Osafo publishes assets

Story:Donald Ato Dapatem
DR Kweku Osafo, a leading member of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), has introduced a novelty into Ghanaian politics by becoming the first to publicly declare his assets ahead of a bid to vie for the number one post of the nation.
The Stanford University trained economist’s assets declaration and the sources were announced from a 32-page booklet posted on his web site at www.cpposafo.com and copies of which were distributed at a press conference at the International Press Centre in Accra on Wednesday.
The assets include a five, two and one-bedroom houses at East Legon, all acquired in 1999. They also include a three-bedroom house at Madina Redco Flats acquired in 1990, a three-bedroom house at Sakumono and a four-bed room house on a half-acre plot at Koforidua, completed in 2004.
Others are a three-bedroom storey building, a one-bedroom facility, both on a one-and-a-half acre land at Jumapo, New Juaben.
Dr Osafo, who is also a part-time cocoa farmer and a herbalist, has a 120-plot of land on the Aburi Hills acquired in 2000 and a 17-acre cocoa farm acquired five years ago at Bamso in Akyem Abuakwa.
He also declared a Mercedes Benz 180 Elegance, a Toyota Celica, a Jeep Wrangler and a Mazda RX 8.
He described the declarations as hardware assets and noted that he could not declare his bank accounts because currently he was not working and that was what he depended on.
He said he also received some rents from some of his property, but indicated that at the time of his possible swearing in, he would declare all.
On the sources of funds for the acquisition of the assets, he said apart from what he acquired as a teacher in Ghana, he bought his first car in 1968 after studies in Israel and three years’ work as an engineer.
While teaching at the University of Ghana, Legon, he got a loan of ¢ 1,000 (Gh¢ 1) in 1973 and purchased a land at East Legon and also purchased a couple of plots in Accra, some of which he later sold.
“By far, my major investments came through my job as a World Bank expert for eight years and later an economic adviser to a body which was funded by the African Development Bank from 1982 to 1985. My total income during this period was between $ 1.3m to $1.5m from which my various investments were made,” he added.
He said he had also worked as a Director of the Ghana Water Resources Management Study for two years and Project Director of the Ghana Government/EU Micro Project for five-and-a-half years.
He was also a National Consultant to the WTO/UNCTAD/ITC on the Evaluation of the Joint Integrated Technical Assistance Programme for Ghana, Ministry of Trade, Industry and PSI in June 2006.
According to him, one of the most effective ways of his administration, “when given the mandate to rule and exorcise the curse of corruption from the topmost hierarchy of government — President, ministers, judges and other top public officials — is through the declaration and publication of assets and liabilities periodically”.
Briefing the media about why the CPP should give him the nod to lead the party and later on as the president of Ghana, he added that he would update the declaration of his assets yearly and challenged all aspirants, irrespective of their political affiliations, to voluntarily do same.
Dr Osafo said in setting new standards in the fight against corruption, all contracts from the district to the national levels would also be published, while the right to information on all government transactions would be enforced and made transparent.
He said his government would also enter into agreements with international banks, the IMF, the World Bank and other countries to divulge all illegal financial transactions involving the president, his ministers and other top public officials to the public and the international courts for recovery of stolen funds and subsequent prosecution.
“My government would establish a leadership code that provides a firm check on unbridled corruption and self-aggrandisement, along the lines that incorruptible leaders like Dr Kwame Nkrumah and Mwalimu Nyerere established in respect of leaders, civil service, and political parties,” he said.
The engineer, economist, financial analyst, and management specialist said it was preposterous and a travesty that an underdeveloped country like Ghana should have leaders in government who were addicted to material display, luxury cars and palatial homes earned from corrupt practices.
He was not happy that although the adequate provision of food and water, shelter and security, sanitation and education were basic necessities for paupers and presidents alike, most Ghanaians leaders had rather focused their attention on the provision for a president and the privileged few.
Dr Osafo described as wasteful a situation where about 15 per cent of Ghanaians who had received quality education through the sweat of poor fishermen, farmers and labourers had “ become disdainfully elite, deceitful, arrogant, ostentatious and irresponsible in our development efforts”.
“Those at the top have short-changed the rest in the mistaken notion that they serve the public and must, therefore, enjoy the best the country has to offer at the expense of the basic needs of the majority. This sends the wrong message and is counterproductive in galvanising the collective efforts needed for development,” he said.
He said a Ghanaians president must understand the political nuances of the international finance institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the African Development Fund (ADB) of which Ghana was a member.
Dr Osafo noted that such institutions could be used for the advantage of Ghana, if the leaders planned and executed their home-grown development agenda with efficiency and frugality, but if they failed to do that the country would be a casualty of such institutions and be treated with medicine such as “incessant injections like HIPC”.
He said a CPP-government under his leadership would put up a five-year development plan which would set targets for all sectors of the economy, including the building of human resource needs and knowledge-based expertise in agriculture, water , petroleum, nuclear?????, ICT, medicine and journalism.
The specifics of the plan would include increased productivity of basic foods, raw materials and export crops; value addition by focusing on agro-processing and increased manufacturing in light industries and knowledge-based industries such as telecommunications, computers, software, education and pharmaceuticals, including local herbs.
The framework for the development would be highly decentralised.