Our Leadership Has No Vision And Has Lost Direction - KB Asante

A senior statesman and career diplomat, Mr KB Asante says Ghana�s political leadership has lost focus and clear direction on how to develop the country. He added that our leaders are weak, have no sense of belonging, non-inspiring and have no self-confidence. Much of that he blamed on the populace whom he accused of not doing enough to bring the best from the leaders. He was guest on Akwasi Osei�s Take on Multi TV last Sunday together with David Agbee, Executive Director of the Ghana Institute of Governance and Security hosted by Dr Akwasi Osei, a Professor of History, Philosophy and Political Science at Delaware State University in the United States of America. Mr Asante asserted that, during the independence era, Ghanaians were yearning to be masters of their own destiny with Nkrumah giving the country the vision and building the spirit of nationalism and self-reliance in the Ghanaian. �We built estates and communities with Ghanaian workers and institutions but something suddenly went wrong and we have lost our way with our reliance on foreign partners for development�, a situation he described as �nonsense�. Dr Akwasi Osei asked why it is easy to rule but difficult to govern, demanding to know Ghana appears to be struggling to govern. He blamed the failure to follow rules, institutions, systems, structure and strategy with proper engagements for transparency, plus the qualified persons to run the system. In his submission, David Agbee pointed, that governance without appropriate laws is useless and likened it to a jungle. �When Parliament doesn�t pass appropriate laws and they sit unconcerned, it behooves the citizenry to point out their failure and get rid of them from office�, he added. He noted that, in advanced democracies, politicians are afraid of citizenry because they are meant to serve, but in Ghana, politicians rather have the privilege of imposing themselves on us. �They incite the people along tribal lines and craft messages during elections just to win votes�, a reflection of clear disregard for the views of the people. He wondered why those who have what it takes to govern are reluctant to take up offices, thereby giving room for charlatans to take over. Mr Agbee cited the renting of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) office at an outrageous amount of Sixty- Three Thousand US dollars a month and charged the current CEO, Moses Asaga, on assuming office, to take appropriate actions to reverse the situation, which he described as �selfish interests and a waste of resources�. He again asked why we are not questioning the people who negotiated this deal, and called on Ghanaians to sympathize with President Mahama in these challenging economic times, a situation he attributes to failure on the part of some of his appointees. K.B Asante advised authorities not only to rule with the public good but with the national interest and said governance is not complete if people are not satisfied. He urged law enforcement agencies, the media, Executive, judiciary, all and sundry to ensure that laws passed by parliament are enforced to the letter.