Hardly have I met so many ignorant people in any geographic milieu than my own birthplace, Ghana. What they do not know and understand, they dismiss as nonsense and envy.
What will compare a Ghanaian (and this includes th ... read full comment
Hardly have I met so many ignorant people in any geographic milieu than my own birthplace, Ghana. What they do not know and understand, they dismiss as nonsense and envy.
What will compare a Ghanaian (and this includes their intellectuals) to sit down and think about an important national issue besides his self-interest? Martin Amidu is raising an alarm, a very serious one at that, concerning the vagrant abuse of power by this NDC criminals in government, and no one seems to care. They are dismissing him as jealous and trouble maker. Tweaaa, ignorance is truly a disease!
Kwabena Yeboah 8 years ago
Our 1992 Constitution vests absolute power in the Executive rather than in Parliament, and until Ghanaians change the pseudo American-style government arbitrarily devised by the short sighted JJ Rawlings to Westerminister-sty ... read full comment
Our 1992 Constitution vests absolute power in the Executive rather than in Parliament, and until Ghanaians change the pseudo American-style government arbitrarily devised by the short sighted JJ Rawlings to Westerminister-style government where absolute power is vested in Parliament, our country is doomed.
There are checks and balances in the American-style government, whereas there is non in JJ Rawlings' 1992 Constitution designed solely to serve his selfish interest. The American-style government was designed to limit the powers of the Executive, i.e., the Executive makes all the administrative appointments of the in-coming government, but does not control the Treasury. The treasury is the prerogative of the Senate, and the Senate can use the treasury to paralyze the Executive if the Executive does not get its act together and tow the line.
What we have in Rawlings' 1992 Constitution is that, unlike the American-style government where the Senate controls the Treasury ( the purse), in Ghana the Executive controls appointments as well as the Consolidated Account(the Treasury), giving it absolute power. There are no checks and balances in Rawlings' 1992 Constitution, the incumbent can do anything to satisfy his whims and caprices as Parliament (Ghana's elected representatives) looks on impotently. Any citizen who ruffles the feathers of the Executive would be committing a political suicide, or would be limiting his/her career trajectory because the person would never get any plum political appointment. The same applies to Parliament where many appointments are sourced by the Executive.
The poignant result of all is the abuse of the Consolidated Account. What substantive questions are Ghanaian intellectuals asking about the fact that the Consolidated Account is empty at every change in government. Despite the massive sale of state-owned enterprises all through the 80s and 90s, the Consolidated Account was empty when the government changed hands in the 2000 elections. JA Kufuor and his NPP government complained that the Consolidated Account was empty. Where did all the proceeds from the sale of over 350 Nkrumah's state-owned
enterprises go? And why is JJ Rawlings walking free and running his mouth on corruption in the country?
Likewise in 2008, when JA Kufour and his NPP lost the elections, the in-coming NDC government made the same claim that the Consolidated Account was empty, in spite of the fact that JA Kufuor disposed of Ashanti Goldfields Ltd., Ghana Telecom, and Ghana Airways to name a few. Why does it not prick the conscience of any Ghanaian, more so the intellectuals that JA Kufuor singularly could sit in his office and negotiate the sale of Ghana Telecom, and send it to Parliament for approval? Are Ghanaians that obtuse?
Now we have incompetent John Mahama borrowing from all angles and sending the agreements to Parliament to rubber-stamp them, and the toothless Parliament cannot stop him. And I won't be surprised if at the end of his term, he and his NDC rogues empty the Consolidated Account according to tradition. Afterall, the thieves JA Kufuor and JJ Rawlings ransacked the Consolidated Accounts with impunity and are walking on our streets unabashed - these two notorious thieves should be disgraced and villified as the Germans did to Chancellor Helmut Kohl in 2001.
We ought to agitate for a complete overhaul of the 1992 Constitution and vest power in our elected representatives if we are to prevent thieves like JJ Rawlings, JA Kufuour, corrupt and incompetent John Mahama to take the country to the cleaners.
Godd 8 years ago
It will take more than a change in the present constitution to stop the rot. We are so good at finding ways around rules when it comes to getting money and privileges for ourselves that we will corrupt even a US system. Haven ... read full comment
It will take more than a change in the present constitution to stop the rot. We are so good at finding ways around rules when it comes to getting money and privileges for ourselves that we will corrupt even a US system. Haven't we tried all the systems before? Where did it land is?
Right now people are struggling to enter parliament principally for the personal benefits that will accrue to them. People join parties because they think they can get something out of it.
Akufo-Addo will be no Buhari. He had been long in the system and knows how the stealing goes on. He has invested so much money in becoming president that he and his gang will want to recuoup their losses. Moreover, members of his party are more adept at stealing money and hiding their tracks than NDC people who do it so crudely.
Apart from changing our constitution, this should be the time for Ghanaians to really choose somebody who is NOT Mahama and is NOT Akufo-Addo. The sad thing is that this won't happen. Expect the rot to continue.
Sky-blue 8 years ago
Honest akufo aduu, where is your law certificate????
Honest akufo aduu, where is your law certificate????
Hardly have I met so many ignorant people in any geographic milieu than my own birthplace, Ghana. What they do not know and understand, they dismiss as nonsense and envy.
What will compare a Ghanaian (and this includes th ...
read full comment
Our 1992 Constitution vests absolute power in the Executive rather than in Parliament, and until Ghanaians change the pseudo American-style government arbitrarily devised by the short sighted JJ Rawlings to Westerminister-sty ...
read full comment
It will take more than a change in the present constitution to stop the rot. We are so good at finding ways around rules when it comes to getting money and privileges for ourselves that we will corrupt even a US system. Haven ...
read full comment
Honest akufo aduu, where is your law certificate????