Collateralizing in the Absence of Regulation? Hello! 3 Issues Give Me Pain
By Kwadwo Frimpong-Manso

The joy and pride I harbor about my country succumbed to pain and fear that sent chills down my veins this morning when the Southern California Public Radio KPCC announced that oil starts pumping in Ghana. Critics, according to the news reader, aren’t upbeat about the chances of the oil find translating into national wealth because Ghana is yet to come up with legislation for regulating the oil industry. And the fact that parliament has already voted to allow revenue from the oil to be used as collateral for loans but still mulling how to come up with a legislation that regulates the industry two years after the discovery raises myriad of questions as to where our lawmakers place their priority. The impression created is one of things going backward; it suggests a cart placed in front of a horse; or, to say the least, getting it wrong. This and two other issues constitute the major reasons why I keep groaning for my country.

It was very impressive to see many well meaning Ghanaians living both at home and abroad donating their time, effort, knowledge, and expertise, in our bid to put a handle on the subject of oil which is a totally new phenomenon in our body politic. To all those people I say: “Kudos! I wish you God’s blessings for availing yourself for service to the land He gave our ancestors.” Yet, it seems to me that such efforts will all come to naught if the idea of regulation, so huge an issue, even in countries with robust economies like the United States, is not given an urgent attention.

Bear in mind that regulation in the oil industry has to do not only with effective management of revenue but also environmental degradation and management of other byproducts. It is my prayer that parliament would tackle this issue with the needed urgency to allay the fears of those who remain cynical about the president’s declaration of zero tolerance on corruption in that sector. Hopefully our leaders would soon buckle down and act.
National or Regional Identification Card

Another idea that keeps plaguing my heart is the issue of national identification card which has the potential of eroding with super-terrific speed all the gains from the oil. It is very pathetic that our country has turned deaf ears to the call for legislation for the issuance of a residential validation emblem while at the brink of confronting a gigantic influx of foreigners questing after a greener pasture. A few friends of mine who led groups of exchange students to the various universities in Ghana last summer tell me of how that issue has become fraught with partisan politics to the extent of some politicians branding others who call for a debate on the issue as revisiting the unpopular Alien Compliance Order of the late sixties and using that to win cheap political points with the members of the wonderful but not too literate sector of our population. This probably is the most serious and perhaps the worst case of playing on the naivety of these less educated countrymen for political reasons. It is one of the most heinous crimes committed against our society by the enlightened minority.

A national identification mark is needed not only for the regulation of the entitlement of immigrants to residency but the citizens as well. Neighboring countries like Cote d’Ivoire and Gabon, not to mention South Africa or the western countries are reaping the benefits of registering residents. Why should Ghana dream of any significant economic growth if basic things like issuing nationwide identification cards to residents get trivialized, why should we pretend to want to emerge as a beacon of political success if we fail to control immigration? The idea of going bio-metric with passports was excellent, but we should remember to match it with bio-metric ID.

Oh, how I wish all my countrymen could be sent down to the United States where the power of national or regional identification card is appreciated by all! But I also think our people don’t need to travel this far to figure this out. By casting our minds back to the exodus of Ghanaians to Lagos, Nigeria, during the peak of their oil wealth, Ghanaians would quit underestimating the rate by which nationals of sister countries could immigrate under the ECOWAS free travel stipulations. Does Ghana have the capacity to handle such a situation which seems eminent given the current dispensation? Where is the land and resources for absorbing such a crowd? Make no mistake, taking steps to inject law and order into the system has nothing to do with xenophobia.

In other words, enacting laws with a purpose of keeping foreigners at bay is one thing, while regulating their settlement or immigration is another. My recommendation is for a law mandating the use of a periodically renewable national ID card for all residents, either citizens or aliens, as it’s done in developed countries. It is a fabulous idea to have neighbors coming over from sister nations, yet regulation allows for making them pay a little fee for the strain they put on the scarce or non-existent resources of the country and, more importantly, compelling them to submit to her authority. In my opinion, any constitutional amendment that falls short of embracing this vital idea will be found wanting since none of the brilliant proposals enshrined in the document, when weighed against the backdrop of not having a robust immigration regulation in place, will pay off.

It is a plus, though; to regularly update the voter’s register which can also be used as a basis for national census but this does not come close to the immeasurable financial, educational, crime control, health care, and other benefits to be derived from periodically renewable national or regional identification legislation. Encouragingly, most Ghanaians have begun seeing the need to acquire residential addresses. And, hopefully, the president’s vision for street naming won’t be given a mere lip service, or kept sitting on the drawing board. Indeed, critics are quick to put Nigeria and others down as examples of nations that poorly managed oil wealth but who can tell whether issues discussed in this article including the absence of a national identification measure played a significant role in their failure? Countrymen, the time to act is now.

Going High-Tech with the Revenue Management Sector
The third subject of constant agony to me has to do with the computerization of revenue collection. I was in Ghana when the debate on the value added tax came up. Ghanaians breathed an air of relief when it passed parliament for it was expected to rein in tax evasion. But in spite of the billions of cedis representing revenue increases released by the IRS the first year, workers did not realize any significant change in their bottom line. Face it or duck it, corruption still remains one of the major causes of the slump of Ghana and most countries south of the Sahara.

While in Ghana I had felt people in the advanced countries were angels who lived above the purview of corruption. But my four-year-stay in US has taught me that the erroneously idolized “Kwasi Buroni” is also human, and like us, prone to corruption. The only difference is their system of revenue collection and management that makes it difficult for people to plunder the coffers of their states. Make an attempt to bribe a civil servant in US and he is likely to ask: “Do you want me to lose my job?” This is unlike Ghana where officers openly demand illegal payments as a condition for service. Much as I subscribe to the idea that the tempter and the receiver share the blame for bribery, the way the saying, “Both the giver and the receiver are equally liable in bribery cases,” is trumpeted in Ghana makes it sound like an intimidation tactic meant to cower the whistle blower into submission. This, if true, is very unfortunate.

With the president being a tax professor himself, I see myself as least qualified to elaborate on the benefits of a better managed revenue collection system. If I were to choose the first thing to do with oil revenue, though educationist, I would place a better managed revenue collection and utilization system alongside education. It is what gives meaning to all the rhetoric about probity and accountability. There are so many loopholes in our revenue management system that stand against our progress. The only thing that has power to bring sanity and reduce thieving to the barest minimum is heavy investment in computerization and internet technology.

The old system where revenue collectors issued paper receipts breeds corruption by allowing the unscrupulous ones to print fake receipts and get away with it by greasing the palms of their higher-ups. High technology allows for easy auditing and quick access to data through the internet. This provides less room for data manipulation. It even has the power to expose corrupt auditors. In fact, modern technology has power to force even police officers at various checkpoints to be accountable for the fines they collect. Of course, there is also the need for injecting more ideas of patriotism into our education system; the details of which time and space will not allow me to discuss in this article.

To this end, policy makers could work with the education sector to turn out more high school and college graduates with computer and internet literacy to help immerse the entire society in the spirit of high technology. By so doing arrant high office holders will be afraid of stealing since most of their activities could be accessed online and made handy seconds after being entered into the computer.

To quit mincing more words, I would say, it is not enough for Ghana to keep fighting corruption through rhetorical statements about accountability, or sermons and admonitions, or even threats. Preaching has its place, but we need to do more to make it difficult for people to steal. I recommend the use of computers, the internet, and cash registers analogous to those used in the western countries. Inarguably, China, Taiwan, and a host of Asian countries could never compete with the US the way they do today without harnessing the powers of computer. Who ever thought Indians would be teaching Americans the use of the internet.

To conclude, I would say, neither of the proposals in this article lends itself to a quick fix. But I think we can, with moral courage, begin from somewhere. For example, computerization of revenue collection could begin on pilot basis at strategic government and private branches like, the state ministries, IRS, CEPS, VELD, VRA, Ghana Electricity, the universities, Korle Bu and Okomfo Anokye Hospitals, to mention but a few. Yes, Rome was not built in a day, as the adage goes. But I think it wouldn’t have been built at all if the Romans got rapt in the status quo. May God bless the good leaders and the fantastic people of Ghana. Shalom!

By Kwadwo Frimpong-Manso
December 19, 2010
Kwadwo pursues doctoral studies in Riverside, California. I may be reached at: pastorkfrims@gmail.com