Rejoinder Ghana Airways' Assets For Sale

In fact the Business News of Saturday, 1 April 2006 which quoted the assets of the former national airline, Ghana Airways as being up for grabs sounds more like one of the April fool jokes until one followed the link given (http://www.africasia.co.uk/services/tenders/tender.php?ID=823). Despite the apparent authenticity of the link one is still careful to jump into conclusions because it sounds too puerile. This sounds like a blatant scam by the NPP government should it be true.

For goodness? sake is Ghana an authoritarian state or a democratic dispensation where there ought to be some transparency in government in such matters. This does not sound right. Advertised incognito on 25th March, published in Ghana on 1st April and bids close on 31st March? And this involves state assets that citizens are the stake holders? Is our government (Parliament and President Kufour) telling us he has no respect for Ghanaians? Was there really an advert in the Economist on 25th February, 2006 indicating the Sale of Ghana Airways Assets? How come it did not appear as headlines in any of the Ghana News? Is it one of those concealed moves of the government of Ghana to loot from Ghanaians? And who is this official liquidator or Price Waterhouse Coopers? An enquiring mind wants to know.

How long must this selling business continue in the dark? If we are not careful Ghana government will sell the entire nation before we realize it. This indiscriminate selling to foreign investors must stop. If the President and the NPP cannot manage the country they should find the exit door. Our government is becoming a shame for Ghana, to say the least. It is mind boggling that such a national sale can be affected in such a secret manner. Why must there be a deadline on applications or the process even requiring an application particularly when the sale date was. This attempt to have a closed sale is despicable and tantamount to white-collar theft. The likely outcome will be a few privileged Ghanaians and or Price Waterhouse Coopers officials buying these items for a few Cedis. While the airline has folded due to inefficiencies and arrogance, the country needs not be stripped further. Ghanaians would liked to know whether will operate with this poor standard in the developed countries? Price Waterhouse Coopers? integrity as well must also be questioned here.

Was the motive of our government officials to ensure the lowest price so that they could buy the assets themselves? Or is this in the interest of Ghana? It would have been proper to give the Ghanaian taxpayers the first choice or at least be informed ahead of time as well as the potential foreign firms. Why is the NPP giving her critics room to speculate that this is most likely calculated to also ensure that the buyers are President Kufuor and his friends? The taxpayers of Ghana have suffered enough from the bankruptcy of Ghana Airways to go through this pain again. Ghanaians deserve some transparency here. At this stage the ownership of Ghana International Airways even needs some investigations. Who are the real shareholders? Perhaps Ghanaians would need to fight tooth and nail to stop this sale from going on. However it may be too late as the NPP executives might have finished their selection.

CAUTION

Who ever is buying these liquidated assets or any of these liquidated items must be careful to keep his or her receipts. Not only that but also the liquidator must see to it that he or she is selling at the prevailing market prices because not very long from now when Kufour?s government is over they would be called to account for their purchases. The politicians should not be fooled that as soon as they liquidate it is over as they have come to endorse all the doubtful sales under the PNDC. No. The next government is going to be more responsible than Kufour and his NPP. The next government would be compelled by Ghanaians to look into the sale of all state assets since the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) began. This will date back to the 1980s. It would be prudent for all those who purchase (d) these assets illegally to start cleaning their houses before they are forced to surrender the assets.

So far Kufour and the NPP seem to have failed Ghana. They have not only failed on their promises but also they are continuing the same things the NDC were doing. What on earth is this? You are selling state assets and you don?t inform citizens! By the time the information comes to public everything is sold already. Who are the NPP kidding? The officials who think Ghanaians are fools and would never demand answers to such underhand deals must reconsider their decisions. They should not think that this is a quick get rich scheme by buying these assets themselves for nothing or less than the market value. Whatever they do it is advisable they keep their receipts and records because not very long from now they could be called to give an account to Ghanaians in the courts.

It should not be too difficult to trace and find out who bought what. If it becomes so difficult with ghost names the President must be called on wherever he might be to answer. Enough is enough. Let no one convince us otherwise. The story of the AMA tax collector who took in ?12 million but reported only ?120,000 (1%) is still fresh in our minds. Is the NPP going to fix the rot as any good and progressive government would and should do?

Privatization, as I see it is becoming a convenient cover for admission of defeat of our government. Whenever our government faces a problem that they can?t or don?t want to solve, they just yell ?privatization.? How simplistic can governing Ghana get? The stealing and looting is becoming too much of an eye sore. Why is it that apart Nkrumah who had the vision to build infrastructures Ghana is producing ?marketing? presidents who only come to liquidate and sell? What is wrong with our leaders these days? Singapore thrives well with state owned/government enterprises why not Ghana? And even if the government may deem it sensible to sell why doesn?t our government come out transparent? This is daylight robbery

Can we say it is diabolic a scheme of the government of Ghana to advertise the sale of national assets after the deadline?