REFORMS IN THE JUSTICE DELIVERY SYSTEM MUST BEGIN FROM THE DESK OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE

Her Ladyship the Chief Justice, Justice Georgina Wood, is reported to have expressed her frustrations over the delay in the justice delivery system in Ghana, focusing on land litigation and has called on the bench to change their attitude to those cases.
Agreed, it is even worse when docket of cases go missing from the registry of the courts.In fact, there are many cases in our courts, even in the so-called Fast Track High Court that has been adjourned for years for reasons best known to the presiding judges.
In some instances, members of the bench are beneficiaries of some of the cases sent to court and thus there is a lackadaisical attitude to disposing off those cases just in case they stand to lose out from them. We have seen and read lists of alleged beneficiaries of sale of government lands and disputed portions of lands that bears the names of some high and mighty in society thus there is a belief that those cases would never be dealt with so long as these persons stand to profit from the litigation. That indeed is an expression of how corrupt the legal system could be.
Stretching the debate even further, Amnesty International only a few weeks ago, conducted an audit of our prisons and how the rights of prisoners are being protected. The report was damning on our nation's prisons taking cognisance of the fact that there are countless of remand prisoners who spend between 1 to 10 years before their case are disposed off in court. The unlucky ones are rarely remembered owning to the death of his/her lawyer or their dockets getting lost in-between the shelves at the court registry.
The Chief Justice indeed must be worried, not simply because of the undue delays in our justice delivery system but the high resistance to change within the judiciary itself.
Under one Chief Justice, the “Justice-For-All “ programme was instituted. Some remand prisoners benefited and others were pardoned. As usual, the programme lasted a few months and it has been forgotten while the conditions in our prisons have not changed that much. The Chief Justice should have ensured that the “Justice-For-All” programme was not seen as a political intervention to a judicial inefficiency but that programme is further regularised so justice is done to every prisoners. Let us be mindful of the fact that some are dying under the harsh prison conditions when indeed they are innocent of whatever crimes that took them there .
What then has the office of the Chief Justice done so far to ensure that reforms were instituted for non-custodial sentencing for juveniles, petty thieves among others who do not necessarily have to be thrown to jail for stealing 3 fingers of plantain or eggs, or for driving throw the red light on our roads? Should every offence committed and every judgment passed in court be reduced to a fine or in default a prison term?

It is about time the Chief Justice ,as a matter of policy, ensured that reforms within the judiciary are targeted at safeguarding the public purse as regards expenses the state incurs on remand prisoners and the sorry state of our country’s prisons.
Furthermore, the over emphasis on custodial sentencing must be looked at so those caught at the wrong side of the law are made to work in the communities that need social services instead of keeping them under lock and key only for them to return after serving their time more hardened than they entered.

Unless the central government has plans to build more prisons than schools, hospitals, roads, commercial areas, reforms within the justice delivery system must be those targeted at decongesting the over-crowded prisons for criminal case.
Merely expressing frustrations over one problem or the other is becoming a cultural thing in our country such that politicians, law enforcers, revenue collectors, civil servants, public officers use this as a exit route to societal challenges rather than sitting down to derive the right policy measures to deal with such infractions.

GMOs- AN ECONOMIC BAIT WE MUST AVOID

At the heart of the debate on GMOs is the socio-economic issue of food security and the politics of who controls our agriculture our food supplies, our imports and our farm inputs.

Inasmuch as data and information available online, concurs with the school of thought that GMOs do not pose any health hazards to consumers, the fact remains that multinational conglomerates supported by the WHO and the EU who have pumped millions of Euros and dollars into research and production of seeds for GMOs , would be looking forward to the harvest where every Euro pumped into this work will be recovered with interest especially in Africa.
I am convinced that the demonisation of the African continent by mostly western media as a continent of hunger and poverty directs the minds, hearts and thoughts of the world to the fact that Africa needs investment in food to reduce hunger and GMOs come handy as a sustainable solution to the droughts, hunger and poverty that Africa finds herself entangled in. After all, Africa bears the brunt of the adverse effects of global warming caused mainly by industrialized nations.
Our farmers are becoming poorer by the day and our climate is threatening the sustainability of organic and rain-fed agriculture.

While we look on helpless as the world feeds fat on the riches of our continent, we are being tied by trade agreements that opens us up for stiffer competition around the world and such economically poisonous ventures like GMOs are being washed down our throats. They know our leaders and the media have high libido for corruption and they simply can't walk away from bribery and underhand dealings. In view of this interests backing GMOs have penetrated deep into corridors of power on the continent and paid heavily to court the favours of loud-mouthed politicians, media practitioners and more corrupt civil society organisations to execute this dangerous agenda.

More bizarre is the carte blanche our borders have granted our 'development partners' and their conglomerates to the extent that what we have left is a turf for two mammoths to fight on while the grass grows pail beneath their struggle for dominance and supremacy on the continent; our parliament has already passed the law on GMOs and the seed companies eyeing Ghana are on a war of words as to who gains entry into the country to do business.

I ask, how come our parliament and our government let alone the ECOWAS countries couldn't have pooled bio-technologists across board and established a common research and approach to bio-tech and seed technology that remains here with us, is used and produced so what would be used for future imports of seeds, equipment, fertilizers and chemicals to sustain the production of these GMOs would remain in the sub-region and boost our economies?
Are we about to miss another opportunity in industrial revolution or in agricultural revolution to which we have large parcels of arable land and fresh water to benefit hugely from both organic and GMOs farming?
The danger is that we would be creating jobs, markets, and downstream industries for GMOs in advanced economies while our farmers continue to linger in poverty and our currency continue to face harsh pressures which will ultimately tell heavily on our balance of payments. WE are neck deep in loans with payback periods between 10 to 50 years and now we are expanding the frontiers of imports with this GMO bait that is being dangled in front of us.
WE will be done for if we allowed foreign interests to control our food security.

GHANA-ICT, GOOD GOVERNANCE AND THE ATTA MILLS FACTOR

His Excellency President John Evans Atta Mills initiated and successfully commissioned a new Information and Communication Technology [ICT] Platform at the seat of Government in Christianborg Castle in Osu, that undertakes to bring his administration closer to the doorstep of the people of Ghana.

From the Blackstar Square in Accra where the Millennium City Project is taking shape to the sandy beaches of Keta and Elmia; from the resuscitated cotton farms in Tamale to the Gbewa College of Education in Bawku; away from the newly established Hila Liman Senior High School in Wa to the over 1, 700 rural communities connected to the national grid under the Better Ghana Agenda, His Excellency President John Evans Atta Mills is not only interested in knowing how his programmes and policies have impacted positively on the lives of the people BUT equally committed to remaining in touch with his appointees and workforce across the regions towards improving the quality of life of the good people of Ghana.

It is in the light of this unprecedented development that I doff my hat to the NDC administration and His Excellency the President with support from President Hu jintao of China in making this project a reality. The special relationship between President Mills and his Chinese Counterpart, President Hu Jintao dates back to their respective stewardship as Vice Presidents under their respective leaders prior to 2001. This bond of friendship nurtured by the commitment by both leaders to promoting their respective countries on the world market of economic and industrial giants has yielded very inspiring results. Ghana Today has made significant gains that are unprecedented in our history. While China continues to exert her dominance on the world stage in many areas, Ghana equally earned the enviable reputation as the fasted growing economy hitting 13.6% economic growth in less than 3 years under President Mills’ leadership.

It is not surprising that today both leaders have dedicated their public service to good governance, development and steady growth in the living standards of their people. A clear evidence of this commitment is the $3 billion China Development Bank facility recently granted Ghana and the pledge to develop the University of Health and Allied Sciences in the Volta Region to a world class University of choice.

The launch of this technological infrastructure adds to the recent networking of all Ministries, Department and Agencies of government under Dr. Tony Aidoo’s Policy Monitoring Outfit at the Office of the President. This culminates into a web of high speed data transfer, retrieval and information dissemination, evaluation and assessment with the click of a button to facilitate timely policy interventions in the interest of the state.

As of today, Ministers, Deputies, District and Municipal Chief Executives do not need to travel over long distances to book an appointment with the President to discuss issues of rural migration, human rights, security, water delivery and all other matters that arise in the daily activities of the people of Ghana.

His Excellency the President now has a third eye on all his lieutenants across the country to take daily briefs of ongoing works, policy directions, impact assessment and participate in Regional and District Security Meetings [DISEC] and to take live reports as and when the need arises with this facility. Meeting with investors across regions can even be facilitated with ease without the stress associated with booking an appointment at the Osu Castle.

The work of the National Security Coordinator, Lt Col. Larry Gbevlo-Lartey is effectively enhanced with this infrastructure. If effectively and efficiently managed, it has tendencies of improving our governance system, transparency and facilitates effective communication between His Excellency President Mills and his workforce even when he is outside the country on official assignments.

We have come a long way as a nation since Dr. Kwame Nkrumah made the famous declaration on the eve of Independence and we still have a long road to traverse towards economic freedom in our lifetime. The inauguration of this platform is a great one by a leader as visionary as His Excellency President John Evans Atta Mills.
Ghana needs these interventions that directly impact on the lives of her citizens. This is the beginning of a major breakthrough in our Information and Communication Technology by the government of Ghana and we look forward to better days under the Better Ghana Agenda.


p/s: the next time you see Agya Atta with a Smartphone, I bet you are sure he has go Ghana covered.

GHANA- A DEVELOPING AFRICAN TIGER AND THE ENERGY NEXUS

The Mills administration added 376 Megawatts of Power supply to the National Grid in 3 years and have so far connected 1,700 communities to electricity supply. This has significantly increased the load on the Volta River Authority [VRA]and the Independent Power Providers [IPP] to meet the rather growing volume of supply without any power reserve system, more like a hand-to-mouth kind of employment scenario. We consume all that we generate and even have huge shortages due to the absence of power reserve systems that can act as buffer stock anytime there is shortage in generation and supply.
The greater the demand, the supply falls, according to basic economic principles and the market forces fix the price. We cannot pay full cost for electricity and what we need to do as a nation is to invest heavily into power supply and a sustainable distribution system.
In Accra alone, 30 new power substations have been completed to ensure that the capacity of expanding communities are catered for. Gas supply to the Asogli Plnat remains a challenge and until a permanent solution is found to that, we will still experience such intermittent power outages.
The Bui Dam project will open the first turbine by September this year if all works according to plan and this will significantly improve supply.
President Mills returned from the USA recently with a 2nd Compact of the Millennium Challenge Account which is to be invested into energy generation and supply.
According to Prof. Elizabeth Ardayfio-Schandorf in her Inaugural lecture delivered on September 16, 2004 at the University of Ghana, she posits that per capita energy consumption in Africa accounts for only 26.8 while China alone is 38. with the USA hitting 334. I am afraid our economic growth as a nation would be retarded if we do not find a permanent solution or near permanent one to our energy needs. In her Book, "Energy and the development Nexus-The realities, Challenges and Opportunities for the Future", Prof. E Ardafio-Schandorf argues, "..without access to energy, and opportunity to formal education and good health, the well-being of many people in developing countries and Africa remains doubtful".
As we debate, there are hospitals without power supply not to mention the high cost of energy supply and consumption even by MMDAs.
That is a major challenge uncorrelated to what government wins power or not. It is a real challenge we must deal with as a nation. Meanwhile President Mills continues to win the hearts of many people including market women with the successes we have chalked up under his leadership in a better Ghana in spite of the challenges.

FDB AND THE BATTLE FOR GHANA'S SURVIVAL

I must commend the Food and Drugs Board [FDB] of Ghana, under the leadership of Dr. Opuni, for the seriousness the agency has attached to the fight against the importation, distribution and use of counterfeit drugs, unwholesome and expired food substances since he assumed office under the Mills-led administration.

The FDB has been down to business in going after unscrupulous individuals and importers whose profiteering activities largely imperil the lives of our people in the long run. There have been reports of the upsurge of cancer cases and other deadly organ complications in our hospitals across the country traceable to the ingestion of semi poisonous substances that wreck these critical organs of the body over time.

The FDB had been on active on the storage of food substances and drugs in the warehouses of importers and manufactures and in keeping the players of the industry on their toes, the agency conducts periodic inspections and visits in collaboration with the Ghana Standards Boards and the Security agencies to the sites of these operators. These rounds have achieved much result with the impounding of some food products and their subsequent destruction and the arrest of owners of these products and warehouses.
Since the beginning of the year, Dr. Opuni and his hardworking team have been ahead of those who wished to swindle consumers and the state as regards their nefarious operations aimed at nothing but generating ill-gotten wealth and have accordingly arrested a number of business operators who flaunt provisions of the provisions of the Food and Drugs Law, 1992 (PNDC L 305B).

Impounded fake food products since January 2012 include Hord’s Cocoa Powder, imported and distributed by Buchberger Enterprise located at Batsonaa on the Spintex Road; assorted fake alcoholic beverages, gallons of flavourings, labels belonging to Multi Giant Ventures. Multi Giant Ventures is said to belong to one George Kofi Asomani who is also the distributor of some local alcoholic beverages including Agya Appiah Bitters, Ohene Ba KasempaAbe Nsuo Gin and Baron Captain’s Dry Gin.
The FDB further reveals that this same company has produced fake J.H Henke’s Schnapps, J.H Captain’s schnapps, Castle Bridge London Dry Gin and had been distributing these products on the Ghanaian market until he was busted. Upon his arrest, fifteen [15] bottles of fake Hennessy Cognac (a product of France0 was also found in his bedroom where the alcoholic beverages were produced.

A press statement released by Mr.Kofi Essel, Head of Food Inspectorate Division of the FDB on Thursday March 1, 2012 cautioned producers of salt that the board is set to deal ruthlessly with all those who violate the FDB Law of 1996 which makes it mandatory for salt to be iodized before consumption.

The unsuspecting public would not have known these facts and these products if Dr. Opuni and his men had not taken the fight to the homes, workplaces and warehouses of these unscrupulous manufacturers, importers and distributors, of course, with great cooperation from the public. One wonders how many patrons of these products in the past have not been adversely affected by what they have consumed with the manifestation lurking to take a toll on their health.

It is in the light of this danger that all and sundry must support the work of the Food and Drugs Board to enable them protect consumers and to guarantee healthier lifestyles of the good people of Ghana. In view of the fact that a majority of the population is still illiterate and rural dwellers, more is expected of Dr. Opuni and his team to reach out to our brothers and sisters out there with much education and exposures they make so that these companies, producers and distributors do not come up with ways of sneaking these fake products into the rural areas where they are most likely to exploit the ignorance of the masses.

It is my opinion that the FDB must introduce a policy via their Public Affairs outfit to publish full list of items whose expiry dates are due two months ahead of date so the public could be on red alert for these products. This will also offer some time for people outside the catchment areas of the major towns and cities to get the news ahead of time so they do not patronise these products upon expiry.

Our media houses must also spend time discussing such issues that directly affect the health of the citizenry to educate them enough on the features one should look out for on these fake products and accordingly report them to the outlets of the Food and Drugs Board for prompt action.

The delay in prosecuting manufacturers, importers and distributors who fall foul of the law is another major problem that must be addressed. Many of these cases take months if not years to discharge. The courts must be seen to be actively involved in dealing with such issues for the public to appreciate the seriousness of these crimes.

The Food and Drugs Board could also consider the possibility of exploring the inventions of Mr. Bright Simons to the best advantage of the board and the good people of Ghana. Bright Simons runs a company Mpedigree Network which uses mobile phone technology to check the authenticity of some anti-malaria products in Ghana and in Nigeria. It would be a major boost if that system is applicable to local food and drugs in Ghana and would support the efforts and reduce the cost for the FDB in clamping down on these unscrupulous manufacturers and producers.

I congratulate Dr. Opuni and the Food and Drugs Board for the successes they have chalked up for the good people of Ghana since he assumed office and I wish to encourage the public to be interested in the quality and source of the food and drug products they consume by day. This is crucial as a safety measure to protect ourselves from the vampires of businesses whose only interest is to male money at the expense of the consumer.

The Food and Drugs Board has over the period published these telephone numbers, 0244337235, 0244337251 and 0244337243 for the public to contact the agency with information on matters relating to the safety and security of Food and Drugs in Ghana. It would help our generation a lot if Dr. Opuni engages more on the activities of the FDB on social media like twitter, facebook, Google+ among others to reach out to the youth with sensitization, alerts and public information on their activities for on the spot references by the click of a button on our mobile phones and tablets.

God Bless our Homeland Ghana.

God Bless a Better Ghana.

About Ghana...

‎"The 2010 road condition mix improved over the 2009 level. The improvement was largely due to the improvement in the proportion in good condition. The proportion of roads maintained or rehabilitated also increased from 35% in 2009 to 50% in 2010. This increase was due to the increase in the routine maintenane activities on trunk roads. The performance of rail transport in 2010 showed an upward trend in both passenger traffic and goods traffic, while overall maritime cargo (in tonnes) and container traffic continued to show a decline in 2010. On the other hand, total air freight and number of air traffic continue to increase, except the number of domestic air passengers which decreased". [Implementaion of the Ghana Shared Growth And Development Agenda -GSGDA- 2010-2013@ page xix]

GEROGE WALKER BUSH N1 HIGHWAY CARNAGE IN GHANA

Carnage on the George Walker Bush N1 Highway, recently commissioned by His Excellency President John Evans Atta Mills and former President John Agyakum Kufuor, actually began even before the project was officially opened.

I have seen wreckage of crushed vehicles at different locations along the motorway and reports of various degrees of pedestrian knockdowns. So far about fifteen [15] accidents with huge losses to life and property have been recorded on the highway and taking cognizance of the fact that the road is barely a month old with a history of fifteen [15] accidents, something seriously must be done to stem the tide.

I do not subscribe to the argument that the road does not have U-turns and zebra crossings and this might have been the cause of the accidents. I am yet to see any motorway that has U-turns and Zebra crossings anywhere. I however sympathise with the concerns of the Association of Persons with Disabilities about the complete absence of facilities on the overhead foot bridges that they should have been using to cross the N1 Highway. The explanation given by the Millennium Challenge Account for this phenomenon was that the foot bridges were too high to make room for such facilities. I find that rather strange and senseless owing to the fact that the highway should have made good our laws that mandates the provision of these disability friendly facilities on all public structures and institutions. What it means is that persons with disabilities would have to go to the daily hustle of moving to the nearest traffic light junction or crossing to enable them move across the broad road.

Another obvious risk on the road is the absence of reflectors at the Dimples Roundabout. Ideally, there should be reflectors on the aluminium rails at the roundabout. It is very difficult or almost impossible for a driver in a fast moving vehicle that might be using the road for the first time, to notice that sharp roundabout from a distance as the aluminium rails do not have signals to warn drivers of the hazard. It is therefore urgent for the Road Ministry to ensure that reflectors are posted on the rails to guide drivers and motorists alike to be forewarned of the hazards posed by that roundabout.

Furthermore, our drivers seem to have thrown away the rule that one cannot exceed the 50km/h speed limit imposed on drivers on roads passing through towns and cities. Even though the N1 Highway is an extension of the Kwame Nkrumah Motorway, the highway passes through busy communities towards Mallam Junction and drivers must not be allowed to use the highway as a race court. The imposition and respect for this speed limit will enable any driver to have a good stopping and breaking distance even if met unexpectedly by any hazards on the road. The situation even becomes safer for long trucks and cargo vehicles that seem to have braking problems and longer stopping distance. Enforcing this speed limit will largely curtail the unnecessary accidents on the George Walker Bush N1 Highway.

Another factor worth mentioning is the attitude of pedestrians on the road. It is not surprising that many pedestrians choose to jump over the short rails separating the speedways instead of using the overhead bridges and to the pelican crossings on the highway. Life seems to have suddenly changed for the people using the road all day to cross over to the other side of the road on transit. Many of them are uncomfortable about walking all the way to the overhead bridge or the traffic lights to have safe crossing to the other side of the road. It is amazing that pedestrians would take these risks for granted and opt to jump over the rails rather than use the approved areas and they should have themselves to blame if they get knocked down in the process that is if they are lucky enough to live to see another day. The use of mobile phones while driving or crossing the road at unapproved sections is another matter that must attract the attention of law makers. In the United Kingdom, it is unlawful to use a mobile phone while driving and it is about time that law is considered in Ghana and imposed on drivers.

As regards road signs and traffic regulations, the population is highly ignorant of what these road signs are. In fact, there are a number of “No Stopping for Any Reason” signs along the highway and I wonder how many pedestrians and motorists understand these signs. The signs are such that only persons who have had the opportunity of attending a driving school could identify and read these road signs and that trend must be revisited. We have a number of TV and Radio stations that should lead public education of these road signs. Pedestrians cross the roads even at the places where these signs are posted because they hardly understand them let alone interpret what they mean. Public education in this area is very important to curb the situation.

On the specific issue of yesterday’s accident, a visit to the accident scene soon after it occurred and my interaction with eye witnesses revealed that the accident was largely blameable on the day-long blackout that hit the area. They blamed ‘government’ for putting off the lights; the traffic lights were off as well as the streetlights and worse of all there was no policeman stationed at that spot of the road thus handing road users a carte blanche on using the road. The people did not know why the lights went out all day only to come on soon after the accident and thus believed that it was that act by the ECG that caused the accident. As reckless as that logic was, it raises the question of our public institutions and the use of their public relations outfit. How many of our people even know that ECG sells power to GRIDCO and the latter distributes the power to our homes? What percentage of the population knows that the lights keep going off in some areas due to load shedding and what arrangements do we make to ensure that risky points as the spot where the accident occurred at Lapaz yesterday would be safe in case the lights go off by their schedule?

My fears are that very soon, traders and hawkers located at Lapaz would have no option that to take over the link roads from Nii Boiman Town, Nyamekye Junction, and other adjourning streets to ply their trade because the spaces they used to occupy have largely been taken over by the road. The space available has reduced significantly and the people need to engage in their businesses to survive. I do not want to believe that the Accra Metropolitan Assembly [AMA] would wait till the traders are comfortably located on the road before they move in to beat them up and seize their wares. It is paramount for government and the AMA to begin looking out for a well structured location for these traders along the highway or elsewhere which will solve this problem once and for all.

By all standards, the George Walker Bush N1 Highway is good news to Ghana and we should do everything possible to ensure safety and sanctity on that highway.

I extend my condolences to the families of the victims of carnage suffered on George walker Bush N1 Highway so far.