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| (Picture borrowed from graphic.com.gh)
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Don Quixote’s Battle
There is a contemporary
affair raging on in Ghanaian politics which is quite quixotic to my mind. It is
about the sale of real estate by the Lands Commission (of the Government of
Ghana) to a former Minister of State. The property is located at Ridge – a gentrified
neighbourhood.
The issue has
taken on the badge of a battle between the ruling NDC and the main opposition
NPP. Another measure is the seeming unremitting disfavour of some self-said devotees
of the ruling NDC (and by weak extension the executive) for the judiciary. A
third scope of the scrimmage is the insistence by some NPP adherents on an
amoral application of the ‘law’ to give back Jake (the aggrieved Minister) the
house which the government is loath to do.
This article is a
deviation from my normal fare, and an attempt to appeal to Ghanaians to keep
their eyes on the real issue and to resist the NDC-NPP cacophony that is
clouding the perfidious asset-stripping that is bedevilling our country.
The Political Class
Every fourth year,
since 1992, we have held elections. Three times have we changed presidents. At
least five times, we have substituted many members of government. Two parties
have shown realistic chances of winning, and have won at least twice. This
year, NDC or NPP will win again. PPP has shown signs of making a first bleep on
the radar for a third force. Whoever wins, it is the same ‘TV’d’ faces that will
form the next government. It is this colossal, cross-party cabal of influential
people which decides which scandals will cloud the civic conversation at any
time. Let us call it the ‘Political Class’.
Dangerous Departure
The current rumpus
exposes a dangerous departure from convention – dangerous to the Political
Class, salubrious for the people. It emerged in the public domain, no doubt,
from a personal score to settle. For as long as only God knows, there has been
a scheme urban redevelopment, and it involves ‘redistributing’ antiquated State
property to the Political Class and the para-Political Class. The prices are
sometimes ridiculously low, but that is a separate conversation.
The principle has
been tacitly established: on a regular basis, official residents of State
houses can acquire those houses. So can others with the right information or
connections. Some members of both the NPP and the NDC have benefitted from this
principle.
So, this
not-so-public ‘dibi na me’ndibi’ has now become the news because somebody went
‘personal’ against Jake, who was only following an established policy.
Side Attraction
Distraction
There have been
(perhaps deliberate) distractions from the main issue. Again, the main issue is
asset-stripping by the Political Class. There have been media wars, court
contests and cabinet repudiations. In my opinion, the racket about these events
misses the main issue.
Many have been
‘red-herringed’ off the real scent. If every other Minister since independence
had acquired their official residence, would the State have any more to house
officials?
The main business of
the State does not include construction of accommodation (though it might
include facilitating same). Do Ghanaians want to see their taxes used to house
the president and his men in hotels when State-owned houses run out?
Pots & Kettles, Law &
Morality and Democracy
The pot-and-kettle
arguments about morality and legality do not impress me. The Supreme Court has
given its decision on the lawful observance of procedure in the acquisition (but
not on its morality). The government wishes to look beyond the legal into the
moral – the old law-and-morality argument. That is fine too.
The courts do not
lay down administrative procedure for the Executive. They only look (by
judicial review) to make sure the exercise of administrative power and
discretion is fair and lawful. Therefore, if there is an established underlying
principle (no matter how morally flawed) the curative duty is somebody else’s,
not the court’s.
The morality
argument impresses me. I just wish it could be pursued without adding this to
the list of matters in which the government takes a posture of jousting with
the judges.
If the house at
Ridge was not unlawfully acquired, the cabinet has made a decision not to sell.
I have tried to wrap my mind around the repercussions. In the main, I do not
see a flagrant violation of the authority of the Supreme Court (although there
may be disrespect). Instead, I see a government making a stand on high moral
ground and risking a private lawsuit for breach of contract or specific
performance (an order to perform the terms of the contract to sell the house).
Most importantly,
I see a bleeding democracy. We should not accept the immorality that is
asset-stripping. We should not accept the executive finding ‘convenient’ means
around the Judiciary (or worse affiliates of the party in power threatening the
judiciary as has happened in the not-too-far-off past). We should not praise
the NDC’s position, if it is merely to score political points. We should exalt
the NDC’s position if they are saying “We have been tacitly complicit in this.
Now, we realise that it is wrong and must not continue it”. That is a position
I could stand in the sun for five hours in December to defend with my thumb.
New Political Principles
Shall we then make
a new compact between Ghanaians and the Political Class? Shall it be a
continuing document we can all add to and subtract from?
The first
principle could be “Let there be no more asset-stripping”. The second might be
“Political appointees cannot acquire any assets they controlled or were
associated with on the job”. The third principle may be “Let there not just be
the actual absence of conflict of interest or minimisation of corruption. Let it
be seen that there is none”.
Let all the acts
of the Political Class be characterised by fellow feeling and respect for the
people. They will not sit down until all the assets are stripped. We should
pray that they react by speaking the same words the spokespersons of the Political
Class obfuscate the issues in the media every day. But, if the masses do not
have words (by reason of unfortunately low – or no – education), they do have
hands: connect the dots for yourself.
The house at Ridge
is our democracy. Let us be reminded of the wobbly foundations it yet stands
on. Let us be reminded of the work and recommitment we need to put into it.
What principles would you like to hold the Political Class to?
