Opinions of Monday, 9 October 2017
Columnist: Cyril Duodu
The NPP’S bragging and unproven touting of themselves as having the men is turning ludicrous under real examination since they assumed the reigns of governance.
It is a common cliché on the mouths of most of the NPP faithfuls that “we have the men”. When it came to seeing the value of the men they are found wanting.
It all began with their chief commander, Nana Akuffo Addo, who realized the problem early and had to pack so many of these “men” to small positions to hide the incompetence of the men should the right number be put there.
The legendary 110 ministers of state so far have been nothing but disappointing. The President on 18th July, 2017 justified packing the ministries with such a monstrous number, the first in the history of the country. It is now becoming clear that he knows he does not have the men so his appointment must go like staking lottery; stake many numbers and pray one drops to win. Such a gamble with a national government!
In order to score cheap political points and please savage supporters, Akuffo Addo and his NPP promised the people of Ghana the then ruling NDC was corrupt therefore they needed the power to prosecute them. They promised with champagne fervour to jail NDC officials through an INDEPENT PROSECUTOR (IP), an unconstitutional desire in the fashion of the LAW ON CAUSING FINANCIAL LOSS TO THE STATE six months after coming to power.
In order to fulfil this evil unscrupulous promise, the NPP attempted to push through a shabbily prepared porous ungazzeted bill in Parliament to engage in an unconstitutional vendetta. The vigilance of the minority, particularly the ranking member on Legal and Constitutional Committee, Mr. Dominic Ayine, averted a repeat of Kuffuor’s unconstitutional law that gave Justice Kwame Afreh the hatchet to hack down innocent citizens.
The mantra of having the men was called into question when the flaws of the bill were exposed by the minority in Parliament. Finally the NPP men disgracefully gave up.
It was even whispered that the speaker of Parliament Mike Ocquaye warned the cabinet of Nana Addo he would have nothing to do with the bill. He feared it will become a suicide trap for the NPP itself with the many corrupt revelations already in the nine months old administration.
He was of the view that this time they cannot escape like in Kuffuor’s time where they had the chance to repeal the bogus ‘Law on Causing Financial Loss to the State’ which the NDC could have used to jail many of the NPP guys who were in a mess incomparable to what they alleged against others.
But the inordinate taste of the vindictive President will not let him see reason. The obvious massive failure in government has become embarrassing so the promise must somehow be seen to be fulfilled at all cost. Not even the appealing revelation from the academia that the proposed IP Bill has no place in the constitution shall quench his vindictive drive.
The NPP has shamefully gone for a watered down form of the IP Bill. It has now been regurgitated into the Special Prosecutor’s (SP) Bill. Men, indeed, at work!
History is repeating itself; we must watch it carefully. The SP Bill is another Law on Causing Financial Loss to the State in disguise which will be used as a smokescreen to witch-hunt people and in the final year of the NPP’s administration to avoid being victims of it themselves. Well-meaning Ghanaians must caution Akuffo Addo before he plunges the country into a political quagmire. Precedence is there for us to learn from.
The supposed conviction of Tsatsu Tsikata under that evil law did not last in the end at the Supreme Court. God who is all knowing withdrew Justice Kwame Afreh from this life before he caused further injustice. The consequences of another blunder of that magnitude may not go down well.
Is it not interesting that nine months after coming into office the NPP spectacularly fumbled in putting up a simple bill to establish the IP office? In a disgraceful rush motivated by malice they have yet to establish any concrete evidence of corruption against any former government official?
How was it that the Attorney General and her deputies were openly disagreeing with each other in the public media? We were told prosecution of past government officials will begin this month. We are now struggling to pass a bill to that effect. Even the SP Bill already is bereft of substance.
I have heard how a clause is inserted for plea bargain. I am convinced the purpose of this clause is to smear people with dirt, force them to accept bogus evidence and accept to redeem themselves. After tacit admission under compulsion, the NPP parrots will jump on the media fray to trumpet an achievement in catching corrupt officials.
The good old Bible says in the gospel according to Matthew that we should remove the log on our own eyes before attempting to remove the plank on others’ eyes. NPP has accumulated so much corruption already which are fresh on our minds. The BOST saga, the Flagstaff House bingo, the 2.25bn bond issued in 4 hours and the 5million Ghana @60 secret funds are just a few.
If the SP Bill manages to survive constitutional test in parliament, we will like the NPP to begin charity at home. Until then we want to see the men!