The postponement of the signing ceremony of the STX agreement

– Matters Arising.

Ghanaians have not had it as bad as they are experiencing under this cruel, insensitive, divisive, vindictive and clueless regime of Baba Go Slow, alias Professor Do Little. The NDC has at the core of its leadership a cabal made up of sharks, vultures and snakes whose main task is to torpedo all laudable projects/programmes which will be beneficial to Ghanaians by feeding the vulnerable ones amongst us with misinformation, deception and utter lies. Yes, this is the stock in trade of the NDC.

Fellow Ghanaians, I appeal to your conscience to put aside partisanship and listen to what I am going to say. Please, do not be easily taken in by the announcement that the postponement of the signing of the STX agreement has anything to do with due diligence. This is far from the truth and can never be so. It is a ruse to throw dust into the eyes of Ghanaians so that you and I will get the impression that the NDC Government is meticulous when it comes to entering agreements with her foreign partners.

I would like to use this medium to state that the alleged postponement is one of the numerous propaganda antics of the NDC Government to take the ‘shine off’ the brouhaha that has engulfed the security services as a result of the disparity in their earnings with the much politicized implementation of the SSS structure. It is only a storm in a tea cup, for the technicalities that were detected by the Koreans must be blamed on the NDC’s penchant for ignoring procedural rules. Nothing, and nothing, I repeat was wrong with the agreement as presented by the NDC. What was wrong with the whole thing is that the Nefarious Destructive Cancer wanted to ‘con’ the Koreans as they have been doing to Ghanaians, but the Koreans outsmarted them. Is it true that Baba Go Slow NDC Government presented two sets of agreements at the signing ceremony as they did when they came out with a new manifesto, quite different from the one on which they won the 2008 Elections?
You will recall that when many Ghanaians raised serious concerns about some aspects of the agreement which had then been laid before Parliament, the President directed that the bill be withdrawn so that those loose ends could be knotted. Ghanaians, including opponents of the bill as it then stood praised the President for taking such a bold step and also for being a listening President. But I was one of those who were skeptical of the supposedly humble and listening mien of the President. I told anyone who cared to listen that the presidential directive did not portend any good deal for Ghanaians.
When the bill was “re-introduced” the Parliamentary Committee on Works and Housing was given just one hour to go through the ‘reformed bill’ and then submit its report. Sure, the minority raised eyebrows. Why the rush, they queried. Why should the bill be rushed through a ‘certificate of emergency or urgency’? But the Nefarious Destructive Cancer had decided that the bill be passed that day and no amount of persuasimn cound prevent the crossing of the Rubicon. Naturally, the minority opted out and the NDC MPs went ahead to pass it.
The NDC members are themselves aware that the letter N stands for nefarious – a word which does not portend any good thing for the people of Ghana. And in line with what Chimaroke Nnamani, former Governor of Enugu State said about Jim Nwobodo, the NDC as a party has spent its time since its formation to take away from society instead of giving some good things to the Ghanaian Society. The STX deal stinks. It will further impoverish you and I and our children both alive ant those yet unborn. It was one Alhaji A Alhaji, a former Minister of Finance who said in answer to the granting of a loan facility by a foreign country that: “Oh, the loan will not be paid by us. It will be paid by our children, our grand children and our great-great grand children”. That is the thinking of the Nefarious Destructive Cancer for you!
Can the NDC government explain the reason why it waited till the last minute before it came out with such a statement those certain technical issues which were raised had to be sorted out before the eventual signing of the agreement? What has the Government been doing all this while? Is this not an indictment of the way this government has handled issues? From this, one can conclude that this Baba Go Slow administration is far from being proactive.
I listened to Hannah Bissiw, Agyenim Boateng, Omane Boamah and Murtalla Mohammed on various Television Stations on Tuesday, 21st September, 2010 trying desperately to preach the mantra that some anomalies were detected by both parties which necessitated the postponement of the signing ceremony. Why such Government appointees should choose September 21, which incidentally happens to be the birthday of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah to spin such a story is what beats my understanding. They have by their act of indiscretion, dealt a mortal blow to the ideals and principles of the late founder of the Ghana nation. I wonder how the late President will be feeling in his grave as such high ranking appointees including deputy ministers go on rampage with such lies.
What were those technical aspects which were grave enough to necessitate postponement of such an important ceremony? The public deserve the right to k now. Is the Mills administration telling us that, after rushing the bill through ‘a certificate of emergency’, it never occurred to them to dot the ‘i’s and cross the‘t’s? When did the “NDC Parliament” pass the bill? Between the time the bill was paSSed and the period the agreement was supposed to be signed, does Baba Go Slow government want to tell us that the documents never went back to both parties to have a look at them so that all the nitty gritty aspects would be tidied up?
If this is all that the Mills NDC regime could give us, then I am afraid to say that all those who initiated the bill and saw to its ‘necodamus’ passage have disappointed and failed Ghanaians. They thus qualify to be labeled as the most incompetent leaders in the history of the world. Where in the history of the world has such incompetence and carelessness been exhibited? But I am not surprised because when power gets into the hands of insincere, arrogant, selfish, incompetent and vindictive sadists who owe allegiance not to the country but to their selfish and greedy individual selves, that is what is expected.
If the NDC dominated Parliament gave the Committee only one hour to look into the ‘repackaged’ STX deal, why not give both parties one or two hours to rectify such anomalies, if indeed there were any?
There are many questions than answers to the STX deal and we are yet to hear the last of such questions. But did both parties study the agreement in detail before fixing the date, time and venue for the signing? If they did, and did not notice such ‘technical anomalies’ till the point of signing, then, I regret to say that they do not deserve to be given any award for common sense for such an open display of carelessness and incompetence. And I mean what I am saying. They have by their action revealed their shallow mindedness and short-sightedness. We do not expect to find such incompetence from primary school pupils, not to talk of ‘matured’ appointees who are paid from the tax-payers’ sweaT to discharge their duties to the best of their ability. Are they telling us that that was the best they could offer? Why should the agreement be sent back to the office of the Attorney Genera, headed by a Minister who had shown by all inclinations that she is yet to terms with what her high office entails? If this is all that they could offer us, then I shudder to think that eemm…, err…... well…, u see…..
But a major question which has defied all answers is this: Why is it that anytime the STX deal was to be discussed in Parliament, the substantive Speaker would be conspicuously absent and the Honourable Doe Adjaho would preside over the proceedings?
In conclusion, I wish to re-iterate that the postponement had nothing to do with the discovery of some technical hitches in the agreement by both parties. The Ghanaian side was fully aware of what it was presenting to the other party.
The postponement was a decoy to take our minds off the bogging issues of shortages of gas and fuel and the controversy generated the inconsistency in the government handling of the disparity in the SSS as it affects the Security Services. And for the first time in the history of this nation, men and officers of a Security Outfit embarked on a strike action to press home their demand for fairness in the implementation of a new salary scale. Well, asem beba dabi.
The postponement was a ploy to paint President Mills and his Deputy, John Mahama as humble and men of integrity who have the interest of Ghanaians at heart. But I disagree. They are not. If they were, they would have taken time to listen to the arguments against the agreement as they stand at the moment and not rush it through Parliament as they have done. If they had taken time to dissect details of the agreement, couldn’t such technical hitches have been discovered at the Committee stage and the relevant antidote found for them?
The postponement was just a childish ploy to fool Ghanaians into believing that the Mills’ NDC administration adheres to due diligence in its dealing with foreign partners as they had wanted to portray in the STX deal.
But this is deception at its highest and portends serious danger for this country. It is devilish in nature and we must use all legitimate means at our disposal to stop Mills and his brigands from plunging the country further down the precipice. Yes the dice is cast. These NDC men and women are liars, deceitful, insensitive, callous, hostile, vindictive, divisive, be voted out.
We are therefore asking you to join Vision 2012 to implement this Constitutional Coup against Mills and the NDC government. Vision 2012 will restore the hopes and aspirations of all Ghanaians, irrespective of ethnic, religious, geographical or political affiliations. With Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo as President, all the negative traits being exhibited by the NDC administration will become things of the past. A new chapter will be written in your life. It will be a chapter of hope, success, equal opportunity, respect for God, the elderly, human life and the Rule of Law.
And we are asking you: Will you join us?
Thank you as you make a wise and informed decision.
Daniel Danquah Damptey ([email protected])
and dangerousanmust