To sell or not to sell the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) to a strategic foreign investor has sparked a diplomatic and political spat between Mr. J.H. Mensah, the MP for Sunyani East and the Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC). As chairman of the National Economic Planning Commission and a member of the government's economic management team, J.H. Mensah is at the forefront of the campaign to bring a new lease of life to ADB by selling the Bank of Ghana's 48 percent shares to a strategic foreign investor. In a statement on August 17, Mr. Mensah criticized the TUC for taking a hard stance against the sale of government stake in ADB to a strategic foreign investor. Mr. Mensah specifically accused some TUC officials of abusing trade union principles by trying to influence government policy under the threat of industrial action over the matter and of simply protesting against change that might lead to job losses. The veteran politician advised TUC that policy issues in the management of the economy should not be settled in an atmosphere of pressure and agitation. The experienced economist told TUC that the decision to transform agriculture and not profit making was the sole purpose of establishing the ADB and that without "a substantial improvement in the productivity of our farmers, we can forget about Ghana's economic ambitions." The Honourable MP also argued that to effect the transformation of agriculture, ADB should not have at its disposal a mere US$66 million, which is its current net worth, but in excess of US$250 million and that at its current growth rate ADB has no chance of becoming a leading player in agriculture. In his view, the sale of BoG's shares on the Ghana Stock Exchange will not bring the envisaged financial resources to transform the bank as would strategic foreign investors. Nearly one month after Mr. Mensah threw the first punch, TUC is fighting back angrily. While agreeing that policy issues should not be resolved on the basis of emotions, the TUC says Mr. Mensah got it completely wrong when he suggested that policy issues have nothing to do with political agitation and nationalism. "Policy issues are political and involve making choices which have differential implications for different social groups in our society", the statement said in response to Mr. Mensah. The statement which was signed by TUC's Secretary-General, Mr. Kwasi Adu-Amankwah said a close analysis of Mr. Mensah's statement shows that his position is based on unexamined assumptions and "a huge dose of lack of confidence in the Ghanaian." The statement said, "if the expectation of agricultural transformation, which is critical to our economic progress is to be hinged on a strategic foreign investor, then God save Ghana." Further TUC argues that Mr. Mensah's belief that it is only when Ghanaians see foreign investors in ADB that they would have enough confidence to patronize new shares is regrettable and betrays a subservient attitude to the magic of the foreign investor and a lack of confidence in Ghanaians. In his statement, Mr. Mensah also took issue with the staff of ADB and TUC for objecting to the sale of ADB to a strategic foreign investor even before negotiations had started. TUC however, thinks it is the secrecy of government process on important policy matters, even though the Constitution guarantees the right of information that should be blamed. "It is amazing that the Honourable MP does not see anything wrong with government failure to inform Ghanaians on its policy decision on the reorganization of ADB, but is busy negotiating with possible strategic investors", TUC argues. In an effort to deflate Mr. Mensah's argument for the sale of ADB, TUC points out that despite mass privatization in the past, the current relative stability and growth the country is enjoying can be directly linked to the huge inflows of development assistance, debt relief, remittances from Ghanaians living abroad and high prices of cocoa and gold, not foreign direct investments. "It needs in this connection to be emphasized that it is not foreign investors that are going to be the real transformatory force in Ghana's economy. It is the people themselves. The foreign investor can play only a complementary role, not a leading role", says the TUC. Source: Public Agenda