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Opinions of Wednesday, 20 August 2008

Columnist: Mensah, Humphrey Tettey

NPP inconvenience lies…

Humphrey reveals NPP inconvenience lies…

All over the world, governments build on the achievements of their predecessor regimes It is only the Busia- Danquah group under various names that always claims that their predecessor governments left only a mess. Busia did it to Nkrumah and Kufuor is singing from the same hymnal. The difference lies in their targets- it was Nkumah and the CPP yesterday; today the targets are the NDC and former President Rawlings.

In the United Kingdom, not every politician or individual is a conservative or a labor party official or sympathizer. Yet every British acknowledges that without Mrs. Thatcher’s reforms of the 1980s, the United Kingdom would not have been as rich and powerful as it is today. Before Thatcher, the United Kingdom was fast becoming the sick country of Europe.

In the United States, former President Clinton managed to turn the budget from deficit to surplus. Every American believes that if President Bush had not embarked on the disaster in Iraq, the American economy would have been in a much better shape than it is today. It is all too easy for the NPP to make all the claims they make today because they came to meet a solid foundation with all the most critical reforms having been made before them.

New Patriotic Party, Haruna Esseku (former chairman). For maximum effect, the venue of the interaction could be the plush multi-million dollar Hotel Kufuor- a hotel known by the overwhelming majority of Ghanaians to belong to President Kufuor. HOTEL DE WAA WAA…GHANA MONEY K4 DE CHOP UM BASA BASA… When Ataa Ayi K4’s son purchased hotel de waa waa, and Ghanaians raised a lot of issues with where Chief Kufuor got the funding from to forcefully purchase the hotel, we were told that he set up a consortium and raised the money locally. WHAT A JOKE!!! The question is; if a nonentity like Chief Kufuor, with no proven track record in business, was able to set up a consortium and raise such a gigantic sum in Ghana, why is it that Ghana Telecom, a very feasible entity, cannot raise capital in Ghana? I ask again, if an apprentice in business like Chief Kufuor can attract enormous funding locally, why can’t a very viable entity like GT raise capital on the local market? OYIWA Why is it that the NPP government did not consider the option of raising local equity for GT? IS IT BECAUSE OF THEIR FAMOUS KICKBACKS? The answer is quiet simple; if the shares of GT are floated on the stock exchange, Ataa Ayi K4 and his looting brigade including crack head Akufo-Addo will not be able to get any kickback. We are aware of all their hocus pocus… Yes, the whole GT deal is just so Ataa Ayi K4 and his looting brigade can pocket huge kickback from the deal. WE KNOW YOUR SHENANIGAN…

For the information of President Bush, a little over seven years ago, when then president elect, Kufuor visited the Osu castle, the seat of the presidency, to have his first formal interaction with outgoing president Dr.Rawlings, so bad was his financial situation that the old, dilapidated vehicle he drove there was in such poor condition that it could not start when it was time for him to leave the castle. EYE MOBOR…

Seven years later, the same man, according to his immediate past party chief, is the recipient of millions of dollars of kickbacks. The man eldest son, who a few years back, was unable to raise money to repair his father’s crumbling vehicle and ramshackle house, suddenly according to his father, now possessed the means to buy a hotel worth over ten million dollars. WOW…GIVE ME A BREAK MR. PRESIDENT

The political section of the American embassy could give the visiting American president a whole load-down on how President Kufuor’s bad example virtually opened the floodgates that saw the governments affirmed policy of Zero Tolerance Against corruption completely flattened underfoot. WHAT A JOKE…

MoneyCracy The last year NPP presidential campaign that culminated in the election of the new candidate for the ruling NPP provided the best opportunity to see a display of the massive accumulation of wealth (Ghana money) that has taken place among officials of the Kufuor government.

Candidates, who years back in opposition, could barely raise enough money for filing fees, this time around were splashing billions of cedis in a desperate bid to buy the conscience of party delegates. The display of opulence, in a nation still grappling with poverty and under development, was so disgusting that even some sympathizers of the ruling NPP again and again questioned the source of the monies available to various candidates.

The barefaced use of suspected ill gotten money to weaken the nation’s democratic effort became so much that a new term, Moneycracy, was coined to describe NPP’s new brand of democracy.

What then did President Bush go to do in Ghana when he states that he does not want to have any dealing with leaders who are looting their own people?

Former Chicago based Ghanaian businessman and politician, Kofi Wayo, who dealt very closely with the ruling NPP and was one time a close confidante of President Kufuor could in a few words tell President Bush the true nature of the regime he is dealing with and what the officials of the regime are best reputed for. In Kofi Wayo’s view, the following three words sum up the nature of the ruling NPP- A Looting Brigade.

CocaineCracy As if the corruption and the looting were not bad enough, the seven years of Kufuor at the helm have also seen Ghana, a nation that has for long touted itself as the gateway for Africa; become the major hub of the trafficking of narcotic drugs and the haven of powerful cocaine barons.

Under the watch of President Kufuor, a whole shipload of cocaine vanished into thin air in Ghana’s territorial waters even though the international community duly informed the government way ahead of the arrival of the vessel.

Exhibits of cocaine are routinely vanishing in police custody in a way that will shock even the legendary Houdini who perfected the act of vanishing.

A leading security expert recently succinctly painted the accurate picture when he explained that whenever the name of Ghana is mentioned these days in international circles, the immediate image it brings along is Cocaine.

Next to Moneycracy, the biggest crisis facing the nation under the ruling NPP is Cocainecracy.

Opening Cocaine Floodgates

For the information of President Bush, The floodgates to this Cocainecracy were flung wide open by top officials of the government as far back as the year 2002.

Three women executives of the ruling NPP were at the time arrested at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra in possession of narcotic drugs. The three were kept in custody and the story made the headline in the nation’s top daily newspaper.

When the officials of the government realized the identity of the three drug queens, they moved into high gear and orchestrated their release and subsequently ensured that their police dockets were destroyed and the whereabouts of the three have remained a mystery to date. Various inside scoops have mentioned that people very close to president Kufuor were behind the scheme to free the three NPP drug queens.

That action by top officials of the Kufuor government sent the signals far and near that the NPP government not only lacked the political will to fight against the drug menace but was through, actions and inactions, actively encouraging it.

The result is what the nation is witnessing today. Cocaine here, cocaine there, cocaine everywhere!

Enter Nana Akufo Addo & His Drug encumbrance

As if seven and a half years of Cocainecracy is not bad enough a legacy, there is now a raging controversy over the drug status of the current presidential candidate of the NPP, Nana Akufo Addo.AKUFO-ADDO PLEASE COME CLEAN…

A recent publication culled from an international publication stated that- In Ghana, drug mules and couriers have a defense team from Akufo Addo, Prempeh and Partners. The interesting part of this saga is the direct interest shown in the drug cases by Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo, who is now a presidential candidate for the current ruling party in Ghana. EBAA FEE GBEYEE…

The publication also mentioned the following about the candidate of the NPP- As member of Ghana' parliament, he spearheaded the passing of the Transfer of Convicted Person Law. A law that will not serve the interest of the small nation of Ghana especially when one considers the scantiness of correctional facilities.

Nana Akufo Addo has come under a barrage of widespread allegations claiming that he was and is still having a major addictive problem with narcotic drugs. This allegation that originally captivated public attention through txt messages sent by members of the ruling party, some of whom are believed to be people who have for many years had a close association with the NPP candidate, continues to persist in spite of a determined attempt by Akufo Addo to wish it away by not publicly making a response.

But the more Nana Akufo Addo keeps silent, the more the conviction grows in the minds of many Ghanaians that it is perhaps the intention of the ruling party to take the nation further down the destructive avenue of Narcotics Drugs by foisting on a proud and decent nation, a man who not only pushes for a legislation aimed at bringing back to Ghana, nationals (including a ruling party legislator busted in the US) who are justly serving time in foreign jails, but possibly a man who may be a junkie and will therefore not only condone the trafficking of dangerous drugs but actively condone the consumption of same. RE-DENOMINATION OF THE CEDI Mr. Mac Manu claims that the economy has been so stable that we are able to re-denominate. What he failed to tell Ghanaians is the fact that Akufo-Addo’s brother was involved in cutting the new money and he stole a lot of it for his brother’s campaign. What he did not add was that the entire scheme is a big hoax. What matters with a currency is its purchasing power and not number of zeros that come after it. Indeed, Japan, has the second largest economy in the world yet its currency changes for more than 100yen to the dollar and Italy, until the introduction of the Euro exchanged the lira for thousands to the United State dollar. What matters is the ability of governments to provide their people with their basic human needs- something to which the NDC and its presidential candidate are committed.

In any case, is the re-denomination worth the need for spending a whopping $66 million to introduce the new coins and notes, when many Ghanaians cannot afford three square meals a day? The re-denomination exercise apart from its being a back door devaluation of the cedi was purposely meant to provide some NPP government officials and their friends in business the opportunity to make money at the expense of the people.

At the appropriate time we shall demand the full disclosure of the cost of the re-denomination from the Governor of the Bank of Ghana who has refused to disclose the cost even to Parliament .In two years time, we shall have to abandon the Ghana Cedi for the West African Eco at the cost of another tranche of $66 million.

Interestingly, the Kufuor regime has approved the establishment of the head quarters of the West African Central Bank in Ghana. $7 million has been approved for the construction of a $7 million head quarters in Accra in the 2007 supplementary budget. The book of life states that “For the lack of knowledge, my people perish” The NPP president and their toothless crack head candidate Akuffo-Addo are still taking voters for granted. Voters please wise up and vote against this liars.

At their delegate’s congress in Secondi, the president made this awful statement” We shall remind the world that the Cedi, which is now at par with the dollar, was in free-fall when we assumed office in 2001."Is he insinuating that the cedi is equivalent to the dollar? What a shame!!! These crooks should stop insulting our intelligent. When I say lieing is their cup of tea and stock of trade their messengers, NINCOMPOOP TWERPS like NANA AKWASI TWUMASI, JOSEPH JOHN, SAMMY CRABBE, NANA DARKWA and other got the impudent to threaten and called me the devil. Some of these fools have been threatening me with death and etc. The good news is that I will continue to say the truth.

Listening to the radio program, what GNA left out was that, Kuffour said, "if you put one Ghana cedi down, today, you take one US dollar"[sic]....and the whole bused in, rented crowd became silent....

It begs the question, why did GNA omit such a "remarkable and magical" achievement of this pathological liar of a president? Perhaps because they couldn't see themselves repeating that garbage/rubbish/ concocted lie to the masses.

IF ALL THAT IT TAKES IS TO DROP FOUR ZEROS OFF OF ANY CURRENCY TO STABILIZE IT, THEN, IT IS FAIR TO CONCLUDE THAT THE CEDI THAT WAS EXCHANGING FOR 6,400 TO A DOLLAR, WOULD HAVE BEEN EXCHANGING AT "0.64 JJ-CEDIS" TO A 1.O US DOLLAR (AS IN THE YEAR 2000), AND NOT THE 1:1 RATIO THAT THE KUFFOUR DOLLAR IS GIVING US..!!!! (Let’s think about that)

In other words, one Ghana cedi at the end of the NDC era would actually fetch almost TWO US dollars.....

THE VALUE IS CERTAINLY NOT THE SAME, FOR NDC GAVE GHANA, ONCE AGAIN, A GREATER VALUE FOR ITS CURRENCY --without much pump and pageantry (if only NDC knew "the trick" or found it prudent).

WAKE UP, MY BELOVED NATION!!!! The Legacy of Lies The people of Ghana, like their counterparts in the USA, hate lies. No matter how bitter the truth is, they prefer leaders who will courageously tell them the truth.

Unfortunately, the greatest legacy President Kufuor is leaving the nation is the legacy of lies and deception.

The man promised in his inaugural speech that he will pursue a policy of Zero Tolerance for Corruption but has ended up as the most corrupt leader in the history of Ghana- this in itself summarizes his lying legacy.

The man promised to deliver positive change in the lives of the people- seven years on, the only positive change that can be seen is the one that has occurred in his personal fortunes, the financial transformation of his family, friends, officials and cronies.

The lot of the ordinary Ghanaian has grown worse under his watch- the living condition of the people is terrible and woeful- the suffering in the land has become ever so unbearable- the only thing keeping lots of Ghanaians buoyant is remittances from family members and friends living abroad and the hope for a meaningful change in the upcoming general elections. It was really atrocious and outrageous when the consulate general in New York (BUSIA) at a function to inaugurate money gram to Ghana stood up and said what they know best lies…”the total micro economic stability is caused by remittance” he said. What an infamy!!! WO BON TE SEE MORI…

While the hardship and the suffering of the people escalate, the corrupt government officials continue to hoodwink the people with all kinds of false micro and macro-economic data that bears very little relevance to the day to day struggles of millions of Ghanaians. LYING IS THEIR CUP OF TEA…

It’s been seven and half long years characterized by lies about virtually everything and a superfluity of failed promises. Last year, while presenting the State of The Nation Address, the president inadvertently admitted that his promise in the year 2001 to refurbish an office complex to accommodate the nation’s law makers has dolefully failed to materialize seven years on. Instead of just stopping there, President Kufuor typically tried to seek asylum in another lie- he claimed that, unknown to him, the money he intended to have used to build the office complex, had been diverted by the previous Rawlings administration. WHAT A CALCULATED LIE…

This plain deception was rightly greeted with boos and cat calls from the minority- one Member of the minority was heard openly asking the president- "it took you seven years to realize this?"

When President Bush therefore says that his government does not want to deal with leaders who are corrupt, we cannot help but wonder once again what he went to do in Ghana with a leadership that is not just corrupt but that has also transformed a decent country into a major hub for the trafficking of narcotic drugs and that has made the act of lying such a class act that makes President Bush's own lie about the existence of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, a child's play by comparison.

I WILL ASK AGAIN, “IF GOLD (K4) ROT, WHAT WILL IRON (AKUFO-ADDO) DO”

Humphrey Tettey Mensah (booker tee)

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