AFAG Shakes NDC

…With its ‘gargantuan’ demo

The foundation of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was yesterday shaken by the ‘gargantuan’ demonstration that was staged in Accra by the Alliance For Accountable Governance (AFAG), a civil society group.

The demonstration was in reaction to Woyomegate and the hardship Ghanaians are going through in the country since Prof. Mills-Mahama-led government took over from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.

According to the group, never in the history of this country had such a spate of gargantuan labour agitations and unrest, insecurity, graduate unemployment and record breaking corruption in high places has gone on.

In a speech read by its spokesman after the demonstration that began at Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra which ended at the Accra Hearts of Oak training centre, Abu Ramadan noted that the better Ghana agenda the NDC is singing is only felt by the few in the corridors of power at the Castle whom the founder of the party ex-president Jerry John Rawlings described as the ‘greedy bastards’. These are the people AFAG see as enjoying the largesse of state and profiting from the massive corruption which has been institutionalized by the Mills-Mahama government.

“Indeed one of the clearest example is the Woyome scandal, where Woyome who had no contract with the government was able to cause government to pay him a whooping sum of GHC58 million (C580 Billion) of the tax payers money from the so-called judgment debt”, it cited.

According to AFAG whiles the masses live in difficult economic times, members of the Mills-Mahama administration continues to display lavishness and waste. AFAG lamented that the loss of GHC58 million is a very serious matter because in 2012 budget, none of the social intervention programmes of government attracted an allocation more than GHC50million. Abu Ramadan continued that GHC30 million was allocated for SADA, GHC25 million for capitation grant, GH28million for schools under trees and GHC35 million for MASLOC all which don’t come near the GHC58 million given to one man, Woyome. The group also said President Mills’ campaign of fighting corruption also turned to be a hoax when his former Attorney General, Mr. Martin Amidu was fired for gross misconduct for initiating processes against those he said have committed a gargantuan crime against the State in a court of law.

“This has raised several questions about the commitment of the president in regards to the fight against corruption”, Ramadan added.

AFAG also questioned the source of funding of the GHC20 million NDC office complex at Adabraka, the where-about of the GHC690 million accrued from the margins on the pricing of petroleum for the past three years and Mr. Kwamena Peprah’s role played as Board Chairman of SSNIT in divesting 61.1% shares to The Trust Bank.