Ghana’s Decision Makers and the Average Citizen.

It is often said that, “Where you sit determines where you stand.” When many people are celebrating the recent victory of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) with the now famous “Onaapo,” others were sad and quiet because their Party lost. No matter how you look at it, Ghana has demonstrated once again that we are a matured democratic country. All those who made this possible deserve commendation. 

In the midst of the euphoria and pain, it is important for us to reflect on the where this nation is going at this time when we are seen as the shining example of Africa and even the world in the area of democratic practice. 

On March 6th 2017, Ghana will be 60 years after independence and as usual, the occasion will be marked with pomp and pageantry. What do we have to show for all those years? 

A country that is very rich in human and natural resources has been through too many difficulties to the point that Ghana even became HIPC (Highly Indebted Poor Country) Really? In fact, Ghana is not poor at all but rather she has been mismanaged and plundered over the years by people with selfish interests.

Our politicians and decision-makers have developed a mindset that that has caused the average Ghanaian great pain over the years. That mindset has affected every fabric of society and has reflected in some of the greatest challenges the nation has encountered. 

The recent headache this nation has experienced was the almost three years of erratic electricity supply (Dumsor). This power problem that started some decades ago and culminated in the recent erratic power crisis. 

Prices of goods and services have gone beyond the pockets of the average Ghanaian. How can a recent graduate from the University live on GHS349.00 a month? Sad indeed. 

Perceived cases of corruption and mismanagement have become the norm and the average citizen is caught in the middle of these. 

Those who could not take it took to the seas in most cases, trying to reach Europe illegally. Many have perished at Lampedusa. Many others are struggling all over the world. Why? “Things are too bad at home. On the 7th of December, many Ghanaians went to vote for a change. 

A new Party that has been in Office before (2001-2009), NPP, will take over on the 7th of January. Now see what is going on.

At a time Ghanaians are thinking of how to put bread on the table and find a place to lay their heads, politicians are involved in unnecessary disputes over decisions that should be taken and when.

Two (2) new Constitutional Appointments made on December 20th 2016 by President John Dramani Mahama has sparked controversy between the two major parties in the country: NPP and NDC. 

The appointments of Chairman of the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice and Chairman of the National Commission for Civic Education have been reportedly done contrary to an earlier agreement at the Transition Committee’s meeting of December 19th, at which it was agreed that such appointments would be done subject to consultation with the Presidential Transition Committee. 

It is the view of the President-Elect’s team, that these appointments coming barely 24 hours after the agreement and less than three (3) weeks away from the inauguration of the incoming President is most disappointing and exhibits bad faith. Ghana?! 

“Are we coming or going?” The current debate on appointments and upward adjustment of allowance for National Service personnel by the President when he told us he was a “dead goat” and nothing could move him to increase or pay money above the budget leaves many wondering if he truly cared about the people or just taking a decision that would affect the incoming government? What has changed? 

For a smooth transition, both the old and the new Administrations need to agree on certain measures in order not to throw the country into crisis. Why does Ghana seem to have difficulties transitioning from one Administration to another? Why are politicians taking the citizens for granted when it comes to transition from one party to another? 

The lack of continuity has caused the State lots of problems, in spite of the Transitional Provisions put in place. Uncompleted Projects, abrogation of contracts and displaced personnel have set the country back over the years and it is sad that in 2016, the same script is being followed. Do these politicians care about the citizens? 

Do they consider the harm they are doing to the tax payer whose sweat-earned Cedis keep them in employment? We plead with the members of the Transition Team to work for the future of Ghana without any animosities. 

They need not make decisions that will cause the new Government to spend time righting the wrongs of the past instead of continuing with what they have been left with. The average citizen cannot wait any longer for the politician to toy with their lives. 

Ghanaians deserve better and must not be made to suffer for the needless decisions of politicians who do not feel what they feel.

Written by Ruth Abla Adjorlolo-a Journalist

COMMENTARY 

ON NEW ONLINE PASSPORT APPLICATION

Ghanaians, especially potential travelers, are heaving a sigh of relief at news that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has introduced an online passport application system to replace the current manual way of applying for passports.

The new system is meant to reduce the delays in passport processing as well the human traffic at the passport offices in the country, among others.

In spite of the joy the news brings, there are many skeptics who think, just as it was with the biometric system, this new application process would degenerate into the same chaotic and shameful way of acquiring passports in Ghana as the situation has been for some decades now.

A few years ago when the Passport Office introduced the biometric passport to replace the manual one, the system started functioning well with applicants getting their passports within two weeks for express and a month for ordinary applications. It was seen as the beginning of a new era where the Ghanaian could proudly walk to the Passport Office to get that document within a short time.

However, just when applicants started rejoicing over the new trend, the situation worsened and has since been chaotic and appalling, to say the least. Acquiring a passport, to many Ghanaians, is like prospecting for gold in a typical galamsey area. The process is not only tedious and time-consuming but has become dehumanizing.

It is a big shame for a nation that is sixty years old to subject its citizens to such humiliating situations just to acquire a national identity document to be able to travel or for other purposes.

A walk to the two main passport offices in Accra shows Ghanaians queuing for hours to go through the process of submitting their applications or going through biometric registration. 

The regularly chaotic scenes at the passport offices speak volumes of our seriousness as a nation, considering how technology is being deployed in many countries to save time and money in the processing of documents such as passports. With the respect Ghana has gained internationally, many foreigners wonder why she has not been able to devise a means of making passport processing much easier and faster.

There have been several arguments to the effect that, the problems of the passport office can be traced to the work of middlemen, popularly known as ‘goro’ boys. These middlemen provide services at a higher fee to prospective applicants who want their passports faster than usual or who dread the hustle one has to go through at the passport office. They charge very high fees and promise to deliver passports in record time. 

In many instances, they fail to get the passports for their clients on time after taking huge sums of money from them.

However, any person who knows how passports are processed would be quick to identify the problem from a different angle. ‘Goro boys’ are not and can never be the cause of the problem. 

They cannot do anything without the active collaboration of staff of the Passport Office, who are suspected of benefiting from the fees ‘goro’ boys charge from their clients. Many a goro boy would always boast of knowing a member of staff inside the office who would ensure the process goes faster for the client, an indication that it is a network between them and the workers of the Passport Office.

As their name implies, they serve as middlemen for some members of staff of the Passport Office, who, to some large extent, are the real ‘goro boys’. The tag suits them most because many of them leave behind the real work for which they receive salaries to attend to the passport forms submitted by the ‘goro boys’, creating artificial delays that justify patronizing the services of the ‘goro boys’.

If passports are processed on time, goro boys would have no business at the premises of the Passport Office since the only justification they give for offering their services to applicants is the alacrity or speed with which they get the documents processed.

Against this backdrop, the introduction of the online application is seen as a good move worthy of commendation. It is hoped that the system would take off at a fast rate to bring to an end the manual submission of passports forms and the work of goro boys. It is also expected that it would reduce the regular queues at the premises of the institution to save prospective travelers from wasting time on a mere identification document.

In spite of the bright outlook this new system presents, there are doubts over the ability of the online application to succeed in eliminating the goro boys phenomenon, the long queues at the passport offices and the hours wasted.

These doubts stem from the fact that the biometric system that started on a very good note, ended up becoming worse than what it was intended to improve. 

There are fears that beneficiaries of the goro boys phenomenon would find a means of making the system useless so as to become relevant to clients. It is reported that the middlemen and some workers have in the past resisted several attempts at clearing them from the place.

 There are allegations to the effect that they have contributed to some extent in the replacement of several Directors of Passports, any time those directors’ actions begin to pose a threat to their work and relevance. It is, therefore, expected that they would mount some resistance to the system or even sabotage it in some ways.

The solution to the relapse is very simple- effective supervision. Effective supervision holds the key to the success of this new system, else it would end up becoming the same as other measures have been. Just putting a good system in place is not enough; the will to let it work matters most.

Supervision is the missing link in the processing system of this country. May presume that things would work on their own without supervision. 

Those in charge of the office need to have a system in place to follow up on how things are going, in addition to the CCTVs placed at the premises of the office. Occasional checks on the grounds, overtly and covertly would to a large extent give the heads of the institution the chance to monitor how things are going and what applicants think about it. Information gathered from the applicants can serve as guidelines for improvement.

This is a very great opportunity for the leadership of the Passport Office to change the bad image it has made over the years as a result of its inability to make the acquisition of passports more decent and humane.

The system ought to be checked independently and constantly to ensure that those who deliberately choke it to their advantage are not given the chance. To think that the goro boys and the allies would sit down to let this new system work would be like expecting them to allow their hands to be tied without any resistance. They surely would devise new means of luring innocent applicants to patronize them and this is the challenge the Passport Office must work to overcome.

It is interesting to note that some of these goro boys have made this service their life-time source of income with some of them having done this for many decades now.

In another vein, the attitude of seeing public business as nobody’s business must end. Those put in charge of public institutions such as the Passport Office need to see it as their personal business so they can put in their best to ensure the institutions succeed.

Ghanaians and for that matter passport applicants want to see the system improve so they can boast of being citizens of a respectable nation.

In the midst of all these, there is the need to ensure that the security and dignity of passports are not compromised on the altar of speed. This calls for strict adherence to the principles of truthfulness in the information presented to the Passport Office through proper scrutiny and checks with the relevant institutions on the genuineness of some of the documents presented.

Whilst tackling the problems of passport processing, there is the need to also look at other identification documentations such as the birth certificates, among others. When all those documents are well synchronized for proper coordination and easy checking. The disjointed manner in which state institutions work ought to be checked so as to facilitate processes without compromising on principles of integrity and Ghanaian values.

The introduction of the online passport application system is a good move that deserves commendation; but, it can only work if we all want it to work. It takes collaborative effort to get things of this nature done.  The authorities have a responsibility to ensure it works and no excuses would be tolerated any more.

Acquiring passports is a right to every Ghanaian, not a privilege to a few who know big men or can afford the services of goro boys. 

The goro boy phenomenon must end with this new online application system, else those at the Passport Office would have to bow down their heads in big shame 

Written By Ruth Abla Adjorlolo A Journalist

La Gas Explosion & the Craze for Social Media Spreading of Victim’s Pictures And Videos

Ghana once again faced a tragic moment in its history when gas exploded at a filling station near the Trade Fair Centre, leaving scores of persons’ dead and others with degrees of burns.

Reports have it that there were six dead and about twelve injured in the accident that took place around 6 p.m. on Thursday at Louis Gas Station at Labadi in Accra. Property running into thousands of Cedis have been lost to the fire.

It is unfortunate that, with just a couple of days to Christmas and the relief from election tension that engulfed the nation during the election period, the nation has to go through such an agonizing moment. Messages of condolence and sympathy have come from the President, President-elect, other personalities and identifiable groups to the families and victims of the incident.

The incident once again brings to the fore the amount of precautionary measures put in place to forestall the occurrence of such incidents.

The nation has laws that govern the siting of fuel and gas stations to ensure safety of workers and customers of such companies.

There are regulations and people put in authority to ensure that prospective businesses in that sector are well positioned to insulate innocent people from being exposed to such dangers.

As we all lament over the deaths and injuries and sympathize with those affected, it remains to know if someone failed to carry out their duties well, leading to what has been experienced.

As time passes, so is it likely that this incident would pass without any punitive or preemptive action being taken. This is very pathetic.

On the other hand, whilst pondering over the painful loss, something amazing happened that depicts a negative attitude some Ghanaians have developed in the wake of the social media craze that has become a canker to be checked.

Whilst people were busily making efforts to save victims from the inferno, there were some callous persons around the area, taking pictures and posting them on social media such as Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, among others to the admiration of their followers and friends.

Though there was nothing wrong with sharing pictures of accidents and other tragic events on social media, the sheer lack of respect for victims of such incidents and the nature of some of the pictures splashed on these media call for some attention.

Many Ghanaians were horrified at the nature of the pictures splashed emotionlessly on such platforms without caution or discretionary notice to viewers and wondered if those behind such acts truly understand what it means. Some people had to chase agonizing victims to get shots of them going through the traumatizing experience.

In some of the instances, videos of people going through very traumatic experiences during the fire outbreak were posted shamelessly on such media, leaving decent Ghanaians in utmost awe.

This is not the first time such a thing is happening, as numerous cases abound of people posting pictures and videos of victims who deserve no publicity whatsoever of their state but rather sympathy and getting sympathy for them could be done without necessarily showing gory pictures of their state.

Recently, there was a picture of a bleeding accident victim taking a picture of himself (selfie) at the accident spot to be posted on social media. In such a situation one wonders what could have motivated the victim to take such a picture when he should be considering how to get out of the problem to even help others.

What makes it even more annoying is the way such videos and pictures are liked and commented on by those who should be condemning them; the liking and comments serve as a booster to the perpetrators, hence the propensity to do it.

This incident is bringing to the fore the issue of social media regulation and its effect on the security of the nation following the debate over whether to ban it on election day or not.

In this regard, it has moved from the regulatory realm to its effects on our time-tested morals and values that frown on some of the things being flagrantly done on social media platforms.

Some years back, nudity was considered a taboo among the youth and those found exposing or being exposed to nude pictures were drastically dealt with by the elderly ones. Our traditional media never allowed their platforms to be used in any way to propagate such morally-unacceptable pictures.

Today, the trend has changed and the things considered taboo have become so fashionable that, those who don’t follow such fashions are considered outmoded. This is compelling the youth to devise some means to belong so they are not left out or behind by their peers.

Contents exposed on social media these days leave the youth at high risk of being corrupted and pushed into some social vices with serious repercussions for the nation. Our future is at risk.

Ghanaians are well known for their hospitable nature and disposition to sympathize with people in trauma of some pains.

This is seen in the way we all rally to the aid of those mourning or suffering from sickness.

That social sympathy is a quality that distinguishes us from many other people or cultures.

When accidents occur on our roads, Ghanaians can be trusted to quickly get the victim into a vehicle to be transported to the hospital for immediate care. It is after the condition of the victim is stabilized that their relatives are contacted to continue with the healing process.

Why has this value disappeared all of a sudden? Why has social media taken away the sense of sympathy and respect for privacy of people in pain? Have we lost our morals and values to technology?

These questions would continue to linger in the minds and on the lips of the older generations, who still hold on to the same old values that made Ghana a place to be.

This has nothing to do with whether they were Born Before Computer (BBC) as the younger generations prefer calling the older generations who migrated into the technological age, as against those known as Technological natives.

Enforcing morality and values on social media is a herculean task for the authorities and parents, some of who do not have knowledge of or access to such mediums to be able to monitor what their wards are exposed to.

However, constant training at home and practical demonstration of such morals and values, would in no small way, instill them in this generation.

Exposing people in pain in order to win the accolade of being the first to have seen it or to have the footage is neither here nor there.

There was a case of the paparazzi who happened to arrive on the scene of the accident that killed the Princess Diana, former Princess of Wales in 1997. The cameramen decided to film the incident instead of taking part in the rescue process.

They were severely condemned for failing to go to the aid of a dying victim but rather choosing to take exclusive shots. The police had to push the paparazzi away to be able to carry out their duty and all these happened at a time Princess Diana was still alive. If they had been morally humane at that time, they might have saved a precious life.

That was the level of insensitivity of the paparazzi at that time.

Today our craze for exclusivity on social media is blinding us to time-tested and highly-respected values that sustained the older generations and gave them hope and security.

Today, the trend has changed and it wouldn’t be long when people would rush to look for the camera phone to snap a drowning person instead of a rope.

This attitude must change now before it becomes a norm among the youth of today. Social media is for socialization; it is to keep us connected to help each other but not a tool to steal our morality and values.

We all need to grow from this anti-social behavior on social media to make our platforms more profitable.

BY RUTH ABLA ADJORLOLO