Opinions of Wednesday, 17 November 2021
Columnist: Kwaku Badu
Some of us cannot get our heads around how and why Ex-President Mahama would refuse to accept his catastrophic errors of judgment and apologize to Ghanaians for wilfully collapsing Ghana’s economy during his tenure in office.
Despite former President Mahama’s insistence that Ghanaians suffer from memory loss, the Mahama administration’s appalling economic record(14% economic growth to 3.4%) is too glaring for the good people of Ghana to turn a blind eye.
I would like to believe that the electorates will overcome their alleged forgetfulness and remember the meltdown of Ghana’s economy(GH47 billion GDP was dragged to GH40 Billion) by 2016.
In fact, it is not an understatement to stress that discerning Ghanaians have serious reservations over the NDC administration’s failed promise of a one-term NHIS premium.
That Manifesto promise, in fact, was destitute of honesty and integrity. Succinctly put, it was a clever ploy to deceive the good people of Ghana.
To be quite honest, Ghanaians cannot forgive and forget the 58% bauxite which nearly went to friends and family just about one week of Mahama administration exiting power in 2016.
I bet discerning Ghanaians will express their anger over the GH800 million dubious judgment debt payments, including the GH51.2 million to Woyome, $30 million to the Waterville, and $375,000 to Isofoton.
It will not come as a huge surprise if Ghanaians recollect Mahama’s sibling, Ibrahim Mahama’s alleged import tax evasion of GH12 million.
Ghanaians will most likely remit their fury in condemnation over the $175 million loan facility secured in 2012 which was meant to provide seven district hospitals and the NDC administration misapplied on the blind side of Ghanaians.
The electorates could well protest over the GH200 million SADA funds invested on trees that burnt down and the guinea fowls that miraculously flew to nearby Burkina Faso without a trace.
Trust me, the voters would decide whether it was right to use the 200 million United States dollars to build only 668 housing units out of 5000.
Ghanaians cannot be faulted for ventilating their arousing disgust over the scandalous bribery and corruption cases such as the infamous Bus Branding, the Brazil World Cup, GYEEDA, SADA, SUBA, NCA, SSNIT, MASLOC, GSA, amongst others.
So who says that discerning Ghanaians will not decide if the alleged Government Official 1 has a question to answer in Europe’s aerospace multinational Airbus bribes to a few countries including Ghana during Mills/Mahama administration between 2009 and 2015?
Although a competent court of jurisdiction has convicted and sentenced four former NDC officials over the embezzled GYEEDA and NCA funds meant to provide suitable employment for the youth of Ghana, former President Mahama should have apologized to Ghanaians for superintending over such mess, but has woefully failed to do so.
Apparently, discerning Ghanaians have been waiting for an unconditional apology over the scandalous Bus Branding, the Brazil World Cup, SADA, SUBA, amongst others, but have been disappointed by former President Mahama.
From the look of things, unless former President Mahama decides to render an unqualified apology, the good people of Ghana will continue to ventilate their arousing disgust over his calamitous errors in judgment which culminated in harsh socio-economic standards of living.