Global Issues
My Secret Fantasy Interview With Mona-Helen Kabiki Quartey -by Charles Kofi Fekpe (FCCA)
Every man, once in a while has fantasies. Mine, today is of an intellectual and competence nature. It may be just a wish at this point, but it very well is a rewarding wish. With the state Ghana is in, we need to start placing some very serious value on competence rather than party allegiance. With the very recent vetting of the Deputy Minister-designate for Finance and Economic Planning, Mona-Helen Kabuki Quartey (MHKQ), I have questions as a responsible well-meaning Ghanaian and hence my own interview.
MHKQ Says:
“For the love of my country, I have renounced my American citizenship to be able to serve my country of birth,”
Charles Kofi Fekpe Asks:
So madam, how come you waited till the day before?
MHKQ Says:
“There is hope for this country and with my inclusion as a FINANCIAL EXPERT, I will make sure that I put my knowledge at the disposal of the substantive minister to be able to transform the economy,”
Charles Kofi Fekpe Asks:
Errr madam, I obtained an Investment Adviser Representative Report on you from the US Securities & Exchange Commission and it shows that you have NOT been registered as an Investment Advisor Representative since 2008 since you last worked for Citigroup Global Markets and where you had a Customer dispute made against you for $5,000. I also know your only qualification is the Uniform Combined State Law Exam which consists of 100 multiple choice questions – so, what exactly have you been practicing your financial Expertise and in what madam? Please tell us. Apart from that, the report shows you are also an Inactive Director of “Green Pastures Still Water Ltd in Ghana and that you have put in $Zero and Zero work hours since its establishment in 1996
http://www.adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Support/ReportViewer.aspx?indvl_pk=4665036
MHKQ Says:
“Borrowing itself is not bad, but it will depend on the areas that the loan contracted is invested”
Charles Kofi Fekpe Asks:
And no one could ask her, where she thinks Ghana needs core infrastructural investments in at this crucial stage? Or would you consider infrastructure to be solely roads and sanitary pads?
MHKQ Says:
“the main problem with the economy is the inability to raise enough revenue for government’s expenditure”
Charles Kofi Fekpe Asks:
Madam you are just here to perpetuate the same mistakes made by those ahead of you – you folks fail to understand that there are 2 sides to the Public Financial Management equation and one of it is “REDUCING SPENDING” why is that side never considered madam?. Why is it always a focus on spending, how about cutting?
MHKQ Says:
She gave the assurance that when approved for the position, she would adopt innovative ways of expanding the tax net and thereby increase government revenue.
Charles Kofi Fekpe Asks:
Well, that’s NOT entirely creative now is it – Ghanaians, since independence have been killed with tax, tax tax. Now you are here to also find new and better ways to tax them? – You tell me madam, how is that innovative? And by the way expanding to cover what? New individuals or Businesses, or just the old stock who have to cough out more? I have been an auditor in Ghana for several years in the past – there are foreign companies in Ghana who get away with non-payment of taxes as a result of creative tax-planning involving transfer pricing etc. which unfortunately your investment promotion laws gladly permit. These loopholes have not yet been dealt with and yet you want to expand the tax net? Who and what is the new expanded criterion going to cover? Sanipads or IMF? Truth is Madam, most Ghanaians don’t even see what their tax monies are being used for, so there is no motivation to pay up. How about that for a 360 degree critical analysis for creating “tax motivation”?
MHKQ Says:
“We have to give more attention to value addition in the oil and the agriculture sectors. The agricultural sector holds the key to the country’s economic transformation”
Charles Kofi Fekpe Asks:
So, nobody had the guts to ask her to summarise just how she intends to carry this out. It would have been interesting to hear. Does Ghana have the capacity in the value addition where Oil is concerned? Almost 90% of companies involved in drilling are non-Ghanaian and the only domestic hope to retain the proceeds of increased value created are TOR and BOST, who themselves are going bust and lack the capacity to even satisfy domestic processing and storage. So couldn’t someone have asked the honourable woman something? And how about Agric? How do we intend to add value? The Cocoa Processing Company is transforming cocoa to chocolates that everybody in Europe thinks is just a compressed bar of powdered cocoa whilst Switzerland and Belgium who grow no cocoa continues to be a leading manufacturer of cocoa products. Madam, Ghana has no processing/manufacturing base indigenously owned so please me, I just want to know how you intend to add value to our Agric sector that is currently (i) very manpower supported and (ii) non-technology or heavy-research supported? I think we do need to add value, no doubt – it will just be exciting to know how you “creatively” intend to make it happen. Talking about creativity madam, did you know the innovation being spurred by the rest of the successful world is in the area of “brain farming and technology” – Sorry, I didn’t really mean to introduce new development concepts you are not aware of yet but it is indeed possible to actually CREATE focused new areas of competitive advantage as a country – Kenya is almost successful doing it as the technology and travel hub of East Africa and so is Namibia as the Financial Trading hub next to South Africa.
It’s sad sad sad – that the cycle keeps repeating. We present ourselves as a country with excellent opportunities to bring the right people on board to “make change happen” and yet in the eyes of each of these opportunities, we blind ourselves with party motives and as a result choose political allegiance over competence. This entire article could have been simply summed up in one question really, and it is this – does Mona-Helen Kabuki Quartey have any experience in Public Financial Management (PFM)?
Charles Kofi Fekpe (FCCA)
