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I'm so very proud of President Kuffuor, Ghana, and
Ghanians in general! Good governance is a thing that
soothes the soul, mine at least. Ghana's example
gives me a lot of hope for the future.
- Wilmot
--- Devine Akabutu <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Our elders say "whom the hat fits must wear it."
> Kuffour did not mention any particular Head Of
> State. But, but.....
>
> Obasanjo should hand over to his son, a la Togo.
> Period. I think Kuffour will support that. It
> happened in DR Congo also. Where or Who is next??
>
> Kuffour himself is preparing to hand over to his
> younger brother. True or false? After all Robert
> Kennedy was going to succeed Jack Kennedy. And the
> Bushes !!!!!! Is Bush No. 3 on the horizon????
>
> "Baby Doc" set the pace. Others are just
> emulating, becoming craftier and more innovative.
>
>
> Devine
>
> General News of Monday, 14 November 2005
> Kufuor warns Obasanjo
>
> Abuja -- President John Kufuor has joined
> other democrats in Nigeria and elsewhere to counsel
> President Olusegun Obasanjo against succeeding
> himself in 2007.
>
> He made the point in Abuja on Sunday that African
> leaders should not go against the spirit of their
> country’s constitutions by extending their tenure
> illegally.
>
> He did not mention Obasanjo by name but his message
> was clear.
>
> Kufuor, who has slashed the cost of doing business
> in Ghana by 10 per cent since 2002, declared: “I am
> a constitutionalist and if the national constitution
> has prescribed a term of office, then I would say
> everyone should work by the spirit and letter of the
> constitution.”
>
> He advised, however, that since the mode of
> amendment is provided within constitutions and if,
> in the wisdom of a nation, the people decide to
> alter their constitution, it is their right and that
> should first be pursued.
>
> “Constitutions are made by nations to give
> guidelines or set the framework within which they
> must be governed.”
>
> He spoke on corruption and economic reforms in
> Ghana, saying that a number of legal and
> institutional changes have been embarked upon to
> correct the ways that things were done.
>
> Said Kufuor: “The government has done this by
> passing a law like the Public Procurement Law, which
> insists that all procurements by the public sector
> of a certain size in terms of money must get the
> permission of a Procurement Commission that has been
> set up, which is composed of some of the best people
> that know about the processes of corruption.
>
> “And we passed the law called Financial
> Administrative Act. This also enhances efficiency in
> public sector financial administration. We got the
> Internal Audit Act which, for the first time in
> Ghana’s history, is about internal auditing.
>
> “We have a Commission for Human Rights and
> Administrative Justice in place, which has been
> working. The interesting thing is that at some
> point, some members of Parliament alleged that the
> President had used public money to purchase his
> private house.
>
> “The lawmakers made this allegation to the
> commission. The commission wrote to me to respond. I
> obliged by making my statement and replied to the
> allegations.
>
> “The commission then sat and invited the members of
> Parliament to substantiate the allegation over a
> stretch of time. The allegation wasn’t true. I am
> telling you this story to show that even the
> President could be summoned to face the commission
> on allegation of corruption. We are trying to bring
> corruption to a manageable proportion.”
>
> But Kufuor declared that the imposing Central Bank
> of Nigeria (CBN) building with 11 floors in Abuja
> points to what the future of West Africa or indeed
> Africa would look like.
>
> “What I have seen at the CBN building is giving me
> reasons of what the Central Bank of West Africa or
> Africa would be like when we get there. This is
> truly a state of the art Central Bank. I was even
> more surprised that every detail of the edifice was
> done by a Nigerian architect.
>
> “If we can do this sort of thing for ourselves, then
> I would say that we are, at least, at the threshold
> of development. We have got the leaders who should
> be able to usher us into the category of the
> emerging world.
>
> “For so long we have been told and we have accepted
> and resigned ourselves to what has come to be known
> as the Third World or the underdeveloped world. It
> is high time we broke loose of that and make our way
> forward.”
>
> He, however, warned that it is not enough to have
> structures such as the CBN because it is the
> efficiency and effectiveness of the management
> within these structures that should encourage the
> citizens.
>
> Abuja, he noted, is a very functional modern capital
> that would rate with some of the best anywhere in
> the world, “and it should make all of us West
> Africans proud.
>
> “ECOWAS should be a reality and we should realise it
> as fast as we can. Unfortunately, we have been
> tagged as a conflict zone on the continent of Africa
> because of the many political upheavals, coups and
> civil wars. Hopefully, we are coming to the end of
> those types.”
>
> Kufuor expressed optimism that Liberia, now coming
> through with an election, will be a success story
> and that Cote d’Ivoire, which promises to be a true
> leader in the sub-region, will scale through its
> problems hopefully next year.
>
> “Everywhere else will be stabilised so that we put
> together and realise as quickly as possible the
> common currency. We want to join our Francophone
> brothers so that ECOWAS would become the common
> market.”
>
> CBN Governor, Charles Soludo, had informed him of
> the determination of the bank to realise the dreams
> of a modern Central Bank in the world.
>
> “Our vision”, he enthused, “is to have Nigeria and
> West Africa as the financial hub of Africa. This is
> what drives us in what we do, both in the conduct of
> monetary policy, exchange rate and even more so in
> the banking sector and reforms.
>
> “We are about to complete a revolution that will
> ensure that the banks in Nigeria are strong and
> stable not only to be able to play a catalytic role
> in developing the local economy but also in being a
> major player in regional and global affairs in
> Africa.”
>
> Soludo commended Kuffour for having ensured
> stability in the Ghanaian economy since 2002 when he
> became President.
>
> Inflation and interest rates are coming down in that
> country while it experiences growth and
> transformation, he noted.
>
> Source:
> Daily Independent
>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
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