Opinions of Saturday, 1 June 2019
Columnist: Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Having been inundated by many of you with demands to know the membership of the now internationally infamous Ghana Beyond Aid Committee and whether such a committee exists at all; in the spirit of transparency and accountability, this is your answer as found on page 59 of the Ghana Beyond Aid Charter and Strategy Document. (See attached)
By the way, while like most of you, I continue to wonder as to how such a high profile committee could do this to our great country and our President, one can also begin to appreciate why those of you calling for heads to roll as President Mahama did to then ISD Director may be putting President Akufo-Addo in an extremely difficult and awkward position considering that he has publicly touted the credentials of the Committee's Chairman, Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo and other members of this high profile committee as representing his best. Remember the hackneyed refrain that they have the men.
May I also add, anecdotally, that judging from the outrage and obloquy of Ghanaians, not many will be enthused with the audacity of the Ghana Beyond Aid Committee when they discover that the committee puts forth, rather paradoxically, an "overarching vision" to establish a "W.I.S.E.R. Ghana," as stated at page 20. (Also see attached)
In the meantime, shall we plead with our good friends in Kenya to take it easy with us, at least for old times sake - the great Pan-African friendship of Kwame Nkrumah and Jomo Kenyatta demands just that.