Accra — In the third and final part of his interview with allAfrica.com correspondent Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, Ghana's president-elect John Agyekum Kufuor discusses tackling corruption in government and Ghana's leadership role in the region.
Q: Mr Kufuor, one matter - you mentioned it earlier yourself - corruption. When President Rawlings, or Flight-Lieutenant Rawlings, came to power, he claimed that successive civilian governments had been so corrupt. What will you do if you find any of your officers, officials, anyone in government, anyone, being corrupt?
A: What I would do would not be dependent on what Rawlings said. He started off accusing civilian governments, but the truth is that the soldiers too have been as corrupt if not more corrupt as the civilians. So, what he said doesn t come in at all. In any case, currently his is a civilian government and his government is rife with corruption.
Q: What are you going to do about corruption?
A: What I am going to do about corruption is that I have told Ghana that I would begin with myself, I would do everything humanly possible with myself not to get corrupt, so that I would be able to ensure my ministers and high officials who work to me will be disciplined, that I can deal with them if they should become corrupt.
And through that, I would expect the discipline and the anti-corruption crusade would seep down to the grassroots. I believe this is it. And then I would empower the investigative agencies of state to be primed everywhere to be sure that corruption remains under assault. And again further, would support the judiciary, which is a different arm of government would enable it with all the support govt can master, to be able to dispense justice as expeditiously and as fearlessly as can be, so people offending are quickly brought to book and dealt with due process of the law. These are the things I want to do.
Q: What are the regional implications of the democratic transition in Ghana?
A: Ghana has always been a pace-setter in free West Africa. Ghana was the first colony to have gained independence in 1957, much earlier than most of the both francophone and anglophone countries, and again the first leader of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, was the man, at least from Africa, who took part in launching the pan- Africanist cause. So, when you consider the fact that we are the first of the countries around our part of the world to have used the ballot box to change government, the development here should influence the course of events in terms of using the ballot box and democratic means to change government. I hope that will affect people and we have done it relatively easily, so this should have a big impact.
Q: Surveying the region, there are several countries which have had similar experiences -- Senegal, Nigeria, to some extent, and now Ghana. But the rest of the region is in turmoil. How concerned are you about your neighbour, Ivory Coast, as well as the situation in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone? What will you be doing to assist in the resolution of some of these conflicts?
A: I am very concerned about the developments in some of the countries you have mentioned. Cote d Ivoire is a very close neighbour, which shares so many things in common with Ghana. The tribes straddle the boundaries, a common boundary from the coast right up to the northern parts share the same peoples on either side of the boundary. So whatever happens there naturally affects events in Ghana. So, even if it is out of self interest, I would want things to correct themselves in that country and I would extend it further to places like Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
What I am seeing more and more is yes, the ethnic and tribal differences are there, but at bottom it tends to be the personal ambitions of the leader or leaders and perhaps what one should be doing, when one gets an opportunity, should be trying to influence the individual leaders so we sort of self-restrain ourselves.
We must put limits to our personal ambitions and be more aware of the interests of our people at large, be more aware that we happen to be living in times in which the events in the world are so open, thanks to telecommunications developments, that whatever happens anywhere immediately is exposed to the rest of the world. If we care for our self respect in this global village then we should be doings things so that we do not become the laughing stock among the rest of the world. I think the leaders must be made conscious of this exposure.
Q: Will you be working closely with presidents like Abdoulaye Wade in Senegal and Olusegun Obasanjo in Nigeria in regional peacekeeping efforts?
A: Very much so. It is a collective responsibility we must bear. ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) to me is a reality. We are thinking of an ECOWAS parliament, ECOWAS markets and many other things we share in common for the common advancement of all of us. So, all presidents who are moving in the right direction, showing enlightenment, I would work with and together I think we should all contribute to influence events for the better in less fortunate neighbouring countries.
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Q: Will you be pushing for an acceleration of regional economic integration?
A: Yes we will be doing that. The gateway idea that has been talked about so much in Ghana I will work to realize. Yes, we are together, we are a common market. But I would want Ghana to be the gateway into West Africa. For that, I shall be pushing very hard to empower the sub-region, because Ghana would then become the hub of opportunity. Ghana should not be an island in a poor wilderness. No. I want the sub-region to be rich and, in Ghana, I would say, yes, we are giving leadership. So, I will push very much for the advancement of the ECOWAS idea.
