Manasseh Strikes at the Greater Accra Regional Minister
When I first saw the picture that captures the newly appointed Greater Accra regional Minister and Mr. Jospeh Siaw Agyepong, the chairman of the jopspong group of companies, having a tête-à-tête, it was clear that Manasseh will visit a tirade of abrasive attach on the two. In fact, many who have followed Manasseh’s write ups had predicted that the pictures were enough to provoke him into another long epistle of lamentations and accusations. Personally, I was not surprised that Manasseh on Wednesday would launch a scathing attack in an article titled: LINDA OCLOO IS COURTING CORRUPTION, NOT SOLUTION. Apart from maliciously maligning the person and character of the Chairman of the Jospong group, the article rehashed the same allegations that Manasseh have continually accused the company of, typical of his style. This sustained and predictable patterns of attacks on Jospong, and many other Ghanaian owned companies that have been at the receiving end of Manasseh’s scurrilous attacks, exposes not only Manasseh’s rather warped understanding of how businesses operate, but at the very least, any patriot can see these pattern as an attack on the industry, ingenuity and creativity of Ghanaian own businesses.
Understanding the Rudiments of building a business, Where Manasseh Woefully Fails
Evidence, by way of media reports and documentaries, abounds to show the stress and the hustle that businesses in our part of the world go through. From lack of capital to bureaucracies, sabotage and others, many have said that it takes a lot of courage and patriotism for anyone to attempt doing business in Ghana. Indeed Ghanaian-owned businesses are not spared the hurly burly of running businesses. Especially for Ghanaian business owners who partner governments to solve pressing social and economic issues, like Jospong, SML and many others, political witch hunting are among the least of the pains they go through. Sadly, most of them are not exempted from the tax exemptions that foreign counterparts enjoy. Aside from paying taxes, servicing loans, which are usually at a ridiculous rate of 35%, they also bear the burden of managing people, processes and all the challenges that come with building a viable business in our part of the world. The buffers that should support these businesses to punch at the same weight as their foreign counterparts are non-existent. Unfortunately, Manasseh, who has eked a living out of fighting some of these businesses, lacks an appreciation of these nuances. His analysis of numbers is incredibly biased and populist, always seeking to appease a section of his audience than the broader public. For example, Manasseh usually uses words like inflated, scandalous, scam to describe businesses whose investment outlays he knows nothing about. Why would any reasonable person raise queries if a company get paid fees out of the proceeds from their labor and huge capital investments?
Videos of the Chairman of the Jospong group lamenting over the stress that he had to go through to secure funding for his waste management contracts is available and must provide the right context for any person who wish to criticize him. But for mischief, why would Manasseh always focus on the cost rather than benefits, anytime he has picked on these companies? Maybe he needs some more education on how to do proper cost-benefit analysis, if indeed his one-sided approach of focusing on just cost, instead of value or benefit, is not borne out of hatred, personal agenda and parochial interest. Given his way of oversimplifying the complexities of how partnerships of this nature are structured and run, Manasseh should be the last person any serious government or individual should take advice from on critical issues such as contracts and businesses. Building and creating systems and structures that solve critical issues such as revenue leakages, waste management and others, demands more than one’s ability to spring words together. Perhaps, that is why Manasseh, despite his numerous attempts to interpret businesses and contracts, has no single business of his own.
His Advocacy lack any viable choice of action, merely attacks
Typical of Manasseh, he has always been quick to call on governments to abrogate contracts. He has asked that YEA’s contract with Jospong be abrogated, same as the SML’s contract with GRA. Usually, when he has been on this radar, he has fallen short, woefully, of providing any viable options or ideas on dealing with the issues these companies were addressing. It appears Manasseh harbors the appetite of seeing these companies go down rather than addressing the issues they are meant to address. Ghana, per the records, generate tonnes of waste daily. Solving this problem goes beyond funding. A lot of times, the efficiency and urgency with which private players mobilize resources for this purpose becomes critical. Over the years, successive governments have been unable to mobilize the required funding and expertise to address these challenges. This, perhaps, explains why any partnership with private business becomes inevitable. The case of revenue assurance services by SML in Ghana’s downstream is no different. But for SML, how was the government able to mobilize the huge capital outlay for the technological and expert deployments that have strengthen and digitized GRA’s surveillance, reduced potential under declaration while increasing mobilizable revenues in Ghana’s petroleum downstream. Manasseh’s suggestions that state institutions could address some of these challenges by themselves without private sector partnership is disingenuous. It is not for nothing that the new government is looking for private participation in dealing with the recurrent generational losses in electricity generation and distribution and many other areas of the economy. Demanding that these contracts be abrogated without providing any viable alternatives on how the issues that they were earmarked to solve is truly a disservice to the people. Truly, this further expose Manasseh’s lack of appreciation on how businesses at that level run and I trust that the new government would not be coaxed into taking these hasty decisions.
A Tone of Hatred.
Beyond the above matters, one could extrapolate a sense of personal vendetta and hatred for these companies even from the tone, diction and style with which Manasseh writes on these companies. Unfortunately, he has been unable to detach personal idiosyncrasies and biases from his profession, just as every professional is required to. He attacks these businesses and especially Jospong and SML at the least provocation, using words like scandal, inflated, scam and others that should ordinarily be traded among rivals. Without further I do, I will quote some of these phrases he used in his latest article, to better illustrate the point. While I regret rehashing these rather unfortunate phrases, there could not have been a better way to expose Manasseh’s personal vendetta and agenda than to quote from his own article. Truly, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. These three quotes from Manasseh stood out for me:
1. ‘‘By partnering with Zoomlion, you are courting corruption, not a solution.’’
2. ‘‘Linda Ocloo, our elders say the herbalist who adds pepper to a soothing balm is definitely not seeking a cure. With your misstep, you are courting corruption, not a solution, to the waste management problem in Ghana’s capital’’
3. ‘‘Relying on Zoomlion to solve the sanitation problem in Ghana is like partnering with a convicted pedophile to undertake a campaign against child sex abuse.’’
Conclusion
To hate a man to appoint where everyone can predict how you would deal with them in their vulnerable moment is the height of hatred and envy. Like any other business in the world, Ghanaian owned businesses may have their drawbacks, just as governments do. When they do, they must be encouraged and supported rather than be kicked out, as fanatics like Manasseh want us to. Our sustained harassment of Ghanaian businesspeople who employ many, pay taxes and keep the wheels of our economy in motion must be stopped, as it could kill or curtail their creativity and courage. Manasseh’s approach of calling for the baby to be thrown away with the bad water should be ignored by all. This may have dire consequences, as Ghana’s economy may end up in the hands of many foreign interests, which would come with its own dose of complexities and pain.
Emmanuel Akonnor
Policy Analyst/Communicator