RE: Baah-Wiredu must go home

With reference to The Ghanaian Chronicle's publication (dated 11 March 2008 edition) on Asante-Akim North Constituency primaries to elect an authentic member of parliament (MP), I strongly agree with the motion on the floor that the incumbent MP, Hon. Kwadwo Baah Wiredu must pack his bags and get out of the seat. Koo Baah has been around for quite a long time, and has not realistically proven why he should be given more time to remain hopeless. Mr. Wiredu's twelve years on the seat as Asante-Akim North constituency MP with absolutely mediocre performance deserves an immediate exit without seeking a fourth term in parliament.

There are many reasons why Konongo must show Baah Wiredu the door. In 2003 when Koo Baah was the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Koo Baah could not prioritize to feature Asante-Akim North on term-to-term district development projects prioritized periodically. Asante-Akim North Union resident in the USA for instance had on numerous instances, requested Koo Baah to visit America to discuss strategic issues of District importance but Baah Wiredu has failed on those numerous instances to honour the offer. Two things are probable here: either Koo Baah did not have the money to travel (of which we were prepared to foot the bill if he had requested that), or he simply did not have the intellect to initiate and plan a high level project negotiations. It is this second aspect that we are saying to Koo Baah to rest and give way to a more formidable and intelligent folk out there to help develop Konongo. Secondly, in the same year 2003, we invited Koo Baah to visit us in the USA, for the same agenda on Asante-Akim North development.

On his arrival in the USA in the president's team to the UN Conference, Hon. Baah Wiredu decided to accompany Agogohene Nana Akuoku Sarpong to Florida to negotiate for a sister city for Agogo. In 2005, we needed a representative to come over here to help broker a deal with investors here who were interested in Konongo Goldmines - a deal totaling over $200-million, covering electronic buckets for the shafts, renovations of dilapidated structures, earthmovers, new equipment, landscaping, gold-refining station right on Konongo soil, streets reconstruction, hiring, and paying employees for at least a year, and so forth. All we needed was a government representative to witness the negotiations with these investors. Koo Baah, being our constituency representative doubling up as a Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, would be in a perfect position to supervise a deal that could be adding onto his credentials and credibility today as he seeks a fourth term in parliament. To register my frustrations and seek assistance elsewhere, I invited the then Deputy Minister of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital, Hon. Asamoah-Boateng, when he visited Atlanta-Georgia, USA, where I was the Chairman of NPP-USA Atlanta Chapter, for discussions on the matter. As homeboys from Konongo, Asa-Bee and I went through a number of strategic planning for Konongo, and we ended that he should please contact Koo Baah to help with his presence here to negotiate for Konongo developments. Well nothing came from Koo Baah as usual and the deal got suspended but not broken down. I have no doubt that Koo Baah will deny that he never received any information passed onto him from Hon. Asamoah-Boateng. Hon. Kwadwo Baah Wiredu does not deserve even one month into 2009 let alone a whole 4-year term in parliament.

Critically speaking, Koo Baah does not deserve to be in parliament, given a practical politicking in Konongo. Honestly, the era of seeking anybody at all to wrestle power from Gun-man Jerry Rawlings is gone forever. The current crop of pseudo-political entities hovering around the seats in the national parliament house are hopeless and must give way to dedicated and dutiful sons and daughters of the land to produce. We have witnessed cocaine barons like Eric Amoateng, wife-beaters like Moses Assaga, wife-deporters from Ghana into Connecticut homecare/live-in like Kwadwo Baah Wiredu, child molesters like Kingsford Alban Bagbin, and many more such as kick-back MP/executives. They must all go out of the House. They are just embarrassment and disgraceful to their constituencies and Mother Ghana.

Can Hon. Baah-Wiredu be generous enough to himself and his audience by telling us how many children he has put in schools through scholarships in his own hometown of Agogo-Nyinatokoro? Or how many school-going people has he helped to secure admissions anywhere on the globe including Ghana that can be added to his credit? How about the National Health plan? How many needy families has Baah-Wiredu assisted out of his own pocket to seek good health for all by 2020? Having been extremely powerful mouthpiece of the government for eight years in areas such as minister of youth, minister of employment, minister of education, minister of rural development and currently as a minister of finance and economic planning Mr. Wiredu should be coming out with a tall and in-exhaustive list of performance. But just grab Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu by the tail and dissect him, I can assure you, you will find an empty waterfall from the hilly Asante-Akim North's village of Nyanporase. Baah-Wiredu has been a pain in numerous families in Asante-Akim North; hence Koo Baah must simply go home.

In fact I was shocked after reading that report that Koo Baah denies ever making promises to Asante-Akim North. I wondered what was going through his mind at the time of denial. During the 2004 campaign for Kufuor's second term in office, Baah Wiredu stood in Konongo Ahyiem to promise that the long-awaited Konongo Quarry would be given out to investors to start a project that will give jobs to the youth. He continued that: together with the plan to reopen the Konongo Goldmines, jobs would be in abundance. Koo Baah sees a job unaccomplished, and then tries to hide behind his folly. In fact it is on this backdrop that

I went my way to help him succeed as a credible legislator, but it looks like Koo Baah is empty and cannot deliver. A very good subservient, a parochial yes-man, only good at being directed to do what the master commands him to do. BAAH WIREDU MUST GO HOME. We need a smart MP who would be able to come out with a master plan document containing practically feasible implementation strategy to develop. For instance, a simple plan of a highway connecting Konongo, Agogo and Juaso in a tri-city development project can be laudable. Then project the cost. Then present the plan to parliament revealing his/her intentions to solicit funds from Asante-Akim North folks in the Diaspora. In this case, then we can help. Does Koo Baah have this intelligence? Definitely not, he would have come out with one over the twelve years in parliament. I am sure he is bent on going to parliament until pension so that he may be pitied for a ministerial position. Without being MP Akufo-Addo's government will ostracize him for his nasty behaviour in Asante-Akim North Constituency noted in that report. The disrespect and indecency showed run up to and during the congress are ample evidence to worry him of what to do outside parliament. Nevertheless, we in Asante-Akim North do not see Koo Baah's way. We demand his ouster now. KOO BAAH MUST GO HOME.