It is all connected if you are patient enough to look for the so what in this matter.
Clearly, a government too large is more easily categorized as “imperial” than a government that merely selected a few experts to, in consultation with all the people, review that wart-infested Rawlings Constitution.
In this final paper, we take you back to Mr. Duodu’s paper and his latest and newest broadside at Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and his CPP government of the 1954 era. We learned in that paper that Kwame Nkrumah’s government was a dynamic one, compared to others after Nkrumah.
But, it was the caveat that had us thinking!
Specifically, what exactly did Mr. Duodu mean when he said:
“…(O)ne of the most dynamic governments we ever had, that formed by Dr Kwame Nkrumah in 1954, was created out of a Legislative Assembly whose entire membership numbered one hundred and four!…President Akufo-Addo’s proposed government exceeds that number by six…”?.
While we must thank legendary Mr. Cameron Duodu for that data point on the history of the Gold Coast/Ghana, we must nonetheless apply our lessons in development and geography to better appreciate and understand what was stated.
Our sense is, the 2 contexts (1954 and 2017) are radically unequal if only because Unitary Ghana was long achieved, generations ago if we must annotate, thanks to exemplary efforts on the part of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
That suggests to us that even with a 346% increase in the population of Ghana since 1954, the size of President Akufo Addo’s proposed government exceeds the size of the Nkrumah government not merely “by six”. Akufo Addo’s government is a whole lot bigger, possibly 50% more, if we were to fully account for significantly improved transportation, communications, education, and technology. Then add the contemporary competitive global forces and the need for lean government. Government, after all, is not a dynamic booty system for awarding positions, resources, and power to supporters and friends
As Mr. Duodo interjected, considering that governing a population of 64 million people, “…The British Cabinet now numbers 23 Ministers – as against Ghana’s 50 – for a country with a GDP of $2.858 trillion as compared to Ghana’s puny 37.543 billion.)…”.
WHERE DID ALL THE DYNAMIC GOVERNMENTS COME FROM?
On the other matter of “(O)ne of the most dynamic governments we ever had”, our “dummy internet” tells us “dynamic” denotes “characterized by constant change, activity, or progress…a force that stimulates change or progress within a system or process.” We are old enough to know about many governments that came into being after Kwame Nkrumah.
There has been none that was dynamic, unless you believe excelling at corruption and brutality are hallmarks of a Ghanaian-style “dynamism”. But, surely, all of us understand perfectly that just like any other person, Mr. Cameron Duodu is entitled to his own opinion about every aspect of Ghanaian history.
Knowing now what we never knew about the history of Ghana, that Ankrah’s Nonentities, Liars and Crooks (NLC) and Professor Kofi Abrefa’s Progress Party not only subverted Ghana, but that they were controlled and manipulated like puppets by the Johnson CIA, that they poorly performed as governments when they were in the executive chair, we can with good reason say those two governments were “dynamic” only if we ourselves or our relatives, Ghana-style, were knee-deep in that same subversion at the hands of the puppet masters.
Fact is, no change can by dynamic, or even progressive, if it is not controlled by the people at the center, by the owners of that system, for the total benefit of the People.
Further, no government that Ghana ever had can be characterized as having ushered in “constant change, activity, or progress”. Not Akwasi Afrifa!
Not Nii Amaa Ollennu!
Not Edward Akufo-Addo!
Not Fred Akuffo!
Not even Hilla Limann, all the way to 1972.
None of those leaders served more than 2 years to have done anything worthy of being characterized as “dynamic” and supportive of the development of Ghana and its Peoples.
And we must note, painful as it is for us, that Akwasi Amankwah Afrifa was part of the NLC, another traitor, a stooge, records now show.
And so, that leaves out Ignatius Acheampong (1972-1976), Jerry Rawlings (1979; 1981-1993; 1993-2001), John Kufour (2001 – 2009), John Atta Mills (2009 – 2012), John Mahama (2012- 2017), and now, Akufo Addo.
In our opinion, for this latter group, the only leader who could be considered progressive is Acheampong because he had solid ideas that were tested and proven right for Ghana, about what independence truly means.
But Acheampong was no Nkrumah!
And, an individual being “bombastic” in speeches, on microphones and such, does not a “dynamic government” make or create. Mr. Jerry “Accountability” Rawlings was in power nearly 2 decades. But, there is precious little credit for all those years no matter where we look in Ghana.
In our 6 June, 2015 article, titled, “Jerry Rawlings’s $89,000,000 Ananse Web Of Nothingness!” we discussed how:
“Mr. Jerry ‘Accountability’ Rawlings…never an Engineer, a City Planner, a Hydrologist, Environmental Scientist, or Construction Engineer,…But the politician,…in 1996, surely received the $71,000,000 loan…. worth as much as $108,610,110…in 2015…from the World Bank to hire enough of those professionals to solve the perennial Accra flooding problem…”
Mr. Jerry ‘Accountability’ Rawlings failed to achieve any significant, lasting improvements in the Accra drainage system.
That same Rawlings is directly responsible for the sorry state of the education system in Ghana because, like Akufo Addo of today, he failed to present a properly reasoned, coherent, and rational program plan for the huge changes he caused to be made to the education system, even as he begun sending his children to schools in foreign countries and never accounted for how and why.
With respect to Mr. John Kufour (2001 – 2009), Professor John Atta Mills (2009 – 2012), and Mr. John Mahama, suffice to say that “dynamism” was never associated with anyone of them.
Fact is, being outwardly good natured does not connote “dynamism” in matters of governance and public management.
Therefore, in truth, we all must ask Mr. Duodu this: In addition to Kwame Nkrumah’s CPP government, sir, who exactly were at the head of the other “…most dynamic governments” Ghana ever had?
It surely cannot be Kwabena Yeboah’s Busia, or is it?
Unlike what was proposed by way of a commentary by Kwaben Yeboah that day, it cannot be Busia of the first group, the other member of the NLC. In fact, we find it a tad preposterous that anyone would attempt to position Busia in the same “league” with Kwame Nkrumah in matter of governance, and would, by inference, imply that Acheampong was a less worthy “leader” because, in part, he overthrew Busia.
It does not quite jive!
The only common thing between Busia and Nkrumah is, they both were president, that the former was in part responsible for the overthrow of the latter.
Hell!
The record of history shows that when the going got tough, Busia even wanted the United State to suspend its support for the Akosombo Dam at the critical time it needed a convergence of opinion and support (i.e., a positive funding decision). Then, factor in all the runnings by Busia in the dark, to the US Embassy in Accra, to request financial support for his political activities in newly-independent Ghana.
Those are facts of Ghanaian history, period!
CONCLUSION & SUMMARY
Kwame Nkrumah’s governments were singularly “dynamic”, bar none, if we care to objectively use that concept to represent “progressive”, “independent”, “productive”, “effective”, “citizen-centered”, “intellectually-grounded”, etc.
To boot, Akufu Addo’s government is “too large” precisely on account of the challenges Akufo Addo himself has indicated Ghana faces.
President Akufo Addo is now at the head of an “Imperial Presidency” if we employ even half of the metric and assumptions Professors Stephen Kwaku Asare and H. Kwasi Prempeh devised when in 2010 they jointly wrote, “Amending the Constitution of Ghana: Is the Imperial President Trespassing?”.
President Akufo Addo is not only being imperial, he is in addition trespassing on many grounds. Consider, for instance, the recent case where he allowed himself to be enstooled as a chief in the Ga area.
How is it that Akufo Addo, the lawyer, does not know that it is wrong not only on policy grounds, but also legally, constitutionally, and politically.
Will Mr. Camero Duodu, Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare, and Professor H. Kwasi Prempeh lend their strongest voices, resources, and expertise to checkmate President Akufo Addo now? You know, just as the latter 2 did in their attempt to checkmate Professor Atta Mills and his transparently Ghana-centered proposal to help remove all the rot and warts in that Rawlings Constitution.
Has Akufo Addo not trespassed enough in your objective eyes, Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare, Professor H. Kwasi Prempeh? When will Ghana complete the work on the Constitution and will Professors Prempeh and Asare row up their sleeves now to help Ghana get the job done?
Where art thou, prolific Massas?
SOURCES AND NOTES
1. Cameron Duodu. Sorry, Mr. President; your government is too large. Ghanaweb, (http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/Sorry-Mr-President-your-government-is-too-large-519974).
2. Stephen Kwaku Asare and H. Kwasi Prempeh. Amending the Constitution of Ghana: Is the Imperial President Trespassing?, (http://danquahinstitute.org/docs/AmendingtheConstitutionofGhana.pdf).
3. Prof Lungu. Winners & Losers: Akufo Addo’s Million-Dollar Cash Giveaways to Voting Districts, (http://www.ghanahero.com/PROF_LUNGU_SAYS/2017-Ghana-Review/Winners_and_Losers_Akufo_Addo_Million-Dollar_Cash_to_Voting_Districts-Final.pdf).
4. Stephen Kwaku Asare, Ghanaweb, Supreme Court dismisses case against review of Constitution, (http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Supreme-Court-dismisses-case-against-review-of-Constitution-387658). 5. Prof Lungu. Jerry Rawlings’s $89,000,000 Ananse Web Of Nothingness!, (https://www.modernghana.com/news/621725/jerry-rawlingss-89000000-ananse-web-of-nothingness.html).
Comments:
This article has no comments yet, be the first to comment
Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.
