Mills must call his men to order - Ntim

PRESS RELEASE 25-02-09

PRESIDENT MILLS MUST CALL HIS MEN TO ORDER!

For sometime now, I have totally been silent about the political events unfolding in our country. This decision was personally chosen just to give enough time to the President Mills led administration to settle and concentrate on the Herculean task ahead. However I have now decided to break my long silence since it would in a way also amount to promoting and perpetuating the usurpation and raping of the Socio-Economic and Political liberties that have been built during the period of the immediate past administration.

As Ghanaians begin to warm themselves into this new year and settle under a new administration headed by the NDC and Prof John Mills a lot of mind boggling issues have emerged and the culture of impunity continues unabated with no claim of responsibility by the government or the NDC in this regard. I am sure many of us have been witnesses to the unwarranted seizure of vehicles and brutalities being meted out to former government officials and supporters of the NPP.

At Agbogbloshie today, it is a crime for anybody to stand up and be counted among NPP supporters. The pain being inflicted on our supporters in Agbogbloshie today is not only unwarranted but a deliberate provocation by the NDC to draw supporters of the NPP into an unnecessary confrontation. The same fate awaits supporters of the NPP in other parts of Accra, Volta Region, Tamale and some NDC strongholds within the country. While the supporters of the NDC are being motivated from the flanks to thread this dangerous path, the State Security apparatus also continue to persecute former NPP government officials with the most recent victims being our Flagbearer and his Running Mate in the 2008 elections, Kwabena Agyepong, Chief Kufuor, Mrs. Theresa Kufuor and personnel from the Business Community including the Barclays Bank Boss etc. One thing the NDC should not forget was the closeness of the 2008 elections and the near 50-50 support of each party’s base.

These happenings make it difficult for some of us to accept the President’s rhetoric of being a father for all. The President should be able to restrain the hawks in his party since it will be virtually impossible for him to govern or pursue his policies without the support of the indomitable minority. Another area which has raised lots of question marks is the Transitional team and the supposed powers they wield. NPP representatives on the Transition team have often complained about the uncooperative attitude of their NDC colleagues and their determination to embarrass them in the eyes of the public by leaking lopsided reports to the media without hearing the other side of the story, raising suspicion about the motive of the whole exercise. We call on the President to take a critical look at the activities of the Transition team since there are conflicting signals as to which instructions are to be obeyed and from whom. There have been numerous errors committed by the Transition team not forgetting dismissal letters issued to and on behalf of the government to Public Servants and civil servants at some Ministries and Para Statals.

Instead of the NDC building upon the sound economic policies bequeathed to it by the NPP when they assumed power, they quickly declared the country broke, thus diminishing investor confidence which has led to capital flight with its untold pressure on the dollar. Whereas the NPP was able to hold the exchange rate from Ë0.7 - Ë1.0 to the dollar in eight(8) solid years, NDC has allowed it to rise from Ë1.0 to Ë1.50p within six weeks with no clear strategy of stabilising the free fall of the cedi. No wonder inflation has now jumped from 18% to »20%

Then followed Mohammed Mumuni’s ignominious actions which caused the dismissal of some 32 innocent employees at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the NADMO Boss and some shake up at the DVLA all in an Acting Position at the Interior Ministry as the Care-Taker Minister. The least said about the undue interference in the Military’s activities the better. A lot of questions still hung as to why over 420 recruits who had passed through the various tests were given a sack. This further led to the persecution of Col. Damoah who dared open his mouth about this administrative injustice.

Again the very notoriety that the NDC once carved for its members is now resurfacing within the corridors of power. This was evident during the vetting and approval of some Ministers of State, with the majority virtually giving a rubber-stamp-like form of approval to people whose credibility, competence and pedigree were in doubt.

Last Friday, Guests and viewers of GTV’s Breakfast show tasted another humiliation as instructions from the Castle called for the termination of the Programme because the Guests were not towing the line of the government. In a related development Mr. Egbert Faibille was also removed under controversial circumstances from GTV’s Talking Point as the host because he had a soft spot for the NPP. Mr. Daniel Ohene Agyekum the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NDC also vowed to make life a living hell for Mr. Akenten Appiah-Menka even before the latter lost in his bid to become a Member of the Council of State due to his political affiliation, oblivious of the fact that Emma Mitchel was APPOINTED, not elected by Fmr. President Kufuor to serve on the Council of State. At Goaso the Chief of the town who is a staunch supporter of the NDC has also vowed to make life unbearable for all NPP supporters there. And in his attempt, he recently summoned two NPP radio callers to his palace and gave them a strong warning to stop calling into radio programmes or will be made to face the music thereof. Subsequently a young lady working in the NPP constituency office as an attendant and her family are constantly being harassed by the Chief all in line with his avowed aim to make life uncomfortable for NPP members in Goaso. This confirms the suspicion of the kind of leadership we should expect between now and December 2012. The recent brutalities being meted out to opposition supporters and the business community clearly underpin the NDC’s slogan of a BETTER GHANA. Under Law and Justice on page 33 of the NDC’s own 2008 Manifesto the assurance was that “It is the objective of the NDC government to restore confidence in and respect for the Judiciary and make it totally independent…… Justice will be made available to all……..” If this is so why then the arrest and detention of Dr. Bawumia and the seizure of cars, offices and toilets throughout the country especially in Accra, Kumasi and Tamale. Again under the protection of the people in the country on page 34 some of the promises were to “Improve the capacity of the internal security agencies to ensure personal safety and security to the citizenry” yet the rate of armed robbery, organised crime and road accidents are on the ascendancy.

Finally when President Mills recently gave his state of the nation’s address, majority of Ghanaians thought he would have used the occasion to promote unity and togetherness but he chose to play to the gallery once again by mentioning Yaa Naa’s death and that of Issah Mobilah. What about the several before them…? Again the promises of fuel reduction, free school uniform were absent from his speech.

To sum it all, if Prof Mills claims to be a father for all and to all Ghanaians then he must quickly call the hawks of his party to order since the NPP can no longer tolerate these unwarranted brutalities, intimidation and victimisation.

Thank You and God Bless Ghana.

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STEPHEN NTIM

(FMR. NATIONAL FIRST VICE CHAIRMAN, NPP) 020 8183183/0244 961628