Mr Charles Kofi Wayo, regarded as the gadfly of contemporary Ghanaian politics, has emerged from months of hibernation to openly challenge the Minister of Finance to a debate on the state of the economy in light of his recent pronouncements.
Wayo, who is a ranking member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), said claims of an appreciable improvement in the economy and a resultant increase in the purchasing power of the Ghanaian made by Mr Yaw Osafo Maafo are not grounded on facts. Wayo said after one year of a positive change government, people are not feeling the impact of this “improvement” in their pockets in spite of rooftop proclamations made to that effect, and stated his readiness to debate the minister any day and time.
“Living standards of people in deprived communities like Nima have not changed. Market women are still struggling to survive and the ordinary street person cannot feel the impact of this improvement in his or her pocket,” he said. He threw down the gauntlet in a sterling interview with the Chronicle on Monday. Wayo insists that it is within the right of Ghanaians to demand response from government on campaign promises since according to him a year is a long time in the political life of a nation.
“We don’t have to wait until the end of the four-year term of a government before we ask questions,” he said. He however proffered some advice to the Kufuor administration: “reduce the number of foreign trips and explore or adopt a home-grown approach to addressing the problems of the economy.”
Asked to comment on the first anniversary of the Kufuor administration and the ninth anniversary of the 4th Republic, Wayo who stood and lost the parliamentary elections in the Ayawaso East constituency in the 2000 elections on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), replied: “There is nothing to celebrate. The only thing we can celebrate is a smooth transition and the absence of soldiers who whipped and cracked the heads of street hawkers.”
Wading into further controversy, Wayo rubbished the proposed national reconciliation exercise, arguing that it flies in the face of common sense and the rule of law.
He said the exercise seeks to justify the atrocities of the past and therefore defeats the essence of the exercise, which attempts to bring us to terms with the past.
“Why should we jail armed robbers and other criminals and yet want to grant amnesty to people who killed and maimed innocent Ghanaians?” he asked, adding that crime must be accompanied by justifiable punishment.
He also shrugged off enquiries about his specific thoughts on nine years of democratic governance in Ghana, only to draw parallels between democratic rule in Ghana and the United States. However, he gave high marks to the United States.
