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Prof Lungu's 19-Point
Advisory for Serious Akufo Addo!
By:
Prof Lungu
June 23, 2017
"My Gosh,
Neighbourhood Watch", Luciano called and wailedl!
"Revolution....Fight", Nasio counter-responded!
Watch
your wallets, Ghana!
We just read Professor Kwesi
Botchway's "8 Recommendations for NDC" and Fallen-Mahama. We
noticed there is no mention of corruption, transparency, real
and substantive Asset Declaration by statutory officials,
accountability and NDC's failure to enact the Freedom of
Information bill, etc., as factors at bottom of the NDC defeat
and subsequent ascendency of Akufo Addo to the presidency. Per
the highlights, Professor Kwesi Botchway's report does not
express a position on outlaw and banishment of Mahama-Fubu-Type-Nepotism,
Separation of Church and State in national governance, and
payment of income taxes by all officials taking money from
Ghanaians, regardless of their position. Further, there is
nothing on NDC's failure to make strong strides on preservation
of Ghana's natural and cultural resources (remember 'galamsay"?)
balanced by fair and equitable revenues for Ghana's oil and gas
resources. To imply in the Botchway assessment report even for a
second that any of these NDC failures have nothing to do with
the NDC defeat is, from our vantage position, is the height of
naked, partisan, absent-mindedness.
Professor Kwesi
Botchway's summary points address winning for the NDC while
remaining silent about remedying the warts-infested Rawlings
Constitution that is in part responsible for the defeat of the
NDC.
Simply, on numerous occasions and through various
media, however you slice and dice it, you can bet your bottom
cedi we did our best to forewarn Fallen-Mahama and his vice
President, Kwesi Bekoe Amissah Arthur. We warned them that
breaking rules of nepotism, cutting corrupt deals with their
kith and kin and foreign corporations, and neglecting to demand
Fair Trade Oil Share for Ghana would have negative consequence
for Mr. Mahama. We warned them also that it is foolish, a total
waste of money, to propose coal-fired plants for Kwame Nkrumah's
Ghana when the Osagyefo himself was talking about Solar Energy
for Ghana way back in the 1960s, even as Ghana was gearing up to
commission the Akosombo Dam (Ghana First Great Sika Duro).
And so, we thought we would tweak the title of our follow-up
paper to lightly mirror Professor Botchway's and in so doing
direct our core Ghana-centered advisory to Akufo Addo and the
NPP considering the NPP is the party the People elected in their
collective wisdom when Mr. Mahama failed them on so many
grounds.
It is all in the record if you care to
Google-check!
As one young woman told us recently, "I
voted for change".
In sum, among areas of policy Fallen-Mahama
and his NDC party screwed up big time and for which Serious
Akufo Addo and his administration must focus and repair with
laser-beam precision, these revised 19-Point Advisory items have
actual, practical, and symbolic significance for real change, if
the NPP government under Nana Akufo Addo Dankwa wants the People
to take them at their own word(s) and their promise of
development and progress for Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana in the
short-term, here and now.
Our 19-Point Advisory for
Serious Akufo Addo are the following:
(1) Tear down and
rebuild the warts-infested Rawlingsian Constitution utilizing
work product(s) already funded and paid for by Ghanaians as tax
payers, in the name of the People of Ghana themselves who are
the Sovereign. (For instance, no government official should earn
income from government and other sources that is not justly
taxed to support the commonwealth they supervise and administer)
(2) Pass the "Freedom of Information (FOI) bill, with an
Independent Commissioner; promote transparency in government,
understanding that "Right to Information" (RTI) is for very weak
people and tyrants like Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe). That is one
sure fire way to fight corruption, if you really want to win
(3) Immediately abrogate Act 919, that fraudulent and
predatory 419 oil exploration and production contract scheme on
Ghana. Review all contracts on petroleum and gas
exploration/production and ensure through the Public Interest
and Accountability Committee (PIAC) and Ghana National Petroleum
Corporation that Ghana receives no less than 50% of all oil
revenues consistent with investment by Ghana in exploration and
production, and the global standard Production Sharing Agreement
(PSA), the US GAO recommended contract system for sovereign oil
(4) Continue to ensure that the Adansi-Asokwa MP Kobina
Tahir "Hybrid" Hammond speaks only for himself and the people in
that constituency who returned him to parliament
(5)
Publish without further delay a list of all transportation
projects and their state of completion, including those for
airport and railway infrastructure development; prioritize them
transparently according to their importance to Ghana's national
development, and complete them accordingly. (BUT BY ALL MEANS,
SWIFTLY COMPLETE THE ACCRA-KUMASI HIGHWAY PROJECT WHILE
INVESTIGATING USE OF FUNDS, REASONS FOR ALL THE UNTOWARD DELAY,
AND CONSEQUENCES DURING THE LAST 14 YEARS)
(6) Implement
a super-effective, decentralized, alternative and sustainable
power generation program with Solar Energy as centerpiece for
residential, institutional, and tourism uses, to free up
adequate power reserves for industry and the export economy
(7) Promote science education and culture, Singapore-style,
where teachers, instructors, and administrators are evaluated on
their understanding of science, nature, relevance of data for
daily living, and their importance in the lives of Ghanaians in
cities, towns, villages, and regions
(8) Identify
tourism development and green infrastructure, including
sanitation upgrades, as high priority areas. Integrate "Brand
Ghana" under that banner and ensure Diaspora defined chiefly for
the purpose of generation of foreign exchange (vice taxes) and
protection of the rights of all Ghana nationals, become crucial
engines for a more prosperous Ghana in an inter-connected global
environment
(9) Mandate Ghana Police Service, the
National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), and the Transportation
minister to provide within 3 months a credible plan on traffic
safety administration that measurably reduces the carnage,
maiming, and destruction of life and property on roads in Ghana,
year-by-year, data-point by data-point, for the next decade.
(All data published by these agencies for the consumption of the
People shall be meaningfully normalized)
(10) Consistent
with above, mandate the Interior Ministry, the Ghana Police
Service, the Services, and the National Road Safety Commission
(NRSC), to provide within 3 months a credible "National Plan for
Control, Eradication, and Response to Mob Justice" that
measurably reduces the wanton disregard for the rule of law,
presumption of innocence until proven guilty, and swift,
transparent trials as close to communities as practicable. (All
data published by these agencies for the consumption of the
People shall be meaningfully normalized)
(11) Improve
public management and civil service professionalism, including
presidential staff, and ensure all have adequate training with
respect to law and ethical requirements, including
non-partisanship and the separation of church and state while on
duty. (For instance, no Minister or government official may use
government resources for their private religious affairs,
including using government vehicles to transport themselves and
their families to churches, mosques, and synagogues, etc.)
(12) Ensure improved health administration and
control/management of diseases, including cholera, knowing that
these have huge impact on Brand-Ghana, Tourism, and the Ghanaian
image. Ensure recent loose talk by irresponsible officials that
AIDS is now adequately under control is nipped in the bud, until
Ghana is able to cheaply produce in Ghana, a vaccine for AIDS.
(Ensure the Ministry of Health and Ghana EBOLA task force is
maintained, trained, rewarded, multiplied, and equipped to
handle current and new health/sanitation emergencies)
(13) Review Ghana national drug policy and sentencing,
especially with respect to cannabis and the immoral history of
Western/European-decreed drug laws in accordance with current
scientific knowledge balanced by policy on use of alcohol,
personal freedoms, the dignity of individuals and their
families, cost to government and tax payers for administration
of law and sentencing, and current practices by progressive and
responsible governments the world over
(14) Resource and
force-multiply the capabilities of emergency management in
Ghana, paying acute attention to coastal zones and riparian
corridors, and areas where oil/gas is being explored/produced,
to include impacts of deforestation and desertification
throughout Ghana consistent with the 2015 "National REDD+
Strategy". Plant 100 million trees. Surely, if Ghana can without
regard to democratic principles employ public funds to support
religious activities such as sponsoring a National Cathedral,
providing meals and other services to pilgrims in far-away Mecca
and the Vatican), Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana ought to be able to
plant a 100 million trees within 2 years to stop deforestation,
desertification, and improve Ghana's ecological balance with
respect to lands, rivers, and air)
(15) Consistent with
above, provide a national forest resources and habitat
preservation plan for job creation, economic empowerment, and as
a climate adaptation strategy, from each District to the Region,
to the National level; tie execution of the major promises made
to Ghanaians to those efforts and enable professional,
non-partisan, and timely auditing and transparency at every
level and stage; avoid waste of national resources. (Ensure
Million-Dollar payments are balanced according to size of
population in the region; that if any region must lose it will
be Greater Accra on account of disproportionate share of
national income that accrue to that region annually)
(16) Ensure technical and science education systems and the
Ghana Education Service produce teachers and facilitators with
requisite skills and interest in teaching technical skills,
trades, critical thinking, and life-skills development for
youths, with no less than 55% of resources expended on Ghanaian
girls and women
(17) Employing lessons already learned at
tax payer expense and consistent with the 2015 "Ghana National
Spatial Development Framework 2015-2035", implement an
executive-directed national development planning effort that
produces coherent, coordinated, comprehensive, time-limited
planning products that leverage non-proprietary, common,
off-the-shelf products to support development at the
district-regional levels
(18) Fully implement and fund
the 2013 "Railway Master Plan of Ghana", recognizing that it is
not the business of the new Railway Minister to establish as
railway industry. Rather, it is the business of the Ghana
Railway to ensure trains to arrive on time, that passenger and
cargo throughput are safely increased with a credible plan,
reduce hazards and unsafe conditions including encroachment on
tracks and safe buffers zones, provide aesthetically pleasing
travel conditions, these being important national development
and priority items
(19) Drastically reduce customs fees
and taxes for the importation of vehicles into Ghana and tighten
up on revenue collections to increase payments directly to the
commonwealth. Schedule of fees for all vehicles must be easily
available on government websites, newspapers, at embassies, and
all ports of entry.
The ordinary Ghanaians is
working 7 days a week, 24-7!
We are saying forget about
all those speak-easy and shiny bright promises of "Pay for
Dining in Jerusalem and Mecca, 1-Million-Dollars-Per
Constituency, 1-Factory-1 District, etc.
For real!
Revolution....Fight!
My Gosh Neighbourhood Watch
So it goes, Ghana!
SOURCES/NOTES:
1. Prof
Lungu. 18 Ghana-centered marching orders for serious Akufo-Addo!,
(http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/18-Ghana-centered-marching-orders-for-serious-Akufo-Addo-496671).
2. Ghanaweb. Kwesi Botchwey makes 8 recommendations for NDC,
(http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Kwesi-Botchwey-makes-8-recommendations-for-NDC-550005).
3. Prof Lungu. Ashanti Region Biggest Loser: Akufo Addo's
Million-Dollar Cash To Voting Districts (3), (https://www.modernghana.com/news/749158/ashanti-region-biggest-loser-akufo-addos-million-dollar-ca.html).
4. Prof Lungu. Winners & Losers: Akufo Addo's Million-Dollar
Cash Giveaways to Voting Districts (1), (http://www.ghanahero.com/PROF_LUNGU_SAYS/2017-Ghana-Review/Winners_and_Losers_Akufo_Addo_Million-Dollar_Cash_to_Voting_Districts-Final.pdf).
5. Ghanaweb. Fight against corruption has to be won -
Akufo-Addo, (http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Fight-against-corruption-has-to-be-won-Akufo-Addo-549711).
6. Yakoema.net. Ghana loses six persons daily through road
crashes,
(https://yakoema.net/2016/11/21/ghana-loses-six-persons-daily-road-crashes/).
7. Prof Lungu. Quantum Leap In Education Under Kwame Nkrumah
And The CPP (1951 - 1966), (http://ghanapolitics.net/quantum-leap-in-education-under-kwame-nkrumah-and-the-cpp-1951-1966).
Visit www.GhanaHero.Com/Visions, for more
information.
SUBJ: Prof Lungu's 19-Point Advisory for Serious
Akufo Addo!, by Prof Lungu.
Support Fair-Trade Oil Share
Ghana (FTOS-Gh) Campaign/Petition:
https://www.change.org/p/ghana-fair-trade-oil-share-psa-campaign-ftos-gh-psa/
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