He-Goat Hampers 4 X’mas

This piece is dedicated to all the bearded, stocky he-goats with curled horns, huge testicles and that distinctive smell that we all love to hate. The Christmas is over and the he-goats and fowls can breathe a sigh of relief. For many of us in Accra and other regional capitals such as Kumasi and Takoradi the human and vehicular traffic a few days prior to Christmas was just unbearable.

Unlike previous years however, there was no harmattan wind to usher in the Christmas for many of us down south. But as is typical of all such occasions, people will always have fun, money or no money, inflation, or no inflation. Even the announcement that President Mills was not going to accept hampers did not dampen people’s spirit. In-fact with the numerous communications persons around the Presidency and Government one has to check about thrice to authenticate that what one hears from the Presidency is true. So I am still not sure if the President did say he did not want hampers at all, or whether he did not want hampers brought to his home.

Either way my understanding of the President’s conduct is to once more lead by example the fight against corruption. My conclusion though is that the announcement came late as people had already committed financial resources to hampers for the season.

Prominent among the hampers this X’mas were the he-goat hampers. These for me were the most amusing. I saw he-goats in a white Bawku District Assembly pickup on Independence Avenue on the 22nd December 2009 and then I saw another huge he-goat in a Ports and Harbour pickup around the harbour roundabout on 23rd December 2009.

On 24th I saw two heavily loaded pickups racing at breakneck speed from Asikuma junction in the Volta Region towards Accra as though responding to an emergency. The lead vehicle was a white NADMO Tata pickup and on top were perched two he-goats.

At this point I knew for certain that he-goats were definitely one of the most hunted species at X’mas in Ghana. I wonder if former Presidents Kufuor and Jerry Rawlings received any he-goats. It is alleged that former President Kufuor usually secures his goats and sheep in the space opposite his house. The last time I drove by I counted five rams. It is difficult to tell where former President Jerry Rawlings will secure any unless he has a pen in his yard.

Did President Mills receive any he-goat hampers? Where are they? Did Ministers, MPs, Chief Directors, Superintendents in the public service receive he-goat and whisky hampers? What inappropriate favours have they offered to deserve the hampers? Or what favours will they be required to return come 2010 for all the hampers received? This compromising situation is what I understand President Mills was trying to avoid.
Like many anti-corruption campaigners have said it is not enough for the Presidency alone to resist temptations. Other public officials must be seen to be doing so. Although it is no secret that some of these hampers may have been secured with public funds I doubt that many will be recorded as such.

Where they are not secured directly with public funds, public resource was used in their distribution as I have indicated with the examples above. The recently launched code of conduct by CHRAJ must not become a public gimmick. We expect that all public office holders will be taken through some orientation on its content and issued with copies for which they must sign. It is my belief that this will be a major step to fighting corruption rather than the ‘pinching of self’ and ‘redirection of hampers’ tactics that the immediate past and current Presidents have respectively resorted to.

Unless the Presidency begins to bite real hard, his personal example would not make the required impact. The fight against corruption is a collective one. If we collectively desire to reduce corruption then let us all begin to question our own conducts in our private and public service. May the experience of 2009 strengthen our resolve to build a better society for ourselves in 2010.

Credit: Kosi Dedey
Email: mdedey02@yahoo.com

Source: myjoyonline