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Opinions of Friday, 12 December 2014

Columnist: Owusu, Stephen Atta

Mahama: A Scar on the Conscience of Ghanaians

Mahama's administration is the worst Ghanaians have witnessed in recent times. Promises upon promises that are never fulfilled, unemployment affecting graduates and the youth, reckless borrowing and misplaced priorities have dampened the spirits of Ghanaians. Ghanaians will never forget the hardship and poverty Mahama has put them through.

Kufuor laid a solid foundation which resulted in a higher growth rate for Ghana. When power shifted to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) we all expected the economy of Ghana?to continue to?grow at a faster rate than what we are seeing today. The poor governance and misrule of Mahama made nonsense of the positive predictions of analysts.?The expectation of?growth by Ghanaians due to the production of oil in commercial quantity was dashed due to mismanagement, lack of foresight on the part of Mahama and the NDC and also our inability to refine the oil in Ghana thereby losing all the by-products such as gas and bitumen to foreign concerns.

Ghana used to be the darling of most Western countries?as well as many African countries. During Kufuor’s regime Ghana was seen as the beacon of hope in a continent which many Westerners described as hopeless. Today Ghanaians are bitterly disappointed about the fast rate at which the NDC government under Mahama has reversed all the gains Kufuor made and gradually driving Ghana close to HIPC. Tony Blair once described Africa as a scar on the conscience of the world. Equally Mahama is seen as a scar on the conscience of Ghanaians. Ghana is said to be a democratic country but the last general elections which brought Mahama to power was the worst and most shameful in Ghana's democratic history. Ghana's democracy suffered a severe jolt when votes were rigged, electorates voted without verification and the biased judgement of the Supreme Court.

With Mahama's misrule and vain and unfulfilled promises, it will be difficult, if not impossible, for Ghana to achieve economic success that could place Ghana on the list of the economic success stories. Mahama and his NDC have made Ghanaians poorer, more miserable and more disappointed than at any period in our lives since Ghana attained her independence from the British. When Ghana attained independence we were richer than South Korea and many Asian countries. Today they are referred to as "Asian tigers," having gone past Ghana in riches and technology, while Ghana is still marking time?as Mahama, like most of his predecessors, has no idea of what to do to take Ghana out of the economic and technological quagmire.

The election of John Dramani Mahama as a young president of the fourth republic of Ghana was supposed to bring about the renewal of hope and confidence in the youth. Most people voted for him because of his youth but President Mahama defeated the idea and confidence everyone had in him. His lack of innovation showed him as a bad example to the youth. Ever since Mahama assumed the seat of government, everything has come to a standstill. If we are to compare the different heads of states in the fourth republic, Mahama has been a disappointment for the youth. He is the worst leader of all time. If his rule came in the period of coup d’états, he would have been overthrown long time ago, since his poor show of leadership has created enough fertile ground for his overthrow. President Mahama hails from the North and therefore one would have expected that he would make the lives of the Northerners better but he has been unreservedly wicked to the people of the north. All the projects he lined up for the people in the north have all gone down the drain – GYEEDA, SADA and so on. Providing electricity to the north and for that matter the entire country has been a major weakness of Mahama.

The recent Farmers day celebration was a day of shame for the Ghanaian president and the organizers of the event. What is really the significance of organizing this farmers’ day whose awards became an insult to Ghanaian farmers? Did the celebration bring any joy to the farmers? Despite the bogus celebration, Mahama is still pushing hard for parliament to vote in favour of Genetic Modified Organisms (GMO) which he will be sending to parliament. Farmers in Ghana are bitter about Mahama’s GMO agenda and most of them conclude that his agenda against farmers was the only reason why the Farmers day was celebrated so haphazardly. For the first time in the history of the celebration, best farmers were given toilet rolls and Joy daddy bitters. Shame unto Mahama! The previous governments rewarded the best farmers with four wheel drive cars, among other things. When the GMOs become a reality, how will our market women and the supermarkets be able to separate the GMOs from the real stuff as (it) is done in Europe and USA? Mahama is hurting Ghana in so many ways without an iota of repentance or any apologies to Ghanaians.

The circumstances leading to the death of President John Atta Mills still hangs on president Mahama’s head like the sword of Damocles. Mills’ death was hastened deliberately by sending him to an ante-natal department at 37 military hospital, where only pregnant women are admitted there to give birth. When Mills died, Mahama, who automatically took the place of Mills, refused an autopsy to be performed on the dead body. In an interview with Chronicle journalist last week, Yaw Boateng Gyan said that he will soon reveal the circumstance leading to President Mills’ death which will shock the world. He told the Chronicle that, “let us not forget how someone said that he would make sure the late president Mills did not run a second term. In this case not only did president Mills not run for a second term but he [President Mills] can’t be found today among the living. These are the people we are dealing with.”

As somebody put it, ‘when it is coming, it is doing’ (Se ereba a na eyo). Yaw Boateng Gyan, our ears are itching to hear more. It will not be long when the culprit who has made life so unbearable for Ghanaians, the man who has been a scar on the conscience of Ghanaians will either confess, resign or be pushed out in 2016 by the visionary and the more competent Oseadieyo Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.


Written by Stephen Atta Owusu
Author: Dark Faces At Crossroads
Email: [email protected]