President of the Mission Africa Incorporated, Dr. Kodjoe Sumney Ph.D. has called for a new order and paradigm shift in African governance to change the status quo following the way and manner African leaders are handling Africa’s resources that have never benefitted the people and continue to make Africans poorer.
He has proffered an antidote to Africa’s woes which he terms and believes as the “AFRICAN DEMOCRACY,” which presents a system of corporate governance of including key stakeholders and interest groups to achieve results.
According to him, it’s high time Ghana and for that matter Africa, prioritised just one manifesto with a definitive clear vision and timeline and the requisite legal backing that will compel leaders to work towards it to achieve economic independence.
He further stated that there is a critical need to fully develop our technical and vocational education to boost all manner of workmanship and expand skilled labour which China has done and has succeeded today and become so powerful.
Dr. Kodjoe Sumney was speaking at the 18th African Union Day Prayer Conference organised in the auditorium of Ghana’s Parliament House on the AU Day 25th May 2022 and continued through 28th May at the premises of Mission Africa Institute of Technology, on the SPINTEX Road.
The Prayer Conference was organised by Mission Africa Incorporated in collaboration with the Parliament of Ghana, the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), and Inland Empire Concerned Pastors Carlifornia-USA.
The event was under the distinguished patronage of Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin.
Mission Africa Incorporated has successfully held this significant Prayer Conference for solid 18 years and counting.
The event was on the theme: “Bezaleel Economic Empowerment: Solutions, Skills for Job Creation, All Manner of Workmanship.
Dr. Kodjoe Sumney Ph.D. talked about the African Democracy and focused on the theme Bezaleel Economic Empowerment.
He said from 1963 to 2013 making 50 years, the vision of our founders of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to unite Africa to give Africa Economic independence that vision did not materialise.
This is because the gadgets in which the African leaders are traveling to achieve African unity is not the right vehicle for African Unity.
“Then they came up with the AU (African Union) in 2002 with the hope that it can accelerate the economic independence of Africa and that also regrettably 20 years after we have failed. So in all, we have spent 70 years in pursuing African Unity and Africa’s economic independence but it has never happened.
This simply means that the vehicle in which we are traveling, the body is good, the interior of the vehicle is good, the system is good but the engine and the gears which will take us to the African destination we need must be changed.
He advocated for the critical need for African Democracy which he identified as a Democracy with five Chambers.
“The first of these 5 Chambers of the African Democracy include the Political Chambers, where those who contested for elections by the percentage they won in the elections, we should share the governance. If the first party got 40, the next 30, the next 10, they should all have one manifesto and one corporate governance not the union government so that we can have everybody contributing towards the agenda of the party and the nation.
The Second Chamber should be the Traditional Chamber, where Traditional leaders including the paramount chiefs, paramount Kings must also be in Parliament to know what decisions are being made for their land and the constituency so that they can be able to contribute their quota in the decision making.
Then also we can have the 3rd Chamber which I call it the Religious Chamber. The Religious Chamber is the Chamber where religious leaders cannot be exempted from the decision making of the nation. We should all be shareholders of the decision making, why because Muslims vote and Christians vote therefore they should have their representatives in parliament to go over what decisions are being made in Parliament or L.I. being made for the nation,” he said.
He added “the 4th Chamber should be the Chamber of the renowned and most successful business people who understand business, practices, imports, exports and farming, high levels of commerce and industry and not just politicians who haven’t even got the experience in those areas to make decisions that matter in such areas of commerce and businesses.
So we should invite all the successful businessmen as many as 16 or more if we are going to use Ghana as an example to be in the Chamber of renowned business people in Parliament. For example in Ghana we have business people like Sam Jonah, Despite, not really about educational background and being elite but rather about success in business, commerce and industry.
For example any time we have the best farmer or the most successful farmer, he can advise about the right and best practices that can help us foster ahead and grow our economy. So that is the fourth Chamber.
Then we can also have the next generation Chamber which is the youth who are already in the system competent to be groomed along the line of these four Chambers I have mentioned to know what is being done to be able to contribute their quota because if the country decides to take any loans, they are the ones going to pay for those loans with interest in the next 20, 30 to 50 years.
They will pay the price while the older people are gone so they have to know and they deserve to how things are being done in the country. The idea is to change the status quo so that those leaders do not leave them with huge debts to come and pay. I also propose the 6th Chamber which I call the proper Council of State.
The Council of State this time around should comprise the renowned states men and women including retirees, Bank managers, governors from all the regions who are already working and we don’t need to pay them salaries like we are doing today.
Some of them in most cases those who are willing to serve in the interest of the nation and not those who will be handpicked at random by the President, the government or elected. People are just picked at random and given salaries as Council of State members for doing virtually nothing.”
He also urged Africa to consider and look at the social Democratic system of the Chinese and how their system encourages the unitary party.
Dr. Sumney noted that the African Democracy simply means all the five stakeholders in the country must be in charge of the governance so that together we can better manage our natural resources to take care of our youth.
“Africa needs to model after China because they have 29,000 technical and vocational schools in China and every region or province has a factory producing excessive products to contribute to the whole of China. And they have 55 provinces or tribes and in every tribe there is a huge factory.
29,000 skill development institutions covering the Middle class and everybody is working so when you look at their finishing line of products we are all witnesses to what Chinese products can do. They produce polished technocrats, polished technicians, first class in these areas. They have used their own language to develop their system and country and they all work together because they don’t need to speak French or English to be able get to where they are now.
China is successful because they have a corporate governance, corporate ideas shared together and everybody is contributing their quota. So, now if Ghana or Africa wants to become economically independent, then they must have a timeline with an agenda that let’s say by the year 2030, all African countries must speak their major languages especially in Parliament so that people can express themselves in their respective constituencies to digest issues to the level of local government.
It is laughable and total mockery that our politicians during electioneering campaigns move around villages and come to the level of the local people by speaking their respective indigenous languages but they come and sit on TV speaking English and French to the people who elected them.
Most MPs and government officials have never spoken in Parliament before because they have been limited to express themselves in foreign languages even though they campaigned very well in their local dialects. Due to this language default, they have no choice than to sing the majority chorus YEAH YEAH, YEAH YEAH!! This doesn’t bring any progress.”
HIGHLIGHTS OF WHAT OTHER SPEAKERS SHARED:
LAWRENCE TETTEH
Ghanaian International Evangelist of the World Miracle Outreach, Dr. Lawrence Tetteh commended Dr. Sumney and his team saying that this is the conference that all African leaders must listen to.
“Dr. Sumney has been doing it for like 18 years now and this conference is exceptional. Talking about job creation for all manner of workmanships is what Africa needs and he prayed that this conference be rotated across all the universities to provoke a new order of curriculum change to give the future leaders the mind to understand that the best way to go and to end unemployment crisis is the Mission Africa vision of jobs and skills in all manner of workmanships,” Dr. Tetteh underscored.
PASTOR ANDREW EWOO
Dr. Pastor Andrew Ewoo of the Seventh Day Adventist Church (SDA) in a remark said that without unity it will be very difficult for Africa to forge ahead and make progress.
“I pray that churches will be united because we have the same God, the same Jesus, the same Holy Spirit. It’s about time the church united to do more as a corporate body and individuals,” he charged.
APOSTLE ERIC KWABENA NYAMEKYE
Dr. Apostle Eric Kwabena Nyamekye, Chairman of the Church of Pentecost, on his part said the church is a body of the people and the people must practice Christ-like lives, sincerity, honesty and that practice would reduce corruption as individuals emphasizing that before we can reduce corruption we must tackle individual corruption.
“And the only thing we can do if we want Africans to go ahead is to practice righteousness, truth and do away with greed. That is what is destroying our continent, countries and making our people swim in abject poverty,” the Pentecost Chairman stated.
JACOB OSEI YEBOAH
Jacob Osei Yeboah, Independent Presidential Candidate, lamented that the multi-party system of democracy is not the best because God is not a politician and that Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit, they all want to see us unite.
He said if we can unite and destroy the multi-party system, Africa can go far than this.
“We cannot create any structure or development until we have a comprehensive grasp of the invisible infrastructures that will give life to and sustain the effective functioning of the structures known as Ghana and Africa. The lack of growth in Ghana and Africa is due to a lack of clarity in developing the necessary infrastructures for our self-competitive advancement in the comity of nations. That is what the 18th crossroads AU Day Conference is revealing to Ghana and the rest of Africa.
At this 18th crossroads Conference, which celebrates the beginning of conscious choice making, I’d want to focus on the Politics infrastructure, which has a stronger influence on the others, because decisions are what humans live by. And because we haven’t yet built the political infrastructure (may be digitalisation of politics), our technology, vocational education, and critical thinking will be rendered virtually ineffective; our culture and traditions are being eroded; our moral fibre and religions are being endemically corrupted; and our governance is pathetically greedy and lacking in courage,” Jacob Osei Yeboah said.
He continued “our common laws are reigning without common reason, our environment is being destroyed at the expense of our own health difficulties, and our economy is creating money for other countries while enslaving the majority of us in our own country.
The impact of climate change on our future infrastructures and advances is extremely important, as it is dependent on conscious decisions and actions toward our environment. The time has come to make a conscious decision to create the political infrastructure i.e. Democracy at this 18th year crossroads for Ghana with Africa.”
REV. PROFESSOR J.O.Y. MANTE
Rt. Rev. Professor J.O.Y. Mante, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, said it is time for the church to get involved in corporate worship and support the government of Ghana to fully realize the vision that they have so that they will be able to fulfill the vision for Ghana to be a better country.
“I believe that when this is achieved, Ghana will be a peaceful country; Ghana will pray against the rising of Boko Haram. On the general security of the nation, I urge Ghanaians to be on the lookout and report any suspicious activities. If you see anything that gives cause for concern or alarm, quickly alert the authorities,” he said.
He also prayed for peace in Ghana West Africa such that the unity of Africa will come to a reality in our time.
SELORM KOFI DAKE
On his part Mr. Selorm Kofi Dake, China Arab Africa Business Union (C.A.A.B.U) also prayed that the next generation are the youth and the youth must begin to build themselves up in the area of skills and in the area of humility, in the area of getting involved in their communities to help change communities.
He said rather than waiting for the government, the youth can organize themselves in the little little things that change their environment with their strength and knowledge we can make Africa great again.
BISHOP S.N. MENSAH
Bishop S.N. Mensah, the President of the Full Gospel Church, also spoke about the need to lay the structures that will make Africa serious to achieve the economic independence that we want.
He also said African leaders must lead with a clear vision every African should know as well as what each country wants to achieve within the next 20 years.
He said Ghana needs one direction, one vision, one manifesto so that when one party leaves there is a continuity so that we know that in the next 20 years, with a legal backing we know what we are going to achieve.
“Anybody can tell you we want to achieve A, B, C, D, in the next 20 years but today our leaders are moving without any vision and where we lack vision, it is the people that perish. It appears the African leaders do not have one clear vision as our development programme.”
Bishop S.N. Mensah prayed that we can work on this as Africans if they listen to the African Democracy Dr. Sumney is talking about and we can have one common vision to enable us bring the vision of Africa together within the shortest possible time.
MRS. AKOSUAH SUMNEY Ph.D.
Mrs. Akosuah Sumney, Ph.D. of the Mission Africa Institute of Technology also spoke about the fact that when women are in power, there is less crime.
She said in all countries that have been led by women, there are no civil wars.
She observed that most the civil wars are caused by men dominated countries and greed is driving most of these wars.
She called upon women to get involved as mothers in politics so that together we can change the narrative.
“So I’m encouraging women in politics to stand up and get involved as mothers and let not decisions be made by only men who rise up often to serve the interest of men. The system should be a balanced system with women playing critical roles,” she stressed.
MADAM AUGUSTINA AKOSUA AKYAA MENSAH
Madam Augustina Akosua Akyaa Mensah, a woman contractor and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Positive Polyroads West Africa, in her address, said we should give women more opportunities.
She said through her company, the Adomi Bridge was constructed and rehabilitated and refurbished when it broke down.
She revealed that during the project, she hired over 100 workers which helped to reduce unemployment.
“So in order to reduce poverty, we must give women some concessions on contracts and support them to raise more workers as well as the men. There are capable women who can also contribute to create jobs for Africa and my company is ready for this challenge if we should get the necessary support. By so doing, we can reduce the high influx of unemployed graduates,” she said.
DR. BENJAMIN ANYAGRE
A Pan-African Scholar, Dr. Benjamin Anyagre, observed that there is excessive waste in the system and if the government will cut down excessive waste and have proper accountability, there will be less pressure on everybody in terms of the management of our resources.
“Our resource management is very very poor and this results in so much mismanagement that is putting bills and debts on the continent. If the African continent wants to look for funds, the funds are in the country. Instead of looking for loans to put burdens on the youth and the future generations, we should look at how we can prosecute people who are corrupt and found guilty in order to serve as a deterrent to those who engage in corruption because for so many years nobody has been openly sentenced for corruption.
We haven’t been able to imprison people for 10 years, 20 years etc, for corruption and that has been our challenge. We are only talking about corruption, corruption!! We sit down and waste so much to talk about it yet nobody gets punished,” he bemoaned.
ABOUT MISSION AFRICA INCORPORATED
Mission Africa Incorporated is a 21st Century Global Humanitarian and Missions Work founded by Dr. Kodjoe Sumney.
It is a Christian Non-Profit Organization based in California, USA and Accra Ghana which develops global partners to offer natural and spiritual humanitarian assistance to the needy of Africa, starting from Ghana.
The organization has brought over one thousand Americans from the United States of America to Africa and many times to Ghana through the good works of Drs. Kodjoe and Akosuah Sumney.
Its mission is geared towards developing a practical approach for networking global partners to form teams of volunteers for human development, capacity and community building with expertise from various backgrounds including medical, professors & technical, professionals etc., to collaborate for the restoration and development of remote villages, towns, cities, nations and the whole continent of Africa.
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