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“I
will be President for all Ghanaians
whether they voted for me or not. I’ll
heal wounds and strive to ensure unity.
No Ghanaian should live in fear of armed
robbery. Improvement in internal
security would be top of my priority.
Atta Mills will, within the first
hundred days in office send a bill to
parliament to reduce taxes drastically
Other promises include:
Hitting the ground running
Putting money into people’s pocket
Drastic reduction in the price of fuel
Forty percent representation of women
Open door policy
Good governance
Jobs for the masses
Ministers/Appointees to pay for using
utilities/services
No
blame game or political vendetta
The
above were some of the laudable policies
Professor Mills promised to put in place
if elected President. Now, one year into
his Presidency, can he (President Mills)
look straight at Ghanaians, eyeball to
eyeball and tell them he has kept faith
with them?
Speaking objectively, I will say that
Baba Go Slow hit the Ground crawling for
his promises have been a bundle of
contradictions. People were removed from
their jobs and replaced with those from
the NDC. According to him, if you were
not of his political persuasion, he did
not think you were qualified to serve in
his government. Business confidence in
the country has reached its lowest ebb.
Grabbing if State Property/Resources:
This has been the norm rather than
exception. The NDC had taken a swipe at
the NPP for endorsing property
acquisition. To them, the philosophy is
anti-people. Their manifesto alleges
that if you don’t have money, you cannot
be part of the decision making process
in the country.
But
one year into the NDC’s administration,
we are seeing the other side of them. If
you see their convoys you will ask
yourself whether these were the very
people who had criticized members of the
previous regime for living a life of
ostentation.
These people who were paupers yesterday
have become millionaires overnight. They
are grabbing property here and there
with both hands and legs. They are doing
so openly and daring the rest of us to
shout if we have guts. And the most
pathetic this is that their number keeps
increasing on daily basis.
Ama
Benyiwa Doe has put up a mansion in
Accra. And since the President saw
nothing wrong with her action, she
became emboldened and has moved over to
her home region to start another
building. Yesterday, it was the DCE of
one of the districts in the Volta Region
who became “wiser” after seeing how
those in Accra are dipping their hands
into the state coffers. He has put up a
beautiful mansion in his hometown. When
asked where he had got the money for the
project, he said he won it through the
National Weekly Lotto. Well, time will
tell. Then, just today we learnt that
John Abu Jinapor, a staff at the office
of the Vice President has also put up a
magnificent edifice in his home village.
The
President would not be left out of this
game. How could he sit idly by while
mere appointees and subordinates who
cannot extricate their hands from the
juicy state coffers into which have
unexpectedly come across are allowed to
soar beyond the reach of ordinary
mortals? He must fly very high indeed to
meet the ancient gods at their abode,
Mount Olympus. These “small” party men
and women have put up structures
befitting their status, what do you
think the Commander in-Chief will do? To
his hometown, Baba Go Slow goes,
commandeer most of the community land.
He must put up a more magnificent
edifice comparable to Aso Rock at Abuja
in Nigeria. And this must be ready
before the anniversary to commemorate
the death of his father. Yes, Baba Go
slow too has to ‘teach’ his “detractors”
that he too has arrived and that when it
comes to grabbing of national assets, he
is not as slow as people would have the
world believe.
Opulence and more grabbing of National
Assets: Mahama Ayariga jumped the
queue when he, as Presidential
Spokesperson did the unthinkable,
unacceptable and absurd thing by
forcibly ‘snatching’ from the jaws of
his kinsmen three tractors sent there to
assist in the cultivation of the lands.
To show how greedy and callous he is,
the spokesperson of Baba Go Slow hired
those tractors out to his kinsmen/women
at thrice the actual cost. And yet these
greedy and uncaring people claim they
love and care for you.
As
if that was not enough, we saw them
displaying opulence at their congress
this year, especially during the
election of the Youth and the Women
Organizers. This is not an allegation
which came from the opposition parties.
It came from their members, including
their Founder himself.
This time, it was not insignificant
things like “bentoa” “kako” or “koobi”.
It was money. Three hundred Ghana cedis
in addition to a three hundred Ghana
cedis mobile phone per person! Ras
Mubarak added a humorous aspect to the
whole “show” when he stated that, when
word got to them that “the Castle had
arrived”, most of the delegates
abandoned the meal of rice and chicken
and rushed out of the hall to be
partakers of the good news from the seat
of power
We
should also not forget that, a serial
caller, Dr. “Asem Foforo” had stated
emphatically that the same Mahama
Ayariga had brought some money in “Ghana
Must Go Bags” and shared among NDC
serial callers, but he (Asem Foforo) was
denied his “legal share”.
It
was during the NDC regime that a
whopping sum of ¢1.2 billion was used to
renovate one government bungalow. When
the NDC was vetting candidates for
appointment as DCE/MCEs, the party
executives at the Regional levels
imposed some levies on the applicants.
The President declared the act illegal
and asked them to refund the monies, but
none did.
And
to give credence to this manipulation of
the electoral process, their Founder and
ex President Rawlings condemned in
totality the introduction of what he
termed “monetocracy” into the NDC
electoral dictionary. He went on to say
that some latter day converts of the NDC
had questioned the leadership of the
party how much he (Rawlings) had
contributed to the coffers of the party.
That was how bad the situation has
become in the NDC.
These are people who talked of
accountability when they were in
opposition. But now in Government, they
are sharing dollars and mobile phones!
Yes, if you can’t beat them join them.
The NDC has taught Ghanaians a bitter
lesson. And what is it? That it is only
a weak man whose wife finds pleasure in
another woman’s husband”.
Destruction of National Assets: The
rate at which national assets have been
allowed to go waste beats my
understanding. I am referring to the
rate of arson going on in the country.
And anytime such a thing happens, top
members of the government will point
accusing finger at their political
opponents.
First to be touched by fire was the
office of the Deputy Minister of
Information, to be followed by the
office of the Energy Commission. Next
was that of the Foreign Affairs
Ministry. And now we another one has
happened at TOR. In the case of the
Foreign Affairs Ministry we had the
Greater Accra Police Commander, Rose Bio
Atinga, who has turned herself into the
Propaganda Minister of the NDC just as
the former Volta Regional Commander, ACP
Derry did for the NPP.
If
the NDC government cannot safeguard or
protect life and property of individuals
and the state, does that not portray its
inefficiency and lack of total
commitment towards solving the country’s
problems? The NDC claims the NPP was
unable to solve the country’s problem.
Sure, the party was hooted out of power
and in comes the NDC. But no, it has no
blue prints on how to solve those
problems. Instead of things getting
better, they are getting worse.
If
during the NPP period, Ghanaians could
sleep with at least one eye open or
closed, it is no longer so under the NDC.
Ghanaians will now have to sleep with
both eyes open. It is non-negotiable.
In
ancient times, a king/Chief sought
solution to the people’s problems. A
Chief whose reign witnessed a spate
hunger/famine, war, defeats,
miscarriages, unnatural death,
sickness/diseases was said to have
incurred the wrath of the gods and
libation/sacrifices were offered to
cleanse the land and appease the gods.
Nobody would like to remember the reign
of such a chief. I would personally say
that perhaps God was displeased with the
NPP government and that was why it was
booted out of office. I would also
personally state that the spate of
suicides at close succession is an
indication of the fact that God is
indeed displeased with the misrule and
lack of direction of the Mills
administration.
What do you make out of these?
John Nketiah hanged himself. (Reported
on 3rd January, 2010)
Woman kills self and five kids (reported
on 6th January, 2010)
Man
strangles wife to death (reported on 19th
January, 2010)
Student commits suicide (reported on 11th
January, 2010
Man
kills wife (reported on 13th
January, 2010)
Reduction of taxes. Professor Mills
before the election stated that if voted
into power, his administration would
within the first hundred days in office
send a bill to Parliament to drastically
reduce taxes in the country. Now the
opposite has happened. Taxes have been
imposed on almost everything that has a
name in the country. It started with
fuel and now it has affected “pure
water” and toilets. Akpeteshie, the poor
man’s drink is also affected. Very soon
this clueless regime will impose taxes
on the very air we breathe.
Is this Fair? Having taken the best
part of everything in the country,
including ‘snatching’ other people’
wives and girl friends, these power
hungry gurus in the NDC are still not
satisfied. They have extended their
greed to using others as proxies to
purchase strategic national assets. I am
referring to the sale of some
buildings belonging to the National
Investment Bank which were advertised in
some state media.
Prominent among them are 1) The three
plots with a building on it at Tesano
which caters for the Artisans (General
Services).
2)
The building which serves as residential
accommodation for staff of the Bank at
North Kaneshie behind Dans Bar. Where do
they expect the staff to stay after they
have sold off the property? Can the
Board give at least one sensible reason
why they are selling this strategic
national asset? And this is a government
that claims to have the interest of the
ordinary people at heart.
3)
The Training School at East Legon,
opposite Erata Hotel. I am reliably
informed that the building originally
belonged to the Head of the power
brokers at the Castle, Mr. Ato Ahwoi. He
used it as collateral to obtain a loan
from the Bank. When he was unable to pay
back the loan, the bank took possession
of the property and converted it into a
Training school. I smell a rat here. Why
is the board selling this property? Is
it an indirect way of handing back the
property to Ato Ahwoi? What the board
wants to do is to get somebody to“front”
for Ato Ahwoi. But let me assure them
that if this is their plan, it will not
work. The wrath of God will be made to
visit all those who engage in any such
clandestine and nefarious act in
connection with this strategic national
asset. God will surely do his work here.
He has assured me of that and I dare the
board to go ahead with their anti-people
act see what happens.
If
they sell the Training School where do
they expect staff of the Bank to go for
further training? Is this not a
precursor to selling the National
Investment Bank? They want to do the
sale of the bank” bit by bit” so that
the entire bidding process could go for
peanuts.
And
what is Baba saying about this sale? Is
he going to look on helplessly as these
cabal of nation wreckers go ahead to
auction one of the few remaining
strategic national investments amongst
themselves?
Epilogue: At the end of its first
year in office all that we can associate
Baba Go Slow’s administration with are
dashed hopes and aspirations, betrayal
of people’s trust and a life of
ostentation by government appointees in
the midst of hunger and deprivation. The
Baba Go Slow administration will go dawn
in history as most conscienceless and
totally insensitive to the sensibilities
of the very people who gave them their
mandate. Members of his administration
believe, think and feel, though
erroneously, that their time has come
for them to plunder and pillage the
national assets and resources to their
barest minimum. But one thing they
might have forgotten but which I must
remind them is that one day the owner,
their creator, the Omnipotent will come
calling. What account are they going to
give? Nobody will escape this day of
reckoning.
To
these permanent unrepentant greedy
bastards and boot-lickers, there is no
other better message for them than that
of Peter Arubi, my Nigerian friend. He
says ‘No evil deed can go unpunished.
Any evil done by man will be redressed,
if not by man certainly by God; if not
now, certainly later. For the victory of
evil over good can only be temporary’.
The
President set his own questions and
provided his own marking scheme with
which I have used to mark his scripts.
Over all, I score him a disappointing
43%. Better Luck next time, Baba Go
Slow!
Daniel Danquah Damptey
E-Mail Address : danieldanquah_damptey@yahoo.com.
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