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Shakespeare wrote that:”There is no art
to find the minds construction in the
face”. Just yesterday, the attitude of
someone I had trusted as a loyal ally
has baffled not only me, but many
Ghanaians. Like Duncan in Macbeth, this
person spoken of here was “ a Gentleman
in whom I built an absolute trust”
Sometimes, I find it extremely
difficult to understand human nature.
Considering the fact that almost a year
ago, I had mistakenly touted Kwame
Pianim as a hard-core NPP member and out
of frustration after our disastrous
outing in the 2008 elections, had gone
ahead to canvass for him to be appointed
interim Chairman of the NPP, (A position
which does not exist by our party’s
constitution) I feel very sad that
latter events have proved that Mr. Kwame
Pianim is not what most of us have all
the while believed he was.
Kwame Pianim had a hidden agenda:
His recent controversial statement that,
of all the three Johns, he could only
vouch for the integrity and
incorruptibility of the last of the
Johns has brought to the core the extent
to which human beings could degenerate
into – all in an effort to remain
relevant in the scheme of affairs when
everything points out to the contrary.
Was
Kwame Pianim a mole in the NPP? Why did
he demonize the first two of the Johns?
Was it done to scheme himself through
the backdoor into President Mills inner
caucus? And is the Castle now the abode
of Kwame Pianim? Kwame Pianim can be
compared to the Equivocator in the
‘Porter’s speech (Macbeth) who lied and
lied but could not equivocate his way to
Heaven in the end. Now see the
inconsistencies in his statement. In his
original statement, he stated he had
seen people handing over brown envelopes
to the President on two occasions. The
President handed back the envelopes to
their “owners”. In a latter development,
he changed his statement to read, those
people whose attempts to bribe the
President backfired came to narrate what
transpired between they and the
President to him. He , Kwame Pianim then
went to ask the President about it, and
the latter confirmed that, yes, indeed
there had been attempts made to
compromise him but he did not succumb.
Nobody, in his right senses will
acknowledge receiving a bribe from
another if questioned about it. So, in
the first place, the logic in Kwame
Pianim going to ask the President
whether or not he accepted the bribe is
in itself flawed.
These two different versions by the same
person reveals him as having a person
strong impulse and this makes him
approach the issue of corruption with
excessive naivety. His attempts to
justify his assertion that the President
is incorruptible are too child-like to
warrant any serious discussion. What
makes Kwame Pianim conclude that those
brown envelopes contained money? They
could have been petition which they
wanted the President to address or
something else. Are bribes given in the
open? Couldn’t those monies have been
paid into the President’s account as was
done in the Mabey and Johnson’s case?
Why should the incident of attempting to
bribe the President be repeated twice
and only when Mr. Kwame Pianim, a
supposedly member of the opposition was
present? Doesn’t this tell you something
was obviously wrong somewhere? Couldn’t
it have been stage managed to deceive
the Honourable Kwame Pianim into
believing that the President is
incorruptible? And didn’t he fall for
the bait?
And
if we are to base our argument on his
second statement that he went to ask the
President about the allegation the
second question to ask should be, “who
will readily admit that he has received
a bribe?” Only a fool or an imbecile
would admit that. Which footballer will
willingly admit handling the ball in the
penalty box when the referee has not
whistled for an infringement against
him?
The
fact that nothing of what Kwame Pianim
claims he had seen during his visits to
the President (which of course, could
have been hallucination of the mind)
never happened during the tenure of the
first two Johns does not mean that
Rawlings and Kufuor are themselves
corrupt. How many times did he visit the
Castle during the regimes of the first
two Johns? How any times has he visited
Mills since his assumption of power? And
isn’t it an irony that anytime he visits
the President in his office, someone
comes in with a brown envelope?
What does Kwame Pianim hope to gain by
such a controversial endorsement? Only
one thing! His stomach!! – a position in
Mills cabinet and I bet you, it will
materialize sooner than you think.
Ex President Rawlings anger and
frustrations : When Rawlings made
his famous or is it infamous statement,
he was referring to people like Kwame
Pianim and many others who have come
from nowhere and appear to be warming
their way into the President’s heart. It
is men like Kwame Pianim that ex
President Rawlings refers to as boot
lickers, sycophants and Greedy bastards.
As far as I am concerned, Kwame Pianim
ceased to be a member of the NPP as far
back as 2000 when he resigned. His
purported comeback to the party was not
genuine. The handling of the Muntaka’s
issue and the Mabey and Johnson bribery
scandals do not portray the President as
an anti corruption crusader.
Unlocking the lockjam: Kwame Pianim
has made very serious and damaging
revelations about attempts to compromise
the President. Who were those involved
and how do we know that such a scenario
actually took place? We do not want to
create a situation whereby any person
with ulterior/sinister motive would wake
up one day to make such serious and
unfounded allegations against any top
public servant. This matter needs prompt
attention. Parliament should rise to the
occasion by putting into place its
investigative mechanisms in order to
unravel the truth.
Hannah Louisa Bisiw, Deputy Minister for
Water Resources, Works and Housing.
Since her appointment as Deputy
Minister, she has been trying her best
to out do the substantive Minister in
defending the indefensible and
anti people’s policies put forth
by the Mills administration. She has
been endorsing and forcing the bitter
pill down the throats of impoverished
and malnourished Ghanaians. She it was,
who declared a fatwa on Nana Ohene Ntow
by unilaterally and without recourse to
the law, imposed a heavy fine on him for
using a state bungalow which served as
his official residence for what the
Deputy Minister termed “a shito” and
kenkey-making factory. And by the way,
how has she been able to enforce her
edict?
For
Hanna Bisiw to justify the renovation of
an official bungalow at the cost of ONE
POINT TWO BILLION CEDIS is something
that beats my mind, let alone my
understanding. When questioned about it,
she made reference to a similar incident
when the previous NPP administration
used over Seven Hundred Million Cedis to
renovate a bungalow. This figure was
fiercely disputed by the NPP Director of
Communications, Mr. Kwasi Kwarteng.
Assuming even if the figure is correct,
is that the reason why a staggering 1.2
billion Cedis should be spent on one
building. What is the difference between
the amount spent during the NPP regime
and that of the Mills administration? A
whopping 500million cedis difference!
Enough to put up a modest building! By
the way, if the NPP spent 700 million
cedis to renovate one bungalow, this was
probably one of the reasons why the
party was booted out of power. So we
expect a much more prudent and pragmatic
economic policies from the Mills
administration so that Dr Hanna Bissiw
could flow at the same level with
Ghanaians when she is explaining
Government policies to them.
In
an attempt to justify the enormous
“opepepeepee” spent on the renovation,
she made reference to some bungalows
which had been looted and in some cases
needed five air-conditioners to be
fixed. As soon as I heard of five
Air-Conditioners, my heart nearly jumped
out of my mouth. Involuntarily, I heard
myself saying,” stop there, Hanna. What
does a Minister need five A/C in his
official residence for? You promised us
a lean and modest government, but see
what we’ve got. Are you telling us those
Ministers can not afford extra ones if
indeed, they need them? How many
Ghanaians have access to decent and
affordable houses? Very few! But we are
not complaining. But five air
conditioners in the house of a Minister
or his Deputy! Haba! It is more than
enough. Three at the most!
By
the way, how much has been spent on the
Presidential (Jubilee House) Palace?
Juxtapose this amount against the fact
that a staggering 1.2 billion Cedis has
been spent on renovating (not building)
one bungalow and you would conclude that
this amount qualifies to be the Eight
wonder of the Ancient World. It will
also qualify to be in the Guinness Book
of Record with Dr Hanna Bissiw futile
attempt to justify it beating the
defence put forth by Sapphira, the wife
of Ananias before the Apostles in the
Holy Bible.
Ghanaians don’t even have anywhere to
lay their poor heads and that is why
they have made places like Sodom and
Gomorrah their habitation. But they
would not even be left alone. The NDC
Government of which Hannah Bissiw is a
member will not let these poor fellows
alone. They are threatening to raze down
all the buildings in the slums. But even
America has its Harlem. Why can’t we do
something to improve the lot of our less
fortunate brethren instead of pulling
down their buildings? But Hanna Bisiw
and the Mayor of Accra, the man who
appears to be from outer space would not
let these poor citizens alone. Day in
and day out, the Mayor is threatening to
send his Gestapo to teach these people
some sense for being born poor. Do you
know that this threat is similar to the
scourge of Aids virus? You know you are
infected with the virus and will surely
die. So every passing day is spent
thinking how the end is going to come.
It is the same situation that those
living in slums in the capital find
themselves in. They know they are going
to be evicted (and probably the land
parceled amongst the powers that be).But
they don’t know when it will actually
happen.
But
we had a glimpse of the impending
destruction when the tsunami struck at
such an ungodly hour at 4.00am at
Kaneshie on Monday. Why, Hannah Bissiw
and Vanderpuye? What have these poor
Ghanaians done to deserve such
treatment? Remember, the God father is
not dead. Definitely, you don’t expect
the founder of your party, ex-President
Rawlings to be happy with such an
unpopular and wicked policy. Please mend
your ways if you would like to be in the
good books of the founder.
Her
Demeanour: The arrogance in Dr Hanna
Bissiw mien is beyond description. She
speaks with too much venom and contempt
as if all other people should kowtow to
her. The contempt Goliath had for David
and the Israelites pales to
insignificance when compared with what
our learned Deputy Minister has for
those “below her”. I would advise the
Honourable Deputy Minister, Dr Hannah
Bisiw to cultivate the friendly and
affable mien of colleague Ministers like
Haruna Iddrissu and Zita Okaikoi
(herself a woman).
Dr Kwabena Dufuor: The Honourable
Minister of Finance also appears to be
one of those who are reaping but did not
sow anything. And he has been a big
disappointment to Ghanaians, especially
those in the CPP. By the way, is he
implementing the NDC or the CPP
Manifesto? The budget, even without
being implemented had already
impoverished the malnourished Ghanaians.
I pose this question to Professor Mills
and Dr Kwabena Dufuor. What crime have
Ghanaians committed to be saddled with
this austerity and killer budget?
This is the most unthinkable thing ever
to happen in our almost 53 years of our
existence as an independent nation. Why
impose tax on rice and other edibles?
What is the logic in announcing taxes
and then telling sellers not to apply
them until January after the Christmas
holidays? What kind of logic is that?
Illogical Absurdity: Let us not
forget that the NDC, prior to the
elections had made a lot of noise
against imposition of taxes on petroleum
products. Mills removed those taxes when
he came to power. Kufuor’s NPP
government removed taxes on rice and
other staple foods to mitigate the
hardships Ghanaians were going through.
But Kwabena Dufuor and Mills have
re-imposed those taxes. Another
“illogical absurdity”, one might say.
Taxes on petroleum products are removed
and re-imposed on rice, a staple food.
This is pure daylight robbery and is
like robbing Peter to pay Paul. Rice is
a staple Ghanaian dish, not a delicacy
Are
the President and the Finance Minister
as well as their advisors aware that
rice has become the staple food to
Ghanaians? Gone are the days when we ate
rice and chicken only during Christmas
and other festive occasions. What
contingency arrangements have been put
in place to ensure that Ghanaians do not
go hungry, at least during the short
term? Did they think about the theory of
Comparative Cost advantage before coming
up with such an unworkable and
unwholesome arrangement?
Let
it be told to all who care to listen
that no matter how much we pride our
selves, it will take some time before
Ghanaian rice can compare favourably
with the rice we import from outside. It
will take us years before we attain
perfection in rice production. We cannot
sit down to remove stones and other
materials from rice produced in the
country before we cook them. Have the
President, Kwabena Dufuor and most of
the hangers on around the Presidency sat
down to analyze the number of man hours
to be wasted in removing those “debris”
from Ghanaian rice?
The
Minister of Finance should be told in no
uncertain terms that it is the
tax-payers money that is being used to
cater for him and members of the NDC
Government. Thus, they just don’t wake
up to decide all of a sudden to change
the taste and consuming habit of
citizens and think that the only way
they could do so is to impose taxes. The
taste is there, and so, taxes or no
taxes, the people “go chop” foreign
rice. W e no go sit down make dem chop
better rice, whiles they force us to
chop locally produced and inferior ones.
Dabida! Walahi talahi!
Yes, Kwabena Dufuor has short-changed
Ghanaians. The social contract Ghanaians
signed with the Mills administration
when we gave him our mandate has been
breached and heads will have to roll.
Yes, Dr Dufuor is obviously one of those
people who fall into the category of
bootlickers, sycophants and greedy
bastards because of this anti-people’s
budget they are forcing down our
throats. Dr Dufuor, even though, you
were part of the NDC team when Rawlings
was President that does not make you the
perfect man for the job you are
occupying. You, not being a member of
the NDC out jumped the gun ahead of
others and got the Finance portfolio.
But you have not impressed Ghanaians,
not even your mentor, John Jerry
Rawlings. Hence the tag, Greedy bastard,
boot licker and sycophant.
Mrs. Hannah Tetteh, Minister of Trade:
Our oyibo Minister, the other day,
was heard on air attempting desperately
to punch holes in ex-President Rawlings
assertion that Mills Government was made
up of bootlickers, sycophants and Greedy
bastards. The more she attempted to do
so, the more she got engulfed in the
quagmire.
Did
she have any inputs in this year’s
draconian budget presented by her
colleague Minister for Finance who
himself has fallen under Rawlings
hammer? I will take her up on one
aspect, and it has to do with the
ongoing demolition exercise in Accra and
other parts of the country. I might
partially excuse the perpetrators of
this heinous crime against poor
Ghanaians whose only crime was to be
born poor and were only trying to eke up
a living when it comes to the central
business areas of Accra. But even here,
the timing of the action is very
worrisome..
There are some places and areas that
street trading does not constitute a
nuisance. Let us remind ourselves that
we are Ghanaians and no matter what we
do under the guise of modernization,
hawking has become and will remain part
of our tradition and culture. We cannot
overnight turn our streets into
Manhattan, London, Paris Berlin and what
have you. What measures did we put in
place to mitigate the sufferings of
ordinary Ghanaians who have to hawk
their wares under the scorching sun just
to ensure that there is at least
something on the table for their
dependants and themselves?
Wrong Timing: The most pathetic
aspect is that this ugly government
development has come at the wrong time.
It is Christmas and this is the period
one has to be charitable. The sources of
livelihood of many Ghanaians have been
destroyed by the overzealous and
barbaric nature those entrusted with
this task have been going on with their
work. How do such people console
themselves at such a period of need,
want and warmth?
The Poor should die to decrease the
surplus population: What Hanna
Tetteh has turned a blind eye to is
reminiscent of Scrooge’s encounter with
the ghost of Christmas Past or was it
that of the present? Please, pardon me.
Scrooge asked those people who had come
to solicit assistance for the less
fortunate members of the society during
Christmas if there were no prisons. The
people replied in the affirmative but
added that if such people were sent to
prisons, they would die. Scrooge added
that such people should die to decrease
the surplus population.
It
appears that in its inability to solve
the seemingly hopeless economic problems
the nation is passing through, the Mills
administration, with people like Mrs.
Hanna Tetteh have decided that the
solution lies in forcing the larger
number of the “surplus population” into
their early graves. For this is exactly
what the likes of Hannah Tetteh and the
hawks in Mills administration like the
Accra Mayor Mr. Vanderpuye are telling
the suffering masses. They should go to
hell! By destroying the very source of
their livelihood at this period of need,
is the Government indirectly not sending
them to their early graves? And this is
the period that people should be kind
and charitable to their fellow human
beings
Hanna Tetteh has shown by her stony
silence at the injustice being
perpetrated against her fellow human
beings that the tag of boot licker,
sycophant and greedy bastard fits her.
What action is government taking against
officials who issued various permits so
such poor and at times ignorant people
to put up such structures? Have the
various District/ Municipal/Metropolitan
Assemblies not been collecting basic
rates/taxes from such people/ By the
way, what is the responsibility of
Government towards its citizens? Is it
not to take care of them by providing
certain basic amenities?
Kufuor Provided Ghanaians with the
Saturdays and Sunday markets: One of
the enduring legacies of the Kufuor’s
administration was the provisions of
Saturday and Sunday markets in various
parts of the country. These were markets
people could sell their wares on
weekends without any fear of molestation
or confiscation of goods. But Mrs.
Hannah Tetteh and the Accra Mayor would
not let these people go about their
normal work in peace. The Accra Mayor
has extended the hands of his Gestapo
men and women into such markets.
The
callous, beastly and destructive acts of
such marauding predators who could even
strike at such an ungodly hour like what
happened at Kaneshie at 4.00am on Monday
have made every street in the capital an
unsafe haven for the street trader.
Infact, Nightfall in Soweto is the right
expression for the street trader in the
country today. And if you are
unfortunate to be arrested by the
Gestapo trained taskforce, you will
curse the day on which you were born.
Under such a circumstance, how can trade
thrive? Oh Hanna, what have Ghanaians
done to deserve this uncaring treatment
from a team that you are part of? And
when we complain, the retort is that
there are many stalls/stores yet to be
occupied. Can the poor afford the
amount the rich charge before letting
and at times sub-letting out these
stalls/stores? Why can’t Government
build stores whose rents will be
affordable to all?
But
why carry this barbaric, callous,
destructive demolition exercise to the
remote areas where street trading and
hawking do not interfere with the flow
of traffic?
Conclusion: The question to ask
ourselves is the same question Pastor
Tunde Bakare of the Latter Rain Assembly
asked rhetorically- “Do we have the
worst of us leading the best of us?” And
do we have a situation where bad workmen
blame their tools for their failures and
inefficiencies? Well, as long as the
God father is not dead but alive many
more of such boot lickers, sycophants
and Greedy Bastards will be unearthed in
the next write up. Who will it next time
around?. Just be patient and pray for
the nation, the President and his
cabinet to steer our ship of state
through the turbulent waters.
But
before I sign off, let me state that
this is the first time in the history of
sports administration that economic
refugees, masquerading as physically
impaired sportsmen were smuggled into
another country to participate in a
sporting event organized for the
handicapped. Yet the perpetrators of
such shameful act which impacted
negatively on the image of the country
are walking the streets of Ghana as free
men and women. This tells a great deal
about the President’s genuine attempts
to fight corruption.
I
Shall Return.
Daniel Danquah Damptey
E-mail address :- danieldanquah_damptey@yahoo.com
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