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.