Decoupling the A-G Department from the Justice Ministry

It is less than four weeks since I posted an article in this column titled: ZERO TOLERANCE FOR CORRUPTION UNDER CRITICAL REVIEW. I thought that issue of corruption especially in public places is something which should be laid to rest.

I have always been saying that corruption in Ghana is like oxygen which can be found everywhere. It is a way of life in this country. Consciously or unconsciously, paying or accepting a bribe is a normal thing in Ghana. And when a public official is prosecuted and handed a jail sentence we turn to have sympathy for him. And whenever, there is presidential pardon, they become a beneficiary.

Battle against corruption in this country has been directed towards members of the erstwhile NDC regime. Last week saw the Accra Fast High Court jailing Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata, the former chief executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Council (GNPC) for five years for 'willfully causing financial loss to the state'. His sentencing to jail has raised so many questions from the legal fraternity as the 'correct procedure' was not followed by the judge.

The president has got brilliant idea in achieving 'the zero tolerance for corruption' however; his idea seems to be one-sided. Since January 2001 it has tried more functionaries of the former regime and only one member of the present government. There are pundits who say that the trial and jailing of Mallam Yussif Issah was a sign of pacification because he was not a full scale member of the NPP.

The issue is: no member of the NPP has ever been put before a competent court of jurisdiction. During the 8 years of NDC rule no minister or government functionary was prosecuted. When the CHJRAJ report indicted Col (Rtd) Osei Owusu and P.V Obeng, the government issued a white paper to cover them. It only took the government of NPP to try former ministers in the previous NDC regime. So what work was the AG at that time doing?

All cases of alleged corruption gathered dust until the NPP came. When the NPP came it decided to 'clean the mess'. This cleaning has been labeled as political witch hunting aimed at selected few.

THE DERISION OF DUTY BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

The duty of the Attorney General is to investigate cases- whether public or private and where substantive evidence is available, proceed to court to prosecute. This dearth of prosecution of corrupt government officials is not confined to one particular political party. Both political parties (NPP and NDC) have betrayed the cause of justice.

Sometime we might say that the AG's department is understaffed that is why most cases are left untouched. If this reason is acceptable why is it that when subsequent government comes they are able to prosecute their predecessors? The reasons are numerous. Firstly, every government lacks the political will to prosecute their own party members. Secondly, the coupling of the Attorney General Department to the Justice Ministry to make one ministry defeats the principle of fairness.

There are so many cases of alleged corruption in the current regime. The president has said over and over again that he would prosecute his own ministers if you can produce evidence. I must respectfully disagree with the president in this direction. Because we have the state investigative apparatus like the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and finally the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) who can investigate any alleged cases of corruption or misapplication of public funds. One thing that I know in every criminal justice system is that investigation precedes prosecution. Who is supposed to do investigation? It is that the duty of the whistleblower or the president? I think the president has the power to put the state investigative apparatus to work.

Early this week, the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) released their 2008 Afro barometer Report. The report mentioned that 'the current levels of perceived corruption at the presidency represent large and significant increases over 2005 Afro barometer report, which indicated that only a small majority, 56 per cent perceived corruption in the presidency and 67 per cent perceived corruption among government officials'

The report further cited The Ghana Police Service as the most corrupt with about 86 per cent; tax officials and the judiciary picked the second spot with 79 per cent each; and Government agencies were adjudged the third most corrupt institution with 77 per cent rating. Other institutions mentioned in the corruption rating were; Members of Parliament with 73 per cent for the forth spot; elected local government officials and the presidency had 70 per cent each for the fifth spot.

SEPARATING THE AG DEPARTMENT FROM THE JUSTICE MINISTRY

If we want to kill the notion that the shortest path of amassing private wealth is through public office then we would need to strengthen the institutions of state.

The first one is the separating of the AG department from the Justice Ministry because when the Justice Minister doubles as the Attorney General he/she finds it difficult to prosecute colleague minister who falls short of the law.

When AG is even a member of parliament, his close association with other ministers of state and fellow parliamentarians will make it absolutely impossible to bit.

Almost every party when in opposition promises voters that when it comes to power it would separate the two and make the AG department non-political office. However, when the party is elected it never decouples the two.

The NPP talked about making the position of district chief officers an elected office. However, it came to office and saw the delicacies attached to government appointing his own party member for the position; the president never moved an inch in 'changing the status quo'

CONCLUSION

If we refuse to decouple the two, it would mean that cases of alleged corruption will be prosecuted in a law court unless a different regime comes to office. This will bring about a backlog of cases which people will reduce a new regime trying its predecessor to a political trial or selective justice. Furthermore more, allowing independent investigators and prosecutors to work on cases of alleged misappropriation of funds, corruption and abuse of office would help strengthen and solidify our democracy.

Appiah Kusi Adomako is an international freelance and speech writer, and the president of Ghana Chapter of Leaders of Tomorrow Foundation. He can be contacted through: e-mail; appiahkusiy2k@yahoo.com,

Decoupling the A-G Department from the Justice Ministry

1. Decoupling the A-G Department from the Justice Ministry

It is less than four weeks since I posted an article in this column titled: ZERO TOLERANCE FOR CORRUPTION UNDER CRITICAL REVIEW. I thought that issue of corruption especially in public places is something which should be laid to rest.

I have always been saying that corruption in Ghana is like oxygen which can be found everywhere. It is a way of life in this country. Consciously or unconsciously, paying or accepting a bribe is a normal thing in Ghana. And when a public official is prosecuted and handed a jail sentence we turn to have sympathy for him. And whenever, there is presidential pardon, they become a beneficiary.

Battle against corruption in this country has been directed towards members of the erstwhile NDC regime. Last week saw the Accra Fast High Court jailing Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata, the former chief executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Council (GNPC) for five years for 'willfully causing financial loss to the state'. His sentencing to jail has raised so many questions from the legal fraternity as the 'correct procedure' was not followed by the judge.

The president has got brilliant idea in achieving 'the zero tolerance for corruption' however; his idea seems to be one-sided. Since January 2001 it has tried more functionaries of the former regime and only one member of the present government. There are pundits who say that the trial and jailing of Mallam Yussif Issah was a sign of pacification because he was not a full scale member of the NPP.

The issue is: no member of the NPP has ever been put before a competent court of jurisdiction. During the 8 years of NDC rule no minister or government functionary was prosecuted. When the CHJRAJ report indicted Col (Rtd) Osei Owusu and P.V Obeng, the government issued a white paper to cover them. It only took the government of NPP to try former ministers in the previous NDC regime. So what work was the AG at that time doing?

All cases of alleged corruption gathered dust until the NPP came. When the NPP came it decided to 'clean the mess'. This cleaning has been labeled as political witch hunting aimed at selected few.

THE DERISION OF DUTY BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

The duty of the Attorney General is to investigate cases- whether public or private and where substantive evidence is available, proceed to court to prosecute. This dearth of prosecution of corrupt government officials is not confined to one particular political party. Both political parties (NPP and NDC) have betrayed the cause of justice.

Sometime we might say that the AG's department is understaffed that is why most cases are left untouched. If this reason is acceptable why is it that when subsequent government comes they are able to prosecute their predecessors? The reasons are numerous. Firstly, every government lacks the political will to prosecute their own party members. Secondly, the coupling of the Attorney General Department to the Justice Ministry to make one ministry defeats the principle of fairness.

There are so many cases of alleged corruption in the current regime. The president has said over and over again that he would prosecute his own ministers if you can produce evidence. I must respectfully disagree with the president in this direction. Because we have the state investigative apparatus like the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and finally the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) who can investigate any alleged cases of corruption or misapplication of public funds. One thing that I know in every criminal justice system is that investigation precedes prosecution. Who is supposed to do investigation? It is that the duty of the whistleblower or the president? I think the president has the power to put the state investigative apparatus to work.

Early this week, the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) released their 2008 Afro barometer Report. The report mentioned that 'the current levels of perceived corruption at the presidency represent large and significant increases over 2005 Afro barometer report, which indicated that only a small majority, 56 per cent perceived corruption in the presidency and 67 per cent perceived corruption among government officials'

The report further cited The Ghana Police Service as the most corrupt with about 86 per cent; tax officials and the judiciary picked the second spot with 79 per cent each; and Government agencies were adjudged the third most corrupt institution with 77 per cent rating. Other institutions mentioned in the corruption rating were; Members of Parliament with 73 per cent for the forth spot; elected local government officials and the presidency had 70 per cent each for the fifth spot.

SEPARATING THE AG DEPARTMENT FROM THE JUSTICE MINISTRY

If we want to kill the notion that the shortest path of amassing private wealth is through public office then we would need to strengthen the institutions of state.

The first one is the separating of the AG department from the Justice Ministry because when the Justice Minister doubles as the Attorney General he/she finds it difficult to prosecute colleague minister who falls short of the law.

When AG is even a member of parliament, his close association with other ministers of state and fellow parliamentarians will make it absolutely impossible to bit.

Almost every party when in opposition promises voters that when it comes to power it would separate the two and make the AG department non-political office. However, when the party is elected it never decouples the two.

The NPP talked about making the position of district chief officers an elected office. However, it came to office and saw the delicacies attached to government appointing his own party member for the position; the president never moved an inch in 'changing the status quo'

CONCLUSION

If we refuse to decouple the two, it would mean that cases of alleged corruption will be prosecuted in a law court unless a different regime comes to office. This will bring about a backlog of cases which people will reduce a new regime trying its predecessor to a political trial or selective justice. Furthermore more, allowing independent investigators and prosecutors to work on cases of alleged misappropriation of funds, corruption and abuse of office would help strengthen and solidify our democracy.

Appiah Kusi Adomako is an international freelance and speech writer, and the president of Ghana Chapter of Leaders of Tomorrow Foundation. He can be contacted through: e-mail; appiahkusiy2k@yahoo.com,

CAN THE CRUDE OIL REFINE GHANA'S ECONOMY

CAN THE CRUDE OIL SAVE GHANA?

(Appiah Kusi Adomako, Leaders of Tomorrow Foundation, Kumasi

Ghanaians were excited last year when Kosmos Energy Group announced that it had identified crude oil in commercial quantities. The economy is yet to take off with greater momentum. Perhaps, it is now the greatest time to be alive if you are Ghanaian. We stand on the threshold of becoming one of the fastest emerging economies in the sub-Saharan Africa if not in the world. However, this will not move on the wheels of inevitability. The oil is like the knife that can either serve us or sever us depending where one holds it. If we hold the oil by the handle we can use it. On the other hand, if we hold the knife by the metal part it would injure us as it has done to some countries like Nigeria, Angola, Iraq and Sudan.

We have every right to celebrate the news of the oil discovery in the country particularly when the nation had just wallowed in the darkness of energy crisis for nearly a year. Moreover, with crude oil prices reaching record high, we ought to rejoice as the great book says ‘again, I say rejoice’.

However, whilst rejoicing on the discovery of the oil we should not allow our heart to override our head in this matter. Crude oil is not the solution to our problems. It is like the bitter bile on the liver. One ought to be careful when attempting to take the liver as it might result in bursting the bitter bile.

Although not all Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) countries are corrupt, an historical symbiosis exists between oil and corruption. Oil, corruption and failed states seem to be synonymous. However, some countries have been able to address this threat; most of them are located in North Africa. Producing countries such as Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia and even in some respects Libya, have managed to resist the temptation of sleaze. While temptation may have been countered by most North African producers, the threat of falling into the same trap remains.

The economic record of mineral-exporting countries has generally been disappointing. Oil exporters, in particular, have done far less well than resource-poor countries over the past few decades, especially when one considers the big revenue gains to the oil-exporting countries since 1973, when oil prices soared. Why is this the case? Perhaps it is because of the way oil economies are run. Managing oil revenues well is much the same as managing any budget well, but some issues are more important for oil exporters. These include how much to save for future generations, how to achieve economic stability in the face of uncertain and widely fluctuating oil revenues and avoid "boom-bust" cycles, and how to ensure that spending is of high quality, whether in the form of large investment projects, public consumption, or subsidies.

THE CASE OF NIGERIA

It is incontrovertible that Nigeria suffers from a resource curse as we have little or nothing to show of as a country despite several years of oil exploration. Most of the proceed of their oil wealth has ended in the pockets of their leaders (gulf oil windfall and looting of the nation’s treasury by the late despotic ruler General Abacha).

Resource curse is the economic notion that countries with large endowment of natural resources perform worse than countries that are less endowed. Yet some countries with abundant natural resources do perform better than others, and some have done well.

Nigeria is a heart rendering paradox. A rich country with desperately poor people. Despite its massive earning from oil, 70% of its estimated 140 million people live below the poverty line. Attempts to explain this contradiction have repeatedly identified the resource curse as the major cause of the disconnection between the country’s wealth and people’s well being. More than 80 million Nigerians live on less than US$1 a day, with Nigeria being ranked 144 out of 146 by Transparency International Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2004.

In Nigeria, oil wealth has failed to generate development and has instead generated deep-seated corruption, kidnapping and war in some parts like the Niger Delta.

THE SOLUTION IS NOT IN THE OIL

In this world, energy, agriculture, medicine, clean water and air, transportation, crime prevention and detection, and business are all driven by technology not in oil. Since technology and knowledge are the key factors of production we cannot be idle on this aspect and hope that Ghana can progress on the inevitable wheels of the crude oil. We can earn US $100 billion per year in oil revenue yet we can still be poor. . How can we explain the fact that country such as the Netherlands, whose land area is less than the Central Region of Ghana, most of it below the sea level, has virtually no natural resources and still has its GDP twice that of the African continent? It has now been established that the widening gulf between the rich North and poor South is as a results of technological divide.

In the past the strength of a nation depended on the number of its natural resources and the strength of its military force. Today this has changed. Now the strength of a nation lies in the human resources of its people. This tells us why European nations, Japan and America with no or little resources have done far better in every aspect of economic indicators than that of African nations with all the legions of resource, yet we are still poor. What is missing from our dinner table as Africans is science and technology. Without this we would be sitting on gold but always be begging for silver. We can be endowed with all the oil deposits in the world yet without putting the revenue into the right equation we will never get solution to our problems.

The only way can Ghana move from its present stage of perpetual recipient of high doses of foreign aid to a strong and vibrant economy capable of meeting of all its needs- from Abraham Maslow’s physiological needs to self actualization is through quality education and more importantly science and technology. We would need to take a serious look at the kind of education which we give to the Ghanaian from the primary to the university. Education that does not allow people to ask questions like: why, how and what is of no education at all.

If we want to become a successful nation then we need to take education, science, technology and good governance seriously.

Essentially if Ghana is poised to make giants feats in achieving a strong scientific and technological advancement there some specific things which Ghana must do in order to be a successful and prosperous nation. We need to fix the oil revenue into the right equation so that we can get the desired solution.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FUND

I want to propose that 20 percent of the oil revenue be used as SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ENDOWMENT FUND. Funds accumulated by this account would be given to universities, research institutions to do research. Everything that we are enjoying now has come out through the painstaking research done by someone. In this world you cannot be great if you are seen as end users of every product.

Through science and technology we can make use of the by-products of the crude oil and turn everything to productive use. Take for instant our cocoa, there are more than thousand and one uses of cocoa by-product. However, due to our inability to carry research into them we through the cocoa everything away. Funds accrued should be made available to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), KNUST, other universities, private research scientist and a host lot of agencies that needs to be funded by the state. Proper funding would help the nation to make giant feats in science and technology.

CONCLUSION: OIL IS NEITHER CURSE NOR BLESSING

Oil is neither the blessing nor curse, it's simply a resource. The nations without oil but with commercial endowment of gold and or diamonds have same problems as those with oil. The problem of persistent poverty can be partly attributed to lack of visionary leadership coupled with inept management of state resources. Sub-Saharan Africa must solve its leadership problems and improve the management capabilities of its administrators; only then would we effectively reduce poverty. Crude oil has become like knives that either serve us or cut us, as we grasp them by the blade or the handle. Let us make the oil a tool of blessing not as clutch of curse.

Appiah Kusi Adomako is an international freelance and speech writer and the president of Ghana Chapter of Leaders of Tomorrow Foundation. He can be contacted through: e-mail; appiahkusiy2k@yahoo.com,

THE MEANING OF EASTER

THE MEANING OF EASTER

Appiah Kusi Adomako, Leaders of Tomorrow Foundation, London.

There is a lot of controversy about the genesis and the significance of Easter. There are those who see the celebration of Easter as an error of the mortal mind. I do not to become participant in this debate.

I want to write about a certain man briefly and I am sure you will know who I am talking about as I go on. He was born in an obscure village, the child of a poor peasant woman. He grew up in still another obscure village, where he worked as a carpenter until he was thirty years old. Then for three years, he got on his feet, and he was an itinerant preacher. And he went about doing great things. He didn't have much. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never owned a house. He never went to university. He never visited a big city like modern day New York, London or Tokyo. He never went two hundred miles from where he was born. He did none of the usual things that the world would associate with greatness. He had no credentials but himself.

He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against him. They called him a rabble-rouser. They called him a troublemaker. They said he was an agitator. And so he was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. And the irony of it all is that his friends turned him over to them. One of his closest friends denied him. Another of his friends turned him over to his enemies. And while he was dying, the people who killed him gambled for his clothing, the only possession that he had in the world. When he was dead he was buried in a borrowed tomb, through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen centuries have come and gone and today he stands as the most influential figure that ever entered human history. All of the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned put together have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that one solitary life. His name may be a familiar one.

What is so special about this man whose name has become such a dominant feature in everyday conversation? He came to split history in to BC and AD such that the reign of Caesar is dated after him. His name is Jesus Christ.

It has been more than two thousand years ago since the carpenter’s son who walked on the dusty roads of Jerusalem as an itinerant preacher was hanged between two notorious criminals that night on Golgotha. The Greek New Testament recorded that after three days in the grave he was raised up from his dead.

Christians all over the world since time immemorial have been celebrating Easter to mark death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. Tomorrow is Good Friday. Why call it a Good Friday but not a bad Friday. Easter means a lot more than an ordinary event which falls on the Christian calendar.

WHY DID GOD SEND HIS SON TO DIE?

John 3:16 records that ‘ for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son and whosoever believes in him should not perish but have an everlasting life”. In other words he came to set mankind free from the dominion of sin and to bring the fractured relationship between the mortal man and immortal God.

So God sending his only begotten son to die once and for all such that the walls of hostility that has existed between God and men be broken. He did it for once to save mankind from sin.

But the question still remains why still sin remains in every level of human existence. With people killing each other, armed robbery, rape, corruption and war I think it is not bad when a questioning mind asks the question. Salvation has come to the world. It is however available to only those who believe in the Name of Jesus Christ as the Lord.

God’s cheque has cleansed the sins of countless people who believed and the same blood that was shared on the cross can clear, cleanse your sins and draw you to God is still available. Like a cheque that has been written for you until you present it to the counter it does not become of any use to the bearer.

The death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ affirm the belief that beyond death is life. Death is not the end of life. If we die we will one rise up to stand before the immortal God for judgment.

The Bible says that name of Christ has been exalted and by mentioning of the name every evil, sickness, problem or mountain is moved away. Using that name, Peter and John healed a lame man.

Andrea Crouch, the American gospel singer sings ‘the blood that was shed on the cross will never loose its power. It reaches to the highest mountain and flows to the lowest valley.’

The death of Jesus Christ tells us how much God loved mankind. Of the two criminals who were hanged alongside with Jesus Christ, one of them cried for forgiveness. Jesus responded ‘I say unto you that you will be with me in paradise’. This tells us that the forgiveness cheque of God is still deposited in Bank of Eternity. Irrespective of one’s sins and if we can come to our senses like the prodigal son the arms of God is waiting to welcome anyone who has gone way ward or wild.

The greatest of all virtues is love. Here we find the true meaning of the Christian faith and of the cross. Calvary is a telescope through which we look into the long vista of eternity and see the love of God breaking into time. Out of the hugeness of his generosity, God allowed his only-begotten Son to die that we might live. By uniting yourselves with Christ then you will be able to matriculate into the University of Eternal Life.

Appiah Kusi Adomako is an international freelance and speech writer, and the president of Ghana Chapter of Leaders of Tomorrow Foundation. He can be contacted through: e-mail; appiahkusiy2k@yahoo.com,