NPP's Deception over the creation of the
National Research Fund: While $5 million was wasted on the failed Black Stars
and some $2 Billion is to be squandered on the Accra Trade Fair redevelopment.
This statement by a notable public intellectual
set me wondering:
“When our rapacious
politicians say there is no money it means there is money for them not for US “(Facebook: Lloyd Amoah)
I remarked that as I am sitting here, I am
still monitoring the establishment of the National Research fund, but 3 years
have passed. The minister education said in November 2017 that cabinet had
approved the bill and it was on the way to the Parliament. There have been 3
missions to the moon since then by China, Israel and India. But the mission
from Jubilee house to Parliament house in Accra both within 2 km of each and
the mission is missing.
The government had managed to put some called
Basic STEM in the budget to get something that sound like STEM. But this all
deceitful antics. Many of their party loyalists have been point to this as good
progress. The problem is that STEM happens at the University not in the basic
schools. You have refused to set up 50 million dollars National Research fund
but have found 100 million dollars for BSTEM. What kind of delusion is this?
GFA and Black Stars wasting 5 million
dollars no a weak performance
We have just witnessed one of the most
abysmal performances by our senior national team why still squandering some 5
million dollars in the process. Money, we do not have and as such very
important national programs have had to discarded. This problem is sports
funding can easily be solved because it’s a small of people in the team and
they already have the perfect product to sell on their own to be self-reliant. I therefore strongly suggest that we should privatize GFA and the National teams.
Before any tournament they should play a series of friendlies and raise the
money for their appearance in addition to sponsorship deals from corporations.
Research in Ghana needs the funding, let’s stop wasting money and pretend there
is no money, that is wickedness.
Re-development of Accra Trade Fair
centre at a cost of 2 billion dollars
As if the black stars waste of public funds is
not bad it enough, we are now hearing that Government as just found some 2 billion
dollars to fund the redevelopment of the Accra trade fair centre. This facility
has been mismanaged by subsequent governments since 1960 to date. The best idea
is to give project to the private sector or provide private capital and set up
a state-backed private company to execute the project. Government is too porous
to be trusted with such a project. I can't see why this be done by the private
sector or at least PPP? With 40% corruption means some 800 million dollars will
go missing and what remains will be massively mismanaged adding to the public
debt. This is not a social project that government must do at all costs.
Weak and careless governments have
plagued this country. And their recklessness is enormous. Everywhere you turn
something untoward is happening. Now they want to engage in trade fair
redevelopment that will cost 2 billion dollars. We will end up losing 10
billion dollars and the facility will still not be usable. We borrowed millions of dollars to build
hospitals, Government has not found the money to operate them but can find 2
billion dollars for this facility that the private sector can readily develop.
What is this attitude of systemic nation wrecking? Research in Ghana needs the
funding, let’s stop wasting money and pretend there is no money, that is wickedness.
Spend this budget 2 billion dollars on research and development in Ghana over
the course of fives and the return on investment will exceed 30 billion dollars
at the end of the 5 years. Test it!
TO ALL POLITICAL OFFICE HOLDERS: When YOU people go into government to come
richer than they can ever be. Then you are not politicians or public servants
you are criminals. We must enforce the property declaration law to stem the
tide of people like you using public office just to enrich yourselves. The test
for a patriotic politician should be the extent of their sacrifice of what they
could have earned privately but forfeiting it for public service and the public
good. If your
earnings from your previous job plus the projected income over the period in
office for the same job cannot build you a 4-bedroom house. Then we do not
expect you to leave your political office with that and more.
THE PEOPLE’S RESPONSE: We need to go to war on this. The state is
there to do things that are impossible for every individual to do for him or
herself. Like rising an army, building roads, hospitals, etc. The next phase of
politics is going to see majority of us occupying corruption.
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Patrick Kobina Arthur (PhD),
parthur14@gmail.com
