on arrival or just another avenue for the "boys to have something to do".

The president is being perceived as very "weak" so, he is trying to shore up his image as someone who is tough.
Vuvuzela 12 years ago

Peli, I guess you're right, and probably more right, especially on our laws.

In fact, enforcement of our laws have been my sermon since 2004 but as you know, our presidents and law makers or enforcement agents of the stat ...
read full comment

Peli, I guess you're right, and probably more right, especially on our laws.

In fact, enforcement of our laws have been my sermon since 2004 but as you know, our presidents and law makers or enforcement agents of the state don't give a damn.

Well as at now, the president hasn't yet demonstrated any toughness. Again, we wait to see, by this time next year, we should be able to make accurate assessment of situations on the ground based on our journey so far with Mahama at the steer.

Let me post here again my long open letter addressed to the president for you perusal. I posted it immediately after the independence day this year. Ghanaweb didn't publish it.

How are you doing, anyway?

What We Want From President John Mahama: An Open Letter to the President

H.E. The President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama,
Flagstaff House,
Accra, Ghana.

Your Excellency,

Ghana has just crossed the 56th year’s milestone and wiggles its way haphazardly, as it were, of an inebriate, into the unknown. As remarkable as this eventful traverse has been, we are battling our breath to catch in the mirror a glimpse our grisly image at 56, and as individuals hurl themselves to give account of their experiences on the realities of this timespace, the flux of articles in the media expressing disdain and disappointment is prodigious. Two of these attracted my attention; one on behalf of the government reported by Citi FM which titled, “Be proud of Ghana’s success at 56 – Gov’t”, and the other by one Abdul Baba that said, for “Ghana at 56,” it was “a time to rise.”

Undoubtedly these articles mean well, but the “government” in the first is nuanced since it can’t be inferred that the feeling of “being proud” of [some] success at this particular time would be an idea cherished by the president of the republic. It emanates therefore as an expression for, rather than from the president’s own bona fide sentiments of a hypothetic situation as the president is obviously knowledgeable of the current state of affairs in the country.
Collectively, one understands the precarious position of the government as it clutches to the straws by trying to make us feel comfortable with “success” very hardly perceptible! The fact that the country is crumbling under the enduring and excessive post-independent pillage of our resources and management catastrophe by successive governments and their officials cannot be understated. On the other hand, agreeing with Abdul Baba, I also believe it is truly time for us to rise. But looking at the state and moral assessment of its citizens, what are we rising on? Injustice and impunity that place politicians above the law while perpetually voting on big paychecks for themselves with nothing to show for it?

I have tried to wait for echoes of the presidential elections to wane in order to have your attention critically focused on the theme of this letter: CORRUPTION, direct result of and mutually dependent on the exaggerated lack of will in the exercise of rule of law by parties concerned, and in the shade of which are the overwhelming lethargy and extreme inefficiency spanning every institution at management levels in Ghana. But having gleaned from various NPP pranksters’ boisterous tantrums throughout all this time, most of us have come to conclusion the party is not about to rescind its recourse to court. One thing is of utmost essence however, as far as we others are concerned: Ghana goes first, ahead of individualist inclinations of NPP’s fanciful imagination.

If at one and the same day (Ghanaweb.com General News of Thursday, February 28, 2013 – Culled from radioxyzonline and joyonline respectively) Haruna Esseku would swear the NPP court actions are geared to “unseat the president” while the National Vice Chairman of the NPP, Fred Oware “would debunk claims the party is contesting the legitimacy of the President,” what is more contradictory? Is politics now an idle stroll for fun in Ghana?

Mr. President, what is driving some of us in awe of the situation, is the distinctive pervasiveness of corruption and its mounting amplitude over time on one hand, and on the other, the weakness of the authorities to find a sustainable solution. My concerns reflect that of so many like-minded and very honest Ghanaians who believe this country is treading on paths that may soon escape repair/stretch limits and may well tip us tumbling in a spiral of no-return if we do not turn the tables and halt the trend in the flawed management of our affairs. Factually, it is my belief solutions are there at the end tip of our fingers – at the disposition of the state.
While contending that subscription to pessimism is trifling and frivolous at this point in time, it is worthy of thought that optimism needs necessarily be built on substance – practical thoughts, creativity and objectivity that herald hope. It is this hope that some of us believe is rekindled in your election as the President of the Republic, knowing you have an inclination to listen. It is the conviction of most of us that with you as a president a change in direction is possible. We want you as the flag bearer of that change. We want you to listen, then act like a President who has the destiny of people in your hand, and who has the power to alter the course of history.

Your Excellency, you were not elected at the steer of the country because the country is convinced the NDC is spotless as far as corruption and mismanagement are concerned. Parties are composed of Ghanaians, and all the political parties are identical twins of each other. The country voted for your person! We believe in your honesty, your humility and sense of purpose; we see in you the reincarnation of hopes and virtues that have been usurped for selfishness and irresponsibility of thought.

Mr. President, there is a paradox that for our politicians in Ghana tomorrow never comes so promises made for the next daybreak are left into oblivion as soon as made, yet they convince us as they go to bed every evening that their dream policies smell good of alambic. In the same vein, on the leeward, that is, protecting themselves under the sacrosanct veil of the so-called goodwill and faith, churches and their prophets wearing all beard types and lengths proliferate with amazing prevalence and momentum while at the same time financial crimes and corruption are at their highest peak.

While denouncing the hike in the lack of transparency and dynamism in the gestion and administrative procedure in state institutions it is noteworthy that management is not about as hard as cracking a nut! If education and competence are touted so fondly as requisite conditions for effective managerial and administrative prowess why is it that Ghana is falling below standard when the country boasts of increasingly many highly educated cadres?
In 1976 the percentage holders of doctorate degrees was higher in Ghana than in Denmark yet our country barely stuck out of the waves. Ghana and Africa are not only trailing the Western world in innovation and Management, they are doing worse of anything, and this is certainly not related to the lack of highly educated intellectuals. Taking a glance at trends therefore we can now ascertain that even 100% literacy in Ghana would not help.

Management is simply a matter of defining objectives, then instituting a system of and guarding modalities to achieving desired results. Other factors remaining the same, the optimum result is attained by packaging into the resources strict regulations which are, in fact, principles and work ethic, and the extent of achievement equals the effort engaged in assuring that those principles function as programed. Failure is bound to be certain in management situations where regulations are neglected, which amply explains the lasting situation in Ghana.

Your Excellency, though I don’t want to enumerate types of corruption because the list is very long, at least one or two cases are worth mentioning for the sake of this. Sometime ago, my business institution required a police report. Getting one in Ghana, depending on the charge, is a headache. Now, after two months of drag-feet imbroglio notice was issued that the reports were processed since three weeks pending the signature of god, that is, the honorable police officer who swore in the service of Ghana, but he had other things to do! In my opinion such officers should be fired. These are the type of people who will undermine your government.

A second case concerns a friend who called from home in a rare enthusiasm I never knew of him to exclaim the center of the world was in Ghana and that the sun rose and set in his home. Just as I queried my mind about his use of symbolism in the representation of what must be going on he asserted he now changed cars every six months and had three, and that he also had two “mansions”. Carpe Diem, the future could take care of itself? And he wasn’t a senior officer!
I wasn’t surprised when he later during the conversation disclosed he was a CEPS officer. His tale, contrary to his expectations, didn’t inspire the reaction he anticipated from me and I wasn’t amused. Thinking about this one does not require the IQ of a genius to figure out that it would only take a handful of such officers spanning state institutions to collapse the country completely.
When I left Ghana, my friend had just started life as a welder after graduation from a technical institution, and was later absorbed into CEPS through the backdoor by his cousin’s wife who was a senior officer. These ignoble situations are a tradition in Ghana considering that a president, during his incumbency, blamed Adam – of our biblical ancestry for all of it as a prelude to and justification for embarking on an unprecedented wholesale predatory on our resources.

Mr. President, in Ghana, while we relish flaunting our latest models of flashy cars and houses in boastful exhibition of affluence we often forget the desperate condition of the poor next door neighbor who, as a compatriot, also has titles to the same misappropriated wealth. The melancholy in this is that, while this all last, we sidestep the blunt reality that at the end of our time when we go down, we will not carry materials away. So, why is it difficult thereof to consider that it makes more sense to bequeath to our generations a prosperous and healthy state?

Your Excellency, corruption is a state of mind. It is born at the crossroads of deliberate moral bankruptcy and perfidy. Trying to right this faulty mindset is also the sociology of trying to change what causes individual minds to stray from the normal. Corruption in a country is symptomatic of chronic political failure. This involves systemic lack of volition or resolution to initiate authoritatively control programs and jealously guarding their success through effective monitoring schemes or lines of action. This explains why corruption in developed and advanced states like the U.S., Britain and Germany is different to the horrid culture in Ghana, and why it does not really affect aggregate developments in those countries as they always have plans of actions that are followed to the letter. You are in infraction of the law; you will suffer the consequences, no matter who you are.

Other parts of Africa trail in the same pathway however, Senegal is one country emerging out of the dark shades. Senegal’s political elites spearheaded by the incumbent President Macky Sall are taking voluntary and admirable steps in a different direction. Just four days after the presidential elections last year, the Ministers of the former government of Abdoulaye Wade were denied access into their offices. This measure was to prevent them from taking away compromising documentation, and some Ministers were caught red-handed stealing state materials. All state-owned vehicles were seized immediately (We have not forgotten how ineptitude of the government has left Ministries burning, as we are still waiting for account on cars that were never retrieved from the former President Kufuor’s government officials).
Actually some of those suspected of involvement in corruption and other financial crimes are in jail pending investigations while high profile politicians including the former president’s son are under strict travel ban. The current big front-page headline reads, “Arrest imminent for Karim”, the son of the former President Wade who was nicknamed “Minister of Heaven, Earth” who is also under the same travel ban and can’t go anywhere. Where else in Africa could this happen?
The Senegalese president also directed investigations in most western capitals for assets stashed away of by politicians and his success so far is overwhelming. As was contained in his package of campaign manifesto, the Senegalese President assumes responsibility for those actions leading to the turnout of events concerning corruption and theft. Some of us would not expect a miracle out of this but it marks a fulcrum in the country’s political will to eradicate corruption. The first step is of consequence.

Pushing for more legislation and rule of law

To call for the hard-line prop-up of laws, rules and regulation or amendment thereof would have assumed we have already been respectful of our laws. We don’t respect, comply with nor are we responsive to laws in Ghana. This is the genesis of decadence in individual behavior, the general break-down of morality and ethics in everything we do and the perspective from which we view everything. I am sorry, but it is the reality. This behavior, you know, Mr. President, questions our intelligence.

Starting from 0, as in ZERO, how does a human civilization evolve from the rudimentary savage life of a jungle into a complex structure of developed, prosperous and civilized society capable of sustaining principle-based healthy culture, viable economy, good will, freedom, equality and ethics and morality systems that guarantee not only immediate life instincts but also takes posterity into account?
Since we understand every human has his own social pulls and pushes, streaks of character, mentality, attitudes that may be dictated, or not, by rationality or from a myriad causes, we suppose that there ought to be regulation – rules that define how each individual comports themselves so as to uphold the intrinsic idea of intelligence, wisdom, order, sense of direction and purpose, as distinct from lower animals.
Next in sequence, the tedious challenge and the predominant of all, in scale, which may be likened to a structural frame, is finding honest and loyal people who would be the interpreters of the rules and who would assure everyone in the nascent civilization bows to the rules by will, reason or by force, that is, the laws will be imposed by default.

It is understandable that in the dire absence of any such rules, what would fit the description of this society would be chaos; life here would be meaningless. No objectives, no vision, no judgment, no sense of morality as the sense of good and bad would be lost. The very strong of this civilization will subdue the weak to every known form of bully, in the fashion of the Law of the jungle.
Your Excellency, what is happening in Ghana now bears close resemblance to this. As far as Ghana is concerned, we don’t have such structural frame. The country is presently getting stuck in the mud because nothing seems to be working because the laws aren’t working!

Your Excellency, I am aware you know it is the LAW that changes people, and it is people who must enforce them. Take for instance the pilot who takes off in his airplane into the emptiness, heading for an unknown destination. Each day is different. Now, flight statistics show that the probability of arriving at his destination is very high, meaning he has almost all the chances of arriving safely.
But no matter how very reliable navigational instruments could be, his utmost vigilance is required. So he applies very stringently all the rules and regulations as apply during all the phases of the flight. It is a matter of discipline, passion, challenge, the urge to be successful, the desire to mark a passage! If he made any mistakes he would not live to correct them as he would go down with everybody aboard the flight. What is his top challenge therefore? Many pilots make daily successful flights, so he would not be an exception, taking that all other pilots are products of this earth. This, in real life situation could liken the president of the republic to a pilot who needs to apply all the rules required to reach the destination.

For the President to be successful during the next four years of administration and be able to eradicate poverty, reinstall confidence levels and optimism, stem negative tendencies he should have to take stiff actions immediately and assume responsibility. The president needs to enforce policies that instill retribution for wrongdoing; reward for excellence, in a way that would revitalize the sense of nationalism among the population.
To fight corruption people have to get punished and others have to get fired for misbehavior and abuse of confidence. The prisons have punitive/correctional effects and those of forestalling similar behavior of others. As an old French adage would have it, “l’enfer est pavé de bonnes intentions,” the road to hell is paved with good reasons.
People are people; they don’t have to be rational. People put up bad behavior when they understand they will not have to worry about consequences of their actions. In fact, bad behavior begins the moment it is noticed that others did not face action for what they did wrong. The more a system stays impunity, the more dramatic the successive turnouts. Lack of punishment is therefore the direct motivation for the recurrence of similar and worse behavior.

We are aware the presidency does not represent the law but this is a humble plea that it is time something gets done. And it goes from ridiculousness to mockery at our scholarship and collective sense of responsibility that there is an open acknowledgement of generalized and extreme financial malpractice and mismanagement going on and yet no one gets punished or fired. No one alone is indispensable. If someone can’t function as required, others should be given the chance. We can’t afford to continue losing billions of dollars to corruption alone while we go borrowing millions.
Some of us could assist His Excellency to be successful in salvaging the country from the rot and ruins it finds itself in if the state would pass more laws and have them enforced against criminal behavior.

Finally, Your Excellency, while we wait for your actions, this is worth the thought of the moment: which underlying conditions predispose one race to a tenacious sense of goodwill, hard work and innovation, the jealous upkeep of order and justice, while apparently conferring on the other tendencies of utter carelessness and qualities destitute of positive thought? While at it, I keep convinced this kind of considerations are also games of the mind, but until we stepped out of the old trappings of our craniums, from the ill-motivated drives of the selfish African and have our gaze leveled not only on moral refinement but also on the sweeping momentum of the new world order, the dawn of hope and search for “renewed” total independence will be lost on us. We will remain forever the mystical figure with a complex and head-breaking paradox: Our feet are on gold and diamond, and in our hands an empty calabash.

While thanking very heartily Your Excellency for his audience let me express the honor to remain, Sir, Your Excellency’s most humble subject.

God bless Ghana and God bless the President.

Nana Kofi Komfuor , (Vuvuzela on the Ghanaweb.com)
132B rue 41097 M3,
Tevragh Zeina,
Nouakchott, Mauritania

nana.komfuor@ymail.com
mohammed 12 years ago

Have you dealt with Woyome and other culprits in the Saga? We need action, collect the money with interest and barn the culprits from public office for 8 years upon payments of all the money and interest, before they are givi ...
read full comment

Have you dealt with Woyome and other culprits in the Saga? We need action, collect the money with interest and barn the culprits from public office for 8 years upon payments of all the money and interest, before they are giving a second chance to participate in public office.
Ataa 12 years ago

Thank you Mohammed..Even the few that have been found..are walkingfree. This is only a ploy to spend more money for no work done: In next years budget, they'll have projections for expenses for these offices with no concrete ...
read full comment

Thank you Mohammed..Even the few that have been found..are walkingfree. This is only a ploy to spend more money for no work done: In next years budget, they'll have projections for expenses for these offices with no concrete solution to the erradication of corruption. Who makes these decisions koraaaahhhh? We need a lot more "Anases" who will profile these corrupt officers..What became of his investigation? Have anything changed at the habour? Childrens hospital? Mental hospital? etc...Talk! Talk! Talk!
Joe 12 years ago

This is DOA (dead on arrival). This government is not serious. Who will openly go to such institution to report a corrupt person. It is those in charge who will reveal the identity of the whistle blowers.

This is DOA (dead on arrival). This government is not serious. Who will openly go to such institution to report a corrupt person. It is those in charge who will reveal the identity of the whistle blowers.
Balawo President 12 years ago

What has the president done about GYEEDA, his own corruption involving the $170m, his ministers ostentatious living, judgement debts? Until he can prove to Ghanaians that corrupt politicians, civil servants etc. are prosecute ...
read full comment

What has the president done about GYEEDA, his own corruption involving the $170m, his ministers ostentatious living, judgement debts? Until he can prove to Ghanaians that corrupt politicians, civil servants etc. are prosecuted and sanctioned he must stop wasting our resources in creating talking shops
James kwose 12 years ago

lips services center

lips services center
mark 12 years ago

again government to and not government has, only words

again government to and not government has, only words
sammy 12 years ago

some corruption events are agreement between parties so who will make the complain?

some corruption events are agreement between parties so who will make the complain?

Akadu Mensema 12 years ago

This Akomfem is just useless! What do we have to report about Woyome?

This Akomfem is just useless! What do we have to report about Woyome?
SON OF EWE 12 years ago

hellokitty love you

hellokitty love you
SON OF EWE 12 years ago

hi

hi
Idi Amin Mobutu Mokassa Jr. 12 years ago

How are the Public Complaint Centers going to do to investigate complaints?Go to the accused Police Officer or the crook in the ministry and say: Hey! Mr. Do-Little, an anonymous complainant say you're involved in taking brib ...
read full comment

How are the Public Complaint Centers going to do to investigate complaints?Go to the accused Police Officer or the crook in the ministry and say: Hey! Mr. Do-Little, an anonymous complainant say you're involved in taking bribes. True or False?
NSEM WO WORLD. 12 years ago

RETRIEVE OUR MONEY FROM WOYOME FIRST FOR US TO KNOW YOU WOULD NOT SET UP COMMITTEES FOR WHERE ACTION IS NEEDED.

RETRIEVE OUR MONEY FROM WOYOME FIRST FOR US TO KNOW YOU WOULD NOT SET UP COMMITTEES FOR WHERE ACTION IS NEEDED.
kpega,GYEEDA 12 years ago

PURE NONSENSE

PURE NONSENSE
Asante hene Dr afari djan 12 years ago

Is mahama correct? Stupid incompetent pepeni.

Is mahama correct? Stupid incompetent pepeni.
ANTI CORRUPTION CRUSADER 1 12 years ago

Another bureaucracy to perpetuate corruption.

Another bureaucracy to perpetuate corruption.
LYDIA 12 years ago

THIS NDC IS VERY GOOD AT DEEPENING THE POVERTY OF FANTIS, EWES, AND NORTHERNERS BECAUSE CORRUPTION IS A SURE RECIPE FOR DEEPENING CORRUPTION, AND THE HUGE AMOUNTS OF MONIES THIS NDC HAS CREATED LOOTED AND SHARED WILL GO TO FU ...
read full comment

THIS NDC IS VERY GOOD AT DEEPENING THE POVERTY OF FANTIS, EWES, AND NORTHERNERS BECAUSE CORRUPTION IS A SURE RECIPE FOR DEEPENING CORRUPTION, AND THE HUGE AMOUNTS OF MONIES THIS NDC HAS CREATED LOOTED AND SHARED WILL GO TO FURTHER DEEPEN THE POVERTY OF THE NORTH, FANTIS, AND EWES AND THEY WILL SHOUT LOUDLY THAT ide biiiiiiii keke......nkwasiafuor...hahahahahahaaaaa

39 Comments

Welcome,

SIGN IN

Welcome,

RESET PASSWORD

Hello,

Terms and conditions

REGISTER

Fight against corruption: Govt to set up complaint centers

Read Comments .st0{display:none;fill:#14BDD3;} .st1{display:none;} .st2{display:inline;fill:#FC0F0F;} .st3{display:inline;fill:#FFFFFF;} .st4{display:inline;fill:none;stroke:#000000;stroke-width:6;stroke-miterlimit:10;} Comments (39)

Read Comments Comments (39)