On a scale of merit, it can be said that Ghana fared badly last year, 2013. There were a lot of agitations, including unrests on the labour front, destructive fires all over the place, overburdening utility hikes, erratic petroleum increases, Supreme Court drama over election results, brouhaha over sale of Merchant Bank and a contagion of corruption scandals that threatened the country’s survival.
Even though these occurrences caused a lot of dislocations to the economy, by God’s grace, divine mercies and blessings the country was able to scrape through.
It is hoped that this year, 2014, would present us with better opportunities and Ghanaians will be filled with an unflagging conscience to work hard and avoid becoming easily affected to get corrupt.
The economic situation all over the world is getting difficult by the day. That is why the nation would have to come to terms with how it is going to generate money and spend it wisely. At present, it will be difficult for any country to dole money out to us as was the case years ago, when now we are an oil-producing economy.
We have been producing oil for five years now and counting, but have little to show for it. Mismanagement of our resources is our bane and one area the government will have to take a critical look at this year.
This year, we should have no more of the reckless GYEEDA, Woyome, Isofoton and Waterville shenanigans.
Thankfully, this country has not experienced the traumatic experiences of war and natural disasters that have affected people in other parts of the world. That is the reason why no argument can explain our penchant to trot when we can run.
The analogy that Ghana started on the same level with countries like Singapore and Malaysia now sounds dull and placid, in spite of its repeated appeal.
This is because now when such comparisons are made, instead of the Ghanaian being consumed by determination to succeed, he or she rather looks resigned and uninterested.
How we got here is anybody’s guess. We are now a pale shadow of ourselves. The leadership drive that got us to become the Black Star of Africa is all but evaporated.
Even in today’s Africa, we are only living in vainglory as we have been overtaken in many respects all the way from sports to education. But we can turn the wheels around, and which is what we must do.
Firstly, for us to be successful, we need money and every little pesewa will have to count. So, those who owe the country money, some of which the Supreme Court has given directives that they should be collected, must endeavour to pay to the last pesewa.
It is unfortunate, to say the least, that since June 2013, when the Ghana Supreme Court favoured a suit filed by former Attorney General, Mr Martin A.B.K Amidu, ordering the Spanish company, Isofoton, and Waterville Holdings to pay up over 47 million euros that was wrongfully paid to them in judgement debt, the Attorney General’s Department has not been able to collect the monies.
Those monies and others that were fraudulently paid must be collected to plug some of the many leaking financial holes in the economy.
Another area of financial misunderstanding is that surrounding the sale of Merchant Bank. As has been said before, it is important that we are sure that the right thing is being done and that there are no tricks involved.
On one part, it makes no sense for the stakeholders, that is SSNIT and SIC Life, to be recapitalising the bank using pension funds without making profits. This way, it would be better for the stakeholders to wash their hands off the bank to save contributors of the pension scheme from losses. But that is only when SSNIT , the pension fund manager, is satisfied that all procedural processes and due diligence have been followed.
The reason why people are raising concern over Fortiz in view of its short life and seeming inexperience in the banking sector, I believe, is because of the need to avoid a situation where the bank is schemed to fall into the hands of a coterie of politicians who may want to use it to oil their electioneering campaigns in future. And it is a believable fear that needs not be discounted.
Ghana has grown politically as we have continually been getting it right for years now. Let us not, therefore, do anything that may even remotely suggest an attempt to circumvent those ideals.
Our principal interest in 2014 should be to also grow economically. The leadership must be prepared to put in place robust measures that will push the economy higher.
But to do that, there will have to be a vision - a plan into which the citizenry can all make inputs and be carried along. When the people are not made a part of the plan or do not buy into it, they stay aloof and watch from the sidelines. A situation we can ill afford at this time.
