Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom shares his vision to improve life in Ghana in this second volume of essays and articles. Nduom, a former presidential candidate, has filled a number of positions in the government, and he spent several years consulti

Where I Stand Volume II

A Collection of Speeches, Essays, and Newspaper Articles, 1995–1999By Papa Kwesi Nduom

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 Papa Kwesi Nduom, PhD, CMC
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-1047-6

Contents

Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................1Brought Back to Ghana..............................................................................................................................................................................................................5My Thoughts on 1996 Speech Delivered to the Rotary Club of Accra...................................................................................................................................................................11I Stand Accused!...................................................................................................................................................................................................................17Letter to the Editor of the Ghanaian Times.........................................................................................................................................................................................23Suggestions to Protect the National Interest in 1996...............................................................................................................................................................................27Constraints to Investing In Ghana "Independence Means Not Having to Beg Your Neighbor for a Cigarette Tin of Gari" Presented at the Continuing Legal Education Programme Workshop of the Ghana Bar Association.....................31Speech Delivered at the 66th Speech and Prize-Giving Day of St. Augustine's College................................................................................................................................................43Unite or Perish! The Reconciliation Imperative Speech Delivered to the Rotary Club of Kumasi-East..................................................................................................................................51To the President of the Republic Of Ghana, J. J. Rawlings..........................................................................................................................................................................57Vision for Nation-Building: An Economist's View "A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste" The University of Education, Winneba.........................................................................................................61Considerations toward a Successful Implementation of the Value-Added Tax (VAT) System in Ghana.....................................................................................................................................67"A Great, Free, and Caring Society" Speech Given at the Tenth Anniversary Celebration Dinner of the Independent Newspaper..........................................................................................................73The District Assembly: An Imperative for Change to Enhance Local Development and Grassroots Democracy..............................................................................................................................83What Happened?.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................91About the Author...................................................................................................................................................................................................................93

Chapter One

Brought Back to Ghana

I left Ghana on January 17, 1996, flying toward Washington, DC. My mission was to make a presentation on business opportunities in Ghana at a conference organized by the Wharton African Students Association (WASA) at the prestigious Wharton School of Business in Pennsylvania.

I was to share the podium with top executives from American Express, Ford Motors Corporation, General Motors, Merrill Lynch, Chrysler, General Electric, Arthur Andersen, and others. Our assignment was to open a window to the world of business to black business school graduates and entrepreneurs. We were to be role models, sources of information, guides, councilors, and recruiters. I was scheduled to speak at the conference on January 20, 1996.

The flight landed in Washington, DC, on the afternoon of January 18. The minister of finance at the time, Hon. Kwame Peprah, was on the flight. I said hello to him and exchanged greetings and small talk about the situation in Ghana. Officials from the Ghanaian embassy in Washington, DC, met him on arrival, and they whisked him away through diplomatic channels. I went through the normal immigration and customs procedures. I received the usual welcome greeting from an immigration officer.

Then my world changed. My brother met me at the airport. If he had been a white man, I would have described him as looking pale. He looked worried and carried a news story published in the Ghanaian Times of January 18, 1996. In it, there was an announcement that I had been sacked from the board of directors of the Ghana Airways Corporation. This was said to be due to an investigation into the activities of the State Enterprises Commission. While I was to learn later that I was not a specific target of the investigation, my wife and I were alleged to have engaged in activities serious enough to warrant mention in the Times story. I was also the subject of a Ghanaian Times editorial that disclosed their version of fees alleged to have been paid to me, along with other comments related to my involvement with the Commission.

I am not sure how I got home from the airport. When we arrived at my residence at Lake Barcroft in Falls Church, Virginia, I realized how busy the fax machine had been. A number of people had faxed several copies of the same story and editorial to me. I spoke to my wife and learned I had been sacked from the same Ghana Airways Board on Ghana Broadcasting Corporation Television as well.

Within twenty-four hours, all contracts that companies I was associated with held with organizations related to government were suspended, canceled, or on notice to be cancelled! I had arrived in Ghana at last!

This is not a story about the government of Ghana, the State Enterprises Commission, the Ghanaian Times, or the Serious Fraud Office. It is about coming home to Ghana. As a result of January 18, 1996, I have come to understand why some people believe "it is difficult to go back home again."

In 1990, I seriously thought about moving from the United States to Ghana. As a Young Pioneer, I was supposed to be one of the new Africans, groomed to take my place in the country Kwame Nkrumah led to independence imbued with a new African personality characterized by excellence, confidence, and self-respect. I had come from a CPP home. My father strongly favored my going to the University of Ghana's School of Administration over my going to the United States. To him, there was more pride in staying in Ghana. Perhaps he was worried that I might not come back after my studies if I went outside of Ghana.

The early 1970s was a good time to be black in a university in the United States. There were benefits to be gained from the struggles of the 1960s. Being an African was definitely in. Being from Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana was a major plus. I was at home in the inner cities, Nation of Islam, Catholic Church, university campuses, and a number of White American homes with an international perspective. I was proud to be an African so much so that I promptly decided to use the Fanti name that my parents gave to me at birth instead of the European name I carried.

While I read everything I could find about African leaders, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Elijah Mohammed, Marcus Garvey, and others, I joined a study group dedicated to mastering international business and commerce. We believed the future belonged to those who understood the world of finance. We subscribed to the thought that "the independence of Africa will be meaningless unless it is linked with economic prosperity."

I was without malice. I was without negative feelings of any type about Ghana. I did not know Kalabule, Unigov, June 4, or 31 December. I just wanted to take the resources I had gained in the United States and the experience I had gained as a Deloitte & Touche partner to come home to join in the fight for economic prosperity for the masses of our people. It turns out that other forces would pull in a different direction because, to them, my very existence in Ghana threatened their hold on power.

Many friends and relatives were not happy to hear about my intentions to come back to Ghana. Letters and telephone calls came to warn me about my "rash decision." Some wondered if I had lost my job in the United States. When it became clear that I was bent on coming home, there was a universal counsel. "When you go, stick strictly to business, and don't show anyone that you have money. If you are invited to chair any function, decline it politely. Stay away from government and the opposition. By all means, avoid harvests. Lose the American accent, and blend in. Stay out of trouble!"

I thought I was going home. It did not feel like it.

After January 18, 1996, I have learned a few lessons. I am even more fiercely committed to contributing to the building of a prosperous Ghana. I love being in Ghana. I am convinced that it is my duty as a beneficiary of Kwame Nkrumah's African Personality training to give some of it back to those who were not so fortunate and missed the positive part of being a Young Pioneer.

I still receive more than my share of advice to be careful and stay out of trouble. But I constantly ask myself when I drive by the rural areas and the poor urban slums: Can I live with myself if I am one of a very small number of well-to-do people in Ghana while everyone else has nothing? Can I keep quiet and mind my own business if I see injustice being done to someone else? Can I ignore poverty and ignorance when I can do something to improve the situation?

I may disagree with the government of the day. But I will not engage in acts that will disgrace my country and its people. I may not be a member of any ruling political party. But I have a duty to make contributions that will improve the quality of life of our people and the prosperity of our nation.

I have learned that Ghana is still a predominantly poor country. Some of us are lucky to be doing better than others are. But it is a short ride from well-to-do to poverty in this country. Therefore, I must lend my experience to the effort to improve the lot of the rural poor. I know to be careful to choose which initiatives to be associated with now that experience has shown that many rejoice in bringing people down. Success is still looking for a home in Ghana.

I am a CPP-ist. People wonder why an American-trained business professional can belong to the CPP family. But America teaches you that there is honor in fighting injustice of all types. America teaches you to value freedom. America welcomes the downtrodden and the persecuted masses from all over the world. Kwame Nkrumah experienced this. I believe Nkrumah's commitment to promoting the right of the poor, the downtrodden, to rise, be free, and gain the means to enjoy prosperity at home now gave birth to the CPP. Someday, when the CPP family awakens from its thirty-year slumber, I will be one of the faithful because we are not yet a prosperous nation.

I have become more Ghanaian. I am still on the journey back home. I remain positive about being here. And yes, whenever and wherever my opinion is sought, I will give it freely and without malice. I will travel abroad and live elsewhere from time to time, but this will forever remain my home.

Though it brought pain, sorrow, and grief, I am grateful for January 18, 1996. It is important to note that I went ahead to participate in the program at Wharton, where I was very well received. Then I went back home to face the situation that had developed.

Chapter Two

My Thoughts on 1996 Speech Delivered to the Rotary Club of Accra

December 11, 1995

I appreciate this opportunity to share with you my thoughts on 1996. Most importantly, I hope to encourage each and every one of you to choose to join the campaign for national team building and reconciliation. I hope all of you have read Mr. K. B. Asante's article in today's Daily Graphic newspaper. If you have not, please do so. The last paragraph of that article expresses many of my deep-felt sentiments in the most appropriate language.

There are many questions about 1996 and not enough answers. I will attempt to give you my perspective on what the situation is and what I believe needs to happen for us to avoid a serious collision in this country in 1996. First of all, we are on a collision course, and it will get worse if something significant is not done to reduce tension between political opponents.

We cannot afford the 1996 elections, yet the elections must go on. The cost to our society may be too high for us to bear. I have some reasons for this:

• As you all know, inflation is running at more than 70 percent and· threatens to reach the 100 percent mark. Government borrowing is starving the private sector of the necessary opportunity to gain access to the investment capital. As a result, the private sector is not growing at the rate needed to make it the so-called engine of growth. Let me explain how serious this is. Several thousands of government workers have lost their jobs as a result of the economic recovery program. Many more workers from the civil service and state-owned enterprises will lose their jobs in 1996. The hope has been that retrenched workers would find employment in the private sector or start their own businesses. This will not happen because of the lack of easy access to and unavailability of capital. The 1996 elections will make this situation worse because government will spend more money on programs it feels will gain it more votes. The private sector will spend some of the little capital available to support parties of their choice. The picture, as you can see, could be a worsened economic situation.

• Then we have what I call "you kill me, I kill you" politics. It· saddens me to say that I have come to realize that government and the opposition in Ghana really consider each other to be enemies. Many on both sides have sworn themselves to engage in a campaign of hate. Nothing good can come from the other side. The worst part about it is that much of the hatred stems from the existence of the dominant player on the political scene right now, J. J. Rawlings. I cannot explain this factor, and frankly, I do not even want to attempt to do so. All I know is that there is a fanatic display of "for" and "against" whenever the Rawlings factor comes in. Some people will do anything to keep Rawlings in power. Others will do anything to get him out of power. Neither side is right. But I fear that this also will not get better in 1996 because J. J. Rawlings is going to insist on serving the eight years the constitution allows a president to serve if he or she can win reelection. As someone has already written, if Rawlings wins in 1996, trouble; if he loses, trouble. The only way out is if he is not involved.

In 1996, global competition for investment, human capital, and markets will become more fierce. Ghana needs all the internal goodwill it needs in order to even stay its ground. To grow rapidly and become a developed nation, this country needs the talents of all of its men and women. But we are a nation wounded from the effects of self-appointed leaders and unjust punishment of citizens from 1966 to 1992. This country needs healing. The year 1996 is just around the corner, and our political leaders cannot even tolerate each other. How do we heal our wounds and have the hope that the best minds will be applied to our problems regardless of political, religious, and tribal affiliation when the current recognized political leaders cannot even agree to discuss our problems together? So I ask you again: Can we really afford the 1996 election?

Since we must have the 1996 elections, here are some perspectives, questions, and opinions:

• If the opposition really believes that only by getting together will they be able to defeat J. J. Rawlings, why do its leaders all want to be president? Why are they, the leaders themselves, not their appointees, not sitting together indoors to agree on some power-sharing formula? Are they all secretly hoping that they will become so popular that the other candidates will obviously recognize their superior strength and unite behind them? Is this greed, selfishness, or democracy?

• If the Alliance for Change (AFC), a civil society organization, really wants to be a unifying force for the opposition to win in 1996, why do they insist on being a catalyst? Why are they listening to the traditional parties? If they really want to make a direct impact, why aren't they getting themselves together as a major political party? Don't they know they have almost accomplished what Nkrumah did in the late 1950s and Rawlings did in 1992 by bringing together people from multiple political traditions?

• Why are the followers of Kwame Nkrumah finding it difficult to form one united front? Could it be that many of them are only using Nkrumah's name for selfish gain and do not really care for what he stood for? Would some of these so-called Nkrumaists not scatter if Nkrumah were to rise from the dead today?

(Continues...)

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