Ghana is dying

President Mills and his National Democratic Congress government are wasting our time by their failure to offer us quality and progressive leadership. They have nothing productive to offer the good people of our great country. What they have been doing after assuming the governance of the country is fighting among themselves. As I have been saying, the electorates erred in mandating the current administration to govern the country. Our dear nation is rapidly being led unto her untimely demise by the visionless and directionless Mills-Mahama led administration. The painful truth is that the NDC is “killing” the country. The government has failed in pragmatically leading the country into economic prosperity and social cohesion. The economy, which had seen transformation and stability between 2001 and 2008, is now almost at the point of death. The social glue that hitherto united the country has been weakened and replaced by hatred against the opposition, especially the New Patriotic Party. I remember in 2001, President Kufuor nominated and facilitated the election of Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas—an NDC bigwig to become the Executive Secretary of ECOWAS in February, 2002. But I am convinced per his actions, President Mills will never support any member of the New Patriotic Party to attain any portfolio whether within or outside our borders.

Until something different is done by the government—which I believe they have no clue to execute, the citizenry will continue to go through untold hardships and difficulties and the country will eventually die. This is why the governance of the country must change by voting against the NDC government during the next general elections. A vote against the Mills-Mahama administration will represent hope, progress, prosperity, emancipation from corruption and fear, transformation of our economy, liberation from dysfunctional leadership, and deliverance of the country from untimely death. The 51 million cedis dubiously paid to Alfred Agbesi Woyome—a trusted friend of the president; and the 94 million Euros paid to CP—a construction firm for no work done clearly show that there is a syndicate in the government of President Mills to steal and loot the state’s coffers. Is it not weird that key actors in these fleece on our resources such as Betty Mould Iddrisu, a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice; Dr. Kwabena Dufour, the Minister of Finance; Barton Odro, the deputy Attorney General, Alex Segbefia, the deputy Chief of Staff are still walking free? The sad thing is that with the exception of Betty mould Iddrisu, who was forced to resign due to the shame she brought to the government, the rest are still at post. With this scenario, how could one say that President Mills is not corruptible? Either President Mills has lost the courage to fight corruption, or he is somehow embroiled in it. If he is not, he must act decisively in ensuring that all the accomplices mentioned, especially the ones named by Martin Amidu—a former Attorney General and Minister for Justice—who was fired by the president for his tenacity and resoluteness to expose the corrupt elements within the government are brought before the law. As things stand now, it appears President Mills might not be clean when it comes to corruption.

President Mills and his paralyzed lieutenants have confirmed to the good people of the country that they are the wrong people at the helm of the governance of the country. They have failed to better the lot of the citizenry via their bad leadership and non-productive fiscal and monetary policies. These are a group of people who shouted on the rooftops before the 2008 elections that they possess the transformational power to improve the fortunes of the country and the living standards of the people. But manifestations on the ground since they received the mandate to rule the country show that they are bereft of ideas and vision to transform the country. Under their reign, the country is sinking on the sea of corruption, mismanagement, arbitrariness, disregard for the rule of law, and untold economic hardships, among others.

As a matter of fact, the citizenry has been worse off under the Mills-Mahama administration than the prior NPP administration. Prices of goods and services have gone through the roof, unemployment has increased exceptionally, crime is on the increase, power fluctuations are the order of the day, industrial actions are on the ascendancy, businesses are folding up, armed robbery is soaring, etc. Every Ghanaian presently is living in fear of being robbed by armed robbers either in their houses or any other locations. Just two weeks ago, thieves broke into my vehicle and made away with my bag, laptop, old passport and other valuable documents. They have been in my house about five times in less than a year. Could you imagine the psychological torture some of us are going through? But President Mills said before his election in 2008 that armed robbery was going to be a thing of the past; but currently, it is a lucrative business patronized by a huge number of the citizenry who might not be gainfully employed. Armed robbery thrives when people, especially the youth are jobless. President Mills, instead of creating jobs for the masses decides to convey a cabinet meeting to go against a ruling by the Supreme Court which didn’t go their way. This action was borne out of vindictiveness.

We are talking about a government that is married with corruption, incompetence, pettiness, vindictiveness, and retribution. Obviously, these are characteristics of a dying government which could translate into the death of the country. But for vindictiveness and pettiness, how could an administration headed by an Associate Professor of law convey an emergency cabinet meeting to despise a ruling by the Supreme Court? Is it not a shame? When governments are allowed to use their executive powers to thwart the rulings of the judiciary, then the existence of the citizenry is in danger. The NDC, over the years, have not hidden their distrust and disrespect for the judiciary. They have always treated rulings of our courts, especially those that go against their expectations with contempt. Do you remember the killing of the three high court judges and the retired army officer during the military junta under President Rawlings, and the killing of the cat threat issued by the current chairman of the NDC—Dr. Kwabena Adjei about 2 years ago when a charge brought against some officials of the Kufuor administration was thrown out for lack of merit? These events suggest that the NDC will do anything, but promote and protect the integrity and reputation of the judiciary.

Folks, the current rising cost of living in the country has made nonsense the implementation of the single spine salary policy. The single spine policy which was meant to cushion the Ghanaian worker and also bring equity in the salary structure has been rendered irrelevant by the high cost of living in the country. This is because the astronomical increases in the prices of goods and services have eroded whichever gains the new salary dispensation might have brought to the Ghanaian worker. We are in this situation as a result of the incompetence and wretched leadership being offered us. The government obviously has no clue to oversee the transformation and progress of the country. The only clue they have is to loot our scarce resources through corruption, dubious deals, and the usage of propaganda to throw dust into the eyes of the average citizen.

Ghanaians voted for the NDC in anticipation of the improvement in their wellbeing, and not to be subjected into economic hardships. In Ghana today, majority of the citizenry are suffering because they have a government that is detached from their worries and pains. What is painful is that the Chief Executive Officer of the country is not in charge of the administration of the country. President Mills is not the man in charge of the country; invisible forces in his administration are the ones who determine the direction of governance in the country. Which country in the world could a presidential spokesman issue a statement on radio to fire a director of a company without the knowledge of the President? But it has happened in Ghana under President Mills. If the NDC were a disciplined party and the president respects the people, his spokesman—Koku Anyidoho would have been relieved of his post by now. But friends, President Mills can’t fire him because he is not in charge.

Folks, we cannot continue to experiment our future in the hands of this motionless administration. By allowing President Mills and his idealess and visionless administration to continue after January 7, 2013 will be an unfortunate mistake. The height of incompetence, misrule, and arrogance being exhibited by the Mills-Mahama administration provides us with cogent reasons to reject them during the next elections. Rejection of the Mills-Mahama administration during the next elections will help us rescue the nation from its near death and put it back on the road of recovery and prosperity. God bless Ghana!!

Source: Kingsley Nyarko, Psychologist, Accra (kingsleynyarko73@yahoo.com)