Ghana's constitution fuels corruption - Franklin Cudjoe

Stealing of state resources and the increasing corruption perception in Ghana is being boosted by the principles guiding governance in the country, says head of the policy think-tank, IMANI Ghana.

Speaking on corruption on Joy FM on Tuesday, Mr Franklin Cudjoe said Ghana's Constitution allows over-centralisation of governance.

According to him, although there are many reasons for the worsening thievery in Ghana, "the Constitution we have is designed for state capture of state resources" -- a situation he maintains would make the fight against the canker difficult to tackle.

He said the situation also makes it difficult for private actors to be part of the development process.

Franklin Cudjoe said Ghana, like most advanced countries, must move away from a system that puts management of state resources largely in the hands of the Executive and a few other state agencies.

According to the Founding President of IMANI Ghana, decentralisation efforts are not going on smoothly in the country because the governance framework presents a significant impediment.

"These things [centralisation of governance] allows a lot of resources at the beck and call of the Executive Presidency and with a majoritarian, tyrannical Parliament to boot, then you are done," he observed.

Mr Cudjoe also said the situation can be dealt with if sanctioning mechanisms for persons caught in the act are made to work.

Ghana scored 48 points to place 61 out of 175 countries in the 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released by the Transparency International.

Although that was a slight improvement on previous rankings, recent revelations of corrupt acts in the country seriously cast a slur on that progress.

Corruption is killing Ghana’s soul - PPP

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The Progressive People’s Party (PPP) has pointed out that corruption has “become the number one enemy of progress” in Ghana.

“It has been the main contributor of the deplorable conditions the Ghanaian is still tangoing with today,” the PPP chairman said at a press conference, Tuesday.

Responding to President John Mahama’s State of the Nation Address last week, the PPP said: “We live in almost perpetual darkness because of corruption; we virtually live in abject poverty because of corruption; the public sector is virtually dead because of corruption; quality of education has hit an all-time low because of corruption; the proverbial Ghanaian value which hitherto was the cynosure of all eyes, is gone due to corruption.”

“Corruption has resulted from waste within the public sector; corruption has spawned under-development in every part of our dear Nation; corruption has led to the neglect of various sectors of the Ghanaian economy; corruption has contributed to low living standards and its attendant hardships, and; corruption has contributed to the now very visible class distinction in our society.

“So corruption, now constitutes the illegitimate heartbeat of the current state of the Ghanaian society,” Brew-Hammond said.

According to him, President Mahama lacks the political will to fight the menace.

“As the lawyers say, anyone advocating equity must first come with clean hands. We must raise a question on the sincerity of the President to decisively deal with corruption. Our standpoint is influenced by the apparent lack of political will on the part of the President to deal with some corrupt officials and companies on whose cases the courts have ruled in favour of the State.

“The Supreme Court ruling that the state retrieve millions of Cedis illegally (and fraudulently) paid to Ghanaian businessman, Alfred Agbesie Woyome, is still pending execution, and; yet another case is a High court ruling the Mahama administration is yet to respect. And that is the removal of “ex-refinery differentials” from the prices of most petroleum fuels smuggled onto new prices set by the National Petroleum Authority while the prices were on their way to filling stations in 2010. So how do we trust the President for results on his latest-declared crusade?” he asked.

Catholic Bishops fight Gov’t over faith rules in schools

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference has directed heads of all catholic-affiliated schools to “remain resolute” and continue with all religious practices and training associated with the catholic faith despite a government order for school heads to avoid imposing religious beliefs on students.

A statement signed by the President of the Conference, Most Rev. Joseph Osei-Bonsu Tuesday said: “We wish to assure Heads of our Catholic Educational Institutions to remain resolute and not feel unduly intimidated by threat of sanctions”.

The directive comes on the back of a warning by President John Mahama that heads of schools found to be imposing religious practices on students of other religious faiths will be punished.

Below is the full statement:

PRESS STATEMENT FROM THE GHANA CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE ON RELIGIOUS PRACTICES IN MISSION SCHOOLS

Preamble

We, the members of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference have followed with grave concern the recent developments in our dear nation with respect to calls for unregulated religious practices in our schools.

We note, in particular, the unwarranted threats of sanction coming from Government circles.

Needless, we are stating that no citizen in Ghana should allow him/herself to be cowed down by any intimidation or threat of sanction from any individuals.

Assurance to School Heads

Consequently, we wish to assure Heads of our Catholic Educational Institutions to remain resolute and not feel unduly intimidated by threat of sanctions. We expect our Heads to continue to manage our schools in ways and practices that are in conformity with our Catholic identity and mission.

Meanwhile, we are open to initiating dialogue that will bring consensus, as early as possible, to resolve these issues amicably.

Conclusion

We join the Christian Council of Ghana in advocating dialogue on the issue at stake. We believe that the Ghana Peace Council has the capacity to deal with this issue in broad consultation with all stakeholders, especially, religious leaders who own and manage the mission schools. Until this is done, we wish to call on government and all other persons to refrain from issuing statements or making pronouncements which may not help in finding a peaceful solution to this issue.

Dialogue is the key for in reasoning with others through dialogue, we obtain justice and peace.

SIGNED

MOST REV. JOSEPH OSEI-BONSU BISHOP OF KONONGO-MAMPONG & PRESIDENT, GHANA CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERE

Presidential jet catches fire at Kotoka

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Ghana’s presidential aircraft, the Falcon 900 caught fire on Tuesday when it attempted a second take-off at the Kotoka International Airport after a failed first attempt.

This was confirmed by the Ghana Armed Forces in a statement signed by Lt. Commander Andy La-Anyane, a Deputy Director in charge of information and communication for the Ghana Armed Forces.

Neither the President nor any government official was on board and no casualties have been recorded.The crew on board was on a mission for the presidency.

According to the statement, the fire was as a "result of friction between the wheels and the runway surface... adding that "it was observed however that the left wheels were on fire."

"The Presidential aircraft, Falcon 900, was tasked to perform a special mission to Malabo-Equatorial Guinea on Monday March 3. On departure from the Kotoka International Airport, the crew experienced slight operational problems with the computer system.

As a result, the aircraft returned to the Air Force Base in Accra to reset the computers" the statement added.

It went on further to state that “during the second run for take-off, the aircraft lost two main left wheels.

In spite of the severe veering of the aircraft to the left, they managed to slow and successfully turned off the runway without veering into the shoulders of the runway. The aircraft stopped successfully.”

“It was observed however that the left wheels were on fire. Emergency procedures were followed with the disembarkation of the passengers and the fighting of the fire.

Fire extinguishers on board were used to bring the situation under control. Fire tenders from the Air Force Base and that of the main airport also arrived immediately to assist in putting off the fire completely.

"Preliminary investigations indicate the fire was caused as a result of friction between the wheels and the runway surface. Special Occurrence Report has been sent to the Air Force Headquarters and a special investigation team is being composed.”

This is not the first time the President's jet has developed a fault.In 2014, the aircraft developed a technical fault when the President was preparing to attend the national farmers day event in the Western Region.

Appoint a former judge as new Electoral Commissioner – Lecturer

A Senior Law Lecturer at the Ghana Law School, Lawyer Opoku Agyemang has advocated the appointment of a former High court judge or persons with legal backgrounds to replace Electoral Commissioner, Afari Gyan.

A person with knowledge of the law, he said, would easily understand the various legal processes and procedures that go with the work of the Electoral Commission (EC).

“I will suggest that Ghana goes with the practice in elsewhere where normally judges or persons with legal backgrounds normally occupy positions of Electoral Commissioner…,” he said.

This suggestion, he told Afia Pokua on Burning Issues on Adom fm, is borne out of the fact that the EC has lots of legal interpretations bordering its work.

A seven-member panel of Supreme Court Judges, last week, ruled to halt the District level election which was scheduled to take place today.

This was after a fisherman; Eyi Mensah, sued the EC at the court for interpretation of CI 85 which borders on the organization of local level elections.

The court ruled that the commission goes back and begin the entire process, including opening of nominations.

The EC in a statement issued after a meeting yesterday, stated that it would send to parliament for maturity, a new CI to cover the organization of the election.

“In view of the Supreme Court ruling ordering that the District Level Election processes should be conducted afresh, we wish to inform the general public that in total compliance with the said ruling the Electoral Commission will prepare a new legislation to be passed by Parliament before fresh nominations are taken for the elections…,” a release from the EC read.

But this release, the Law Lecturer described as ‘bogus release’ insisting that the EC has no choice than to comply with the directions of the Supreme Court.

“Does it lie within their power or within their mouth to say they won't comply? This is bogus press release. It’s like a prisoner agreeing to go to prison after being convicted by a court…,” he said.

Ghana National Anthem

Ghana National Anthem

God bless our homeland Ghana, And make our nation great and strong, Bold to defend for ever The cause of Freedom and of Right. Fill our hearts with true humility Make us cherish fearless honesty, And help us to resist oppressor's rule With all our will and might for evermore. Hail to thy name, O Ghana. To thee we make our solemn vow; Steadfast to build together A nation strong in Unity; With our gifts of mind and strength of arm, Whether night or day, in mist or storm, In every need whate'er the call may be, To serve thee, Ghana, now and evermore. Raise high the flag of Ghana, And one with Africa advance; Black Star of hope and honour, To all who thirst for liberty; Where the banner of Ghana freely flies, May the way to freedom truly lie Arise, arise, O sons of Ghanaland, And under God march on for evermore. TWI Yen Ara Asase Ni Yen ara asase ni Eye abooden de ma yen Mogya a Nananom hwie gu Nya de to ho ma yen Adu me ne wo nso so Se ye be ye bi atoaso Nimdee ntraso nkotokrane Ne apese-minko-minya Ato yen bra mo dem Na ye 'sase ho do atom se Chorus: Oman no se eve ye yie oo Oman no se ennye yie oo Eye se na ose Omanfo bra ne ekyerei le No le eji sane ko Ni ka eman bii ano GA Wo Dientse Wo Shikpon Ne Wodientse wo shikpon ne Ni ej' ra wa ha wofee Wo tsemei shwie la shi Dani ame ke he ha wo Eji mi ke bo gbenaa 'Ke wo hu wofee he eko Ja nilee ke hesuomo pe aaanye Wo shikpon le akpo Nye baa ni nye haa woman le He suomo ahi wo mli Chorus Ke ji ake man ko aaahi le Ke ji ake man ko ehii EWE Miade Nyigba Lolo La Miade nyigba lolo la, enu wonye woafo asia, Mia togbuiwo tso wofe agbe gbledeta xoe nami, Edo nye kpliwo ha dzi be miawo miato sinu Nuvevie nyanya, didodo kple amedokui to didi Gble mia zoli hegble miade nyigba ale gbegbe. Chorus Denyigba wo nyonyo, denyigba wo gbegble Alesi nele ko sigbe ko woano daa.