Of Debts And VALCO Deals: Whither Are We Bound As A Nation?

By Kwame Kontopiaat

In our current state of affairs, “we have to laugh to stop from crying” otherwise we shall all fall into a state of national depression. But can we afford to do that? No, because we have to be well enough to vote on December 7th.

Recent developments in our body-politic should raise serious concerns for us as a people but because we are afflicted by a near fatal political disease, partisanship,we cannot even acknowledge the threats to our system.

First, let us take the issue of the so-called VALCO sale. Here we are, in a situation in which our government through no other person than our president showcasing the NPP’s business acumen by declaring during the NPP congress in Sekondi in August this year that we were selling VALCO to a group of strategic investors for a $180 million profit. As usual, this declaration was greeted with the usual sycophantic cheers. And the president, his Trade and Finance Ministers were all smiles and pat each other on the back!

In conformance with constitutional requirements, the so-called “deal” with the international partners had to be ratified by Parliament. This is where “due diligence” should have been done to ascertain the authenticity of the “deal”---whether or not indeed there were such partners who had agreed to the “deal”. This is what any serious lawmaking body would/should have done. No, not our NPP dominated Parliament. They did no “due diligence” and ratified the “deal” by acclamation. Those who dared raise objections were arrogantly told to shut up. Then the so-called strategic investors, Norsk Hydro( NHY.OL) and Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (Vale/ CVRD)(VALE5.SA) immediately announced that they were not part to any such “deal”! Whaaaaaatttt?

As if this was a Chinua Achebe style tragic-comic story, the Majority Leader in Parliament, Hon. Benjamin Osei Aidoo, explained to us that Parliament was only doing what the Executive requested it to do. Our undergraduate students in Political Science should ask the honorable Parliamentary Leader whether or not he has ever heard of the concept of “separation of powers”. If he has not, he should resign immediately and be compelled to enroll in some level 100 courses in Political Science. After being in office for nearly eight years, he does not know that his legislative responsibilities include subjecting any “deal” to due diligence before rejection or ratification.

To add insult to injury, the other principals involved in this fiasco, Dr. Charles Mensah, VALCO chairman and the Trade Minister, Hon Papa Owusu Ankomah, have the effrontery to caution us against “talking too much” about the transaction else the strategic investors back out. Where in the world can government officials behave this way and get away with it? In Ghana they do get away with murder because the media have been cowed through bribes. Are these the same people who presented themselves to us as geniuses who possessed the requisite brain to redeem us from Jerry Rawlings’ brawn? Are these the same people who were sold to us as international economists/ politicians and legal luminaries? In this century, in the midst of unprecedented technological advancement, a country like Ghana has so-called brainy politics -of -the -belly-politicians whose main preoccupation has been to amass wealth, over-consume and become obese yet cannot handle a simple international business transaction. Yet they are wont to stifle any critique of their misdeeds, incompetence, and sheer buffoonery.

We all remember how not too long ago Hon. Mr. Yaw Osafo Maafo shamelessly blamed the total national debt of $4 billion on the profligacy of the NDC. However we are told today that notwithstanding the cancellation of $4.2 billion out of a total debt of $6.3 billion by our external creditors in mid-2006, our debts have once again catapulted to $7.8 billion! Somebody should tell us what the nearly $ 8 billion in additional borrowing was spent on. What is even more frightening was the astronomical 67.4 jump (in our debts) between 2006 and 2007.To throw dust into our eyes and perhaps to do a little damage control for the NPP, we are informed that this heavy debt overhang which represents a whopping 50% of our Gross Domestic Product does not pose a major financial threat. This is the most incredible understatement of the year. Are our economists oblivious to the international financial turbulence?

As if these did not smack of gross incompetence of the highest order, the president inaugurates a presidential palace whose construction cost cannot be estimated by the numerous PhDs and bogus Economics professors cocooned in the Ministry of Finance. Against this backdrop, therefore, government should sit down with all the contestants in the forthcoming general elections to review the true state of our economy so that whoever wins the December elections, will know where and how to tackle our intractable problems.

Kontopiaat, Dr. Kwame

Kontopiaatdr.kwame@yahoo.com