A lawyer with over 20 years standing at the bar, and the Managing Partner of the Bentsi-Enchill, Letsa & Ankomah, Mr Ace Anan Ankomah, has built a solid reputation as one of the most respected legal brains in the country.
However, Ace, as he is referred to by family, friends and colleagues, is also widely known for his strong passion for pursuing the cause of justice and public accountability. He believes that public office holders must be held accountable as stewards of the public purse. He also holds an uncompromising view that corruption in whatever shape or form must not be tolerated in any aspect of our national life.
As a result, his recent participation in the activities of Occupy Ghana, a pressure group that seeks to promote and demand good governance and accountability from all stakeholders in national life, was hardly surprising.
Speaking on the Leaders' Digest of the Springboard, Virtual University, a programme hosted by Rev. Albert Ocran on Joy FM last Sunday, Ace explained that his decision to pursue good governance and public accountability was informed by the fact that the average Ghanaian had been taken for granted by the political leadership.
His public campaigns
Ace recollected how the sight of a young lady eating dry bread for lunch on a sunny afternoon radicalised his thinking.
"Growing up, I had very strong right-wing political views. However, one day, I went to eat lunch somewhere and we had spent quite some money on food, a lot of which we did not eat. Driving back, I saw a young lady and in that hot sun, she was eating dry bread from a polythene bag," he said in a sombre tone.
"I felt bad because she is a Ghanaian like me and she is entitled to everything that I am entitled to, almost as of right or at least a better lifestyle than what she was going through," he noted.
He mentioned that his public comments and campaigns against corruption and bad governance are part of his role as a citizen of Ghana. “I have never lived anywhere else except for when l pursued my education briefly outside the country. I don’t intend to live anywhere except in Ghana.”
Success
On what he would consider success in his advocacy work, he said, "it is when the first flurry of disallowances and surcharges are issued by the Auditor General and we follow up to collect the monies. Success is when we collect the first amount of monies from a Ghanaian who may have wasted them," he explained.
When these actions yield results, Ace said, that achievement would become "another notch in my life."
Equality
Making reference to the adage: 'one day, the poor will have nothing to eat but the rich,' Ace said the adage must spur the middle class into action to demand good governance and accountability from public office holders.
"For now, the middle class is comfortable because we have solved Ghana’s problems for ourselves. The roads are bad but we do not care because we drive in our SUVs; there is no water but we have dug boreholes and installed filtration systems to ensure we have running water.
“There is no electricity but we have generating plants and generators so we can get light. The schools are bad but we pay high amounts to get our children into the very best schools.
“However, the more a few people get richer and more comfortable, the worse the mass of Ghanaians are feeling, and a day is coming when the masses will wake up to say that ‘this is not the kind of lives we dreamt of.’ At that moment they will direct their frustration and anger at the middle class who may have honestly earned their money”, he explained.
"The day the poor rises up, the middle class will be meat but we pray that that day never comes. That is why the middle class need to wake up and know that they owe the poor a duty. I am not saying that you should distribute your money, but speak up against the bad governance system," Mr Ankomah, explained.
The other side of Ace
Responding to a question that he has lived affluently throughout his life, Mr Ankomah said that was not true. “I have smelt poverty. I have looked poverty in the eye. I know what it is to be poor.”
He said he lost his father when aged 19 and that destabilised the family, especially since he was entering the University of Ghana that same year.
"My mother had to take up a part-time job at the Bank of Ghana to count "dead money." I mean monies that were going to be destroyed. So, right from my first year in school, I saw poverty in the eye. It was so difficult that I learnt how to eat beans, which I loved, in a special way though.
“I learnt how to eat beans by soaking the gari on the side so that I could dip the gari in the cooked beans. That was how l could get enough beans to eat and be full. There were times I went to bed hungry; not because I was fasting but because I could not afford food," he explained.
Beyond this, Ace said he went through five years of legal training without being able to afford a single textbook.
"My friends who came from rich homes at the time bought the books and those books were always in my room because I would do the reading and teaching. So, I have seen poverty," he said, bursting into laughter.
Moving from success to significance
Ace said he had over the years realised that success without significance could amount to nothing.
"Albert, the one thing that we both learnt from our Aspen fellowship is that we must move from success to significance. How has your success benefited society or how significant are you? Yes, the criticism is that I might have probably seen it all but that is not it. If I can improve one or two other lives, I think I would have served my cause," he added.
His values
On the values that drive his life, Ace mentioned structure, comfort and family.
He explained that his love for structure, routine and order made it difficult for him to appreciate surprises. “I don’t like surprises. I have planned my life so don’t throw surprises at me. I have schedules and routines. l plan everything l do because that is how l choose to live my life. Even when I make changes, I do not go for radical changes to what I am already doing.”
Regarding comfort, he said everybody deserves a little bit of comfort after working so hard to earn a living. “I love comfort and that is why l love fast cars. If l had the means, l would probably buy a private jet just for the fun of it.”
Notwithstanding his heavy work schedule, Ace said he often found time for his family, whom he described as the anchor of his life.
“It is all about family because at the end of the day, they are the reason why I live and they are my ultimate satisfaction," he said. He also admitted that his actions often put his family at risk but that would not deter him from campaigning for good governance and accountability.
Legacy
On how he wants to be remembered, he said he just wants to be seen as someone who lived purposefully on the earth. He was quick to add the need for a sense of divine awareness.
"If I manage to inspire people, then it is a by-product of me living but my biggest legacy must be that I made my contribution and I also had fun," he said.