The Minority’s perspectives on “Two Years of NPP Administration: A Litany of Broken Promises and Shattered Dreams”, makes a mockery of Ghana’s political past, a representation of hypocrisy, perfumed with many weak assertions.
Expediency would be my watch word as I go through some of the points in that litany of lies and cowardice.
I have said it before, and would say it again, that NDC lost the 2000 presidential election partly because most of its followers and ministers of state became arrogant and vindictive .They also wronged many people.Some of them became corrupt.
Ghanaians were tired of being taken for granted in the face of human rights abuses; they were also worried about the fast deteriorating state of law and order.
The myth surrounding the “Castle” (official seat of government) has been broken, and never should we revisit that atrocious past.
Ghanaians are too cerebral to forget. That prior to the 2000 elections they became dissatisfied with the unending financial mess, phony empowerment through the 31st.December Women Movement- a movement without a culture, and disjointed government machinery.
At the same time, the NPP was “packaging” its message well for the people to scrutinize.
Promises alone do not win elections as that misleading Minority perspectives seem to suggest. The “pedigree” of people behind the “Promises” should not be underestimated, so is the national mood.
For convenience, I would take a look at the Western region, not because “the best comes from the West”. I am doing so because the worse has been associated with it for a long time. This label is changing for the better.
Interestingly, the Bawdie-Asankragwa, Axim Junction-Tarkwa, and Inchaban-Sekondi roads which were all left at the mercy of the weather are now receiving the needed attention after a long wait. Is this part of the NPP government’s exaggeration? I beg to differ.
Recently, the Vice-president - Alui Mahama, cut the sod at Manso-Amenfi for work to begin on the Bawdie-Asangragwa road. This is the real difference between past promises and present realities. This is the truth that cannot be hidden.
I am also looking for answers as regards the rehabilitation of Kotoka International Airport, which the Minority perspective indicates “is an outstanding credit and foresight of the NDC to provide a fitting gateway to Ghana”. Was it wrong for President Kufour to commission the first phase of the rehabilitation with a lot of fanfare? What is the problem here? I am confused, and would continue to be, having been caught in this Minority nuisance.
The attack on the National Reconciliation Commission is wrong, as stories emerging from the process offer lessons for future reconciliation and mutual understanding, lessons we cannot disregard.
It is therefore excruciating, the Minority allegation that the Commission is averse to reconciliation and transitional justice. That is an insult to the honesty of its members- respected academicians, lawyers, religious leaders, and trade unionists, who have distinguished themselves in countless spheres of public life.
I was also relieved when the so-called “vociferous private media” was credited for thwarting government’s attempt to hand over Ghana Airways to a little know South African airline.Wooooooooooooooow- wonders would never end.
I am not defending the validity of the matter or otherwise, but when did the NDC begin to appreciate the work of the media? This is one of the best examples of sycophancy.
I will not touch on agriculture because Hon.Asiedu Nketsiah’s litany of lies and wrong figures, have all been taken care of by Major (Rtd) Courage Quashigah,the agriculture minister, neither would I discuss the economy, energy, employment and social welfare, mines, health, transport, communications, security, law and order, and local government. The evidence is there for the good people of Ghana to compare and contrast. But I would not leave sports, especially soccer, untouched.
In a 1993 letter to the editor of Graphic Sports titled “Bring Back Bukhard Ziese”, I gave seven reasons why he should be reinstated as the coach of the Black Stars. After 10 years of fluctuating fortunes, he is coming back to reorganize a team which should have appeared at the World Cup many years ago.
The Minority should ask themselves: why under the NDC government, E.T.Mensah, the former Youth and Sports Minister, was allowed to give “coaching tips in Ga and saturated Twi” to players in their dressing room, ignoring a foreign Coach’s request to speak in English?
The Minority should also ask themselves: why Coach Dossena who started the World Cup qualifying rounds on a good note saw his exit because of official interference?
Minority leaders should visit the FIFA website and read a statement on the Ghana-Nigeria World Cup bribery scandal. FIFA vindicated Ghana’s FA.
To attack Joe Aggrey, deputy minister for youth and sports further adds to the ignorance, casting a vague impression on Ghana’s Minority group in parliament.
Burkhard Ziese is back, are we still living with a rift?
The Minority perspective on the performance of the government, once again, epitomizes the frustration running through the largest opposition party in Ghana.
But one thing is clear. The so-called “Litany” showcases how legislators on the left have been liberated to think independently, coming out boldly with their opinion on what they deem fit, but short of suggestions/alternatives to perceived wrongs of the NPP government.
At one point, they present a picture of hopelessness, at another; they embark upon a bashing spree, but fail to provide answers to the numerous “unfulfilled promises and shattered dreams” they catalogued.
From a reality standpoint, it would take someone who is “politically incorrect” to think these Minority distractions would derail the good works of the present government.
Posterity would declare the victor.
The author, an alumni of Rutgers University, was a former assistant at the features desk, Daily Graphic,Accra,Ghana. He now lives in Massachussetts.
Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of Ghanaweb.
