Opinions of Tuesday, 10 November 2020
Columnist: Nana Frema Busia
I kneel before I speak candidly, Mr President; you must for the sake of freedom and justice demonstrate moral leadership and “fire” your Finance and Senior Ministers for cooking up the “Agyapa” poisonous mess with cabinet approval”.
The Agyapa deal is an indigestible and sordid blight on your Presidency and governance credentials. The entire cabinet needs an overhaul leading up to election 2020!
Mr President the Agyapa deal has unravelled. It has become undone under its own heavyweight of collusion and the manipulative arrogance of its architects, who thought they owned Ghana as a Danquah family heirloom and could play “cha-cha” with it. They ought to have known better. Shame!
Mr President, you must without any further ado, kindly redeem your presidency and governance from the Agyapa glaring disgrace by sacking Mr Ken Ofori Attah and Mr Osafo Marfo Snr so that the Finance Ministry and Ghana’s Economic Management can be retooled by fresh minds and solemn hearts whose sole allegiance is owed to Ghana.
Mr President the Agyapa deal as currently construed is in shreds. It is simply not tenable for a referral to the Parliament where your NPP majority who do not deserve to be voted back to Parliament failed Ghana abysmally. They bulldozed the deal through without “seeing, hearing or speaking any evil”, about the conflicts of interest, nepotism and cronyism, corruption and lack of probity and accountability hallmarks detailed in the Special Prosecutor’s 67-page report!
What utilitarian purpose is this lame relapse to parliament going to serve? Is the majority caucus now going to retract their prior endorsement or ‘sebe taflatse’ does Mr President want the NDC opposition whose objections ought to be tabled at Committee level and their comprehensive counter suggestions heard on the floor of Parliament when the Agyapa bill passed through but decided on a strategy of walkout rather than cogent engagement, to now have a free hand to rewrite the beleaguered deal in parliament for the ruling party?
What a turnaround of parliamentary fortune for NPP to make itself “minced meat” for an NDC that would have acted no different had the tables been turned in a seeming one party Ghana. Does Ghana not deserve better from its collective Representatives?
Mr President, the governance failure that the Agyapa deal represents cannot be shelved for the “four more for Nana” campaign show to go on as though nothing significant has happened, in a hijacked Ghana without credible democratic options.
Mr President, you must release Ghana NOW from the burden of devious financial schisms. The financial loss to the State of payments to advisors etc who should never have been involved and any dubious advance payments from investment houses in lieu of the Agyapa IPO must be addressed and Ghana must sit quietly and reflect on its future.
Mr President, We must change a hypocritical and Corrupt Ghana that feels threatened by truth since the supremacy of “Truth shall out” ultimately. That is why the exposed family racketeering within your Akufo-Addo governance has to be held to account including the prosecution of culpable individuals as requisite on the Agyapa deal so that it does not have the personal endorsement of your Presidential SEAL.
Mr President, endemic, permissive run-away corruption and national tolerance of wrongdoing in a Ghana without meaningful sanctions and perennial cover-ups must come to an end. It is a sad Ghana disgrace holding Socio-Economic Development captive.
• Mr President you must act speedily on the facts. Please put on moral and Ghana first lenses and purge the systemic greed and selfish acts, starting with the Agyapa unsavoury cooks otherwise “4 more for Nana” is just a noisy catchphrase that if endorsed will birth a void. Ghana is in financial dire straits, and the undoing of Agyapa represents a stalemate of a Ghana without financial stability or developmental security.
• Mr President you must hear the voices of distilled truth and act decisively. Ghana must not be rudderless. Do save Ghana from charlatan economic management.
• You must “fire” the Finance Minister and the Senior Minister Now. The AGYAPA misdeal has ended their era.
• Mr President the next Parliament must soberly pass comprehensive and effective Campaign Finance laws to curb cyclical top-down systemic corruption which emanates from the political system itself and has damning consequences for our entire nation.
My Prayer is for a Peaceful 2020 election. Good luck and Thank you for your attention, Mr President.