Global Issues
Fire Dysfunctional African Leaders! – A Sad Case of Ghana’s ‘Brazil 2014’.
Fire Dysfunctional African Leaders! – A Sad Case of Ghana’s ‘Brazil 2014’!
It’s not a possibility for any substantive sector minister to resign in Ghana or anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa these days. Why? Their resignation may lead to investigations, if and only if they are not able to bribe the investigators to scrap and expunge all the charges against them. IN REALITY, there’s nothing like justice system in Ghana and sub-Saharan Africa as a whole at the moment. We only read it or see it on paper in our outmoded and nonfunctional constitutions. And YES! Even though there are justice institutions, from the police department to the court system, these institutions unfortunately, are not independent institutions as far as our legal systems are concerned. That’s why I strongly feel that if the commander-in-chief in Ghana; president J.D. Mahama does not fire the Youth and Sports sector minister Mr. Elvis Afriyie Ankrah and his deputy Mr. Joseph Yamin, , they will NEVER EVER VOLUNTARILY RESIGN! If they do so out of these criticisms, it will be a miracle for me and a precedent as well. If that happens, I fervently promise to promote these two corrupt leaders at the ministry of Sports as the most sincere and admissible leaders in Africa as far as incompetence is concerned.
Under what circumstances can a whole thinking sector minister and his deputy; boldly, and without shame, draw a policy or whatever it is, to sponsor a particular party supporters to Brazil with TAX PAYERS MONEY just to cheer Ghana’s soccer team when this resources could have been used to tackle other significant sports improvements? Please, don’t even try to compare our ability to reaching the quarter finals stage in 2010 to that of the mighty world cup title itself. I mean, how possible? Only in Ghana and the rest of the sub-Saharan Africa, for real!
Fellow Ghanaians, we cannot continue to let these non-elected leaders, careless, irresponsible and corrupt sports official to continue to ‘screw us up’ just like that! Oh, NO! Most of us believe in ‘second chance opportunity’ especially, if a slipup occurs unwittingly. But at the same time, we CANNOT sit unconcerned as if there are no Independent Thinkers in Ghana. I’ve always found it very difficult to comprehend the ethical and common sense in sheltering non performing leaders in Africa or Ghana, particularly those who secure their various positions through political appointments. This kind of unfortunate leadership flaw happens only in the third world countries.
Folks, the fact is that anytime we hear of a failed nation, it is the result of poor performance. And Poor performance is the result of an incompetent or dysfunctional leadership team. In other words, all successful nations are successful for different reasons, but dysfunctional leaders in Ghana are well known for their negative internal politics, greed, and corrupt practices. You cannot lead a whole country with your personal agenda, not even leading a corporation. After reading that sad and ‘dummy’ statement from the deputy minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Yamin, I feel that from now onwards, recruitments, selections and promotions in that ministry are going to be based on internal political agenda, and party affiliations. For example, he’s very likely to hire only friends and political party faithful in order to guarantee personal loyalty at the expense of the other highly performing and more-qualified citizens.
Honestly, you don’t need to ask any management expert to figure out the reasons for such a mess in that ministry. Just ask anybody in an effective leadership position, and he or she will tell you that the worst thing that could happen to any organizational set up is when the staffs or the employees lose confidence in the leadership team. I can guarantee you that these two low productivity thinking dummies do waste more time and energy on internal attacks and defense strategies instead of executing their work, or innovating and overcoming challenges. I’m not surprised about the massive allegations of corruption in that ministry. Now, I know why critical projects fall behind on deadlines, and more importantly why they can’t even organize and manage our one and only national senior soccer team- the mighty Black Stars in the all-important FIFA world cup! What an embarrassing and shameful leadership on the world stage!!
At this point, I’m pretty sure most people still remember “The Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA) saga and other dubious deals previously in the same sector ministry, right? Remember nobody called for their resignation at the time, because of the Ghanaian principle in ‘second chance strategy in growth and development’. Now, my point is: “Enough is enough”!
President J.D Mahama has to remember that firing a non performing sector minister does not have to be the worst experience of his year or period of service. He can use the occasion to examine what went wrong in the appointment relationship. Assuming the termination is for a mismatch, he can help the both ministers build self-esteem despite their termination. He can also encourage them to look ahead and get started on a new job search if only they will change their attitude. Even if the firing is for non-performance, he can always do more to end the relationship on a positive note.
Current Issues at Stake:
Yesterday (06/24/2014), I received a reliable information about a telephone conversation between one of my colleagues in London and a frustrated and stranded Ghanaian soccer fan sponsored by the government of Ghana through the political party faithful fiasco program(the transcript is available upon genuine request). Folks, it’s pathetic to listen to the plight of these poor Ghanaians who don’t know their left and right on the international stage to go through this ordeal because of the incompetence of what I call “Dummy Sports Leadership” (DSL) in Ghana!
How on earth, will a right thinking government officials, knowing our plight that our survival since independence has been purely on loans and borrowing of all sort of meaningless things, ever dream of sponsoring a particular political party fanatics for entertainment program? How on earth? Folks, is that our priority? Seriously??? Please, just take a minute and ask yourself: How many supporters did the UK or US governments sponsor? We all know that UK and US are far richer and more resourceful economically than miserable Ghana due to bad leadership, and yet they don’t see the need to behave this irresponsible manner. The US government for example, did not sponsor any spectator to Brazil 2014. Even the US team is a league, or corporation and the government has no hands in their operations. The US soccer League (USL) is directly affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation (USSF), and United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) which regulates their activities. The government has no hands in their sponsorships.
Now, these poor boys who don’t know their left and right either, have been left in Brazil to hustle for themselves because of Ghana government’s officials’ stupidity. Folks, does entertainment compared to anguish and hustle share anything in common? Entertainment simply means fun! And nothing else! In other words, you are supposed to “chill and party like a Rock Star” as Americans put it, not to regret ever going to Brazil or participate in any entertainment programs in your life. Even, simple organizational soft skills and planning at that ministry are complete mess! Why? Do we have at least two or three “independent Thinkers” at that ministry who could have helped shaped up things? I strongly believe there are few out there, but may be, as usual in Ghana, they might be toothless bullock! It’s really pitiful!
And now, the match fixing saga by some Ghana Football Association officials (GFA), the boycott of the Black Stars players during training due to the lackadaisical attitude of the ministry of Youth and Sports to pay the players’ “appearance fees” have all come to light. I just watched the ESPN interview with Ghana’s Black stars coach, Akwasi Appiah expressing his frustrations and sleepless nights for the nonpayment of his players’ acceptance fees. You could see the betrayal of the Ghana’s Sports officials on his face. I humbly appeal the president of Ghana- JD Mahama to make sure these irresponsible officials are held accountable for these mess, for real! Since the word “resignation” doesn’t exist in Ghanaian politics, they only option is to ‘fire them’, PLEASE!
I guarantee you; GFA will soon be under FIFA’s stern corrupt investigations. We have taken our ‘greed, corrupt practices, and gross incompetence’ to the international stage and that’s highly UNACCEPTABLE! My point is that the leadership of the Youth and Sports ministry has clearly displayed to the world that they are not ready to stand up for the challenges of their job. President Mahama, please, fire them immediately!
To be honest with you, I’m beginning to doubt if it will ever get better with our “current planning and thinking, our way of doing things, our mentality and our lifestyle” without a special REVOLUTION as some have long advocated for. What else can I say? You are the judge, and only time will tell!
Thank you.
Peter Osei-Adjei
President and Coordinator-Web Communications
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