Weep Not Ghana, My Motherland!

I tried painstakingly to get a suitable caption for this article, but try as I did; no better alternative came to mind except to use this to remind readers who had chance to read one
of the best selling literature books of the 60s - “Weep not Child” - authored by Kenya’s celebrity, James Ngoge. Another school of thought, no doubt, will brand me as a doomsday prophet. Never mind, opinions are like onions; everybody on this planet Earth has his own opinion and is entitled to it. And that makes the beauty of democracy thrive. As the caption clearly depicts, I have taken cognizance about the little historical antecedent and that dates back from the pre-independence era to date. As many people are already aware, the struggle for Ghana’s independence was not won on a silver platter. It was through perseverance, hard work, patriotism, selflessness, determination, focus and service to humanity. Even though, initially, there were dissenting and divergent views as to the frequency or otherwise; eventually, the Colonial masters gave us our hearts desire. Not many were interested but the other party had to grapple with it to calm the political climate at the time. Our freedom fighters made up of Paa Grant, Mensah Sarbah and the Big Six - Kwame Nkrumah, J.B. Danquah, E.O. Obetsebi Lamptey, Edward Akufo Addo, William Ofori Atta, a.k.a. Paa Willie and Ako Adjei, however, were divided into two – i.e. the pros and cons. While the Convention People’s Party (CPP) leadership made up of Kwame Nkrumah, Kojo Botsio, Ako Adjei, Komla Agbeli Gbedema, Kofi Baako, Krobo Edusei, A.E. Inkumsah, A.J. Dowuona Hammond, L.R. Abavana and E.A. Mahama (Prez. John Mahama’s father) pressed for immediate self-government, their opposition counterparts such as J.B. Danquah, Simon D. Dombo, Kofi Abrefa Busia, R.R. Amponsah, Victor Owusu, Yaw Manu, Jatoe Kaleo, Baffuor Akoto and their Trans-Volta Togoland (modern day Volta Region) strongman, S.G. Antor, from the United Party (U.P.) tradition, also agitated for self-rule in the immediate foreseeable future. Generally, that should have been the best option for them to develop the Gold Coast like South Africa with all the available natural, mineral and human resources for us but the incessant pressure mounted by the CPP faction coupled with the prevalent malaria that took a significant toll on the British and expatriate nationals resident here, compelled them to relinquish power to the indigenes to toy with their lives. While the CPP shouted for self-government now, the UP also posited for gradual steps to independence to enable them take time to learn the intricacies and all the tricks in governance. That was to cope with the administrative machinery of the country when the colonialists had left our shores. Their stance was however, very modest for them to offer us a very ripe and smooth transition. But as if by design or accident, while the colonial masters were day in and day out contemplating as to whether to grant us our political power, they took the due advantage of the apparent division amongst the elitist class and the prolonged disagreement and divergent views from both sides and furthermore, the unfriendly and endemic malaria that did not favour most of the expatriates at the time to grant our hearts desire. They quickly consented to the mounting pressures from the CPP and the Governor, Sir Charles Noble Arden-Clarke, petitioned Her Royal Highness, Queen Elizabeth Regina II of England to accede our request. The Queen and her British Government also acquiesced and a date was fixed: March 6, 1957 - to grant us independence – thus, the Gold Coast becoming the first African state south of the Sahara Desert. As if by design but not accident, not long enough, Ghana’s independence propelled many African countries in the east, west and central to gain political independence from their masters. Between 1960 and 1970, as many as 8 countries had gained their independence, with Ghana, also as a pace-setter to attain a sovereign status.
ONE MAN’S MEAT …..
While Rome was burning, Emperor Nero was busily feasting with the family. He did not care a dime. He did not give a hoot about the catastrophe that had befallen his compatriots. This same phenomenon coincidentally fits the unpatriotic attitude of HE John Mahama. Ghana can burn, he does not bother. Ghanaians talk too much. Ghanaians are too lazy because, many people waste their time at the radio stations to talk “nonsense and rubbish” instead of staying at the office to work to help the economy grow. But why can we not talk? How much is the ordinary worker’s salary per month? Is it not just peanuts? This scenario is synonymous with what is happening now at home while the entire family was holidaying elsewhere – the Vatican, Abuja, Denmark, etc. at the expense of the State. The news in town is that while most Ghanaians cannot easily afford two or three square meals a day, while others too, take just one meal in two days (not because such people want to go on a diet or on a slimming course); pay for their children/wards school fees, pay for the exorbitant and ‘shylock’ rent for housing accommodation all over the country, buy the commonest food – “yorke garri” (garri and beans with palm oil and fried ripe plantains), high transport fares (instead of reducing them because world market price for crude oil drops to $75/per barrel), plus of course, the increase of electricity and water bills respectively in September etc., the presidency quietly endorses the payment of special packages for the family to cool off in far away oil-city Dubai, Rome and Abuja. Information reaching this junketing author indicates that a modest hotel room (like the “Ebeye Yie” Hotel at Bubuashie, a suburb of Accra, that has been in existence before modern 3, 4 and 5-star hotels like the Novotel, Golden Tulip, La Palm, La Beach Hotel etc.) in that oil-city costs some $800.00 per night excluding meals (lunch and dinner) that normally cost $200.00 per plate minus the cost of wines and hot drinks that could easily be the delicacy of the first family of four. Within one month, the presidency has vacated its post supposedly, “for pleasure” for the country to be run by the Speaker – with the Speaker also bluffing that, he will not allow himself to be sworn-in twice by the Chief Justice on the premise that the first one was enough for the two exits. Is that not unconstitutional and for how long can we tolerate such arrogance of power from our ‘servants’ who rather have suddenly become our ‘overlords’? Whether they like it or not, our tax-payers’ money buys even their pampers for them; so they should give us a break!
DATES TO REMEMBER
For those who care to know a little bit about Ghana’s history, here are some important dates to remember all the time: The first is March 6, 1957, when the country gained independence from the British. The second is July 1, 1960, when Ghana became a sovereign state ahead of most African states. The third and probably, a date many people who did not agree with the event will not like to revisit was Thursday, February 24, 1966, when the CPP government was overthrown in a military coup d’état led by Col. Emmanuel Kwashie Kotoka. This first coup d’état administered the country for three and a half years (February 24, 1966 to early October 1969) before they handed over power to a civilian government. A landslide majority was won by Kofi Abrefa Busia’s PP - Progress Party against Komla Agbeli Gbedema’s NAL (National Alliance of Liberals after a keenly contested election held in 1969. That was a total of 105 out of a 140-seat parliament. This was also toppled by a Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong on January 13, 1972. The National Redemption Council (NRC) also stayed for a little over 6 years until some misunderstanding arose and a palace coup took place. This time, it was led by a colleague military friend, General Fred W.K. Akufo, in July 1978. As snipers often say, Fred’s envy to boot out Acheampong from office enabled Jerry Rawlings to sneak through to also enter the political arena on Monday, June 4, 1979, with the flimsy excuse that most of the senior military officers had abandoned their military profession and gone overboard into business. Some others too abused the system by using their uniform to acquire wealth and property. But what do we see now these days anyway? Has anything changed? An officer (Col. Roger Felli) was alleged to have used his uniform to secure just Gh¢5.00 (¢50,000.00) those days for some urgent need but was later arrested alongside other senior officers and former heads of State and shot by firing squad between June 9 and 16, 1979. The salient and probably the more pressing question one would dare ask is since their death, how much wealth and properties have their accusers not made in life after first, forgetting to remove the peck that was in their eyes as explicitly stated by the Book of Matthew Chapter 7:7? Will Papa J tell the whole world how much he was worth before June 3, 1979 and after January 6, 2001 that he handed over power to John Kufuor? As a Catholic it is my prayer he tells the truth otherwise, he should not hesitate but to go to confess immediately before a Catholic Father for his sins. The heinous crime of his time was the dastard and bestial murder of the three high court judges – Justices Cecilia Koranteng Addow (then a 3-month-old nursing mother), Sarkodie, Agyepong and a retired Army Major, Sam Acquah, the personnel manager of GIHOC, on June 30, 1982. A labour case between them and the State, was won by the workers’ group to discredit Joachim Amartey Kwei, who was then a PNDC member. Jerry John Rawlings as Chairman of the PNDC for 11 years, became the household name in Ghana and because of atrocities that were meted out to political opponents, his Mao Tse Tsung style of governance became intolerable by the international community and was compelled to entertain divergent views before loans could be granted for development. He was also advised to allow multi-party democracy to prevail otherwise, Ghana would be cut off from the outside world. Having been propped up by the likes of the Tsikatas and the Ahwoi Brothers for 11 years, these two trios were in fact the master tacticians with the late Paul Victor Obeng doing the administration work as the ‘de facto’ prime minister. In fact, Ghana became the epitome of anarchy. Those who could not tolerate such sight and scene decided to leave the shores for their safety and peace. That period was when, according to Kwesi Pratt Jnr., as many as 232 people disappeared mysteriously or slaughtered by the military with the late Jack Belie, being the master executioner for most of them. One really wonders whether none of them earned much more than Gh¢5.00 while in office or had much more wealth than those they accused and sent to the gallows? All the same, Ghanaians are the best judges as you read this piece. The referendum of end of April 1992 settled the scores for a multi-party democracy to pave way for general elections on December 7 of the same year to elect Mr. Rawlings as the military-turn-coat president after 11 years of dictatorship.
NEW LEASE
After Rawlings’ two successful terms came to an end, John Kufuor too of the NPP, beat his challenger, John Mills, who had been unilaterally declared at a Swedru rally by an infamous acclamation in a second round contest on December 28, 2000. John Kufuor also became president for two terms and his heir-apparent, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, failed to snatch the winner in the first round contest and lost narrowly on January 4, 2009, to John Mills. John Mills presidency more or less was shrouded in secrecy; but as one would think, his health fast deteriorated and eventually lost his nasal senses and the party big wigs, sensing danger that he might not last his term because of periodic health problems, all what Ghanaians were presented with was the sudden announcement by the chief of staff, Henry Martey Newman, one lunchtime of Tuesday, July 24, 2012, time, 14.15 hours that the associate professor had passed on. That same day, John Mahama was quickly sworn into office by the Chief Justice, Her Ladyship, Justice Georgina Theodora Wood at 20.30 hours when the parliament was rushed into convening for that momentous occasion. To date, no one except those close to him, know how the celebrated icon met his death after he had feted the Castle press corps the previous Saturday night on his birthday occasion. The continuation of the NDC governance is what everybody seems to witness since that day. The saying that, “if it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you” clearly fits John Mahama’s posture because, Ghanaians have accorded him special respect till now. For all you know, his name and regime will go down in history as the first to be the professor of promises that never bear or yield fruits – the Kotukuraba Market in Cape Coast to be the No.1 in the sub-region; the KIA to become the domestic airport to be replaced by a more modern airport at Prampram; the Tamale airport to be the first international one to compete with Johanesburg or Charles de Gaulle airport of Paris. Others were 200 community senior high schools - all over the place whereas in fact, none has seen the green light by the middle of his first 4-year term in office; a domestic airport to be constructed at Koforidua, a flying distance that a chopper can easily make it in 8 minutes; the removal of 2,000 trees under schools (instead of schools under trees) whilst only 60 had so far been lucky to have sand-crete structures. May be, he has forgotten himself that “a large chair does not make a king as well as anybody who does not know history, cannot plan for the future”. After all, “any idiot can hold a flag”. If you can do ostentatious campaign within a short time to waste all the country’s economic resources to the detriment of the citizenry such that the economy reaches the marrow in the bone, you can easily become a president in Ghana without a hoot if you know how to wash your hands well.
COMPARISON
For the purposes of clarity, probity, accountability and transparency, Jerry Rawlings should try to expunge himself from what he said about John Kufuor sometime ago in May, 2007, precisely as recorded and quoted by the No.2017 edition of the Daily Guide, Monday, May 7, 2007 and titled “Rawlings Again” and compare same to his “student apostle John Mahama” to determine which of the two regimes the American CIA would better have wished to boot out of office there and then. Is it because he behaves as a nocturnal milking beneficiary hence the inability to chastise JDM? I will urge readers to patiently read the statement attributed to John Rawlings re his accusation as thoroughly captured by the paper’s reporter, Bennett Akuaku, and simply compare the same to what pertains today in John Mahama’s government and the accuser’s long silence until lately, barking somehow, as a toothless bulldog. Please read the excerpts culled from that issue - “The ex-president, Jerry John Rawlings, has indicated that the Fourth Republic Constitution could be thrown overboard in the not too distant future, hinting on another bloody revolution in the country.” Justifying what he inflicted on the country in June 1979 and December 1981; in which hundreds were either killed, maimed or missing, the ‘master coup planner’ said the third revolution could be bloodier, stressing that the stage was already set. The only surviving Ghanaian former president, expressing this premonition when he delivered an address during the Africa Day 2007 celebration in The Hague, Holland recently, told his audience that but for a caution given by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to the Ghana government in January 2006, the coup would long have taken place. The CIA, he said, saw the coup from afar and rushed down to Ghana early last year to warn President John Agyekum Kufuor not to expect an American intervention if he failed to tackle the corruption in his government. In another breath, Rawlings said President Bush, whose government, he alleged, was then frowning at corruption in Ghana, hailed Kufuor as the most visionary leader on the African continent. According to him, the very circumstances that prompted him to pick the gun in his two previous military juntas against General Frederick W.K. Akufo and President Hilla Limann had been repeated by President Kufuor, so it would not be out of place for the nation to once again tread the path of revolution. “A man has the right to revolt if there is no other means to liberate himself,” he told an African Bulletin reporter who wanted to know from him if he would love to save the country one more time. To him, the oppression and repression under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government was many times worse than any other ……” Please grab a copy of that issue in question to complete and form your own opinion for time and space and be your own judge in that respect and perspective. Fellow countrymen/women, what do Ghanaians see today and these days?
Looking at Ghana from afar -
? Has Ghana any future unlike Burkina Faso that has just been plagued in turmoil recently?
? Is it not incredible that after long delays of non-payment by government, 90% of all cheques payable to various contractors and others bounce all the time?
? This can only happen under JDM. Just as Mahama’s government wanted the twelve (12) striking labour unions to honour a court decision to call off their strike and return to their work places, why will the same government not honour the same obligation by the Supreme Court decision to retrieve the illegally paid Gh¢52bn judgment debt paid to Woyome?
? Has the NDC government since its inception changed for the better and pruned itself of being blood-thirsty? For those who do not know but will like to know today, the parent NDC under Nana Agyewodin Rawlings, saw the abduction, blindfolding and killing of three HC judges and an army officer at the Bundase military range through their backs and setting the corpses ablaze with petrol with him as the chairman of the PNDC on June 30, 1982.
? In this modern day Ghana under JDM’s NDC, many youth mostly teenager students, unmindful of the consequences, have one way or the other, either committed suicide by hanging or shooting themselves with gun because they claim, they have no future because life has become unbearable.
? Has Ghana any future if a certain Agona Swedru student girl of a business college, was said to have committed suicide because her brother had reneged to pay her fees of Gh¢200.00 owed to the school?
? Has this dear nation a promising future if the government of the day decides to offer the chunk of political, civil and public service appointments to one particular tribesmen and women without the ultimate repercussion?
? Has Ghana indeed, a credible future if the Mahama government decides to hijack the salaries of nurses who have really worked for two years (24 months) to earn such emoluments only to be told we would pay you three months?
? Has JDM any lessons to learn from the Burkinabe experience if, judging by our television screens; courtesy, GTV, some 20,000 defenceless demonstrators who poured onto the streets of Ouagadougou were sufficient mob firepower to push President Blaise Campaore out of power; go on to set their Parliament House ablaze, then he should advise himself. That House is where that ignominious constitutional amendment would have been forced down their throats and push for another term of 5-years. His little kingdom came to an abrupt end with disrepute and ridicule. His personal greed and lust for power was because, after 27 years in office, his party, ostensibly and probably, with the majority in parliament like we have here in Ghana, thought he could manoeuvre his way and bamboozle the Burkinabes and this is where JDM should better be careful with the anger and displeasure 700,000 general workers including 12 Labour Unions have vowed that their retirement benefits were dissipated by his NDC regime.
? Has Ghana a future if JM’s government continues to fiddle with the facts and figures of the actual pension monies accrued in favour of the 700,000 aggrieved workers? If 20,000 demonstrators were able to do the trick in Ouaga, then 700,000 angry local mob divided equally by the 10 regional capitals for such an expedition if the situation demanded such a putsch, then your guess could be as good as mine that some 70,000 could easily push over each regional police manpower – trust me. If the Alhassan police play the fool to shoot or maim one Ghanaian soul, then JM should be prepared to follow Charles Taylor at The Hague for the consequences.
? JM and his government should never think that Ghana was an island and that it would take centuries to behave awkwardly like our neighbouring states because it is only in Ghana that we have God forgetting that, God is everywhere, and we are not the only country who serve and worship Him better. Anything can happen and the bluff should be halted.
? Just as Jerry Rawlings granted interview to the African Bulletin reporter during Kufuor’s time and said, “A man has the right to revolt if there was no other means whatsoever to liberate himself”, then John Mahama would long have been booted out because his governance has stifled both the rich and the poor. Since many Ghanaians abhor bloodshed, we would treat him with ‘kid gloves’ and apply one of the several ways of killing the cat i.e. since he is a youth, he would appreciate the Campaore style to avoid the spill of innocent blood.
? If Blaise Campaore could flee his country and leave his “tokota” i.e. pair of sandals behind, then JM should caution his Omane Boamas, Baba Jamals and others who would not wizen up to control their erratic, arrogant and untamable tongues that pour filthy, stinky and vulgar language. They should not think the country belongs to them because one day could be a dangerous moment for them.
? Will Ghana have a peaceful co-existence in future if our leaders (both past and present) continue to remain aloof as if nothing has gone wrong to behave as gaping sycophants and not let their voices be heard with regards to the unprecedented governance that is fraught with legalized illegalities. This could prick a miscreant to wake up one day to line up personalities such as the Kofi Annans, the Kufuors, the Rawlingses, the Mahamas, the three (3) Eminent Chiefs in the Ya Na’s case, the Okyenenes, the Dormaahenes, the Prof. Anfoms, the VCRAC Crabbes, the Ibn Chambas, the Victor Gbehos, the KB Asantes, the JEK Aggrey-Orleans and a few others – drags all of them to the ‘mayanka’ - slaughter house as sacrificial lambs for being unpatriotic to allow such nuisance, gargantuan corruption, daylight thievery/robbery of the national purse, scramble for ill-gotten monies and all manner of wealth and property and finally, intolerable arrogance to go on unchecked to deny the future generation of their due and fair share of the national cake. The lucky ones may however find solace in the prison custody. As for the current crop of politicians - the Twum Boafos, the Baba Jamals, the Ablakwas and the Omane Boamas - the much better it will be for them if they were hauled to the gallows at the Teshie Military Range.
? For how long will John Mahama learn the history of Ghana and correct his unpardonable mistakes?
a. By condoning and conniving with the bunch of thieves in his backyard to dupe/ defraud/rob Ghana/Ghanaians – the oil money and fictitiously saying, we have used so much for capacity building, Capacity building for what? Absolute nonsense!
b. To continue to illegalize illegalities and his adamant stance (because Ghanaians have short memories and will soon forget) to spare the rod and spoil the child –“mo ka koraa a, na meye no more” or “yentie obiara” - many of his appointees whose tongues pour out vulgar invectives to the annoyance of the unsuspecting Ghanaians – the retention of over-aged IGP, Mohamed Ahmed Alhassan for two more years, other over-aged John Kudalor and Mohamed Yakubu, whose retirements are long overdue but are being propped to slow down police promotions and efficiency.
c. To contract huge loans without parliamentary approval e.g. the most recent ones being the unnecessary and unjustifiable $2.5bn that parliamentarians were recalled from leave to hurriedly approve without going through the Order Paper thoroughly and the GNPC’s yet-to-be-contracted loan of a whopping US$700m “through-the-back-door”. Ironically, those that pass through are hurriedly done haphazardly because of his party’s numerical strength and majority to bulldoze their way. But if Mobutu Sese Seiko, Iddi Dada Amin, Brother Muamar Qaddafi, Moshood Abiola, Sanni Abacha and the most celebrated Nelson Rolihaha Mandela of all persons have come to play their parts and gone to the oblivion, Bro. Dramani Mahama should do whatever pleases him. There is time for everything, but he should be mindful of all his vain promises to Ghanaians which are an abomination because He displeases vain promises.
d. Since ordinary advice cannot change a person’s conduct unless he has been involved in an accident, the least said about this government, the better it will be because, in the Ghanaian parlance, it is often said, “everyday for thief-man, one day for the master”, one day, the master will catch him in the act.”
e. When will the courts deal with that National Service boss, Alhaji Sulemana, who is alleged to have embezzled so much money from his outfit?
STARTLING QUESTIONS
Meanwhile, Ghanaians should join the author to pose these startling questions:
a. Who were the signatories to the so-called A/C No. 48 at the Ghana Commercial Bank, Legon Branch?
b. Who purchased the Aboso Glass factory that was divested under the PNDC regime? Was it Gilchrist Olympio and if so, how much did he pay to Ghana?
c. Who also purchased the Nsawam Cannery and at what price? And was the money paid to Ghana at all?
d. Who sold out all the 4 or so Black Star Line ships and for what price?
e. By Mr. Rawlings admission above, was it true that some 232 Ghanaians were killed and got disappeared from the planet Earth during his second military junta?
f. Did Mr. Rawlings not give instructions to the police to beat the ‘poor’ driver and his mate who inadvertently crossed his pleasure vehicle on the Tema motorway to death? As a staunch Catholic, he should be honest with himself with his answer.
g. Fourteen years on, have Jerry Rawlings’ bodyguards not repeated the dose of beating up another poor motor hearse driver on the motorway and kept him in private custody for several hours at Tema recently?
h. Why should the NPP build 6-classroom block for Gh¢80,000 whilst his sponsored NDC, courtesy, Mahama Ayariga, then Deputy Minister of Education, used Gh¢320,000.00 to execute same? What does he make of the Gh¢240,000.00 difference – corruption or what?
i. Has Jerry Rawlings been following the hue and cry or hullabaloo of the sale of the Merchant Bank by the Rand Bank of South Africa and the Fortis Bank where, in each case, the premier bidder offered to pay $194m with additional responsibility for 70% of the bank’s liabilities while the Fortis also pressed for $90m with liability for the banks 30% burden to shoulder and eventually, the last bidder was given the nod? What is Mr. Rawlings’s stake on this national issue?
j. Was John Rawlings in the country when an NDC appointee purchased 4 car tyres (neither Michelin nor Dunlop) for Gh¢6,000.00? What is his stake on this also?
k. Where was Jerry when Louisa Hannah Bissiw, the Deputy Minister for Water Resources, Works & Housing refurbished vacated government bungalows by the out-gone ministers for Gh¢80,000.00?
l. Was Ababio Rawlings in town when 250 Ghanaian students for medical studies in Cuba for 5 years were for free but his NDC government under JDM tried to further exacerbate the Ghanaian tax-payer with some fictitious charges? Is Socialist Rawlings awake to notice the difference?
m. Which of the two judgments; either the 1982 one for which 3 judges and the army
officer were murdered or the August 29, 2013 corrupted ruling that had official
sanction, would he have clandestinely authorized for an instant justice if he still had
power as before, like the primitive Stone Age era when he was Ghana’s ‘Saddam
Hussein?
n. What prompted Agyewodin Rawlings to castigate his apprentice’s government of
surrounding itself with evil dwarfs with sharp teeth, corrupt ministers et cetera?
o. What is Mr. Rawlings’s stake on the wrongful payment of judgment debts to Alfred Agbesi Woyome, ISOFOTON, CP, African Automobile, Waterville, etc?
p. What does he say about these - GYEDA, SADA, National Service Secretariat Rot and a host of them if the corruption embroiled with JDM were done in Kufuor’s era?
q. Has Wofa Rawlings’s intelligence picked up the disappearance of some $90m from the Ministry of Finance that may have gone to wrong pockets? What is his stake on that?
r. Is Efo Rawlings aware that the haul of cocaine to Europe (the unequalled trailer load to Germany and the questionable kilograms by 8 persons to the US via Delta Airlines) under the Mills/Mahama administration has been the unparalleled in Ghana’s history with Yaw Akrasi Sarpong, until lately, the NACOB boss gaining notoriety everyday? But wait a minute, Ruby Adu Gyamfi, a.k.a. Naa Ayele Ametefe’s recent complex 12.5 kg cocaine haul has brought a serious indictment on Mahama’s person, his government and Ghanaians as the disgrace of the millennium with international dimension. Who allowed her to pass through the VVIP lounge anyway? “Crazy” Sarpong should have considered resigning immediately to save credibility before he was given the bullocking to disgrace himself because of this “fianga” girl. Is it because he is one of those persons who wash their faces from bottom to top - chin to the eyebrow? What was so special about the caught-red-handed drug courier Ruby in UK that “spineless” Ambassador Victor Smith did not feel ashamed to visit her while in custody in an ambassadorial position?
VISION
Fellow Ghanaians, it is my wish that you rise up. I get a vision. I urge all the senior citizens who, occasionally, have been invited to State luncheons at the expense of the poor to rise up, let your voices be heard so that you could be exonerated. If you fail in this national duty, one day or some day, some of you or all of you could be rounded up to answer for dereliction of duty. Just as the late Akwasi Amankwa Afrifa, who had long retired from active soldiering and was cooling off in retirement at home, was specially hand-picked, and arrested to face the tune in 1979. Whether it was an accident or divine incident, only God knows. He was not spared but shot by firing squad alongside other military generals for being “nation wreckers.” In your case, you could also be charged for allowing the country to be so governed wretchedly as if the country was a ship heading towards a dangerous wreck. The within-named persons above and all those whose names cannot readily click, my advice is “Get up, make noise and be counted.” Ghana is panicking! The Nation is in great crisis. Nation Ghana is in distress! My heart aches! My soul bleeds for her! My mind is unstable! Any saviour in sight? Any redeemer coming from some -where soon? Any messiah around the corner? Weep not Ghana, my motherland! Why do some of you become so interested in money and remain glued to wrong-doing and not talk? Money that has been dished out to silence the greedy unconscionable persons in society cannot buy back our lost pride! We must wake up and rise to save our dying souls. The situation now is worse off than it was in 1981. Truth is non-existent! Lies and deceit must not be allowed to reign supreme to be glorified in Ghana. It must be condemned in no uncertain terms. Do not call me a doomsday prophet because the salvation of Ghana is the collective responsibility of all of us.
ADMONITION
If I were JDM, I would, with a contrite heart, pray earnestly without ceasing to the Almighty God like Jabesh of old in the Bible, when his mother bore him out of pain to face many unimaginable and unexpected herculean obstacles in his life. He was later accorded special recognition, forgiveness and remission of sins. He should repent for the “questionable EPH judgment of August 29, 2013”, which many people around the globe perceive that he has a hand in it but not, so that Ghanaians will become free from the myriad of hardships his governance has placed them in. To quote Rev. Prof. Martey, the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, “Ghana anyansafoo eee!, mo wo hene?” Where are thou to the rescue of this Nation? Where are you, the only three (3) Wisemen in Ghana to make this country a paradise on earth? Mr. President, not until you halted the robbery and the rot in your backyard; and your propaganda team of professional/perpetual liars stopped the incessant lies and deceit of the public which you sanction and plunged into action and make use of the enormous loans contracted, your impotent government will neither see peace nor the green light at the end of the tunnel. Mind you, if your agenda for 2016 was vote-buying with the amassed wealth by your appointees, then you better watch out. Ghanaians should not be surprised at all to experience the Burkina uprising by unarmed demonstrators despite the presence of armoured vehicles and the visible police personnel all over. At the appropriate time, trust me; nothing can stop the “Arab Spring” in Ghana that has just started from next door neighbor Burkina Faso in the West African sub-region. The puzzling question is – “When and how soon will the bold and discerning senior citizens across board from the clergy, retired generals, opinion leaders, jurists, chiefs, the GBA, UTAG, POTAG, GMA, GNAT, NAGRAT, CJA, AFAG, and the AGI leadership et al wake up from their sleep and arise to sit the president up and to call his bluff to order, and tell him that “Hey, you toddler, (as he prides himself as the most youthful president) you cannot have your cake and eat it and toy with the lives of the 25 million Ghanaians” before the country was overtaken by events such as the mob firepower catching up with us all? And if, in the unlikely manner, that catastrophic event caught up within seconds and twinkle of an eye, will any of the so-called 9-month old pregnant citizens (some of which may have been bribed with state money at the expense of the down-trodden, vis-à-vis ill-gotten capacity building monies) be able to raise a finger? And just as a Nigerian friend would say, “Na God will punish all such unpatriotic pot-bellied persons for behaving like ostriches!” If such persons should die, their corpses should be exhumed from the graves, placed on tables and given German dozen strokes in the full glare of the public for the great disservice to Mother Ghana for their lackadaisical behavior like the three unwise monkeys – “see no evil, speak no evil and hear no evil”. Is it not disgraceful and damnable for the Chief Justice, Her Ladyship, Mrs. Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, of all personalities, to also add her shrill voice to the numerous calls concerning the gargantuan proportion of corruption in government, that has totally ravaged the economy? But take it from the author that, if you could confront him like that, all his ‘disrespectful’ appointees notably, ‘hollow’ Alex Mould of GNPC, hitherto of NPA, (does he remember the monthly US$63,000 rent that was paid upfront for two years) who thinks Ghana belongs to him and sister Betty, will not foolishly, rudely and arrogantly, single-handedly with nocturnal moves to the Attorney-General’s office, allegedly for advice, secure a normal practice out-of-parliament funding of $700m with the State oil money as security/collateral as another burden on the tax-payer. They will be shaken to the bones because their infuriating stance, that tend to become juicy ingredients for anarchy and mayhem and possibly, change of government by force of arms to send the country backwards, will be curtailed, and your names will be boldly written in gold on plates for posterity to see the part you played. Does that Alex man take all of us Ghanaians for fools? He should be very careful, because Ghana’s recent past is still fresh in our minds. Now that our traditional chiefs have begun to sound notes of caution one after the other for vain and unfulfilled promises, nothing good can be said of his chances for 2016. To buttress this point, please turn with me to the Book of Ecclesiastes 5:4, “If you make a vow to God (Ghanaians are God’s created images) do not delay to pay it, For He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed.” It is hoped JM is aware of this common biblical quotation and cannot pretend and turn round to say the promises were mere campaign promises for votes. Which country in this whole wide world, apart from Ghana, would the citizenry tolerate the flurry of nuisance and nonsense from the ECG/VRA/GRIDCO with firm support from government (the dumsor, dumsor canker will become a thing of the past as oftentimes repeated by JM) to cause the demise of several companies – cold stores operators, welders, electricians, tailors/dressmakers/seamstresses, virtually everybody - and death and pain of its citizens? But no reasonable person in the ’NDC’ - Narcotics Dealers Company cares a hoot about this menace! The question is, “If Nation Ghana were a corporate body, with all the unmatched, unparalleled, unprecedented natural, mineral and human resources plus the black gold (oil) at his beck of call, is that how JM as its CEO, would run it? How come that Ras Murbarak of NYA with impunity, take unapproved public money - (Gh¢100,000.00) for a private visit to China and still remain untouchable? This has strangely and phenomenally put Ghana’s debt burden at Gh¢69bn.plus and it is very disheartening – the ridiculous contracted loans over US$20bn. in two years are just, not commensurate with the physical projects. This is just sickening and very nauseating and John cannot whip him or sack him for that silly conduct!
THE LAST STRAW
Hope readers still remember the saga of Augustino Pinochet of Peru and his disgraceful end after 30 years out of power. When many people around the world pleaded for clemency; thinking all was well and that his life would be spared due to his old age for his misdeeds and atrocities to fellow compatriots; such unpardonable cruelties were telepathically resonated by the younger generation; and a number of persons were killed with him as deterrent. Historians also know too well about Adolf Eichmann of NAZI fame. After the atrocities he and others meted out to the Jews where an estimated 6 million lost their lives; he fled Germany for so many years to stay outside under the guise of an adopted name and posture, but when the time came, he was easily identified from his hideout in Argentina, South America, and sent back to Europe to face the tune. Of late, the way many people in government have engaged themselves in mad rush for ill-gotten monies: sighted, concealed, created or concocted to loot and share, clearly suggests as if the world was coming to an end tomorrow without recourse to world history. How come that, as many as 226 diplomatic passports could be issued within six months – May-October 2014 – i.e. the rush for Brazil World Cup and a source for coke? Hannah, what have you got to say instead of being Ruby’s PRO? If even some ministers of state and MPs are not entitled to such passports, who, then are the numerous beneficiaries? Is it a truism that this could be the remote cause of the tones of cocaine smuggled into Ghana awaiting export to Europe by the likes of Ruby’s kith and kin? Are we Ghanaians really serious as a country for the Minister of Finance to hint of an increase in fuel price at a budget reading on the floor of parliament and within a twinkle of an eye, the same parliament (bogus and rubber stamped as described by a certain old-man) with its majority, instantly, bulldozes its way to vote on it to become effective within hours excluding the minority for the ordinary man in the street to swallow this kind of bitter pill? Why are we so daft as a country and as a people with a common destiny to behave awkwardly in government without building effective structures as suggested by Prez. Obama when he spoke to Ghana’s Parliament in 2009? First, the George Benneh scenario - a Minister-Consul at the embassy in Geneva, is not an exception. He was caught pants down in drug trade via the diplomatic pouch in 1996 after which special intra-government talks between Switzerland and Ghana settled the scores to sweep the sordid indictment under the carpet when JM was an MP. But the stigma still remains. Secondly, in Prof. Mills’s era when JM was his vice, eight (8) identified party members travelled aboard Delta Airlines from Accra to the USA also unveiled another international catastrophe. Each of them carried unimaginable weight load of cocaine. Thirdly, the last straw to break the camel’s back was the Ruby Cocaine Saga. Soon after Citi FM broke the news, typically and characteristic of NDC; in a whirlwind fashion, Ministers of State started saying this and Chief Executives Y and Z saying that to confuse the public by lying between their teeth until the British High Commission in Accra debunks the lies/deceit of the millennium and deflates the balloon reference the recent cocaine saga. The BHC should do well to confirm or deny the diplomatic passport hullabaloo to set wagging tongues at peace. Collaboration? Ei, Yaw, what kind of collaboration? Before sanity prevails for one to say Jack, the president had shamefully dissolved Naval Captain Assasie-Gyimah’s NACOB board to save face but too late. Only a naïve person would believe that the Mahama government was innocent about this global humiliation and indictment and could be exonerated. Mr. President, you can run but not hide. You can never ever extricate your name or personality from this sordid “coke” saga. Who authorized the use of the SPD vehicle? Who rode her in the Special Diplomatic Department vehicle at all from home to the VVIP lounge? Who checked her in at the airport counter for flight BA.078 that day? What work does Ruby Adu Gyamfi alias Ruby Mahama, aka Naa Ayele Ametefe, do to be able to fly first class? Who is that Alhaji that instructed the MOFA staff to allow Ruby to use the facility meant for only the presidency and visiting heads of states? What power does he wield in government? It should be noted that this tragic trip, allegedly, would have been Ruby’s fourth in a month – all of them, via first-class. Since 1995 to date, the NACOB bosses from Mr. Kofi Quantson to “Crazy” Akrasi Sarpong, have admitted in unequivocal terms; and Prof. Patrick Addy, one time minister of the interior with affirmative statements in unison from the flanks to conclude that the NDC as a party/government, has unsurpassed record when it comes to monitoring/supervising/evaluating the cocaine trade as a very booming business .Why? Why? Do some Ghanaian politicians learn history as a subject at all? If Burkina parliament house could be set ablaze, will our parliamentarians not take a cue from this that it could happen here too? Quoting from a source in Accra, courtesy, Oman FM radio in respect of the South African Parliament, where a lady MP was given the chance on the podium to address members, and started by chastising: “HE Jacob Zuma is a thief, thief, thief, criminal etc. Mr. Zuma is the greatest thief in the world, and the No. 1 liar in the world, bla, bla, bla”! If the same lady were an MP here in Ghana, then it presupposes that what she would say, would be likened to an armed robber instead, because the mandatory/ statutory payments by government to GETFund, MPs Common Fund, NHIS, local contractors, nurses salaries and pensions to retirees etc., which remain unpaid, are all tantamount to robbing the citizenry. What crime have Ghanaians committed to warrant 17.5% increase in fuel prices by this inconsiderate government whilst the world price has halved? Have all of us lost the keys to our brains to allow Rita Lamptey, CHRAJ boss to continue to live in a hotel to incur additional dollar debt at the expense of the tax-payer? Hmm! May be, God loves Ghanaians much more than any other nation in this world that is why most of us always feel complacent and arrogant. But time will tell. Where is Koku Anyidoho? And what power does he wield now? “Ampa, oheneba ne nea ne papa te asee” – you could only be a prince while your father was still alive.
By: amaningkwarteng1@gmail.com