(A copy of this review is going to Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene)
Constitutional Reform 2025
Some eight years ago, I sent a letter to then President Akufo Addo, regarding the need for a constitutional reform.
I based my arguments on the fact that since our independence, apart from the initial progress that was observed under the Nkrumah regime, Ghana has actually not had any breakthrough with regard to its actual development.
The main cause of this stalemate is the 1992 Constitution which ex-President Kufuor described as the following:
“The President is the Government and everyone else is simply an adviser.”
I emphasised that
“The ethnic differences are a blessing and not a stumbling block towards progress.”
I suggested therefore that the ethnic differences should be accepted as a reality and should be used to build a successful nation. But: no !
All our actions should not ignore this reality.
One of the main causes of our economic downturn is the massive migration of the Northerners from the North to the South as well as to other parts of Ghana. This migration means therefore depletion of workforce from the North to other parts of the country. If we all agree that the people are the source of wealth, then we must stop this migration and let the people stay where they were born to develop the economies of these regions.
Almost half the population of Kumasi are mainly jobless Northerners, and this situation is not conducive to any economic development, neither for the Ashanti nor for the Northerners. That is why it is imperative to look into our 1992 Constitution to see whether the true meaning of Devolution has so far been practiced in Ghana.
For instance, with regard to the United Kingdom, recent UK governments have devolved power to Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. This is a simple idea, but the UK brand of devolution is complex. Its stability has been threatened by both the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit. Threats to the United Kingdom’s political unity have been met by devolving power to the smaller nations and these are Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, by successive governments in Westminster.
The problem we have in Ghana however is, our constitution was made in 1992 under the leadership of a young, not well educated, soldier and even though the word devolution was used, the main meaning of devolution was not practiced, because the essential part of devolution is to devolve power to the smaller nations and this has not in Ghana been respected.
Subsequent governments have deliberately ignored the definition of devolution, which should have meant devolving power from the central government to the local governments. This is wrong and I have appealed to Nana Osei Tutu II, Asantehene and the Constitution Review Commission to address this problem.
The questions I would like to address are
Decentralisation, local government, and chieftaincy, Public services and Political parties.
It has been stated that the Constitution of Ghana contains provisions, which are the transfer or delegation of POWER to lower levels of government. This principle is fundamental to ensuring local governance and decentralisation of authority. The problem here is that since 1992 power has not been transferred. Therefore, there has been no true devolution. This has to be corrected.
(A copy of this article is sent to the Parliament.)
Even though the previous governments have made the same mistake, and they could run away with it, there is no reason why the present government should make the same mistakes and stay on.
Examples:
Hundreds of employees of various corporations (e.g. SSNIT) have been sacked by this President, when he should have known that he has no right to do that. Limited resources of poor farmers in Ashanti have been used to pay for pilgrimage (a private affair) of Muslims going to Mekka. He supervises the building of Islamic village. This is not his duty. He arranges to buy a new Ghana airplane with the help of UAE, a nation that supervised the killing of black people in Sudan. 150.000 Africans from Darfur have been massacred by the very people he is flirting with, and it is not his duty. If a president does not know how to govern or exercise his duties as a president, one expects that he would have a legal adviser, but apparently, he does not know the limits of his power.
Another pathetic story:
A family member had HIV. Before I could help this girl with money and other essentials from Germany, this poor little soul died pathetically. She had no father, because the father was dead, sha had no mother, because the mother was dead and before my help could reach her, she had expired.
I am sure this story is not limited to my family. Probably there are many thousands of Ghanaians who are dying because of HIV. There has never been an open policy on transmission of this disease in Ghana from him.
What is still worse with this president is, he always governs by assuming that he knows everything – but he doesn’t know anything.
I will give two examples:
He stood in Chatham House in London, and he was describing Akufo-Addo as an old man. What he did not know is the definition of “old man” by the World Health Organisation” is anyone who is 65 years old. We have such a man as our leader, talking about something he does not even know. With regard to the “Anti-LGBT-Law” passed by Ghana Parliament and confirmed by the Supreme Court, he decided not to sign the law, thinking that, if he doesn’t sign the law the Anti-KLGBT-Law doesn’t become effective in Ghana – and he is wrong. In such cases it becomes the duty of the Parliament again, to make another decision which can lead to constitutional crisis.
The examples that I have given, show clearly that the economic dilemma the people of Ghana are suffering from come from two things:
Either the ruling party deliberately refuses to read and understand the 1992 Constitution, or they refuse to respect the Constitution with the result that for years our people have been suffering economically.
I have two questions to ask this Mahama:
Is he really taking the people of Ghana for a ride ?
Before the death of Ghaddafi, he used the Presidential Jet as a private jet and asked Abedi Pele to accompany him to Libya to Ghaddafi and from there they flew to Burkina Faso to visit that killer president.
So now he decided to chase culprits who have committed crimes starting from the year 1966. Guess what he did ?
This Madame Jantua now sits in his office with a new job and the matter about investigating crimes dating from 1966 is dead forever.
Readers of this letter, after reading this you will realise that this man is not fit for the job, and he must be impeached.
Dear Chairman lawyer Akwasi Prempeh,
this definition does not exist in the Ghanaian Constitution. I dare say, since 1992, not even President Kufuor, an Ashanti like me, has deliberately ignored the word transfer of power, thus leading to the economic disaster that we are facing.
Please allow me to cite the Article 240 related to devolution in Ghana Constitution:
Ghana shall have a system of local government and administration which shall, as far as practicable, be decentralized. The local government system shall consist of District Assemblies and lower local government units, which shall be responsible for the initiation, formulation, and implementation of plans and programs within their respective areas. There shall be established by law for each local government unit an Executive Committee which shall be the principal executive arm of the Assembly and shall consist of such members as may be determined by law. Parliament shall, by law, decentralize the functions and services of central government agencies and public corporations to the district assemblies as may be necessary to promote local governance. To enhance the capacity of local governments to plan, initiate, and execute policies in respect of matters affecting local communities, Parliament shall provide for the training of members and staff of local government institutions. The State shall take appropriate measures to ensure that functions, powers, responsibilities, and resources are at all times transferred from the central government to local government units in a coordinated manner.
These articles underscore the commitment of the Ghanaian government to decentralization and empowering local government entities to manage their affairs effectively. They can therefore manage their affairs effectively if the definition of devolution has been properly appraised and effected. This is not the case, and we are appealing to you, Sir, to make the changes necessary after 68 years of independence to help Ghana at long last to be governed properly.
Now I wish, in the context of local administration, to emphasize the importance of healthcare in each of the Regions.
Healthcare
21st Century Health Care in Ghana
We should put people first in our health care. In order to pursue the 21st century health care in Ghana, we must adopt what the advisory commission on consumer protection and quality in the health care industry in the United States recommended in 1998.
Recommendations in General
All health care organisations, professionals’ groups and private and public purchasers should adopt as their explicit purpose to continually reduce the burden of illness, injury and disability and to improve the health and function of the People of Ghana. All health care organizations, professionals, private and public purchasers should pursue six major aims: Health care should be safe, should be effective, should be patient-centred, timely efficient and equitable. Progress must be constantly assessed by creation of a National Quality Report. Local efforts to implement innovation and achieve improvement through simple rules. Care based on continuous healing relationship that means 24 hours a day, every day. The care must be designed to meet the patients’ needs. Shared information with patients. Evidence-Based decision-making should be focused on disability adjusted life-years (DALYs). Safety as a system property. Transparency. Using information technology and internet. In the regions, we have to have regional health care financing administration and a special agency for health care research and quality with input from private payers. Increase in chronic conditions and changing mortality patterns should be taken into account. Mental health should be taken seriously.
PAY – Structure in the Future Local Government Setup
There is bound to be wide variations in the pay of GPs throughout Ghana. Regional governments must take advice from various doctors and dentists review bodies.
SALARIED
Pays must be specified by the General Medical Association of Ghana, and not by the government. In future, all doctors must have contracts with the administration of the hospitals they are working for and not with the Ministry of Health.
The basis of the pay should be hourly rates. Doctors or junior doctors should work 8 hours daily with at least 30 minutes break for lunch.
Consultants should be paid consultant fees, should be given 30 beds in the hospital where they are directors as private practice. They in turn should be on duty for emergencies in case the junior doctors go on strike.
Consultants thus though employed should be allowed to do private work but only in the hospital they are employed, e.g. insurance examinations and reports, private medical examinations.
Checks and Balances
The complaints procedure in general practice and in the hospitals
Local resolution Independent review Ombudsman Disciplinary procedures
The structure of the Health System
Dept. of Health Social services Public Health GP Executive agencies Medical devices Medicine control Health Authority Estates Pensions Purchasing and supply The health system shall be an autonomous body running as business with CEO, etc. Ministry of Health should have nothing to do with it, except for matters relating to Public Health. All other issues of Health should be fully decentralised, e.g. University hospitals, Nursing,.etc.,etc..
There shall be Health Services Agencies in
Ashanti Region (+ Ahafo) Brong (Ahafo) Upper West- and -East Northern Region Central- and Western Region Volta Region
All the regions shall be autonomous in all decisions about Health, including the need for Health Posts, Hospitals, Training of nurses, doctors, specialists.
The Central Government in Accra should have nothing to do with decision in various regional centres.
Transfers of health workers shall be abolished.
In Scotland for instance, you have Minister of Health and Community Care.
Management Executive Health boards Trusts, Acute Hospital Trusts Primary Care Trust
It should be up to Volta Region to plan their Health System as they deem fit. The usual budget support from the Central Government should be given to them.
This is where development starts.
All hands-on-deck attitude. No begging the Central Government and no thanking the Central Government for doing their job!
Care for the most vulnerable and the seniors and juniors and infants shall be free. Care for the mentally handicapped and mentally ill shall be free. We shall introduce “Health on Wheels”, Testing for Glaucoma, Blood pressure checks, Blood sugar testing, minor surgery, wound treatment, driving to remote villages. Entrance exams for trained nurses shall be abolished. Exit exams shall be only practical exams. These nurses shall man remote centres. Dentists on wheels to help the rural folk. Helicopters to transport emergencies to nearby hospitals. 24-hours pharmacy shops open – with police protection. Ambulance service with well-trained paramedics, not paediatricians. These measures should be started immediately our Flagbearer is elected as the President. We recognise that conveying the sick to the hospitals should be a problem because of traffic jams. It is therefore important to start the skill training to help de-congest the cities. The economic activities must be dispersed into other rural centres. This is important!
Re-structuring the Health Care System
National Health Insurance system in Ghana shall be abolished. Free medical care shall be introduced for all. Creation of medical Centres for diagnostic purposes could be privately owned. Immunisation. Treatment of acute malaria. Treatment of anaemia and its related blood transfusions. Screening for BPH, Glaucoma. Creation of Medical Academy where weekend Master-Classes should take place (mandatory). Essential drugs can be cheaply produced in the country and joint ventures with neighbouring countries should be our goal. Emergency rooms at the airport. 153 dentists for 24 million people is a shame, so train more dentists. We need to train more Psychiatrists. Hospital wards shall not be big halls like in WW II.
Because there is a lot to be done there must be division of labour. There must be proper decentralisation where all these measures mentioned above could be dealt with by the regional elected ministers efficiently.
So far, nothing has happened. The people are being choked in inefficiency.
This list of what I have described above is quite impressive. The Public Health aspect should be tackled by the Ministry of Health of each region. This is democracy at work.
Pharmacists in Private Practice
Registered pharmacists and no one else should deal in pharmaceuticals. The pharmacists should be assisted by pharmaceutical technical assistants who should be well trained and certified after a 3-year course to work in the pharmacies. They all shall wear white overalls with their name tag or badge for identification.
All the pharmacy shops should satisfy new governmental specifications and pharmacists should be helped to get a loan for purpose-built shops – state-of-the-art. They should be made liable for prosecution if any fake drugs are found in their stores.
They should have to liaise with Food and Drug Administration to ensure the quality of the drugs on sale.
Those working in hospitals should have to satisfy the requirements of the individual hospitals.
Grants for the Health System
Each region decides on the so-called block grants on its own. These are not related to need but can be spent as they choose. The funding in each region must relate to their expenses. This however must be justified. There must be divergence. The objective of the government should be to improve the environmental condition and thus improve Public Health. Public latrines and sewerage system shall be dealt with. Underground sewage treatment plants shall be introduced.
Markets
The status or our markets, especially their environmental credentials are poor. Newly designed, state-of-the-art markets are overdue. The markets should be constructed to include modern toilets sunshades, refrigerators, etc., etc.. The Quality of food especially of the meat we eat must be examined by Health officers.
The storage of food and the disinfection of hands that handle food must be considered. This is nation building.
Housing
All newly built houses in the newly created Regions should have to have photovoltaic panels to generate electricity. It should be possible for the Regional Governments to subsidise them. If everything from building material up to the structure and other systems could be produced in Ghana, we can locally produce with our trained young men descent housing all over the country. It should therefore be in the interest of the government in association with Dept. of Architecture at U.S.T. to develop affordable and beautiful structures locally. Government should never let outside firms get contracts in Ghana at the expense of our own real estate companies.
Substructure and foundation – norms and standards.
Structural building materials. Complete structural systems. Cladding including bricks. Roofing. Doors and windows. Drainage and rainwater hoods. Fixers, filters and finishes.
Tourism
Tourism shall be high on the agenda.
We shall require a clean environment.
Adverts on the overseas TV, e.g. CNN, RT, BBC, SKY. It’s worth it.
The various Regional Governments must take advantage of the opportunity tourism creates for their economy. We expect Regional Governments to stand and fight for their people with creative ideas to earn money for their regions.
Farmers
Cocoa farmers must not be obliged to sell their products to Cocoa Marketing board. They must reap what they sow. Other commodities like coffee and tea should be encouraged as export commodities. The advantages of farming creating jobs should not be underestimated. Regional Ministries of Agriculture should be responsible for matters affecting agricultural products in their region.
Military and Police
There shall be Regional Police answerable only to Regional Prime Minister. Members shall solely be from the ethnic group of the region, for simplicity and efficiency’s sake. Accommodation shall not be provided. This is a colonial legacy. Financial incentive for accommodation shall be paid.
With the Military, only the ethnic groups of the region shall be stationed in that region e.g. Ewe soldiers in Volta Region, etc., etc.
Our Military shall be termed Peoples’ Defence Force and should concentrate on air, land and sea defence of our soil. Alliances and partnerships shall be sought with neighbouring African countries to reduce procurement costs.
Other matters like
drug addiction HIV – Aids Hepatitis infection
these are Public Health issues for the Minister of Health of the various regions to deal with.
Drug Misuse and Dependence
Clinical Governance Principles of clinical governance doctors training non-medical prescribing confidentiality involving patients and carers Essential Elements of Treatment assessment, planning care and treatment delivery of treatment drug treatment drug testing Psycho-Social component of Treatment principles of psychosocial intervention etc. Pharmacological Interventions prescribing introduction onto methadone and buprenorphine treatment supervised consumption opioid maintenance prescribing detox Health Consideration blood-borne infection preventing drug-related deaths alcohol diazepam and tramadol dependence tobacco
This information is based on clinical guidelines on the treatment of drug abuse in the U.K.
We shall introduce this to Ghana to save our young people from addiction deaths. In Ghana, the newly formed Public Health should deal with HIV-infections, Hepatitis A, -B, -C infections, Hep. E infection. We shall make it a responsibility of the General Practitioner, GP, to provide medical services for drug misusers. That is why GP-position and function should be reviewed and upgraded. Drug related overdoses must be prevented.
Pensions Poverty reduction Macro/Micro economy The Private Sector Land Forests Mining Manufacturing Industrialisation Training and Capacity building
are for Regional Governments to deal with.
Full Citizenship for Ghanaians in the Diaspora. Creative Industrial Design Schools (e.g., Deutscher Werkbund, founded 1907, was a German state sponsored effort to integrate traditional crafts and industrial mass production techniques to put Germany on a competitive footing with England and the USA. This is applied arts and applied science.) We must start immediately. Packaging Companies (collaborative technology company, designing and manufacturing top quality folding cartons and boxes for consumer products) Help for the Elderly, people above 60 years, especially those with meagre pensions and those with no pensions at all. Also, free health care and transportation costs. We need Research Institutes for various sciences. Transplantation Medicine must be encouraged.
Public Health Issues for each Region
Management of the sick child Malaria and its diagnoses and treatment, HIV medicine, diagnosis and treatment, Tuberculosis, diagnosis and treatment. Hospitals for it. Chest hospitals, thoracic surgeons Gastroenterology, hospitals for Cardiovascular medicine and hospitals for Renal medicine including dialysis centres and departments of urology and nephrology Neurology Haematology Endocrine disorders Ophthalmology and eye specialist Dermatologist and clinic for dermatology Bone, joint and soft tissue infections Sexually transmitted infections and its clinics Nutrition, clinical diagnosis and hospitals for treatment Multi-system diseases and infections Mental health clinics and doctors Trauma (esp. by traffic accidents) Poisoning and envenoming Immunization (esp. children and babies) Health emergencies in humanitarian crises Obstetric emergencies Healthcare associated infection, antimicrobial prescribing and resistance
Creation of Jobs by the Local Governments
The prerequisite to creation of jobs is first to improve governance which in Ghana, as much as I can recollect, has not been the case.
We have failed to expand trade because apart from raw-materials the country has nothing to offer to strengthen capacity and improvement of human capital.
To achieve these objectives the country has to formally reform. The job that is to be done has first to be divided into several portions by devolution.
Then, the next is the policy on the youth. From the age of 14 to 16, those who decide not to proceed to the universities are given the opportunity of apprenticeship. There cannot be apprentice if there is no-one there to offer them a job. So what you do is first to reform the job-opportunities.
For example:
a trained doctor trains his own assistants, so called medical technical assistants, these medical technical assistants then qualify over a period of three years training but then can get a job with this or any other qualified doctor, in the meantime, the government has in place policies regarding the role of the doctor in society. Is he going into private practice or remaining in general hospital as a registrar, senior registrar or principal ?
Further examples are doing apprenticeship with
a carpenter, a fitter, a dentist, a butcher, etc., etc.
The next thing to do (for the apprentices) is to create an institution manned by qualified teachers to teach these young people on the surroundings and theories of these jobs.
In other words, by 19 years old they can be employed by another surgery.
In other professions they can soon start their own businesses.
The government will have to have statutes in place to regulate this and councils of these professions (e.g. guilds) will have additional, more specific guidelines on quality and conduct.
It is not the duty nor the function of the government then to look for jobs for doctors, nurses or for accommodation for judges. A government indulges in such luxury can can never balance the budget and that is the problem in most developing countries – poor governance.
A horrible example of how state dominance in all walks of life leads to inefficiency and corruption is the story of 275 MPs using over 300 V8 cars while 27 million Ghanaians have only 54 ambulances. A senior lecturer at the political science department, Mr. Gyampo, wrote about this in Article 660636 on Ghanaonline.com and declared, this is no sign of solidarity.
What an ambulance is and does the various African governments don’t seem to know. A dying President was carried to 37th Military Hospital in a SUV it is alleged – and an epic disgrace.
They seem not to know that you need trained paramedics for such ambulances. The treatment of cardiac emergencies requires well-trained paramedical staff. Ghanaians are intelligent people, so I ask, have they had the opportunity to become paramedics and are we adequately staffed in Ghana to prevent such a tragedy ?
Public Services and Entitlements
Privileges in the civil service should be curtailed. The accommodation privileges Ghanaian civil servants enjoy do not exist anywhere else in the world. This is a waste of our limited resources. It should stop and we should put an end to it.
With the new regionalization, the Regions and District “Prime Ministers” would have to make their own decisions. There should always be government of the people, by the people and for the people in each and every Region in Ghana and possibly even everywhere in Africa.
Abject poverty will be a thing of the past, because we shall reduce waste. (Regional spending is always less wasteful.)
Security, health, sanitation, energy, education, mobility, migration, shall be in the governance of regional governments and no more the central government in Accra. There shall be regional courts and police in the hands of the regional government.
Allocation of funds to the regions shall be solely mathematical be used solely for the ethnic groups of the regions.
While people can live everywhere they cannot enjoy the well calculated and defined resources of other regions. Money for the Volta Region shall be used for the Voltarians who in turn shall be called upon to pay taxes in the regions. In other words, public services of say Ashanti-Region will be organised to the needs of Ashantis. This is also an accountability !
In the Article 765092 of Ghanaweb former pro-vice-chancellor UCC Prof. George K. T. Oduro noted with concern the extreme political party polarization, which is swiftly sinking the countries’ public service. He went on further to say the extent to which people’s orientation, particularly those in public-service leadership and commitment towards partisan issues, were fast undermining the principles underlying public service management and administration leaves much to be desired.
I believe that the reform of the public service should be high on our political agenda. We have so far failed to make them responsive to those who use them.
It has been economically suicidal with the central government providing for:
accommodation for all free electricity and other utility bills for all, vehicles for transportation, education etc.
Where on earth does one find the ruling government responsible for providing accommodation for the police, judges, doctors?
No country does that in the world and no country can sincerely balance its budget while wasting its resources irresponsibly.
The President in a new Constitution should be a ceremonial President. He is not an entrepreneur who engages in giving out contracts. That should stop. The central government shall have a Prime Minister with the authority and the functions similar to the functions of the Prime Minister of Britain. There cannot be a change in the local government system without a change in the functions of the President of Ghana.
I insist that the transfer of power, which goes with devolution was for selfish reasons deliberately ignored and it shall be re-instated now.
The parties recognise the issues of funding but refuse to debate about them. I believe that cutting costs through reform is the only way to get enough resources for the needy in our country. We should concentrate on the services that meet the personal needs of the individual citizens. We should continue to fight for reform in our country. All the extra billions we have; what we have spent has not produced any significant improvement in the lives of our people. Everywhere we look we see abject poverty because of mismanagement.
I believe that the old-fashioned British Colonial civil service policies are the cause of our misery.
In the 21st century people are still carrying heavy loads on their bare heads. Others are selling on the streets while the elite including the rich are riding and, in some cases, giving presents in form of vehicles to other rich people.
The source of wealth comes from the people, but they have been left sitting in the sun with their babies on their backs.
We should concentrate our efforts on reforming the delivery of public services.
Challenges Facing Public Services are
rising public expectations rising costs public choice differences between the parties
Road Safety in the Regions
For years, our roads have become death traps, whereby innocent citizens meet their untimely deaths on our roads. To help reduce the incidents of death on our roads I contacted a German company in the town where I work, specialist on road safety, for help.
This company sent me a catalogue on mobile traffic safety. The main catalogue which details measures to be employed to prevent road accidents was presented to us. Pages 135- 145 demonstrated how to minimize or prevent accidents on our roads, e.g. with rotating beacons and vehicle warning shields.
(Whoever becomes the President of Ghana after this reform constitution should contact me under this address for further information: Dr. med. Edward K. Poku, Tulpenstr. 14, 35104 Lichtenfels, Germany)
Street Vendors and Job Creation in the Newly Created Local Government Areas
For instance, I am of the opinion that the mess in our cities as well as other African cities – unlike in Europe – is due to the uncontrolled practice of street vendors displaying their goods anywhere they choose to do it. In European television it appears to denote poverty and primitivity. This must stop. It is common to see a woman with a heavy load on her head, with a child on her back, while she is sweating profusely.
Imagine how much burden this woman carries along in this heat for this small or meagre reward.
Some of us look on unconcerned and this picture repeats itself in every African nation. How can we change this situation into a productive job ? The solution must be found and written in our constitution. No-one in our countries should be allowed to suffer and things which are carried on the head of a human being or on the spine should be a thing of the past and should be recorded in our constitution.
Mr. Bawumia should be told that the suffering of the Kayaye people to be made permanent is criminal and inhuman, even if it involves building a hostel for them. Finding a way forward is a means of improving our economic situation.
I repeat: People are the source of wealth.
I therefore suggest in my region, Ashanti Region, mobile markets, i.e. a vehicle that can be easily constructed by Kantanka Motor Company with fridges inside to cool food and one side of the vehicle has a movable door that can be opened to sell goods to customers standing in front of it.
The advantage of such a vehicle is to be compared to the advantage of the milk man in England. It is therefore easier to control the quality of foodstuff sold in this way than these huge untidy markets which should be abandoned.
I repeat: Mobile markets consist of nicely painted and decorated four wheeled vehicles, extremely transparent on all sides, thus making it easier for the vendors to display their goods.
The advantage of these vehicles is that they are beautiful and can be placed anywhere the local state authorities give them permission to display their food.
Most of our leaders think that the creation of jobs can only be done through foreign investments. They are wrong. What we should do is to change the mindset of our citizens, the habits of our people and change their attitudes in the local setup.
Tax Setup in the Local Governments
It should be the hope of a local government to widen the tax net in order to shore-up revenue. We cannot be self-sufficient without the effort to broaden the countries revenue base. The number of active taxpayers in Ghana is only six million and out of this figure only 1.2 million actually pay taxes. These 1.2 million taxpayers are mainly cooperative chairmen, bankers, insurance companies and civil servants. The civil servants and government employees consume most of the States’ income. With the exception of soldiers, all civil servants, including doctors, nurses, etc. must provide their own places of abode, which they are not doing at the moment. This should not be the governments’ responsibility. We have a country, where the government, even though it is not an entrepreneur, because of the over-centralised constitution, has been paying for accommodation for doctors, police men, soldiers, all civil servants who have been transferred, nurses, teachers, judges, supreme court judges, even though the government has no money. What it does is to go to the World Bank to borrow money to pay for all these unnecessary expenditures.
Now, let us look at a country like Germany. Doctors pay for their own accommodation in the region where they live, usually where they were born, police officers are not given accommodation by their government. Nurses in training get accommodation from the hospitals but not from the government. Someone who works and lives in the place where he was born has an advantage in borrowing money from a bank where he was born and where he lives, without any involvement from the government.
In Conclusion
I have through a thorough search discovered what for years has been the main cause of Ghana’s poor governance. The poor governance is, as far as I am concerned, first due to a deliberate attempt by Rawlings’ regime to disguise the true meaning of devolution. I suspect that through selfish reasons the successive governments, not excluding that of Kufour, downplayed the importance of transfer power to the lower regions.
It is probable that it is not the Constitution that has failed us, but the deliberate sabotage of many Ghanaian leaders in holding on to power because of the advantages that the power gives them and thereby deliberately misinterpreting the constitution, thus damaging the future of many Ghanaian generations.
Therefore, we can say that we are just lucky that Pres. Mahama has asked for a review of the Ghana Constitution.
I am going to send a copy of this review to Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, to prove to him, the deliberate damage that subsequent leaders have done to the Nation of Ashanti.
I therefore entreat the Committee to empower the various regions to have their own governments with their own Prime Ministers, Ministers and the political power to govern effectively in those regions.
In Ashanti Region, where I come from, I grew up to know that Ashanti and Ahafo were one nation. The split which was affected by Kwame Nkrumah and this mistake should be corrected in a new constitution, whereby Ahafo goes to its rightful place, Ashanti. All the resources of Ashanti and Ahafo shall belong to the people of Ashanti and Ahafo in the new Constitution – the land and the resources.
Secondly, various boards, like the Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board and the Gold Board should be dissolved and if possible re-instituted in Ashanti. This however does not mean that the richness of Ashanti cannot benefit the whole nation but rather that the resources shall be managed by its rightful people. The new Constitution should help the various nations to be conscious about the need to develop their various economies to the benefit of the whole Ghana nation. We cannot have a country where the three leading people (the flagbearer of NPP, the flagbearer of NDC and the Speaker of Parliament) are all from the North. What do you do if all of them are not particularly good?
So far, the present government does not seem to differentiate between the executive, legislative and judiciary branch of government. This has to be respected and safeguarded in the new constitution, which means that if the executive does not execute the laws that have been issued by parliament and tested by the courts, then there have to be immediate sanctions against the executive in order to avoid a constitutional crisis.
If the separation of church and state is not respected by the executive branch, then this has to be effectively stopped, and the will of the constitution be enforced.
I hope that by disclosing the main cause of Ghana’s economic woes, transferring power to the regions will go a far way of preventing our economic disaster.
Best regards,
Dr. Edward Kwame Poku
PS: Those who want to know about who I am, I am one of those people who night and day worked very hard together with Rawlings and Mrs. Rawlings to make NDC what it is today. Mrs. Rawlings left the NDC because of corruption and we should not think that it has stopped, because new revelations about atrocities of some members of NPP have come out. The only solution for Ghana is a true devolution, which gives the nations of our country the right to govern themselves. This will prevent the smuggling of Ashanti gold to Dubai through a new Islamic village in Kotoka airport with the help of one of us.
