The general enlistment into the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) of 2010 appears to be and indeed is unfair to certain categories of Ghanaians. A deliberate policy of discrimination has been implanted to disqualify some categories of Ghanaians by age and academic qualifications.
This discrimination is unjust, unmerited and discriminatory and calls for immediate redress.
Information gathered from Burma Camp by this blog and some interested applications show that this deliberate policy has been invoked in order to disqualify some group of Ghanaians while making it possible and easier for the NDC and the ‘powers that be’ to select only those persons they have already earmarked. There is already anger and frustrations in Burma Camp over the issue.
The unjust, unmerited and discriminatory policy has to do with the two major types of Commission into GAF. These are the Regular Commission and Short Service Commission Career officers. There have been arbitrary significant changes in the ages and academic qualifications requirements.
Ever since the Ghana Armed Forces started enlisting personnel for commission, the age limits for Regular and Short Service Commission applicants had been 26 and 30 years respectively until 2010 when they were arbitrary changed. The age limit for Regular Commission applicants is now 25 years and no more 26 years. The irony of this change is that it has been effected at a time that Senior Secondary School/ Senior High School graduates are no more qualified to apply for Regular Commission and therefore only graduates from the Tertiary Institutions are qualified.
The exclusion of Senior High School graduates from the Officer Crops had long been completed and the policy had implemented gradually with circumspection until 2010 and is aimed at improving standards. It was therefore only the best SSS/SHS leavers especially science students who had qualified for University admission with very good grades who were in the past enlisted into the Officer Crops especially into the Navy and the Airforce as Executives and Pilots respectively. This window for SSS/SHS leavers enabled a lot of children of officers and men in the GAF to be enlisted. The change has seriously affected the soldiers in particular and they are seriously crying for HELP.
A Warrant officer said that “officers are discriminating against us since most of their children are in the good tertiary institutions because they have more money and ours are roaming about in Barracks because now we cannot pay for the high cost of their tertiary education’.
Another Warrant Officer also said that “the NDC brought the SSS system to replace the SC/GCE Ordinary and Advance level system and yet they do not want us to use the products of the system to join the officer Crops. The NDC wants our children to join us as Other Ranks while the children of the elite members of the party and the officers join as officers”. Surely, the two Warrant officers feel that the policy is arbitrary, unfair, unjust and discriminatory.
On the age limit for Regular Commission, the concerned persons were wondering about the wisdom in reducing the age from 26 to 25 years while at the same time insisting that the applicant must be exactly 25 years or less than that as at 31si October 2010.
This blog gathers that all Ghanaians born between 1st January and 30th October 1985 who are all 25 years old now or will be 25 years old before or on 30th October 2010 are disqualified for Regular Commission.
Also, considering the fact that only degree, HND and diploma holders are now qualified for Regular Commission, and their ages are certainly higher than SSS/SHS leaver, it really sounds more reasonable to have maintained the age limit at 26 years since applicants on completion of their courses have to undertake a one year national service compulsory.
The other issue of concern to interested persons is the fact that only selected qualifications are now accepted for Short Service Commission while the age limit has been reduced from 26 years old to 25 years for Regular Commission thereby making it more difficult for some large numbers of degree, HND and diploma holders to apply for Regular Commission because of age and the exclusion of some academic qualifications from the Short Service Commission has worsened their plight.
An aggrieved soldier illustrated his point by reference to the Advertisement for example, in the advertisement, the only professionals and academic qualifications accepted for Short Service Commission are the Legal Service, Medical Crops, Chaplaincy Service, Engineer Services and Band. All other degrees, HND and diploma from the tertiary institutions and professional bodies are not accepted for Short Service Commission making the policy certainly unfair, unjust and unnecessarily discriminatory.
In the past, professionals and academic qualifications for the major Services in the Armed Forces namely Public Relations, Ordinance, Supply and Transport, Pay and Education, among others, mainly in the Army, Supply Branch and Administration in the Navy, Supply and Administration in the Airforce were all accepted.
In the current exercise, whereas the Navy and Airforce have maintained their professional and educational requirement, the Army, which is the largest of the three Arms of the Service, has arbitrary changed its entry requirements to the detriment of some Ghanaians.
Incidentally, most of those traditionally Army dominated Services are now all Tri-Service meaning that officers from the Army, Navy and Airforce can join those services. Thus, there are now officers from the Navy and Airforce with the Public Relations Directorate, Ordinance Service, Supply and Transport, Pay, Education and Engineer Service. What this means is that while the Army is using age and qualifications to disqualify some categories of Ghanaians, they are being accepted in the Navy and Airforce, albeit in small numbers, the balance may eventually tilt in favour of the Navy and Airforce in the not too distant future creating frustration for their Army counterparts.
Already, in terms of promotions and appointments, officers in the Navy and Airforce generally move faster than their colleagues in the Army from the ranks of Lieutenant Colonel and their equivalent and above.
Furthermore, while for instance degree holders with Bachelor of Science Administration, Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Service Planning are not accepted for Short Service Commission, persons with diploma in music are accepted for Short Service Commission.
Additionally, while HND (Civil Engineering, Marine Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Building Technology) are accepted for Short Service Commission, all other HND holders i.e. Marketing, Accountancy, Purchasing and Supply, HCIM are not eligible for Short Service Commission.
Again, whereas a trained journalist (a holder of degree or diploma in journalism) is not considered as a professional for Short Service Commission, a holder of diploma in Bio-Chemistry or a diploma in Environmental Health is considered as such and is eligible for Short Service Commission.
Certainly, these discriminatory requirements are unfair and arbitrary and need to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Already, there is tension in the Barracks, according to grape vine sources over the mass release of the 1978/79 year groups of soldiers and the way the 2010 recruitment is also being conducted. We shall come to those areas later.
Our sources have indicated that there appears to be a systematic well coordinated, well orchestrated and well rehearsed plan to recruit and enlist certain groups of people into the GAF and special avenues have been opened for them. Specific examples will be given in subsequent publications. For instance, the age limits for the Legal Service and Clinical Psychologists have been raised from 30 to 35 years because of some specific individuals.
For instance, is it not interesting and ridiculous for the eligibility requirement on Clinical Psychologists to read that “Applicant must not be more than 35 years and be a holder of a first degree, Masters or PhD in counseling or Clinical Psychology with a minimum of 6, 4, and 3 years working experience respectively”?
Friday, March 19, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Atta Mills: Not A Trust Worthy Character
It is fast turning out that President Professor John Evans Atta Mills is not a trustworthy character.
His word is not worth the paper it is written on, and all those who have been taking his words to heart would be right in taking his promises with a pinch of salt. The evidence shows that he does not mean what he says.
On 23rd February 2009, President Professor John Evans Atta Mills ordered all his appointees to file their Assets Declaration Forms in seven clear days.
Fourteen (14) months on, I can say on authority that this order by the President has been flouted after the Presidential fiat. In other words, the president’s fiat has been flouted with impunity, meaning that as far as many of his appointees are concerned, they could care less.
To them, the President’s word is not worth the paper it is written on. Do you remember he told a group of journalists to ask his appointees if they had declared their assets when he held his so called ‘meet the press’ on 7 January 2010?
But to be more serious, one wonders what clear actions the President took to ensure that his fiat is obeyed. Did he just make the public announcement without clear orders to his people to obey his fiat?
Did he set deadlines with systems of assurances? If he did not, then the President simply made a populist and public pronouncement meant to tickle the populist sentiments of the populace.
He spoke with intent to deceive the public, and then went to sleep, sure and certain that he had assured the people of Ghana that he is a man of action and now he has been exposed, again!
The President in his Manifesto for a so called Better Ghana promised that 40% of his appointees would be women, the mathematics showed that only 11% of his appointees were women, a far departure from what he promised the people and women of Ghana.
Again, therefore, in this present instance, it is turning out that the President deliberately hoodwinked the women of Ghana to win votes.
When he was questioned about this matter in London, President Professor John Evans Atta Mills said that he could not identify the women to fit the positions available because they had not applied themselves in the field of politics.
I find this claim to be laughable, and worse, rather dishonest on the part of the President.
Since this matter came up, a lot of people have expressed the opinion that women should apply themselves in order to earn the presidential recognition. I disagree, simply over the fact that the problem moves beyond women simply applying themselves.
The problem is that we have a politician who made a promise that he knew clearly before he made that he could not fulfill based on the simple facts of our reality.
In Ghana today, even though we have a higher ratio of women as against men, we have far less females in educational institutions than men.
This unfortunate situation means that in all spheres of endeavor except possibly petty trading, we have more men than women.
In the brutal world of politics, the women are even less represented. In the last parliament, we had less than thirty women in a house of 230 representatives. In a situation where the law stipulates that the President, in appointing his ministers for example, choose 50% and more of them out of parliament, it becomes immediately clear that he would have problems meeting his claim to appoint 40% of his appointees from among the womenfolk.
Again, after the nominations had been filed during the run-up to the last general elections, where we had less than twenty-percent of women applying to go into parliament, it became even more obvious that it would be impossible to appoint a Cabinet made up of40% female representation.
A simple and cursory examination of the facts would have shown the presidential candidates that a promise to make 40% of appointees from women was unrealistic.
Yet, there was Candidate Atta Mills, mouthing of and busily assuring our women that 40% of all his appointees would be made up of women. The promise, clearly, was unrealistic and insincere.
But there is a worse aspect to this whole matter. The difficulties I have outlined above towards meeting the 40% representation in government is not unique to our current situation. In fact, it has been the status quo over the years and throughout our history.
A few years ago, the situation was worse. But in spite of that, the immediate past Kufuor Administration ensured that it gave 25% of its appointees to women. The lowering of this standard to 11% by the Atta Mills administration, itself signaling a lowering of over 50%, would indicate a very serious lowering of the standards for women in public service.
In deed the word of our President is not worth the paper it is written on period!
His word is not worth the paper it is written on, and all those who have been taking his words to heart would be right in taking his promises with a pinch of salt. The evidence shows that he does not mean what he says.
On 23rd February 2009, President Professor John Evans Atta Mills ordered all his appointees to file their Assets Declaration Forms in seven clear days.
Fourteen (14) months on, I can say on authority that this order by the President has been flouted after the Presidential fiat. In other words, the president’s fiat has been flouted with impunity, meaning that as far as many of his appointees are concerned, they could care less.
To them, the President’s word is not worth the paper it is written on. Do you remember he told a group of journalists to ask his appointees if they had declared their assets when he held his so called ‘meet the press’ on 7 January 2010?
But to be more serious, one wonders what clear actions the President took to ensure that his fiat is obeyed. Did he just make the public announcement without clear orders to his people to obey his fiat?
Did he set deadlines with systems of assurances? If he did not, then the President simply made a populist and public pronouncement meant to tickle the populist sentiments of the populace.
He spoke with intent to deceive the public, and then went to sleep, sure and certain that he had assured the people of Ghana that he is a man of action and now he has been exposed, again!
The President in his Manifesto for a so called Better Ghana promised that 40% of his appointees would be women, the mathematics showed that only 11% of his appointees were women, a far departure from what he promised the people and women of Ghana.
Again, therefore, in this present instance, it is turning out that the President deliberately hoodwinked the women of Ghana to win votes.
When he was questioned about this matter in London, President Professor John Evans Atta Mills said that he could not identify the women to fit the positions available because they had not applied themselves in the field of politics.
I find this claim to be laughable, and worse, rather dishonest on the part of the President.
Since this matter came up, a lot of people have expressed the opinion that women should apply themselves in order to earn the presidential recognition. I disagree, simply over the fact that the problem moves beyond women simply applying themselves.
The problem is that we have a politician who made a promise that he knew clearly before he made that he could not fulfill based on the simple facts of our reality.
In Ghana today, even though we have a higher ratio of women as against men, we have far less females in educational institutions than men.
This unfortunate situation means that in all spheres of endeavor except possibly petty trading, we have more men than women.
In the brutal world of politics, the women are even less represented. In the last parliament, we had less than thirty women in a house of 230 representatives. In a situation where the law stipulates that the President, in appointing his ministers for example, choose 50% and more of them out of parliament, it becomes immediately clear that he would have problems meeting his claim to appoint 40% of his appointees from among the womenfolk.
Again, after the nominations had been filed during the run-up to the last general elections, where we had less than twenty-percent of women applying to go into parliament, it became even more obvious that it would be impossible to appoint a Cabinet made up of40% female representation.
A simple and cursory examination of the facts would have shown the presidential candidates that a promise to make 40% of appointees from women was unrealistic.
Yet, there was Candidate Atta Mills, mouthing of and busily assuring our women that 40% of all his appointees would be made up of women. The promise, clearly, was unrealistic and insincere.
But there is a worse aspect to this whole matter. The difficulties I have outlined above towards meeting the 40% representation in government is not unique to our current situation. In fact, it has been the status quo over the years and throughout our history.
A few years ago, the situation was worse. But in spite of that, the immediate past Kufuor Administration ensured that it gave 25% of its appointees to women. The lowering of this standard to 11% by the Atta Mills administration, itself signaling a lowering of over 50%, would indicate a very serious lowering of the standards for women in public service.
In deed the word of our President is not worth the paper it is written on period!
Cover Up @ Burma Camp
This blog has intercepted a petition written by Colonel Kwadwo Damoah to the Director of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service; Mr. Frank Adu Poku, dated 5th November, 2009 and copied to the nation’s number one policeman, Mr. Paul Quaye.
Below is the unedited petition:
RE- THREAT ON MY LIFE
COLONEL KWADWO DAMOAH
1. I wish to remind you, Sir, about a formal complaint that I lodged with the CID of the Ghana Police Service on 25th February 2009.
2. In the said complaint, I mentioned and volunteered the names of certain military officers, high dignitaries and members of the Security Services that I suspected of being part of a conspiracy to eliminate me. Examples of the text messages that I received on my mobile phones between the 06 December 2008 and January ending 2009 threatening to kill me were provided in the said complaint.
3. At least two letters were written by the then Acting IGP, Mrs. Mills- Robertson, to the Acting Chief of Defence Staff to release those military officers to assist in investigations.
4. Unfortunately, the named officers either refused or failed to report at the Police Headquarters as requested. My information is that the Minister of Defence, General JH Smith, asked them not to report and has since been shielding them. Some of the officers have even been deliberately sent on military operations outside Ghana to avoid reporting at the Police Headquarters.
5. Some of the named officers are also using their appointment at and closeness to the “Castle” to brag about with impunity and have vowed never to report at the Police Headquarters.
6. I was happy to hear the Honorable Minister of Interior, Mr. Cletus Avorka, in an answer to an urgent question in Parliament on the status of the compliant on the threat to my life, say that the Ministries of Defence and Interior were resolving that issue. That, however, has not materialized and yet there have been several occurrences that are worrying and of major concern to my safety and security.
7. On Wednesday, 4 February 2009 at the office of the then Air Commodore CEK Dovlo, then Director General Personnel Administration of the Ghana Armed Forces between about 0900 and 1100 hours in the presence of Group Captain Dwamena-Mante, Deputy Director General Personnel Administration, now Air Vice Marshal CEK Dovlo, Commandant of Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) admitted that he had been told by Lieutenant Colonel LL Attachie that there was “bad blood” between he Lieutenant Colonel LL Attachie and Colonel Kwadwo Damoah.
8. Furthermore, I was told Lieutenant Colonel EDEM Fiawoo, the Director of Legal Services of the Ghana Armed Forces, that Lt Col LL Attachie said in his presence that I, Colonel Kwadwo Damoah had gone to the Tain Constituency with troops, weapons and ammunitions to assassinate former President JJ Rawlings at a time that he Lt Col EDEM Fiawoo had seen me in Burma Camp. Fortunately for me, Lt Col EDEM Fiawoo refuted the allegation to Lt Col LL Attachie and later informed me about it.
9. You might have noticed that Lt. Col Attachie is one of the officers suspected to be involved in the conspiracy to kill me. The fact that Air Vice Marshal CEK Dovlo admits that there is “bad blood” between Lt Col LL Attachie and Colonel K Damoah coupled with Lt Col LL Attachie’s attempt to frame Col K Damoah up in an accusation plot on former President Rawlings, calls for serious concern and urgent enquiry.
10. Moreover, on 29 May 2009, I had to escort my younger brother Mr. Kofi Brobbey Damoah and the Secretary to an Association called “Concerned Citizens of Jaman South” to the BNI to assist in investigations connected to a demonstration at Drobo in the Brong Ahafo Region and information on an attempt by unidentified security personnel to dump arms and ammunitions in my family house as part of the accusation that Colonel K Damoah was indeed involved in an attempt to assassinate former President Rawlings at the Tain Constituency. I was made to write a statement to the BNI.
11. General JH Smith is alleged to have remarked that he would have fired at Members of Parliament who drilled and embarrassed him on 10th June 2009 when he appeared in the House to answer an urgent question on the fate of the 420 Army Potential Recruits if he had weapons on him that day. Gen Smith continued that he would put the blame on Colonel Damoah who was the cause of his woes on the floor of Parliament and swore to pay Colonel Damoah back at all cost.
12. Certainly, if Gen Smith was and has been so annoyed about his “ordeal” on the floor of Parliament and would have killed even MPs, then his threat to pay me back at all cost should not be taken lightly. One of the things that Gen Smith has succeeded in doing is to get me retired from the Ghana Armed Forces. He has put so much pressure on the Chief of Army Staff, Major General Adinkrah, to recommend my release.
13. I wish to state that now that I am on terminal leave and would soon leave the military, I am more vulnerable to the plans of those plotting or having plotted to kill me. If while in the military, I was not safe and secure then you may imagine what would happen to me now that I am going to be a poor retired officer and they continued to have the state security, authority and power at their disposal and have troops, weapons and ammunitions under their care and control.
14. It is in the light of the above facts and factors and those earlier on enumerated in my formal compliant to the Criminal Investigations Department on 25th February 2009 that I write to appeal for urgent investigations into the matter.
15. I also wish to reiterate that I am by this letter making it known to the Ghana Police Service, my families and the general public that should anything happen to me and/or any member of my families, General Smith and Lt Col Attachie in particular and their Agents should be held responsible.
Below is the unedited petition:
RE- THREAT ON MY LIFE
COLONEL KWADWO DAMOAH
1. I wish to remind you, Sir, about a formal complaint that I lodged with the CID of the Ghana Police Service on 25th February 2009.
2. In the said complaint, I mentioned and volunteered the names of certain military officers, high dignitaries and members of the Security Services that I suspected of being part of a conspiracy to eliminate me. Examples of the text messages that I received on my mobile phones between the 06 December 2008 and January ending 2009 threatening to kill me were provided in the said complaint.
3. At least two letters were written by the then Acting IGP, Mrs. Mills- Robertson, to the Acting Chief of Defence Staff to release those military officers to assist in investigations.
4. Unfortunately, the named officers either refused or failed to report at the Police Headquarters as requested. My information is that the Minister of Defence, General JH Smith, asked them not to report and has since been shielding them. Some of the officers have even been deliberately sent on military operations outside Ghana to avoid reporting at the Police Headquarters.
5. Some of the named officers are also using their appointment at and closeness to the “Castle” to brag about with impunity and have vowed never to report at the Police Headquarters.
6. I was happy to hear the Honorable Minister of Interior, Mr. Cletus Avorka, in an answer to an urgent question in Parliament on the status of the compliant on the threat to my life, say that the Ministries of Defence and Interior were resolving that issue. That, however, has not materialized and yet there have been several occurrences that are worrying and of major concern to my safety and security.
7. On Wednesday, 4 February 2009 at the office of the then Air Commodore CEK Dovlo, then Director General Personnel Administration of the Ghana Armed Forces between about 0900 and 1100 hours in the presence of Group Captain Dwamena-Mante, Deputy Director General Personnel Administration, now Air Vice Marshal CEK Dovlo, Commandant of Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) admitted that he had been told by Lieutenant Colonel LL Attachie that there was “bad blood” between he Lieutenant Colonel LL Attachie and Colonel Kwadwo Damoah.
8. Furthermore, I was told Lieutenant Colonel EDEM Fiawoo, the Director of Legal Services of the Ghana Armed Forces, that Lt Col LL Attachie said in his presence that I, Colonel Kwadwo Damoah had gone to the Tain Constituency with troops, weapons and ammunitions to assassinate former President JJ Rawlings at a time that he Lt Col EDEM Fiawoo had seen me in Burma Camp. Fortunately for me, Lt Col EDEM Fiawoo refuted the allegation to Lt Col LL Attachie and later informed me about it.
9. You might have noticed that Lt. Col Attachie is one of the officers suspected to be involved in the conspiracy to kill me. The fact that Air Vice Marshal CEK Dovlo admits that there is “bad blood” between Lt Col LL Attachie and Colonel K Damoah coupled with Lt Col LL Attachie’s attempt to frame Col K Damoah up in an accusation plot on former President Rawlings, calls for serious concern and urgent enquiry.
10. Moreover, on 29 May 2009, I had to escort my younger brother Mr. Kofi Brobbey Damoah and the Secretary to an Association called “Concerned Citizens of Jaman South” to the BNI to assist in investigations connected to a demonstration at Drobo in the Brong Ahafo Region and information on an attempt by unidentified security personnel to dump arms and ammunitions in my family house as part of the accusation that Colonel K Damoah was indeed involved in an attempt to assassinate former President Rawlings at the Tain Constituency. I was made to write a statement to the BNI.
11. General JH Smith is alleged to have remarked that he would have fired at Members of Parliament who drilled and embarrassed him on 10th June 2009 when he appeared in the House to answer an urgent question on the fate of the 420 Army Potential Recruits if he had weapons on him that day. Gen Smith continued that he would put the blame on Colonel Damoah who was the cause of his woes on the floor of Parliament and swore to pay Colonel Damoah back at all cost.
12. Certainly, if Gen Smith was and has been so annoyed about his “ordeal” on the floor of Parliament and would have killed even MPs, then his threat to pay me back at all cost should not be taken lightly. One of the things that Gen Smith has succeeded in doing is to get me retired from the Ghana Armed Forces. He has put so much pressure on the Chief of Army Staff, Major General Adinkrah, to recommend my release.
13. I wish to state that now that I am on terminal leave and would soon leave the military, I am more vulnerable to the plans of those plotting or having plotted to kill me. If while in the military, I was not safe and secure then you may imagine what would happen to me now that I am going to be a poor retired officer and they continued to have the state security, authority and power at their disposal and have troops, weapons and ammunitions under their care and control.
14. It is in the light of the above facts and factors and those earlier on enumerated in my formal compliant to the Criminal Investigations Department on 25th February 2009 that I write to appeal for urgent investigations into the matter.
15. I also wish to reiterate that I am by this letter making it known to the Ghana Police Service, my families and the general public that should anything happen to me and/or any member of my families, General Smith and Lt Col Attachie in particular and their Agents should be held responsible.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Atta Mills: Face Of A Thug
The recent brouhaha and out-and-out war that has broken out over the school feeding program must cause the scales to slip from the eyes of the majority of Ghanaians. For many of our people, the simple and brutal fact is becoming clear. Our President may be a Professor of Laws, but the simple and brutal truth is also that at heart he is just a thug!
For a large number of Ghanaians, there is a growing feeling of dismay at the sheer and barefaced employment of brute force and thuggery in official matters. They have witnessed a long list of such rampant abuses orchestrated by the Mills Administration, but the latest abuse in the school feeding program is causing many people to catch their breathe.
They are in shock, and they are asking themselves; is this what we really voted for? For many people, it would be more palatable to blame the underlings of President Professor for the numerous stories of abuses that we are hearing, but I would not be so charitable. I think that I would like to live by the mantra which Professor Atta Mills repeated often times when he was in opposition and running for the presidency that the buck should and would stop with him.
For whatever is happening, the President has the ultimate responsibility. He is responsible, and he can no more remove himself from blame, when things go wrong, than the people directly implicated.
For what is happening in the school feeding program, one may blame the MMDCEs. One may blame vicious characters like Elvis Afriyie Ankrah and the rest who are out there defending this crappy behaviour, but the fact is that the man who makes it all possible is John Evans Atta Mills.
Even as we are debating the issues with regard to the school feeding program, it is now also emerging that people working in the Office of the President, at the level of the Deputy Chief of Staff, has constituted themselves into a syndicate to deal with suspected stolen cars.
I was very amazed when I heard this piece of news. I had a feeling of déjà vu. It reminded me of something I had heard before. And I wondered, whenever did the job of reviewing stolen cars become the preserve of the office of the Chief of Staff? What happened to Interpol, the Customs, Excise & Preventive Service? What happened to the National Security set-up at Blue Gate, which normally has been responsible for some of these things?
Busybodies like Alex Segbefia, Deputy Chief of Staff, are suddenly in this daylight robbery and thuggery because Professor Atta Mills makes it possible. It is the same way he made it possible for Akufo Addo’s car to be seized and never returned. It is the same way that the vehicles of a number of Ghanaians to be seized.
It is the same way he allowed members of his party across the length and breathe of this country to seize public toilets and car terminals.
It is the same way he allowed the numerous beatings, intimidations and outright murders to take place and the perpetrators to walk scot-free. It is the same way he allowed Akwasi Osei Agyei’s passport to be seized and detained in spite of two court judgments. And it is the same way that he is turning a blind eye even as his party illegally kicks people out of their contracts in order to award them on silver platters to his party functionaries.
It is so, because Atta Mills is a thug.
For a large number of Ghanaians, there is a growing feeling of dismay at the sheer and barefaced employment of brute force and thuggery in official matters. They have witnessed a long list of such rampant abuses orchestrated by the Mills Administration, but the latest abuse in the school feeding program is causing many people to catch their breathe.
They are in shock, and they are asking themselves; is this what we really voted for? For many people, it would be more palatable to blame the underlings of President Professor for the numerous stories of abuses that we are hearing, but I would not be so charitable. I think that I would like to live by the mantra which Professor Atta Mills repeated often times when he was in opposition and running for the presidency that the buck should and would stop with him.
For whatever is happening, the President has the ultimate responsibility. He is responsible, and he can no more remove himself from blame, when things go wrong, than the people directly implicated.
For what is happening in the school feeding program, one may blame the MMDCEs. One may blame vicious characters like Elvis Afriyie Ankrah and the rest who are out there defending this crappy behaviour, but the fact is that the man who makes it all possible is John Evans Atta Mills.
Even as we are debating the issues with regard to the school feeding program, it is now also emerging that people working in the Office of the President, at the level of the Deputy Chief of Staff, has constituted themselves into a syndicate to deal with suspected stolen cars.
I was very amazed when I heard this piece of news. I had a feeling of déjà vu. It reminded me of something I had heard before. And I wondered, whenever did the job of reviewing stolen cars become the preserve of the office of the Chief of Staff? What happened to Interpol, the Customs, Excise & Preventive Service? What happened to the National Security set-up at Blue Gate, which normally has been responsible for some of these things?
Busybodies like Alex Segbefia, Deputy Chief of Staff, are suddenly in this daylight robbery and thuggery because Professor Atta Mills makes it possible. It is the same way he made it possible for Akufo Addo’s car to be seized and never returned. It is the same way that the vehicles of a number of Ghanaians to be seized.
It is the same way he allowed members of his party across the length and breathe of this country to seize public toilets and car terminals.
It is the same way he allowed the numerous beatings, intimidations and outright murders to take place and the perpetrators to walk scot-free. It is the same way he allowed Akwasi Osei Agyei’s passport to be seized and detained in spite of two court judgments. And it is the same way that he is turning a blind eye even as his party illegally kicks people out of their contracts in order to award them on silver platters to his party functionaries.
It is so, because Atta Mills is a thug.
Atta Mills: A President Who Does Not Respect Statistics.
In any other place but Ghana, it would amount to a basis for impeachment and for people to question the abilities and capabilities of the President to govern. But in Ghana I guess that eventually we are going to gloss over it and sweep it under the carpet, as usual.
In an interview broadcast on the Voice of America, President Professor John Evans Atta Mills expressed his complete contempt and disrespect for statistics.
Hear him, “We should not allow the churning out of figures to take the better side of us or else we get our fingers burnt…I don’t think there’s anyone in the country who can tell you the employment rate in the country!”
In other words, Mills does not care about statistics and yet he is a President of our country! For many intellectuals, the pronouncements from the President must come as a cold shower, awakening us to the fact that our President is unfit for the high public office he holds. If he does not respect statistics and the facts, on what basis is he making the many decisions he is making, if he is not looking at the numerical effect of his decisions?
We are in hell indeed. For me, the interview the president granted to Shaka Ssali goes a long way to expose our President as a duplicitous character who is unwilling and unable to take responsibility for the high demands of his office.
For instance, in that he interview, he blamed the former New Patriotic Party (NPP) government for the fuel shortages in 2009, because according to him, the NPP piled up huge debts. This is after governing for six months. I mean, if things were that bad when Mills came to power, the symptoms would not be manifesting in fuel shortages after six long months. It is amazing that after six months in office, he is still blaming the former government.
According to Mills, the previous government painted a picture that all was well and that the economy was thriving. The question I ask is did President Atta Mills say that the economy was thriving when he was campaigning? He made the entire nation to believe that the economy was in trouble, so why is he shouting at the rooftops that the economy is in trouble? In any case, would an economy that is in dire straits attract the whopping 535 million dollar aid that it recently attracted from the World Bank? The President should come again!
I listened to the president as he justified the attacks that the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) has been mounting on the freedoms and rights of former government appointees with the claims that his own wife was detained for three hours. Clearly, our President, who is a law professor, has scant respect for rule of law.
His views are clouded by his own bitterness at the perceived ill-treatment he and his party received in times past. Otherwise, if it was his legal training and not his emotions speaking, he would have had huge problems with the detentions and interrogations of the BNI, especially when they are taking place without legal counsel.
A first year law student would tell you that t is wrong to interview suspects when their lawyers are not present, which is what the BNI has been doing, and which is what the President has endorsed. With a president like this, Ghanaians can only expect further abuses of the rights of more Ghanaians.
But for me, my biggest problem with President Atta Mills, when he spoke to VOA, was when he said that he owes nobody any apology over how his government has been treating opponents of his government and that there has been no discrimination under his regime.
It is a well-known truism that one cannot cure a deformity without first correctly identifying that deformity. The President’s inability to recognize that there have been huge levels of discrimination under his watch should be a problem for all of us, because there has indeed been a lot of discrimination.
We were in this country when 1200 young Ghanaians who had received appointment letters to be recruited into the Armed Forces were turned back for no good reasons. The real reasons, however is that the new government thinks that they are NPP. When the President had his first press conference, a large section of the press was turned away because of their perceived political leanings. The Ghana School Feeding programme is in trouble because experienced caterers are being turned away because it is felt that they have political allegiance to the former administration.
In all fairness, I wonder how Atta Mills can say that there is no discrimination under his administration when all this is going on! In this man, we have a bitter old man who is only out for revenge. But more deadly to our situation is the fact that he is incompetent, intellectually and attitudinally, for the position he occupies, because, in his own words, he does not respect statistics, facts and figures.
In an interview broadcast on the Voice of America, President Professor John Evans Atta Mills expressed his complete contempt and disrespect for statistics.
Hear him, “We should not allow the churning out of figures to take the better side of us or else we get our fingers burnt…I don’t think there’s anyone in the country who can tell you the employment rate in the country!”
In other words, Mills does not care about statistics and yet he is a President of our country! For many intellectuals, the pronouncements from the President must come as a cold shower, awakening us to the fact that our President is unfit for the high public office he holds. If he does not respect statistics and the facts, on what basis is he making the many decisions he is making, if he is not looking at the numerical effect of his decisions?
We are in hell indeed. For me, the interview the president granted to Shaka Ssali goes a long way to expose our President as a duplicitous character who is unwilling and unable to take responsibility for the high demands of his office.
For instance, in that he interview, he blamed the former New Patriotic Party (NPP) government for the fuel shortages in 2009, because according to him, the NPP piled up huge debts. This is after governing for six months. I mean, if things were that bad when Mills came to power, the symptoms would not be manifesting in fuel shortages after six long months. It is amazing that after six months in office, he is still blaming the former government.
According to Mills, the previous government painted a picture that all was well and that the economy was thriving. The question I ask is did President Atta Mills say that the economy was thriving when he was campaigning? He made the entire nation to believe that the economy was in trouble, so why is he shouting at the rooftops that the economy is in trouble? In any case, would an economy that is in dire straits attract the whopping 535 million dollar aid that it recently attracted from the World Bank? The President should come again!
I listened to the president as he justified the attacks that the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) has been mounting on the freedoms and rights of former government appointees with the claims that his own wife was detained for three hours. Clearly, our President, who is a law professor, has scant respect for rule of law.
His views are clouded by his own bitterness at the perceived ill-treatment he and his party received in times past. Otherwise, if it was his legal training and not his emotions speaking, he would have had huge problems with the detentions and interrogations of the BNI, especially when they are taking place without legal counsel.
A first year law student would tell you that t is wrong to interview suspects when their lawyers are not present, which is what the BNI has been doing, and which is what the President has endorsed. With a president like this, Ghanaians can only expect further abuses of the rights of more Ghanaians.
But for me, my biggest problem with President Atta Mills, when he spoke to VOA, was when he said that he owes nobody any apology over how his government has been treating opponents of his government and that there has been no discrimination under his regime.
It is a well-known truism that one cannot cure a deformity without first correctly identifying that deformity. The President’s inability to recognize that there have been huge levels of discrimination under his watch should be a problem for all of us, because there has indeed been a lot of discrimination.
We were in this country when 1200 young Ghanaians who had received appointment letters to be recruited into the Armed Forces were turned back for no good reasons. The real reasons, however is that the new government thinks that they are NPP. When the President had his first press conference, a large section of the press was turned away because of their perceived political leanings. The Ghana School Feeding programme is in trouble because experienced caterers are being turned away because it is felt that they have political allegiance to the former administration.
In all fairness, I wonder how Atta Mills can say that there is no discrimination under his administration when all this is going on! In this man, we have a bitter old man who is only out for revenge. But more deadly to our situation is the fact that he is incompetent, intellectually and attitudinally, for the position he occupies, because, in his own words, he does not respect statistics, facts and figures.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
MINUTES OF MEETING HELD AT THE CASTLE ANNEX, OSU, TO DISCUSS VEHICLE DELIVERY PROCEDURES AND OTHER RELATED MATTERS ON FRIDAY 28TH AUGUST, 2009.
IN ATTENDANCE
Mr. Kosivi Degbor {Deputy National Co-ordinator (Ops)}, Flt/Lt M. G. Tackie (rtd) {National Security Council Secretariat, Headquarters}, Lt. Col Ben Agudogo (rtd) {National Security Council Secretariat, Tema Detachment}, Capt. A. R. Cudjoe (rtd) { National Security Council Secretariat, Tema Detachment}, Robert Kwame {Customs, Excise and Preventive Service, Headquarters}, Kuudaamnune John Vianney { Customs, Excise and Preventive Service, Headquarters}, Mr. Seidu Iddrisu { Customs, Excise and Preventive Service, Headquarters}, Mr. Frank Ebo Brown { Meridian Port Service}, Mr. Kwesi Tamakloe {Stakeholder Observer} and Mercy Coleman {Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority}
ABSENT
Mr. Alex Segbefia- Deputy Chief of Staff, Castle Osu
Mr. Carl Wilson - Chairman, Confiscated Vehicles Committee
Opening Remarks
Opening the meeting at 3:00pm, the Chairman welcomed participants and noted the absence of some principal actors invited to the meeting. He however, was of the view that the meeting could proceed to discuss matters objectively and dispassionately in spite of their absence.
The Chairman also spoke of public disaffection with the conduct and activities of the Confiscated Vehicles Committee (CVC) and underlined the need to streamline procedures at the Port.
Agenda
The Chairman set out the agenda for the meeting as follows:
1. Profile and mandate of the CVC
2. Confiscated vehicles and related matters
3. Relations between CVC, Security Agencies in the Port and the general public
4. Other matters
Discussions
2.1 Image of Confiscated Vehicles Committee
The Tema Port Security Co-ordinator raised a number of concerns, notably, the failure of the CVC to follow laid down procedure and their poor human relations and attitudes towards the general public. Also mentioned were
*Undue delays occasioned by the CVC claims to contact FBI and other agencies to confirm the origin and status of some vehicles.
*Request by CVC for additional documents to prove ownership of vehicles
* Unnecessary stoppage and obstruction of vehicles duly processed and cleared by CEPS and National Security.
The Security Co-ordinator recommended the wearing of a jacket embossed with the NSC to distinguish its personnel from other operatives.
2.2 Arbitrary Acts of CVC at Golden Jubilee Terminal
The GPHA expressed worry about the CVC issuing orders totally inconsistent with shipping practice and regulations to the Port Authorities.
The Port Authority representative noted for example, the way the CVC orders the seizure and withholding of vehicle keys from their bona fide declarants or owners.
2.3 Confiscated Vehicle Law and Administration
The Deputy Commissioner (Ops) drew the attention of the meeting to the Law establishing the Confiscated Vehicles Committee i.e. ACT 634, 2002, Subsection III, adding that the CVC comprise persons drawn from the under listed offices.
*Office of Chief of Staff
*Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning
*Customs Excise and Preventive Service
Mr Kwame pointed out that the role of the CVC is very well established in law but the problem is how to execute its mandate.
2.4 Sales Procedure
Mr. Seidu Iddrisu, a member of the CVC, briefed the meeting on some aspects of the committees work and how it deals with vehicles within its jurisdiction.
*Interested applicants apply to COS, CEPS and Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. Applications thus received are sent to the CVC for necessary action.
*CVC issues letter to sector Commander, Tema Harbour, to assist persons allocated vehicles to view their allocation.
*Confiscated vehicles earmarked for public disposal are disposed of on the following basis:
Office of chief of staff-60%
CEPS-20%
Ministry of Economic Planning -20%
2.4 Office Location And Secretariat
According to Mr. Seidu Iddrisu, CVC member, the Committee’s office is located in Accra at the former office of the Food and Drugs Board.
Membership of the committee is made up as follows:
Chairman: Mr. Carl Wilson, Office of COS
Member: Seidu Iddrisu- CEPS
Member: Emmanuel Fordjour, MFEP
Meetings of the Committee are held every Thursday.
Mr. Seidu, lamented that the CVC was not working in the manner it is expected to operate. Aside not sitting, allocations are being done single handed by the CHAIRMAN without the knowledge of other members and revealed that he had recently informed the Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning of his intention to relinquish his membership of the committee.
He also expressed surprise that CVC has set up an office at the Tema Port adding that the office was unknown to committee and its and entire membership.
Other contributors called for the immediate removal of the CVC from the Car Park where they have set up an office which is posing security challenges to the park and its managers.
More soon
Mr. Kosivi Degbor {Deputy National Co-ordinator (Ops)}, Flt/Lt M. G. Tackie (rtd) {National Security Council Secretariat, Headquarters}, Lt. Col Ben Agudogo (rtd) {National Security Council Secretariat, Tema Detachment}, Capt. A. R. Cudjoe (rtd) { National Security Council Secretariat, Tema Detachment}, Robert Kwame {Customs, Excise and Preventive Service, Headquarters}, Kuudaamnune John Vianney { Customs, Excise and Preventive Service, Headquarters}, Mr. Seidu Iddrisu { Customs, Excise and Preventive Service, Headquarters}, Mr. Frank Ebo Brown { Meridian Port Service}, Mr. Kwesi Tamakloe {Stakeholder Observer} and Mercy Coleman {Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority}
ABSENT
Mr. Alex Segbefia- Deputy Chief of Staff, Castle Osu
Mr. Carl Wilson - Chairman, Confiscated Vehicles Committee
Opening Remarks
Opening the meeting at 3:00pm, the Chairman welcomed participants and noted the absence of some principal actors invited to the meeting. He however, was of the view that the meeting could proceed to discuss matters objectively and dispassionately in spite of their absence.
The Chairman also spoke of public disaffection with the conduct and activities of the Confiscated Vehicles Committee (CVC) and underlined the need to streamline procedures at the Port.
Agenda
The Chairman set out the agenda for the meeting as follows:
1. Profile and mandate of the CVC
2. Confiscated vehicles and related matters
3. Relations between CVC, Security Agencies in the Port and the general public
4. Other matters
Discussions
2.1 Image of Confiscated Vehicles Committee
The Tema Port Security Co-ordinator raised a number of concerns, notably, the failure of the CVC to follow laid down procedure and their poor human relations and attitudes towards the general public. Also mentioned were
*Undue delays occasioned by the CVC claims to contact FBI and other agencies to confirm the origin and status of some vehicles.
*Request by CVC for additional documents to prove ownership of vehicles
* Unnecessary stoppage and obstruction of vehicles duly processed and cleared by CEPS and National Security.
The Security Co-ordinator recommended the wearing of a jacket embossed with the NSC to distinguish its personnel from other operatives.
2.2 Arbitrary Acts of CVC at Golden Jubilee Terminal
The GPHA expressed worry about the CVC issuing orders totally inconsistent with shipping practice and regulations to the Port Authorities.
The Port Authority representative noted for example, the way the CVC orders the seizure and withholding of vehicle keys from their bona fide declarants or owners.
2.3 Confiscated Vehicle Law and Administration
The Deputy Commissioner (Ops) drew the attention of the meeting to the Law establishing the Confiscated Vehicles Committee i.e. ACT 634, 2002, Subsection III, adding that the CVC comprise persons drawn from the under listed offices.
*Office of Chief of Staff
*Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning
*Customs Excise and Preventive Service
Mr Kwame pointed out that the role of the CVC is very well established in law but the problem is how to execute its mandate.
2.4 Sales Procedure
Mr. Seidu Iddrisu, a member of the CVC, briefed the meeting on some aspects of the committees work and how it deals with vehicles within its jurisdiction.
*Interested applicants apply to COS, CEPS and Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. Applications thus received are sent to the CVC for necessary action.
*CVC issues letter to sector Commander, Tema Harbour, to assist persons allocated vehicles to view their allocation.
*Confiscated vehicles earmarked for public disposal are disposed of on the following basis:
Office of chief of staff-60%
CEPS-20%
Ministry of Economic Planning -20%
2.4 Office Location And Secretariat
According to Mr. Seidu Iddrisu, CVC member, the Committee’s office is located in Accra at the former office of the Food and Drugs Board.
Membership of the committee is made up as follows:
Chairman: Mr. Carl Wilson, Office of COS
Member: Seidu Iddrisu- CEPS
Member: Emmanuel Fordjour, MFEP
Meetings of the Committee are held every Thursday.
Mr. Seidu, lamented that the CVC was not working in the manner it is expected to operate. Aside not sitting, allocations are being done single handed by the CHAIRMAN without the knowledge of other members and revealed that he had recently informed the Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning of his intention to relinquish his membership of the committee.
He also expressed surprise that CVC has set up an office at the Tema Port adding that the office was unknown to committee and its and entire membership.
Other contributors called for the immediate removal of the CVC from the Car Park where they have set up an office which is posing security challenges to the park and its managers.
More soon
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Atta Mills: Face Of A Failure
I wonder what is wrong with our President, whether he has some kind of inferiority complex about his position, because it is strange that a man who has been elected as President, and who has been duly sworn in as President, would keep going on with claims that he is the President of Ghana.
Of course Professor Atta Mills is the President of Ghana, and the sooner he came to realize that, the better it would be for all of us.
He should stop constantly telling us that he is the President, because if he is still dreaming about his Presidency, the rest of us are not.
We have to live with his Presidency every day, and it is painful, to say the least.
I find it painful, for instance, that the President would tell us that this country is being governed by laws, at a time that the laws are being so abused in our country.
Since this professor of law became the President of this our country, he has said umpteen times that he is committed to the rule of law.
Yet, with amazing and monotonous regularity, the courts of our land have been canceling the actions of our President for being illegal. For a man who believes in constitutionality, it seems that our President has a special and deep dislike for behaving in lawful manner, and this is painful.
It is also painful the way and manner our President keeps on portraying himself as a victim of others.
Our Commander In Chief says that he is being forced to take decisions that are not in the national interest, and he would not be cowed. I wonder who is threatening our President to the level that he has come out in protestation.
I have my own suspicions, and I know you do too, because all of you have been listening to the baying from Ridge.
But is it not strange that the President would tell us that his doors are always open to listen to all his critics, at a time when his close political associates are screaming to the high heavens that he has not been listening to them? If Atta were indeed a listening President, I do not think that Rawlings, Bagbin and co would have come out to state that the President had surrounded himself with sycophants and greedy bastards who have formed a complete bracket around him, totally shielding him from all access by others.
But for me, the most sorrowful aspect of the President’s pronouncements was his claim that plans were far advanced to improve the lot of Ghanaians.
My brothers and sisters, we are in the first year of the Atta Mills Presidency, but already he has presented his first two budgets and so far we have no reason to hope.
Indeed, if the President had any plans, I am sure that he would have rolled them out as soon as he got into office, and not two yeas after, which leaves me with the firm conclusion that the President has no plans to better the lot of Ghanaians.
I am sorry to state that so far, it is clear that the future is bleak for Ghanaians, and they are not going to be comforted by new and empty promises of future prosperity!
Atta Mills is indeed a failure!
Of course Professor Atta Mills is the President of Ghana, and the sooner he came to realize that, the better it would be for all of us.
He should stop constantly telling us that he is the President, because if he is still dreaming about his Presidency, the rest of us are not.
We have to live with his Presidency every day, and it is painful, to say the least.
I find it painful, for instance, that the President would tell us that this country is being governed by laws, at a time that the laws are being so abused in our country.
Since this professor of law became the President of this our country, he has said umpteen times that he is committed to the rule of law.
Yet, with amazing and monotonous regularity, the courts of our land have been canceling the actions of our President for being illegal. For a man who believes in constitutionality, it seems that our President has a special and deep dislike for behaving in lawful manner, and this is painful.
It is also painful the way and manner our President keeps on portraying himself as a victim of others.
Our Commander In Chief says that he is being forced to take decisions that are not in the national interest, and he would not be cowed. I wonder who is threatening our President to the level that he has come out in protestation.
I have my own suspicions, and I know you do too, because all of you have been listening to the baying from Ridge.
But is it not strange that the President would tell us that his doors are always open to listen to all his critics, at a time when his close political associates are screaming to the high heavens that he has not been listening to them? If Atta were indeed a listening President, I do not think that Rawlings, Bagbin and co would have come out to state that the President had surrounded himself with sycophants and greedy bastards who have formed a complete bracket around him, totally shielding him from all access by others.
But for me, the most sorrowful aspect of the President’s pronouncements was his claim that plans were far advanced to improve the lot of Ghanaians.
My brothers and sisters, we are in the first year of the Atta Mills Presidency, but already he has presented his first two budgets and so far we have no reason to hope.
Indeed, if the President had any plans, I am sure that he would have rolled them out as soon as he got into office, and not two yeas after, which leaves me with the firm conclusion that the President has no plans to better the lot of Ghanaians.
I am sorry to state that so far, it is clear that the future is bleak for Ghanaians, and they are not going to be comforted by new and empty promises of future prosperity!
Atta Mills is indeed a failure!