President of Groupe Nduom (GN), Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, has urged members of the Catholic faith to thoroughly think through the prospect of becoming agents of change that the country needs so badly.
By that, Dr. Nduom points out, he is not asking them to join any political grouping but consider critically how they can help to deal appropriately with four constitutional provisions that in his estimation are inimical to the development of the country; but whose implementation and amendments successive governments are shying away from.
The four issues, according to him, are Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE), Separating the office of the Attorney-General from the Ministry of Justice, Reducing the powers of the President of the Republic of Ghana and dealing head-on the Corruption Canker.
Dr. Nduom was delivering the key note address at the 7th Biennial Conference of the Knights of St. John’s, a Catholic group, at the University of Cape Coast, Central region.
In his estimation, the Catholic Church, through its Annual National Conference, has demonstrated how fearless it can be in commenting and taking a critical stand on national issues no matter how distasteful that might sound in the ears of the powers-that-be.
He urged the church to consider taking the same level of boldness in helping to bring changes in these four critical areas.
According to Dr. Nduom, many countries have developed because they made it a national policy to develop the capacity levels of their citizenry through a well-thought-out education plan, adding that although the Constitution gave a grace period of 10 years before FCUBE could start, the period has long elapsed.
He said since FCUBE is enshrined in the Constitution it is not a matter of choice, but a compulsory provision that ought to be adhered to strictly by any national administration.
He made allusion to how a capitalist country, such as the United States, has today promulgated a law that makes it possible for its citizens to attend community college free.
“Today President Obama is making sure that American citizens who wish to attend community colleges do so freely,” he declared.
Dr. Nduom told the conference that no administration can offer excuses for not implementing the FCUBE, adding that: “It cannot be attributed to money because there is plenty of money and resources around to enable every Ghanaian child go to school under the programme.”
“If we can deal with corruption and financial waste in the system we can generate enough funds for free basic education in this country,” affirmed the GN President.
He even proposes that free education should be extended to the Senior High School.
According to official estimates, Ghana loses $3billion annually through corruption and other needless, excessive spending in the public sector.
“It demands a leadership that is bold to deal head-on with corruption; a leadership that will be bold and committed to FCUBE knowing that it can generate enough funds for it by cutting down needless public spending and reducing corruption,” Dr. Nduom noted.
Speaking to the Catholic Knights, he wondered why Ghana is still relying on the 1992 Constitution that, in his estimation, was drawn to suit one single individual, and proclaimed that amendments to certain provisions in the constitution are long overdue.
Dr. Nduom believes the powers given to the president of Ghana by the Constitution tend to make the president a dictator in a democracy.
“The Ghanaian president has much more powers than the US president, the British prime minister and the German chancellor,” he observed and asked why?
He described as unacceptable the Ghana situation where only the president nominates ministers of state, municipal metropolitan district chief executives (MMDCEs), Board of Directors of State institutions and therefore advocated for strict separation of powers to ensure efficiency in governance.
He again charged the church to take up the issue of separating the office of the Attorney General from the Ministry of Justice so that “we can have an Attorney General who would be independent enough to fight corruption, especially within government.”
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