KB Asante: Voice From Afar column
The culture of impunity should be eliminated not tamed
The Daily Graphic editorial of January, 29, 2014 demands that “Never again should any state institutions be allowed to visit the Adjei Kojo mayhem on the people no matter the circumstances”.
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The sentiments are good but the circumstances do matter. If the institution had done its work diligently the houses would not have been built.
State institutions are set up as a result of the mandate of the people whose taxes fund them. They are therefore expected to promote the public good and the question of allowing them to visit mayhem on the tax payer does not arise. No democratic government whose mandate is derived from the electorate would allow this. Why then did the mayhem occur at Adjei Kojo?
The answer is simple. The institution i.e. the TDC did not do its work. It was forced to act drastically when matters got out of hand. Our governments have the habit of supporting the institutions manned by their supporters and dilly-dally when a problem occurs until a crisis explodes.
They and their agents are then caught with their trousers down, {if they have any!} when crises erupts and are forced to comment or act without much thought. Thus the MP of the area expressed outrage at the action of the TDC and pledged support for court action. Others connected with the administration empathized with the victims of the TDC action while some regarded the demolition of houses as a humanitarian catastrophe.
The Daily Graphic naturally found people confused by the discordant voices of government appointees. The paper rightly called for government officials to ensure that the rules are followed so that they speak with one voice to end the culture of impunity.
The rules cannot however be followed if greed determines action. Officials who should not allow structures to be erected, tend to collect bribes or turn a blind eye and allow the wrong things to be done. When this leads to a chaotic situation they act in accordance with the law and thereby inflict untold hardship on the citizenry. The officials connected with the Adjei Kojo affairs should be punished not for what they have now done but for failing to do the duty for which they are paid.
It will be “never again!” as the Daily Graphic rightly expects, if and only if, we all insist that institutions do their work and the rule of law is maintained.
The Adjei Kojo mayhem about land and houses will occur now and again until we do the right thing. Homes are essential and the land on which houses are built is an emotive subject. Unfortunately, Ghanaians like me when in key positions have allowed personal interest, greed and corruption to create problems in the matter of acquisition of land.
Government rightly acquired land compulsorily in the past for public use but their successors did not follow the rules of acquisition and the land when no longer required for the public purpose is given to friends, relations and hangers-on or for profit. Cases before the courts to bring justice to land acquisition by government linger on. The matter will not disappear.
We may think we are clever but what we are doing is to sow the seeds of serious unrest and even uprisings in the not distant future.
The greed and corruption in land acquisition sometimes supported by law and official acts are responsible for some of the lawlessness we have today. So long as you have an iniquitous law which allows you to build quickly on stolen land, “Land Guards” will be engaged to protect workers to build night and day so that justice is eluded in the courts by fraud legally perpetrated.
The law which allows stolen land in Accra to be built upon should be scrapped. A developer should have title to land before he or she builds on it.
I feel diminished as an African nationalist to admit that the colonisers used our land for the public good unlike some of our own leaders. Korle-Bu lands {much of which appears to have been stolen by our own people}, Achimota, Takoradi harbour and Legon University lands show how public lands should be used. This is in sharp contrast to the use of cantonments lands acquired to house state officials while on duty.
The colonial government even acquired land for the people. Thus to decongest Accra after the influenza in the nineteen twenties following the first World War, the Government of the Cold Coast acquired land from the Atukpai Chief {I think} to settle people at Adabraka. Land was allotted to people on condition that they builds on them within five years and the Accra Town Council was encouraged to lend money for such purpose.
We followed the practice of decently housing the people after independence. But somehow the corrupt practices set in. We must change course. Government must be for the people.
If it concerns itself only with the privileged, it would eventually be destroyed by the alienated poor and real mayhem may follow. We must prevent this. Institutions should do their work. Laws should be maintained.
Those in the upper reaches of society should lead the way to probity and rule of law. They will suffer most if not eliminated in a mayhem. Things must change before the culture of impunity destroys the nation.
