The 5th President of the Fourth Republic of Ghana, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, was sworn into office on Saturday 7th January 2017, at the Black Star Square, following his victory in the December polls.
The event saw lots of dignitaries across the continent in attendance, and, once again, Ghana’s globally celebrated democracy came up tops.
However, like a sore thumb, very disturbing issue keeps coming up after Ghanaians have together exemplified the beauty of democracy. But, like a pack of cards, the roof of the democratic pyramid collapses by our own doing.
The vexatious issue of the seizure of cars has been a permanent feature since the advent of the Fourth Republican Constitution. Wine, they say, matures with age, but on the converse, our democracy seems to be getting worse with time.
Although The Chronicle would not say that nothing has been done to stem this tide, it seems we are just refusing to embrace best democratic practices.
Until the enactment of the Presidential (Transition) Act, 2012 (Act 845), there was no legal blueprint that governed the transition of political power in the country. Political transitions in the country had been characterised by forced evictions and seizure of state institutions, vehicles, tollbooths, and toilets among others.
The Transition Act, 2012 (Act 845) was enacted to establish arrangements for the political transfer of administration from an out-going democratically-elected government, and to provide for related matters.
The law made provision for accountability, institutional clarity, and structured time for managing the transition process, to avert the challenges experienced in previous transitions. The act empowered an Administrator-General to be responsible for the management of the executive estate, assets, as well as the transition process.
Even before the swearing-in ceremony of President-elect Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the political atmosphere had been marred by seizures of state properties, because members of the then outgoing government were trying to hide some of these assets.
The situation became so chaotic that the new Nana Addo-led government had to set up a task force, with the sole mandate of retrieving state assets yet to be handed over by the out-gone government.
The agencies represented on the task force are the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Revenue Authority (Customs Division), Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), and the Office of the President.
The Chronicle, at the time, felt the setting up of the task force was superfluous, considering that the Transition Act was legally clothed to take care of the transitional problems and related matters.
Well, this is where the Lord has brought us. We are a nation refusing to build on our democratic credentials, but only choose to pride ourselves for being the bright spot in a sub-region of basket democratic turmoil.
While Ghana, undoubtedly, has been described as the brightest spot in the West African sub-region, The Chronicle only sees this as a case of the one-eyed man being king in the land of the blind.
We have to play the league of the big boys, where, The Chronicle believes, Ghana rightfully belongs, and getting there must start with us all changing our attitudes. This means, those still harbouring state vehicles must turn them in without being forced to do so.
The post Much ado about state properties… appeared first on The Chronicle - Ghana News.
The 5th President of the Fourth Republic of Ghana, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, was sworn into office on Saturday 7th January 2017, at the Black Star Square, following his victory in the December polls. The event saw lots of dignitaries across the continent in attendance, and, once again, Ghana’s globally celebrated democracy came […]
The post Much ado about state properties… appeared first on The Chronicle - Ghana News.
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