A CALL FOR AN IMMEDIATE INVESTIGATION INTO THE
DISBURSEMENT OF GHANA GOVERNMENT SCHOLARSHIPS
1. After I have dedicated long years of investigation into the
disbursement of Ghana Government Scholarships through the Ghana Educational Trust
Fund
(GETFund), it has become very clear that scholarships awarded by the fund
for the pursuit of higher education do not necessarily go to the most
brilliant and deserving students. These scholarships, instead of supporting
academic excellence, have been turned into a thank you package for family
members, friends, party praise-singers, loved ones, and appendages and
bootlickers to the neglect of the truly deserving Ghanaian students.
2. The essence of scholarships in the hope that scholars may learn new
ideas and become conduits of innovation in the development discourse has long
been lost on those in charge of the country’s financial vault. If it cost
the Government of Ghana, for that matter the taxpaying Ghanaian, at least
US$70, 000 for beneficiaries to obtain master’s degree in the social sciences
and about US$100, 000 to educate engineering students in any US
university, then any investment in individual beneficiaries must be evaluated on
merit – academic excellence and the potential to succeed in graduate school.
Sadly, these opportunities of graduate education are being channeled to
friends, relatives, and party-praise singers who do not have to necessarily
prove “anything” to the awarding institutions. The results are that:
i. Some of these individuals on GETFUND scholarships
could not even complete their programs in time, hence require more money from
the Ghana Government.
ii. Others cannot pass their qualifying examinations and
hence not able to get their degrees. It must be pointed out that for any
extension of program, due to the inability of beneficiaries to produce their
thesis, pass their qualifying examination and so on; additional cost is
incurred by the taxpaying Ghanaian. The result is a wanton dissipation of the
nation’s resources without recourse to priorities. In other arena it would
have been classified as causing financial loss to the state.
The point is that if even “Kayayos,” or potters at Makola Market pay tax
or other forms of levy in order to practice their trade, then any money
generated from the Valued Added Tax (VAT) from which these scholarship are
awarded, must be targeted to benefit all and sundry including the children of
the farmer’s labors and the kayayos as long as there is a transparent and
equitable way of awarding these scholarships.. For example, if Government
is spending US$70, 000 on a single individual, the program of study of that
individual and the potential to succeed in graduate school must be well
evaluated through “best practice,” to ensure that our opportunities are
maximized.
3. I am aware of the intentions and rhetoric of the leadership of both the
National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to
fight corruption wherever there is one. But I think both parties have failed
miserably in this endeavor. Indeed, some of the scholarships I have
investigated clearly depict the lack of understanding of our development needs and
how scholarships can be directed and targeted at those areas to maximize
our opportunities as a people. What economic sense does it make to sponsor
individuals to undergo a graduate degree program in “Gender Studies” when
the amount of money spent on such individual could educate more than 10
students in the same discipline in our local universities? It is even
preposterous to sponsor individuals in academic disciplines where citizens on their
own volition have sponsored themselves in those areas and upon graduation
couldn’t find job back home.
4. I would like to state categorically that the award Ghana Government
Scholarships have been fraudulent, and I am calling on the august house of
parliament to set up a non-partisan committee to investigate the award of
GETFund scholarships covering the last 11 years (8 years of President Kufour’s
NPP administration and 3 years of President Mills’ administration. Members
of this committee should be chosen from the Students Representative
Councils (SRC) of Ghanaian universities, academicians the clergy, and members of
parliament. Are we getting the maximum for our money that we are spending?
The way we are offering GEtFund schorlarship, surely this were not the ways
Malaysia, Singapore or China sent their brilliant students to the western
world to study. These students are back home and are taking leadership roles
in these emerging economic giants or nations. In the meantime to really
demonstrate their credentials and tenets for democracy, I am calling on the
NPP government and current NDC government to create a website or release
immediately to the public the following matrix which is a basis for process
evaluation.
Sample of Matrix Table
Name of recipient
Course of study
Amount of Scholarship
Duration of Studies
Outcome
Present Location of recipient
John Doe
Anthropology
US$70, 000
2 years
Graduated
Yes
No
Uknown, working with GES, etc
5. I call on Foreign Embassies and High Commissions in Ghana to cooperate
in this endeavor. They will need to provide information on recipients of
these scholarships for the past 11 years. With this, even the destruction of
documents by individuals at the helm of affairs to cover-up can be exposed.
6. I have taken the first step, but I consider it a giant leap. Others
have labored and we enjoy their glory, it is now our call to protect their
gain, better yet to add to their toil.
Yours in the service of the nation,
Prosper Yao Tsikata, MSc.; M.A; M.S.; PhD Student
A PETITION TO GHANA’S PARLIAMENT
Manifest Corruption in Land Administration in Ghana
1. In 1998, I paid US$2,500 for my first plot of land in the Ablekuma area
even as an undergraduate attending University of Cape Coast. Indentures
and all other necessary documents covering the land were provided. I was
advised by the seller to start “a small” project on the plot, so I built a
structure which encompassed a chamber and hall on it. But in no time, a second
owner emerged and pulled my structure down. The police could not help. You
may recall it was around the same time that the police lost one of their
own, Kwaku Ninja, and had no clue what was going on, or were apprehensive to
venture into that neighborhood. The man who sold the land to me, Alhaji
Bubba, was finally attacked and clubbed to death by others he must have duped
using same method. Prior to his death and right after my structure was
pulled down I tried to recover my money from him. I was able to retrieve just
about US$1000 before his death.
2. In 2005, on the recommendation of a cousin, I again paid £3000 to
another frontline man for a chief for a plot of land at Bortiano, a suburb of
Accra. This time, I took the trouble to conduct a search at the Lands
Registry after having being coerced by employees of the Department to pay advance
handling fees without which nothing could be done. Initially, I resisted
paying these unauthorized fees and complained. Further investigation
detailed the institutional corruption of collecting these illegal advance
processing fees without which nothing could be done. The results of the search at
the Lands Registry indicated the land was free. The demand for illegal
advanced fee payments alerted me to do things to protect my interest. As a
result, I kept a recorder in my pocket, unbeknownst to those involved in the
transaction and recorded every process of the transaction. Consequently, upon
purchase and receipt of the indenture, again, I was asked by the middleman
to erect a structure on the said plot. Assured that the land was free upon
getting my indenture, I erected a storefront property on the land and left
for London, United Kingdom. On my return from London, someone had gone to
erect a wall around the whole plot.
I reported the case at the Police Headquarters and the middleman was
invited. In my statement to the police, I gave the name of the woman who
facilitated the search at the Lands Registry (Tina). Sensing trouble, she tried to
disassociate herself from the whole process and vehemently denied any role
in facilitating the fraudulent search. I was, therefore, compelled to play
out my recordings to her. She immediately went on her knees to beg me for
forgiveness and the middleman also promised to refund my money. I spent the
next three months running between the Police Headquarters in Accra, home,
and other places in a never ending circle. Finally, by the time a refund
was made available, expenses on the Police, the constant depreciation of the
cedi, and other expenses had eroded a substantial part of the money. The
refund could be just about £2000. For Ms. Tina at Lands Department not doing
due diligence for the work she is being paid with tax payer’s money in
addition to demanding advance fee from me I would not have purchased the land
neither would I have spent additional time and money chasing a mirage!!!!
3. Aware of the aforementioned nasty experiences, Mr. Fui Tsikata
recommended a colleague, Mr. Mahama Adams, who is the current National Coordinator
of the Youth in Agricultural Program and a member of the current government
who has been helping people to acquire land, to assist me to find land. He
seemed genuine by all the standards and I believe that any reasonable
person would have concluded the same. He provided documents covering the said
land in 2007. Subsequently, I paid him US$800 and Gh3, 000. It must be
noted that Gh3000 at the time was more than US$3000. This was around when the
cedi was redenominated. I committed about US$8,000 into developing the land.
This was based on the understanding that he would process the
documentation transferring the property into my name in tandem with my intended
building project, as I was in a hurry to have my own place so that I could move
out of my family house. But for three years, he has played the hide and seek
with me. He finally asked that I prepare my own indenture which is contrary
to the initial verbal agreement and the understanding I had with him.
After returning to Ghana three times in three years, I managed to get a
surveyor to prepare the indenture, which I handed over to him which he would have
used to acquire my title to the land.
But excuses are never exhausted in this game of deception. I travelled
over a long distance to his house many times only to be told stories. At one
point, I met a young man by name T.T. who was supposed to transmit the
indenture to his father who is supposed to be a chief and a signatory to the
document. He took Gh100 from me as part payment to facilitate the process of
getting the indenture signed by the chiefs. After being paid the money all
subsequent calls to T.T. were no longer answered. Persistent attempts to
ensure the right things are done failed and I had to return to the United
States.
On my return trip to the US, I reached the conclusion that I would demand
my monies paid to Mr. Adams Mahama, pulled the structure down and opt out
of the transaction. I returned to Ghana again in May 2011 to pursue this
goal, insisting a refund should be based on the US$ rate at which I paid him
for the plot.
As of August 2011, Mr. Adams Mahama had failed to give me the refund due
me. Due to the incessant frustrations I encountered due to the inactions of
Mr. Mahama, I arrived at the conclusion that I needed to share my “lessons
learned” from these transactions with the general public. I followed it up
and made my intentions known to him. Whereupon Mr. Mahama contacted Mr. Fui
Tsikata, who introduced him to me, to intervene. At the said meeting, he
pleaded for a one month period to produce the document. Of my own volition,
I suggested six months moratorium within which he should produce the
document. This decision was based on a couple of factors: (i) if he could not
produce the indenture in over three years, how on earth was he going to
produce the document in a month? (ii)knowing very well that he was preparing to
contest the NDC primaries for Adenta constituency, I knew I would be blamed
for any public actions that might be perceived as damaging to his public
image and I wanted enough time to elapse to give him time to prepare for his
campaign.
However, to prove to me that he meant business, he decided to take me to
one Mr. Afottey Agbo, by then a Minister of State in the Office the
President and currently appointed as the Greater Accra Regional Minister. The
understanding was that his father was supposed to endorse the document. At a
meeting in his office, he took the documents from me and asked me to call him
in a month’s time by which time the documents would have been endorsed.
Soon after that, I returned to the United States and directed my cousin to
call him on my behalf at the appointed time to collect the indenture. But
surprisingly, Mr. Afottey Agbo intimated to my cousin he did not know anybody
by name Prosper Tsikata.
I again reported this development to Mr. Adams Mahama who continues to be
very elusive in this matter.
Through these experiences – from the chief’s palace, the land registry,
to the police station and the courts – I have realized that all these
individuals work in a league to dupe unsuspecting members of the public and the
police are very much aware of these characters and their scurrilous actions,
but like vultures, they wait to feed off the carcasses these human preys
leave in their tracks.
4. My conversations with Ghanaians revealed that both NDC and NPP have
spent millions of dollars on land reforms, but those monies must have ended
in the pockets of some officials without the problem being addressed,
otherwise what do we have to show for these reforms? This makes me ask the
question: who are we as a people? There are definitely ways or answers to the
problems which do not even require intensive capital investments from loans
for these problems to be solved, but those in leadership do not get it.
5. Listening to the President’s speech during the 2012 edition of the
independence celebration admonishing “posterity will judge us harshly,” I
believe that his call is not only to those he works with directly but to all
Ghanaians. So, I asked myself: “are we going to leave these problems of
manipulations in land administration to generations coming after us?”
Indeed, as a Ghanaian I feel very much motivated and excited by the
president’s speech exulting me to act with urgency. I consider his speech a
defining moment to act with urgency since time is not on our side as Ghanaians
if we continue to wallow in the business as usual fashion and “fame Nyame”
stupor. Like the “father for all” that he is, I believe that, just as in
real life situation in our homes, not all children obey what their parents
tell them line, hook, and sinkers. Some children have criminal tendencies
and would bring the name of their parents into opprobrium; others are
responsible and are the joy of the family. So the Bible reminds us in Proverbs
27:11: “be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart; then I can answer anyone
who treats me with contempt.” There are other Biblical passages with similar
admonitions, but I will cap it the most profound: Psalm 2:10: “therefore,
you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth.”
6. As I began to hold discussions with individuals in preparation of this
event, it became clear to me that almost 70% of people I spoke with have
had some bad experience in their attempt to secure a piece of land for
domestic purposes. I read about problems in land administration in Ghana as a JSS
(experimental) student. When I visited Zimbabwe in 1997, I was amazed how
that country was planned and organized with address systems. My ride from
the airport to my destination took the driver only a look at the address I
provided and without any difficulties, I was at my destination. I received
my letters in the postbox at the gate where I lived, just as one would find
in any Western or developed country.
7. The point is that 55 years after independence, where inexpensive
technologies are even available through GPS systems to demarcate all lands and
keep records at the Land Registry, so that individuals can check on these
lands before making any investments in them, we have allowed these lands to be
used by criminals who have invaded the chieftaincy institutions to use
these lands to dupe unsuspecting individuals in thousands and millions of
cedis. And when these individuals even try to develop these lands, the
irresponsible government which has shirked its duty to the citizens all these years
turns around to demolish their buildings and so on. Of course all these
ignoble actions are possible because of the existing chaos in the country
regarding land acquisition, registration and title acquisition. Where chaos
exists, fraud and illegality reign supreme. Where else do we hear of
organized crime syndicate dubbed “land guards?” This egregious situation is no
longer acceptable in our country. Members of the legislative assembly and the
general public can follow an article I intend to publish on this issue on
a wider platform regarding solutions to this problem.
Indeed, these are issues beyond the handling of individuals. The state has
the capacity to engage Ghanaian experts in GPS technologies, who for lack
of opportunities back home are in many developed countries performing
menial jobs, to lead students from our Land Economy Departments and Geography
Departments of the universities to render these services to the state as
their “service learning projects,” for which stipends will be paid to them and
billed against landowners and buyers to avoid these needless
self-destructions we are being subjected to as a people.
8. Many are aware of the thousands of jobs a well-planned city holds for
its people and the millions and billions of cedis that are waiting to be
generated in the process. After all, Mr. Emmanuel Boah, the current Deputy
Minister of Energy was a post office employee at Gettysburg in Maryland in the
USA until his appointment as a minister and can attest to this. But we are
so fixated with buying airplanes and other things we ourselves have
condemned others of trying to acquire to the neglect of the truly development
issues that confront us.
9. Knowing truly well that the workings of Parliament in Ghana does not
reflect what it ought to be, whereby communities have the opportunity to make
inputs to discussions that are carried to the house, I humbly wish to find
out through the Speaker, the Majority leader, and the Minority leader, to
the newly appointed Regional Minister for the Greater Accra Region, where
land cases are hitting the roof, what he intends to do to curb the situation
and to bring sanity into land administration in the region he is being
appointed to lead. Given my personal experience with him, whereby in collusion
with his associate, Mr. Adams Mahama, they visited deception on me, I
personally do not believe that this appointment would make any difference in
this matter. I see this appointment as the usual musical chair that has been
visited on the people for a long time.
If government cannot in consultation with chiefs and traditional
leaderships provide the technology to map out lands to prevent the avoidable fraud
that is being visited on the people, then I urge communities to form
vigilante groups to protect their properties from a lawless state or government
which attempts to pull their structures down.
10. Finally, I urge Mr. Adams Mahama, the National Coordinator of the
Youth in Agriculture Program, to refund my money to me immediately and I will
pull down the structures on the plot. If he fails to heed this public call,
I will take such actions as I deem fit (sure without recourse to violence)
to get my money. But rest assured the courts and the police are out of the
equation so also is violence. I also call on all Ghanaians who have been
duped to start thinking of ways to get their money’s back. Please stay tuned
on this issue.
In the service of mother Ghana,
Prosper Yao Tsikata, MSc.; M.A.; M.S.; PhD student.
Accra, March 21, 2012
Prosper Yao Tsikata, Msc.; M.A.; M.S.
Doctoral Student, Health Communication
School of Communication
Ohio University
Athens, OH 45701
Cell: 216 - 316 - 4484
Skype: prosper.tsikata