Ghana’s Technology City - Africa’s Hope for the 21^st Century

By Mawutodzi K. Abissath

Architectural Prototype of the HOPE City 

A philosophical African proverb postulates: “Out of the black pot emerges the white porridge.”

In the history of ideas, the dream of the “HOPE City” in Ghana can be compared to the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. And in terms of human imagination, Roland Agambire of modern Ghana can be said to be at par with Pharaoh Amehotep IV or Akhenaton of the ancient Egypt.

HOPE City

On Monday, 4^th March 2013, a technological history was made in Ghana when a button was clicked by President John Mahama, instead of hitting the ground with a pick axe to officially cut a sod for the construction of one of the wonders of modern world. It is the construction of a $10billion Information and Communications Technology (ICT) City for Rlg Communication Ltd at Dunkunaa off the Mallam,Kasoa Road near Accra.

The brainchild of this mind-boggling Technology Park, christened HOPE City, is a young Ghanaian entrepreneur par excellent Mr. Roland Agambire who will be only 39 this April. He is the Chairman of Agams Group and CEO of Rlg Ltd. He is a man of humble beginning who hails from a village called Sirigu in the Upper East Region of Ghana, some 800km north of the capital Accra. By African standards, Mr. Agambire is an exceptional continental role model for the youth of Africa.

In a pullout document that was inserted in  the Daily Graphic and the  Ghanaian Times on the day the project was launched in Accra, (04/03/2013) it was clearly stated that the HOPE City was envisioned to become “the sub region’s premier business location for high-performance computing, advanced communications and large-scale data handing.”

According to Mr. Agambire, the concept of HOPE City which is an acronym for Home, Office, People Environment, is to build a vertical city where over 50.000 workers especially in the field of ICT will be engaged in the production of equipment and facilities for the design, fabrication and assembling of ICT software, hardware and many other innovative products for the entire African Continent and beyond.

Besides the 50.000 workers, over 25,000 inhabitants will be expected to live happily in this technological paradise. This wonder city which will be built on a plot of land covering over 100,000 sqm shall have a total “Gross Floor Area of approximately 1,200,000, for a total built area of about 1,500,000sqm.

Traditional architecture

Creatively, the architectural design of the HOPE City is based on the beautiful traditional round house units which embrace families in northern Ghana. But the HOPE City structures will be composed of six (6) towers where the tallest will be 75 storeys, that is over 270m height from the ground. It is expected to be the highest building on the African continent. (Can you imagine that?)

Two of the buildings will be 60 storeys and the remaining three lowest will be 42 stories each. All the six towers will be linked together by a system of bridges at different heights with common amenities.  This technological City will have a University that can accommodate over 5,000 students, 100 professors and over 50 staff as well as all academic facilities such as libraries and what have you?  While Mr. Agambire is the originator of the HOPE City idea, Mr. Paolo Brescia of Open Building Research (OBR),  Italy is the Architect for the project.

Further, the globally acclaimed ICT invention guru, Microsoft, together with the Government of Ghana is collaborating with Agams Group and RLG Ltd for the actual realization of this awesome dream.  This explains why the Senior Vice-President for Microsoft Africa, Mr. Ali Famamwy, joined hand with the Ghanaian President, together with Mr. Agambire to press the magic button that signaled the formal launch of the $10-billion historical project.

 But what makes the Hope City a continental project was the physical presence of two most powerful Governors of the Oson and Akwabon States of Nigeria. They were beyond themselves for what RLG is doing in Ghana and look forward to the Ghanaian company establishing branches not only in their respective states but across the length and breadth of Nigeria for the benefit of over 150 million souls over there.

Infrastructure Development

Records show that the HOPE City project falls within the broad framework of Ghana Government’s Policy of giving priority to infrastructure development with particular reference to ICT and energy sectors.  HOPE City project is poised to become a multipurpose infrastructure for business destination of technological, socio-cultural, touristic and investment opportunities not only for domestic but external investors as well.

 As expected to be the tallest building in Africa, HOPE City will be like the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Largest in Egypt where for thousands of years to come, people will be trooping in from all corners of the globe to Ghana to behold.

Since Ghana, by nature,  is  strategically and geographically located in the centre of the world in terms of its position vis a vis the equator, it will  be  easier for investors, tourists and globetrotters from any part of the world  to fly to Ghana to see this wonder HOPE City all year round. What makes the HOPE City even more relevant in the 21^st century is the fact that its raison d’être or purpose of being is the ICT connection and connectivity.  One can be in Ghana and do business in any part of the world.

Objectives

Principal objectives of the HOPE City among other things include:

• Reducing initial investment capital requirements in high-end communications and computer networking,
• “Hardware by providing shared assets at nominal cost to potential investors,
• Providing synergies between related sectors by appropriate segmentation and location of industries with similar requirements in proximity to each other,
• Fostering entrepreneurship,
• Providing impetus for employment, assisting provision of training and re-training as part of human-capacity development , and above all
• Providing superior infrastructure to engender confidence, ability and willingness to compete with the rest of the world.”

  If the above stated objectives are not in consonance with Government vision of job creation and employment opportunity for the teaming unemployed youth in Ghana then this writer is at a loss as to what the value of the HOPE City is all about.

  

It was against this backdrop that President John Dramani Mahama, in pressing the magic button to launch the project on that memorable day gave an assurance that Government would give “tax relief to the HOPE City Project.”

Mr.  Agambire himself stressed the need for the public and private sectors to combine their expertise, knowledge and resources within the framework of government’s Public Private Partnership (PPP) to bring development to the doorsteps the people.

This author cannot conclude this piece without acknowledging the contribution of various stakeholders, especially the international collaborators such the Microsoft Corporation and the Guma Group of South Africa and others for the realization of this mind-boggling project.

But some doubting Thomases are having some funny feelings and will want to adopt “wait and see” attitude. Some observers are even asking whether there will be no “dumsor-dumsor” in the HOPE City.

Africa’s Hope

The truth is that all great things on this planet of technology started with a tiny idea from someone’s mind. The Supreme Creator of the universe Himself started creation with a simple idea –“Let there be light and there was light!”

 So, therefore, all things being equal, in three years’ time, Ghana’s HOPE City will not only depict the emblem of the hope of Africa but symbolise the technological emancipation of the black race in the 21^st Century!

• The writer is Deputy Director/Head of IT at the Information Services Department of  the Ministry of Information and Media Relations 

Contact: abissath@gmail.com

·      

AFRICA ELECTIONS 2012 - GLOBAL EYES ARE WATCHING GHANA

BY MAWUTODZI ABISSATH

Contesting Presidential Candidates in elections 2012

  

A very popular Ghanaian proverb affirms: “A child who knows how to wash his hands eats with Kings.”

On 6th March 1957, when Ghana asserted itself as the first country in black Africa to wrench its independence from the colonial Britain, the country became the torchbearer of the black race and a global centre of political attention in Africa.

Since 1992 Ghana has held five successful presidential and parliamentary elections in the midst of democratic turbulent in continental elections. This feat motivated the international community to describe Ghana as the “beacon of democracy in Africa.

In fact, the European Union has politely declined an invitation to come down and observe 2012 elections in Ghana. In their estimation, Ghana has proved beyond doubt that the country has democratically matured and can manage its own electoral affairs without external supervision. This is the highest honor any African country can dream to attain in geo-politics.

Yet, the Former UN Secretary General Dr Kofi Annan has cautiously   noted that, “the best is yet to come.”   Dr Kofi Annan was recently reported in the Ghanaian media as saying, “When elections are conducted in integrity, without being disfigured by election motivated violence that is democracy.”

“Flawed elections can create unrest, setting back development by decades,” the wise veteran international diplomat opined.  Repercussions of election violence in some African countries such as Kenya, Serra- Leon and Cote d’Ivoire are still serving as scars on the conscience of Africa.

In seven days from the date of writing this piece, precisely on Friday, 7^th December 2012, over 13million Ghanaian biometric registered voters will go to the polls to elect a president out of eight presidential candidates and  275 parliamentarians.

The writer has observed that the fear of the unknown is causing national psychological anxiety amongst Ghanaian electorates. The anxiety is even more intense amongst the presidential candidates themselves and their partisan supporters than the general electorates. Why? Because of the acrimonial campaign strategies some of the political parties have adopted as the voting date approaches. What to do?

Another Ghanaian proverb admonishes: “An elderly person at home does not sit down   to watch children engage in verbal argument that may lead to physical exchange of blows resulting in someone losing an eye or a tooth.” It was the traditional wisdom in this proverb that goaded Ghanaian elders to set a historical political record in Africa in 2012.  Do you want to know what happened?

On Tuesday, 27^th November 2012, in the cultural capital city of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, within the premises of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KUNST) the National Peace Council did something that was unprecedented in the political history of Ghana if not in Africa.

On that memorable day, the National Peace Council under the auspices of the modern Asante King, Otumfo Osei Tutu II, and with the technical and administrative support of an Accra –based Institute for
Democratic Governance, summoned all the presidential candidates to a rare meeting to pledge the people of Ghana that they would uphold peace, before, during and after the elections. Like prospective jobseekers   shortlisted for interview all eight presidential candidates humbly responded to the call.

President John Dramani Mahama, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Henry Lartey, the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Mr. Akwasi Addai, United Front Party (UFP), Mr. Hassan Ayariga, People’s National Convention (PNC), Dr Abu Sakara Foster, Convention People’s Party (CPP), who was represented by his running mate, Madam   Akosua Frimpomaa Sarpong Kumankuma and Mr. Joseph Osei Yeboah, Independent candidate,  all publicly signed a declaration to ensure peace during the December 7 polls.

The historic event was held under a broad them:  “Promoting peaceful elections and justice: Taking a stand against electoral violence, impunity and injustice.” The document to which the presidential candidates appended their signatures was dubbed as the “Kumasi Declaration” and was administered by no less a personality than the Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana, Her Lordship Mrs. Justice Georgina Theodora Wood.  It was more or less like swearing an oath of office. And the people of Ghana will hold them accountable to it.

The forum was made even more glamorous and glorious by the presence of the only two living Former Heads of state of the county since independence. They were President Jerry John Rawlings and President   John Agyekum Kufuor.  These statesmen did not only grace the occasion with their huge and giant physical persona but did share a few words of wisdom with those who were racing to sit on the hot throne they once occupied.

President Rawlings for instance, admonished that there was the need for fairness in the electoral process to prevent any unwanted situation. “Ghana has been blessed with peaceful transitions in the Fourth Republic and nothing must be made to dent this image,” he warned.

President Kufuor cautioned the presidential candidates not to see the signing of the peace pact as something done for themselves but for the nation as a whole. “The security agencies and the Electoral Commission must do their work with diligence and honesty,” he advised.

Besides the two Former Commanders- in- Chief  of the Ghana Armed Forces, the  current  Chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant General Peter Augustine Blay, the Inspector General of Police, Paul Tawiah Quaye, and the President of the National House of Chiefs, Wulugu Naba Pugansua, Naa Professor John S. Nabila, were among the high profile personalities, who were at packed hall.

But one group of people who ought to be commended to the blue heaven is the religious gurus of our beloved country. From the Chairman of the Peace Council himself, the Most Rev Professor Emmanuel Asante, the Catholic Bishops Conference, the Christian Council, the Charistmatic Authorities, the Islamic Faith leaderships, the Traditional African Religious Authorities right down to ordinary church goes, Ghana must count itself blessed to be inhabited with souls that are amenable to peaceful co-existence regardless of race, creed or faith.

The purpose of this article is not to pretend to be holier than thou, but to politely refresh the memory of all compatriots that the entire globe is watching Ghana with one single eye. The world would want to see whether Ghana would be able once again conduct free, fair and peaceful elections in Africa.

As we go to the polls on that mystical day of 7^th December, 2012, let us prove to ourselves and not anyone else that we are unique in the true sense of the word. That God is Ghanaian and Ghana is the chosen land of God to fulfill His own commandment of universal PEACE!

Writer is Deputy Director at the Information Services Department in Accra.

Data Journalism Application and Road Safety in Ghana

By Mawutodzi Abissath

“Thou shall not kill” is one of the biblical injunctions of the Ten Commandments. The implication is that if you kill someone, you commit a crime also known as murder.  And murder is a felony for which, when convicted, the offender is liable to life imprisonment or pay the ultimate price - death.

Yet, in Ghana a reckless drunk driver can take about 45 passengers in a rickety   moving coffin and murder them in a twinkle of any eye and go scot free. Why? Because that kind of murder is referred to as traffic or road accident. This is what is termed as “Free Murder on our Roads.”

From Wednesday, 24th to Friday, 26th  October, 2012, over 200 selected Ghanaian journalists and web developers participated in a three-day Data Journalism  Boot camp here in Accra. This writer defines tempted to interpret “Data Journalism” as “Collaborative Journalism” to suit his purpose.

Basically, the  bootcamp was  a hands-on training programme, using team-based project work where journalists collaborate with IT technicians, especially developers, designers as well as civic activists to use public data to build experimental civic media applications such as  websites, or services. The principal objective is to empower ordinary citizens with facts and figures to better appreciate the world around them to fight for their rights when need be.

It has been established that since the advent of Information Communication Technology (ICT) which transformed the world into a miniature community, journalism is one profession that has been revolutionised beyond compare. It first metamorphosed from traditional journalism to e-journalism, or online journalism, or cyber-journalism.

Then, while in transit, the profession experienced what is known as “citizen journalism,” with its resultant by-products such as blogging, vlogging, flikr, Facebook, Twitter, Word Press, YouTube etc, all capsule in what is now known as “Social Media,”  

Today we are talking of “Data journalism” or “Data Literacy.”  The world is so opening up that the amount of information and data available to the public for analysis, decision-making and action is mind-boggling.

But to be able to decipher and interpret the mounting data resources for the benefit of society, journalists need some basic data wrangling technical skills. That was the essence of the boot camp in Ghana.
 Records show that the Data Journalism bootcamp was pioneered by the African Media Initiative (AMI) and the World Bank Institute (WBI) in Kenya in January 2012 and delivered in other places like Uganda and South Africa.

The Ghana edition of the bootcamp was jointly organised by the Ghana Open Data Initiation (GODI) of the National Information Technology (NITA), AMI, Google, and WBI. After the first day of tutorial, participants broke into five groups and had a very limited time to develop and present their project works within 48 hours. And the final product was expected to be practical and beneficial to society.

In reality, it was impossible to master Data Journalism as a subject matter in 72 hours. So the course was intensive and the project work very competitive indeed!  At one stage tension in the computer lab was so high that some group members virtually turned themselves into detectives, going round to spy on what others were up to. Others were deliberately or otherwise pulling plugs here and there to cause artificial blackouts in their competitors’ camp.

In fact, the event was like a football gala match between Hearts and Kotoko. In some groups, heated arguments ensued among group members themselves where voices were flying across the room like ‘unseen objects.’ It was all pressure without animosity, really!  

In the end all project works were found to be very productive and creative indeed! The first award winning project was on the corruption in the Extractive Industry entitled, “WHERE OUR MONEY DEY?” It questioned how royalties are paid by mining companies but hardly reached ordinary people in the mining communities. 

Nonetheless, the best top-four project works were awarded cash prizes pegged between
$1,500 to $250. The prizes were sponsored by the GODI, AMI, WBI and Google. Mr. Craig Hammer of WBI and Mr. Justin Arenstein of AMI said they were highly impressed by the performance of participants in view of the fact that Data Literacy Bootcamp was being held in Ghana for the first time. All participants received Certificates instantly. But hard cash was yet to enter any pockets.

Dr. Nii Quanor, a veteran Ghanaian IT expert of international repute and current Chairman of NITA Board, took personal interest in the training course to ensure the success of the programme despite some technical challenges at the venue. Mr. William Tevie, Director-General, NITA, Mr. Eric Akumiah, GODI Project Coordinator and others under the auspices of the Ministry of Communications played pivotal roles to place Ghana on the world map of Data Journalism.

Road Safety Technology  
The object of this piece is to share with the general public the highlights of one of the award winning group project works. The Group, simply referred to as Safety Group took a quick look at the socio-economic havoc road accidents had caused and continues to cause the nation for the ten year period 2000 – 2010.

This pie chat shows Greater Accra with the highest rate of accidents (44.6%)
The project itself was dubbed Nanty Yie meaning safe journey. With  reliable data sourced from the National Road Safety Commission, the Police and the Ghana National Fire Service, the journalists in the group wrote a story while  the IT technicians  used geospatial technology to provide graphical illustrations indicating accident-prone stops along various  roads  on the map of Ghana.

Research showed that in 2001, Ghana was rated as the second highest road traffic accident-prone nation among six West African countries, with 73 deaths per 1000 accidents. Over 11,291 road accidents occurred in 2001 with 1,660 fatalities. This figure slightly decreased to 10, 715 in 2002 with 1,665 fatalities. Though road accidents further declined to 10,644 in 2003, fatalities shot up to 11, 7 15 over the period under review.
Ghana records about 10,000 fatal road traffic accidents, every year, out of which 1,600 people perished while 15,000, were seriously injured, robbing the nation of critical human resource. Some accident victims die or become incapacitated, to the detriment of national development.
Further, Ghana loses an amount of GH¢165,000, representing 1.6% of its GDP yearly, in solving problems such as medical expenses of victims, damage to vehicles and insurance cost among others.  The World Health Organisation (WHO)’s records show that Ghana lost about 2% of her GDP annually due to road accidents.
In 2009 Greater Accra with the highest vehicle population in the country, saw the highest trend in road accident fatalities. Some of the accident prone Towns in the region include Accra, Akuse Junction, Ayimensa, Sege, Oyarifa, Ada and Madina.
 The Upper West Region also with the least vehicle population,  in 2000 recorded the lowest road accidents with a few hot spots like Goli, Nadoko and Lawara.

This graph shows the trends of fatalities in various regions over the years.

Research indicates that the Ashanti Region has its own peculiar problems when it comes to road accidents. Being the second largest city with large number of vehicles, it stands  next to the Greater Accra with total road accidents of 12,299 in 2009.
Some accident prone towns in the Region are  Juaso, Asankare, Ohene Nkwanta, Mampong and Tepa Junction. Brong Ahafo Region on the other hand, has only Tanoso near  Sunyani as an accident prone area.
The Central Region is another geographical area in the country where towns like Komanda Junction, Shama Junction and Yamoransa Junction are notoriously noted for road accidents. In 2000, for instance, the region recorded road accident deaths of 509 which increased to 1,026 in 2004.
But one worrying phenomenon observed about Ghana is that some of the worse traffic accidents were recorded on some of the good roads, especially in the Greater Accra region. A typical example is the US $547 million Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) funded 14.1km N1 Highway commissioned by the late President John Evans Atta Mills and former President John Agyakum Kufuor in February this year. Fifteen (15) accidents with huge losses of life and property were recorded on the George Bush Motorway within the first of month of its commissioning .

Road Alert Application
In order to supplement the efforts of the National Road Safety Commission and other stake holders in road safety activities in the country, the Safety Group at the Data Journalism bootcamp came up with an innovative application known as App for Road Alert.
The Group developed the NANTI- YIE Application, downloadable on any smart phone, Android device that alerts motorists when approaching accident prone-areas by means of the GEO location. The philosophy is prevention is better than cure.

The red spots in this map indicate accident prone areas..

   The safety Application is also intended to fire a call message to emergency services like the Police, the Fire Service, and the Ambulance services along a particular road where accident may occur etc. The Safety Group has also developed a web App and mobile web for the benefit of the travelling public.
It is expected that the Road Safety authorities will explore this innovative technology to help prevent accidents on our roads.  There is a Ghanaian traditional adage which says: “He who brings you roads brings you life.” Thus, it is the view of the Safety Group that if roads are supposed to bring life then the same roads must not be allowed to lead to death.
The writer is Deputy Director/Head of IT at the Information Services Department, Accra
Contact: abissath@gmail.com

ECOWAS TRANSPORT & TRADE FACILITATION –THE ROLE OF THE GHANA POLICE
By Mawutodzi K. Abissath

The role of the Police is essential in the development of any country in the world. It is impossible for any economy to survive without ensuring internal security and other services provided by the Police service.
In Ghana, the traffic management and highway patrols services conducted by the police contributes a great deal to productivity by reducing travelling time, ensuring safe movement of people and goods among others. Just take a look at a chaotic confusion at traffic junctions in Accra whenever traffic lights go off for only five minutes without a police officer. 
In May 1975, political leaders of the West Africa sub-region came together in the capital city of Lome, Togo to form what is now referred to as Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). One cardinal objective of the founding fathers is the free movement of people, goods and services.
 Almost 40 years the organization has continued to pursue this integration agenda by encouraging members through various fora at all levels to enhance the process. The latest strategy is the new Vision 2020 programme aimed, among others, at transforming ECOWAS into a borderless Community. This new vision means that ECOWAS is committed to strengthening its protocols on Free Movement of Persons and Goods, Right of Residence and Right of Establishment as well as the protocols on the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS).
Conscious of the challenges militating against the realization of this unique Protocol of free movement of goods and people, ECOWAS has set up a National Road Transport and Transit Facilitation Committee (NFC), in member states. The Committee is to collaborate with other sister-countries and coordinate and support the efforts in facilitating trade along the Abidjan-Lagos road corridor.
 The facilitation strategy covers the Tema-Ouagadougou corridor as well. The membership of the NFC includes the Police, Customs Division of Ghana Revenue Authority, Ministries responsible for transport, trade and others.
The object of this piece is to underscore the contribution of the Ghana Police Service in trade facilitation along these corridors and to identify some of the factors impeding the achievement of the integration objective and how to remedy the situation. Road blocks or check points along highways are necessary to provide security for travelers and prevent trafficking of goods and services that rob countries of revenue for development.
A recent study conducted by the West Africa Trade Hub (WATH) based in Accra indicates that the Ghana section of the Abidjan –Lagos corridor that is from Aflao to Elubo, a distance of 558km has 30 roadblocks as of June 2012, translating into approximately one barrier per every 20km.
Comparatively, this makes Ghana a country with the second highest number of checkpoints on this corridor. The Tema-Paga section of the Tema-Bamako corridor has 43 main checkpoints; of these 43 main checkpoints, 30 are manned by the Police, 8 by Customs and 5 mixed, that is, Police cum Customs checkpoints. Some checkpoints are also temporarily erected as and when the Police Service deems it necessary for their function.
Interestingly, statistics shows that the Abidjan-Lagos corridor which links Ghana to most of her eastern and western neighbours is the “engine room” or key to the trade facilitation objective of the ECOWAS sub-region.
It is stated that, “about 65% of economic activities within the West Africa region is undertaken on this corridor.”  Because of the enormous contribution of this corridor to the economic well-being of the people in this part of the world, the World Bank agreed to support the implementation of “the Abidjan-Lagos Trade and Transport Facilitation Project” to reduce trade and transport barriers in the ports and on the roads along the Abidjan-Lagos corridor i.e. from La Cote D’Ivoire through Ghana, Togo, Benin to Nigeria.
The World Bank’s desire to support the implementation of the Abidjan-Lagos Trade and Transport Facilitation Project is to reduce the overall travel time along the corridor through reduction of the number of road blocks along the corridor and the improvement of the condition of the road while ensuring safety in the movement of vehicles. This is being achieved through financing road improvement works and sensitization and training workshops for stakeholders to identify with the objectives of the project.
In terms of road infrastructure, the Ghana section of this corridor is receiving a lot of Government’s attention, with the virtual completion the Akatsi-Aflao section with support from the African Development Bank.  The Tetteh–Quarshie-Mallam highway which was jointly commissioned in February this year by the departed President Professor John Evans Atta Mills and Former President John Agyekum Kufour was funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation.
 As we speak, information gleaned from the Ministry of Roads and Highways indicates that the Agona Junction-Elubo section of the corridor is receiving financial support from the World Bank again and construction are expected to commence by the end of the third quarter of this year.
The Customs Division of the GRA has been supported under the project to train its staff on single window management at the borders to reduce delays and facilitate movement.  The service is taking steps to harmonize their checkpoints with police service in a bid to reduce delays to transit trucks.
The number of road blocks comes with its attendant issues of bribery and delays. According to the WATH study in 2011, Togo managed to remove all police and gendarmerie checkpoints on its section of the corridor, becoming the best performing country in terms of controls.  Mali and Ghana have highest delays of about 20mins per 100km.
La Cote d’Ivoire on the other hand despite its political crisis was able to reduce bribery by 72% last year and this is commendable. 
Records show that Ghana was able to decrease bribes from 55 GHC per trip in 2006 to 15 GHC per trip in 2009. This was described as of the best performances for Ghana for that period. And the country was praised to the blue sky for this feat. But then from 2010, the trend started changing and within two years Togo took over the first position from Ghana.  It was discovered that the emergence of some “huhudious” unauthorized checkpoints and roadblocks started causing irritable delays to travelers. In fact the West Africa Trade Hub’s study revealed that “80% of the bribes are paid in half of the checkpoints;”  “One active checkpoint every 20km and one inspection at every 2.4 checkpoints for legal trucks.” All these lead to delays which have increased by 30minutes, reaching more than 2hours per trip,” the study revealed.
the question that agitates the minds of well-meaning ECOWAS citizens is whether smuggling, fraud, drug-trafficking, highway robbery and the associated transport and trade crimes can be eliminated by the numerous and sometimes unauthorized checkpoints on this livewire corridor of the sub-region? The police service is being called upon to strategize to develop other effective means of providing safety and security without hindering movements or causing delays.
Having realized that  the role of the Ghana Police is indispensable in effective management of this vital Abidjan-Lagos corridor for the benefit of citizens of the ECOWAS sub-region, the  National Road Transport and Transit Facilitation Committee of Ghana, whose secretariat is the Ministry of Roads and Highways, has embarked on a series  of capacity building workshops  for the   Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service  to equip them not only with logistics but also with knowledge and managerial skills to facilitate transit trade and to ensure the safety and security of travellers along the corridor.
The first workshop took place from July 19-20, this year at Elmina in the Central Region of the country. The event which was held under the theme “Enhancing the Performance of the Ghana Police Service in Transport and Trade Facilitation” brought together over 30 MTTU officers drawn from various districts of the Central and Western Regions. It was addressed by the Deputy Minister for Roads and Highways Hon. Dr Nii Quaye-Kumah on behalf of the sector Minister.
The Police officers were sensitized on the protocols of ECOWAS on trade, the various customs procedures and checks necessary for transit trucks, documentations expected from transit. The Police MTTU officers were also exposed to the ECOWAS brown card insurance and its security features as well sharing experiences from freight forwarders and importers on challenges in the corridor.
 The recommendations and action plan drawn by the Police at the end of the workshop gives the NFC the hope that the next corridor management report will record much lower barriers and enhanced mobility on the Ghana section.
Against this backdrop, the Ministry of Roads and Highways, intends to expand the capacity training programme for the benefit of more Police officers nationwide. The second sensitization workshop is scheduled from August 23-24, 2012 for MTTU personnel in the Greater Accra, Eastern and Volta Regions.
The Ministry expects the usual cooperation and attendance by the security agencies concerned to improve the professional competency road management skills of the Police for the benefit of transport and trade facilitation in the ECOWAS sub-region.

 The writer is Deputy Director and Head of IT of the Information Services Department in Accra
Contact: abissath@gmail.com

EULOGY TO PRESIDENT J.E.A.MILLS

All ye mortal creatures of God
 Who mirror the visage of man
In the divine image of God!
All ye mortal beings of God
 Who symbolize the microcosm
Of the wondrous macrocosm!

Hail to the Saint anointed!
Saint Atta-Mills,
You were born a Saint
And desired no mortal
To canonize you as one
If Africans have Saints!
,
You were the Unprecedented President
That ever ruled our blessed land
How humble you were!
How noble you were!
How simple you were!
You were the first soul of our land
To be delivered in the manger of gold
At Tarkwa - a land awashed with gold
Yet, you snubbed the adoration of gold
And lionized the appellation of God!

OH! SAINT ATTA-MILLS,
You were the first democratic Leader 
To decree MAWU-SOGBOLISA
As the Supreme President of Ghana 
To the shock of men of little faith!
You converted a mini Chapel
Into a Presidential Cathedral
Where day by day, the Lord was lauded
And you were not ashamed of that act !

OH! SAINT ATTA-MILLS,
You were the first National Captain
To attract multiple Red Cards
From mournful referees at ago
Even when you scored a classic goal
For the nation in the game of senate!
You were the first President
To be baptized a morgue Assistant
And the morgue adopted your corpse
When you obtained the eternal scholarship
To undergo a super natural course!
In the Universal University of the Maker!

OH! SAINT ATTA-MILLS,
You were the first President
To be knighted ASOMDWEE-HENE
By no less noble Kings of Ahafo
And all ten clans of Asafo
Proclaimed you King of Peace
You became the first National Osofo
To sanctify the National Park of Peace!

OH! SAINT ATTA-MILLS!
The anointed Prophet of God
Servant of ODUMAN-ANKOMAN
You received no esteem from your own
As the Master himself was scorned by his own
Yet, you were a gem in the hands of God!
You were the first King of Peace
To experience the highest initiation
While still on the royal throne of peace.
Through your unpredicted transition
You brought blissful benediction
Upon a vicious sorrowful nation!
You have accomplished your mission
For a  nation still in search of  vision!

OH! SAINT ATTA-MILLS,
May your wisdom, as the star in the sky
Guide your wise brothers and sisters
From the East, West, South and North
In search of the Greater Light
And lead them into the Kingdom Of Wisdom!

By Mawutodzi Kodzo Abissath 
(August 5, 2012)

To the memory of Professor John Evans Atta Mills– the Unprecedented President
Who Ruled Ghana from January 2009 - July 2012

Ghana’s Data Protection Law In The Digital Age
By Mawutodzi K. Abissath

There is this Ghanaian proverb which admonishes: “When the rhythm of the drum beat changes, the dance movement must also change accordingly.”
Information Communication Technology (ICT) has revolutionalised the way mankind has been doing things from birth to death. So, any nation that fails to change in accordance with technology should not blame Jesus if its citizens’ biometric data are not recorded and stored in the database in the kingdom of heaven. But the heavenly database which is known as “Akashic” record requires neither laptop nor digital camera to process philosophically.  
It was in 1998 that the then Ministry of Communications now Ministry of Information first initiated a move to formulate a comprehensive ICT Policy for Ghana. Eventually, it was in 2004 that the draft policy document was finalised and legally christened as Ghana ICT Policy for Accelerated Development (ICT4AD).
Ghana has since made some strides in the field of ICT.  For instance, the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre for Excellence in ICT (AITI-KACE) has seen the light. Over 90 fully operational Community Information Centre (CICs) aimed at bridging the digital divide between the urban and rural centres in most of the 170 districts are in place.
At least over 60.000 laptops are being distributed to various schools and there is a dream to supply Ghanaian teachers also with free laptops throughout the country.
Further, plans are far advanced for the realisation of Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting system to replace analogue television by 2014, in accordance with the International Telecommunications Union’s global policy.
  A modern National Data Centre complex is under construction here in Accra where all relevant data from archaeology to zoology, from the Gold Coast to Ghana will be stored upon completion. But it must be admitted that Ghana still has some kilometres to travel when it comes to equitable spread of ICT infrastructure. This is because some rural schools are still learning ICT without having seen a computer before, let alone touching an electronic mouse.
What is commendable, though, is the fact that before the National Data Centre becomes operational, Ghana’s Ministry of Communications has adopted some pragmatic measures, by taking legal steps to ensure legal protection of data expected to be stored at the Data Centre. This, the Ministry has done by championing the enactment of the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) passed by Ghana’s Parliament in March 2012.
 The object of this piece is not to pretend to be providing legal interpretation of the law. That is the responsibility of the Supreme Court of Ghana. Our duty is to inform and educate the people of Ghana that there is a law that seeks to protect their privacy and personal data. Thus,   when filling in legal documents such as Passport, visa, medical or admission forms etc, they must know what to write and what not to about themselves. Period!
When the Law becomes fully operational, Ghanaians will have the right to refuse to give some information or data about themselves or their relatives when they are not sure what the information or data was going to be used for. This is very crucial especially when filling in online application forms.
Irononically, at the time of writing this article, the Coalition on Right to Information Ghana, a civil society group, seems to be on collision course with Ghana’s Parliament for pussy-footing the passage of the Right to Information Bill.
It appears this particular Bill was put before Parliament before the Holy-Ghost descended on the apostles in Jerusalem some 2000 years ago. And yet, no one knows when a traditional birth attendant will be trained in basic computer literacy to deliver the Bill fast online to the concerned coalition members and Ghanaians.
On the other hands, is it enough to insist on one’s right to information only?  Ghanaians also have the birth right to know their legal right to decide what type of data they ought to give about themselves when, how, why, for what purpose and to whom. That is the essence of the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843).
Against this backdrop, on Thursday, June 14, 2012, the Ministry of Communications, under the e-Ghana project, organised a one day workshop to educate various MDAs and private sector organisations on the Data Protection Act at the La-Palm Royal Beach Hotel here in Accra.
The event which was themed “Ensuring the Protection of Privacy for the Information Age” was expected to have assembled over 300 participants. Unfortunately, however, as typical of the Ghanaian lukewarm attitude and apathy towards certain urgent issues of national dimension, only a hand-full of invited stakeholders came for the programme.
 But day turned out to be very, very productive indeed! For the first time some of us had the privilege of being tutored and mentored by legal dynamos  like Professor Kofi Kumados of this world. Prof. Kumado, a Constitutional Lawyer of global eminence, and Dean of Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, descended from his ivory tower, and came down on earth to dissect the anatomy of the Data Protection Law to the appreciation of some of us lay-mortals. 
We were schooled that the Data Protection Act (843) seeks to give practical meaning to Article 18 (2) of the 1992 Constitution on the privacy of communication in the digital age.
 Article 18 (2) stipulates: “No person shall be subjected to interference with the privacy of his home, property, correspondence or communication except in accordance with law and as may be necessary in free and democratic society for public safety or economic well-being of the country, for the protection of health, or morals, for the prevention of disorder or crime or for the protection of the right or freedoms of others.”
Thus, Article 1 (1) of Act 843 established the Data Protection Commission to operationalise Article 18 (2) quoted above. It says, “There shall be established a Data Protection Commission to protect the privacy of the individual and personal data by regulating the processing of personal information, to provide the process to obtain, hold, use or disclose personal information and for related matters.” 
Article 3 mandates the Commission among other things “to implement and monitor compliance with provisions of this Act (843); make administrative arrangements it considers appropriate for the discharge of its duties.”
The Law further authorises the Commission “to investigate any complaints and determine it in the manner the Commission considers fair, and keep and maintain the Data Protection Register.”
Touching on journalism, literature and art, Article 64 (1) stipulates, “A person shall not process personal data unless (a) the processing is undertaken by a person for the publication of a literary or artistic material; (b) the data controller reasonably believes that publication would be in the public interest; and (c) the data controller reasonably believes that, in all the circumstances, compliance with the provision is incompatible with the special purposes.”
A fundamental aspect of the Law every Ghanaian must know is what is referred to as “Data Subject” and “Date Controller.” For a layman’s understanding, Data Subject refers to a person whose data or information is being collected or processed; while Data Controller denotes a person or institution collecting the data or information for whatever purposes.
For analogy, let’s say, if Kofi is a foot-ball player filling in a form to join the Agro Ventures Foot-ball Cub, then Kofi is a Data Subject. And the Agro Ventures Foot-ball Club, which is collecting Kofi’s data as a player is the Data Controller.
According to the Law (Act 843), for Agro Ventures to qualify and be recognised as a Data Controller in Ghana, they must register with the Data Protection Commission. And it was explained that a person or an institution can register both as a Data Subject and a Data Controller as well. 
Act (843) requires that, when the Data Protection Commission comes into being, all MDAs will have to register with the Commission as Data Controllers because they already have data of their employees.
Ghana is not the first country on this planet of technology to see the need for Data Protection Law. Advanced countries like the USA, Europe and Singapore, have been operating data protection regimes for generations. And yet they are still confronted with some data protection challenges.
“For example, a recent survey by Privacy and American Business showed that 81% of Net users, and 79% of users who buy products and services on the Net, expressed concern about potential threats to their personal privacy while online.”
The research indicates that, “While only 6% of Net users said that their online privacy had been violated, 70% to 72% were worried about unauthorised access and use of their e-mails, web site tracking and personal profiling,” write Louis Harris & Associates and Dr. Alan Westin, "E-Commerce & Privacy: What Net Users Want" (1998).
Ghana’s Ministry of Communications in this respect must be applauded for being proactive and initiating the Data Protection Act (843) even before the proposed National Data Centre becomes operational.
Nevertheless, it is suggested that the Ministry must expedite action on the actual inauguration of the Data Protection Commission. But it is instructive to learn that a committee has already been set up to work out the modalities. Ghana must start doing things according to the exigencies of the digital age.

The author is Deputy Director/Head of IT, Information Services Dept., Ministry of Information, Accra, Ghana 

Contact: abissath@gmail.com