Herbert Mensah

Ghanaian entrepreneur and former Chairman of Kumasi Asante Kotoko is saddened by the breakdown of Ghana’s institutions mandated to protect and serve ordinary citizens.

Herbert Mensah has charged individuals in authority to live by upright principles and desist from the culture of disregarding the law and of abusing public office.

He said that whenever people in authority who control the systems behave in ways beyond reproach citizens no longer trust the integrity of the systems to function properly.

Herbert, who was a guest on Paul Adom Otchere’s Good Evening Ghana Show on Metro TV on Thursday 1st October 2015 clarified that, “Systems are meant to check other systems. Abroad if someone in congress uses money that he shouldn’t have used he is removed or he serves a jail term”.

Herbert went on to say that it is different in Ghana and he does not see the reason why such punitive steps cannot be implemented. “Here you can be involved in the largest level of fraud and still escape the law,” he said.

He blamed people who run the systems for soiling the integrity of otherwise trusted institutions. “The systems are there but the people who run the system are not afraid of anything,” he added.

Ghana’s  judiciary has been rocked with a major corruption scandal as videos and audio recordings released by undercover journalist Anas Aremeyaw implicates 34 judges and over 100 judicial service workers in various acts of bribery.

Herbert Mensah believes effective systems with the right people in charge would have prevented what many describe as the biggest scandal that has hit the judiciary in Ghana adding that innocent people have suffered from bad judgments.

“If the systems worked we wouldn’t now be praising Anas for his investigative journalism. Some of us have been at the sharp ends of bad judicial decisions which could have been prevented”.

The business mogul and consultant is appealing to the President to take immediate steps to restore confidence and integrity to the institutions that has been dented over the years.

“I ask His Excellency to take the necessary steps to ensure that people are held accountable, jailed, removed or dismissed as a matter of course. The public needs to have a sense that the President will protect their interest,” he advised.

This, he believes, will prevent incompetent people from being appointed to take up key positions in the society.  According to Mr. Mensah there are very brilliant and intelligent people who can govern efficiently but are overlooked.

“If people who run this country are prepared to reach out and recognize individuals with special and unique talents to serve the country effectively we will make progress.”

Herbert believes that government should create opportunities for business oriented people to lead an economic revolution in Ghana.

Business oriented people, according to him, take decisions based on guts and target achievement backed by proper planning, forecasting and resource allocation.

“One of the indicators why we are going downhill is the appointment of political figures as opposed to business oriented people,” Herbert said

Listen to full interview here.