KB Asante: Voice From Afar column
Respect governance structures and procedures
President Mahama is right. We need not be pessimistic about the economy. He knows the major reasons for the downturn and for the rise in the cost of living. Ghana lost US$1.3 billion in export revenue from 2012 to 2014, he informed us. You do not then expect to have the cedis you need to buy goods priced in foreign money.
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Effective, perhaps unpopular, decisions must be taken to reverse the pessimism. And President Mahama knows that a leader must have the courage to take the necessary decisions.
Effective measures
Effective measures are required to make us produce more and buy less foreign products. Rules about pricing goods in dollars show that something is being done but they do not achieve much apart from affecting business confidence in the economy as does going back on policies which encouraged Ghanaians abroad to bank their foreign currency in Ghana.
It is to be hoped that when the initial pressure to do something immediately has subsided, wiser counsels would prevail and the real effective measures would be taken, in spite of pressures from powerful interest groups.Fortunately, as already stated and as has been reported, President Mahama knows that ‘A leader is meant to take courageous decisions’. Some, even a substantial number of influential people, may be against the decision but if the leader is convinced that the decision is in the public interest, he should take it and use the considerable information apparatus at his disposal to explain and support his decision.
Advice
And how does the President come to his decision? There is the general feeling that the President needs advice. My experience is that a Ghanaian President is often saturated with advice and is likely to be confused when he bypasses the established ‘information input’ system and listens to outsiders who are not responsible for implementation and the consequences.
The civil service and the organisations and institutions of the public service are the main channels of information and advice. Advice without responsibility is cheap. The President should rely primarily on the ministers who are in charge of ministries and government institutions. The chief director of the ministry should be capable of co-ordinating the work of all organisations which come under the purview of the ministry to ensure formulation and implementation of purposeful national policies.
Working within system
It is the practice for our Presidents to have certain organisations directly under them. But the officials in charge of these establishments should be conversant with the governance structure and should know how to work within the system. For example, when President Nkrumah decided to organise a major international conference, ‘The World Without The Bomb’, he put an experienced official F.E. Boateng in charge. Boateng did not go outside the system to engage personnel to help manage the conference. He used the existing structures effectively and the conference was a success.
In 1965, the President made me chief administrator for Job 600 and for the OAU Conference of Heads of State. There was no fanfare announcement or special organisation set up. I worked within the established system.Some of the organisational heads were my seniors at school and in appointment. But the art was for the Principal Secretary or now Chief Director not to play the ‘boss’ but collaborate with his colleagues to achieve a national purpose.
The 1965 conference was similar to the 50-year celebration of Independence except that the latter was in some ways a bigger event. I did not go outside the establishment to engage personnel or sign contracts. Thus, Prof. Easmon assisted me to ensure that Heads of State who fell sick were looked after appropriately and E.L. Quartey advised and fixed emergency electrical installations and so on.
The Information Services Department
The Information Services Department let me down a little when I asked them to prepare a brochure with a short history of the states attending the conference. Kwame Nkrumah, in disgust, threw their draft at me. I caught the book with a page opened. It stated “Ghana was discovered by the Portuguese …” Of course, I amended this to read ‘The first imperialists to visit present-day Ghana were the Portuguese …’ Appropriate amendments were made and President Nkrumah accepted the draft which was produced by those responsible for printing for government.
There was no question of guests going without food or not being properly received at the State Banquet for Heads of State during the 1965 OAU Conference. I would not have lasted in office one second if that had occurred. I asked for a full dress-rehearsal of the dinner. Ministry of Finance had no money and so the President at my request financed the rehearsal from the ‘Contingency Vote’. The Ambassador Hotel was then given the catering function. They had strict orders about what not to serve. I approved the menu; no pork, no beef, no stew, no soup. A few vegetarian meals were to be made available and hard liquor was not flaunted at Moslems.
I am recalling these events to show that the established structures did work together to achieve national purposes. We should go outside the system only when necessary. Outsiders such as consultants should work within and under the system. If a loan is required for example, this should be the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. Even if a grant is made directly to a government organisation, the Ministry of Finance should be involved. Financial administration requires special skills and knowledge. It is the same in other fields. By the time I retired from the service, I realised how much I did not know. Colleagues in the system must know how to work together. Of course a few of them are no good these days and we must find a way of facilitating their exit.
The idea that certain well-connected businessmen can resource loans for government is ridiculous. The practice fuels corruption and judgement debts. Even in the good old days, many influential Ghanaians tried to resource loans for the state. We, the officials at the Flagstaff House, in common with the gurus at the Ministry of Finance, became unpopular for opposing such loans. One day, President Nkrumah was about to sign a loan when he called me on another matter. He said it was a good loan but sensed I was not impressed. He asked why. I explained that the banks were awash with money and had engaged agents who were paid commissions for successful loan requests from good customers. To the surprise of the powerful financial ‘advisers’, President Nkrumah did not sign the loan request. When one of them asked me why the President did not sign the loan agreement, I said I did not know! I am afraid sometimes one has to tell a blunt lie for a good cause.But it should seldom be done.
It appears from the news that the practice of ‘contacts’ sourcing for loans for government has become common. If the government of Ghana cannot negotiate for loans and has to rely on individuals, then there is something “wrong in the State of Denmark”. President Mahama needs to take a courageous decision in this area. The established system should work.
The President, as leader, can take the courageous decisions to remove the pessimism hanging about the economy. The pessimism can be replaced by enthusiasm for action once we are all made to realise that there is no pie in the sky. There is no fantastic advice outside the ministries and state institutions which can change difficult situations painlessly. The governance structures should be made to work.
President Mahama has a problem though. Some personnel have been placed in key positions because of party affiliation, nepotism and tribalism. If they are competent and doing well, they may be retained; otherwise a nice way should be found to get them out of the system. The President has to rely on what we have to improve the economic and social situation and therefore we should have the best personnel in key positions.He should insist that the civil and public service perform and demand that the established government organisations which are maintained by our taxes do their duty.Courageous decisions should be taken to remove those who do not earn their pay.Together, we can overcome. For this to happen, we must think and work.
