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Opinions of Thursday, 31 August 2017

Columnist: Eric Bawah

You spoiled it, give them a break to fix it!!!

Former President John Mahama (L) and President Akufo-Addo Former President John Mahama (L) and President Akufo-Addo

I am beginning to wonder if the NDC apparatchiks have shame in their lexicons. The NDC in government, created, looted and shared the booty among themselves.

They grabbed everything that came their way and treated Ghanaians with disrespect and contempt because they thought they could buy their way to yet another stolen verdict.

Acting like the Vikings, these bunch of nation wreckers bulldozed their way into the national kitty and made away with whatever they saw, thereby, raping the nation with a serrated manhood. Rampaging Vikings they were!.

All along, Ghanaians bid their time with patience and when the day of reckoning came knocking on their doors, they showed them the red card. Barely eight months in opposition, communicators of the NDC are on the war path while their leaders disturb our ears with series of press conferences.

If they think they can play politics of distraction, then someone out there should tell them to hold their breath because there is a job to be done and the President and his team will never succumb to any pressure. It is easy to destroy than to build. The NDC took eight solid years to destroy a buoyant economy left behind by ex-president Kufuor and yet they want President Nana Akufo Addo to take eight months to clean the mess they created.

Since losing the 2016 general election, supporters of the NDC and their leadership, for that matter, have become so desperate that if they fail to apply the brakes and strike their mental delete buttons, some of them will go gaga or contract high blood pressure or even die before 2020.

They have still not come into terms with the reality that they lost miserably to the mighty elephant fraternity. Ant they continue to tickle themselves and continue to tell their supporters that they will come to power in 2020 as if Ghanaians are fools to entrust their destinies to vampires who milked the state coffers dry.

For the past eight months, Ghanaians have seen for themselves the way the President and his team are working past exhaustion to salvage the economy. The NDC stands against the good people of Ghana because we stood on their way when they wanted to continue mismanaging the economy.

When the NDC was in power, they abandoned every value except the will to power and use the power to amass wealth. They used propaganda to deceive the people and followed that path all the way to where they are today and as sure as the sun will shine tomorrow, they will follow that path to where it ends in history’s unmarked grave of discarded lies.

Ghana was successful under ex-president Kufuor because of the enabling environment created by the regime, coupled with the hard work and creativity and enterprise of our people. These were the true strength of our economy when ex-president Kufour was in power before the NDC came to turn the apple cart upside down.

The current regime is picking up the pieces in order to move the nation forward but those who spoiled the economy will never give the government a breathing space. But you know what? We aren’t going to allow that. People can decide to contain them but some of us in the inky fraternity will give them a run for their money.

These guys thought they could not lose the election because they had their plan B to lay their hands on. That was why this loud-mouthed guy with protruding stomach called Koku Anyidoho had the confidence to tell supporters of the NDC even before the EC announced the results that the party was in a “comfortable lead” And when the chickens came home to roost, their National Organizer, Kofi Adamu had to swallow a bitter pill and told the supporters that an “ I.T failure” caused their defeat. That was when “Koo The Boy” realized that the NDC had no more ace to play. Yes, rules must be obeyed. Who say man no dey?

When Justice Atuguba and his other four judges of the Supreme Court moved in sympathy with John Mahama and his NDC, the NPP led by candidate Nana Akufo Addo and his team quickly patched it up together and hit the road running. Not so with the NDC. These people are finding it very difficult to patch it up together and they are so fragmented that not even the Pope can bring them together. You insult Rawlings and expect him to join your campaign in 2020? NEVER!

The illusive Kwasi Botchwey report is still illusive because the NDC people are afraid that when it is released the party will fall apart. Some NDC supporters and communicators might have had a glimpse of the document and so they go on radio stations and begin pointing accusing fingers at some of their leaders.

Who cares? One day when the cat comes out of the bag, the cat will tell us what was in the bag. Meanwhile time is ticking as 2020 beckons while the NDC leaders continue kicking. Instead of coming together to mend fences they still have time to grieve over their shameful defeat.

Why heads must roll at NADMO and NHIS

Heads must role in some departments and agencies in this country if the NPP promises would be kept. During the 2016 electioneering campaign, the NPP promised that when voted to power, the government will revive the tattered National Health Insurance Scheme. It was ex-president Kufour who promised Ghanaians in the run-up to the 2000 general election that he would do away with the Cash and Carry health delivery system which was hoisted on Ghanaians by the Rawlings regime.

The then candidate Kufour held his cards on his chest until he was voted to power before rolling out the NHIS. Ghanaians remember with nostalgia when the scheme was working with perfection until the NDC came on board to destroy it because of “chop, chop”.

Wherever Nana Addo went during the electioneering campaign, he made it plain to Ghanaians that when voted into power, he will never hesitate to revive the scheme which was being run down by the Mahama-led administration. Many people, especially the poor who were finding it difficult to access health care voted massively for Nana Akufo Addo because of this particular promise.

Today, the NPP is in power but sadly those at the helm of affairs at the NHIS at the district level are still at post. And these are the same people who collapsed the scheme. It is commendable that the government is paying the debt which was incurred by the scheme during the NDC era but that is not enough.

Unless those in charge of the scheme at the district level are replaced, it would be like fetching water and pouring it into a leaking barrel. We will go back to square one. Much as I do not subscribe to their dismissal, I think they should be transferred to other departments and agencies and new qualified officers appointed to man the outfit in all the districts.

If they are left to work at the NHIS, they will sabotage the scheme and the promise of revamping the scheme will be a dream gone bad. If this happens, the NDC will use it as a weapon to fire the NPP, come 2020. Why should the NPP buy guns for its enemies?

In the run-up to the 2016 general election, the leadership of the NDC instructed bosses of the NHIS at the district level to register as many people as possible without collecting premium from them because they wanted votes. During District Assembly elections, MMDCEs ordered the scheme managers to register more people free of charge. That was why one of the defenses anytime they were accused of running down the scheme was that they had registered more people than the NPP did under ex-president Kufour.

Another place where heads must roll is the National Disaster Management Organization. We need to remake that outfit so that it would be useful. There are a whole lot of supposed workers there doing absolutely nothing but collect pay at the end of the month.

The time has come for the government to dissolve the outfit, remake it and ask people to reapply so that competent people are employed there. Visit any district office of NADMO and you will see the “workers” sitting under trees, doing nothing. As for the Zonal Co-coordinators they become happy whenever there is a disaster because that is an opportunity for them to make extra money. They will quickly rush to the district offices to collect relief items which will never land in the hands of victims of disaster.

What is most annoying and what is worrisome to the grassroot supporters of the NPP is that when the NDC came to power, they dismissed some of the staff of NADMO. They also transferred many of them to far away places knowing very well that the salary they were receiving then, could not even pay for the transportation of their beds to such areas. How wicked they were.

So, I demand that heads must roll at these places and the demand is not opened for negotiation or discussion. It is simply a demand from an Angel who dwells in the firmament and not just an ordinary angel but the one who predicted the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Help me say AMEN!