*In choosing the caption for this article, I have tried painstakingly to
get another suitable one; but try as I did; no better alternative came to
mind except to use the same to test the pulse of readers to know the
climatic condition prevailing. It is very obvious that many people and
readers who have the chance to read it thoroughly will endeavour to digest
and come to terms with me or agree with me in its entirety, while the other
faction, no doubt, will brand me a doomsday prophet. Never mind, opinions
are like onions; everybody on this planet Earth has his own opinion and is
entitled to it as well. And that makes the beauty of democracy thrive. As
the caption clearly depicts, I have taken cognizance the little historical
background that was chanced upon by me and that dates back from the
pre-independence days to date. As many people are already aware, the
struggle for Ghana’s independence was not won on a silver platter. It was
through perseverance, hard work, patriotism, focus and service to
humanity. Even though, initially, there were dissenting and divergent
views as to the frequency or otherwise; eventually, the Colonial masters
gave us our hearts desire. Not many were interested but the other party had
to grapple with it to calm the political climate at the time. Our freedom
fighters made up of Paa Grant, Mensah Sarbah, J.E. Caseley Hayford, Dr.
Kwame Nkrumah, J.B. Danquah, E.O. Obetsebi Lamptey, Edward Akufo Addo,
William Ofori Atta a.k.a. Paa Willie and Ako Adjei however, were divided
into two – i.e. the pros and cons. While the Convention People’s Party
(CPP) leadership made up of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Messrs. Kojo Botsio, Ako
Adjei, Komla Agbeli Gbedema, Kofi Baako, Krobo Edusei, A.E. Inkumsah, A.J.
Dowuona Hammond, L.R. Abavana, E.A. Mahama (Prez. John Mahama’s father)
pressed for immediate self-rule, their opposing counterparts such as Dr.
J.B. Danquah, Simon D. Dombo, Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia, Messrs. R.R. Amponsah,
Victor Owusu, Yaw Manu, Jatoe Kaleo, Baffuor Akoto and their Trans-Volta
Togoland strongman (modern day Volta Region) S.G. Antor, from the United
Party (U.P. tradition), also agitated for self-rule in the immediate
foreseeable future. Generally, that should have been the best option for
them to have developed the Gold Coast like South Africa with all the
available wealth for us but the incessant pressure that was mounted from
CPP faction coupled with the prevalent malaria that took a toll on the
British and expatriate nationals somewhat compelled them to relinquish
power to the indigenous natives to toy with our lives. While the CPP
shouted for immediate self-rule, the UP also posited for gradual steps to
independence to enable the natives take time to learn the intricacies and
master all the tricks in governance to cope with the administrative
machinery of the country when the colonialists had left our shores. Their
stance was however, very modest and to offer us a very ripe and smooth
transition. As if by design or accident, while the colonial masters were
day in and day out contemplating as to whether to grant us our political
request, they took the due advantage of the apparent division amongst the
elitist class and their disagreement and divergent views from both sides
and furthermore, the unfriendly and endemic malaria that did a lot of harm
to most of the expatriates at the time. They quickly and readily acquiesced
the mounting pressures from the CPP and the Governor, Sir Charles Noble
Arden-Clarke, sent word to Her Royal Highness, Queen Elizabeth Regina II of
England for swift action to accede our request. The Queen too and her
British Government also acquiesced and a date was fixed: March 6, 1957 - to
grant independence to the Gold Coast – thus, becoming the first African
state south of the Sahara Desert. As if by design but not accident, not
long enough, Ghana’s independence propelled many of the African countries
in the east and west to gain their political independence from their
colonial masters. Between 1960 and 1970, as many as 8 countries had gained
their independence; with Ghana, also attaining a sovereign status. *
*THE CPP*
*Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s government came and performed several feats including
the establishment of about 250 senior high schools. They were known as the
GET schools (Ghana Educational Trust) where almost, every district had a
senior high school. He crowned the educational infrastructure with the
establishment of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology that
was previously known as the Kumasi Institute of Technology in 1961. He did
not rest there; he went a step further to set up the University College of
Cape Coast almost at the same time with the aim of producing more teachers
for our educational sector. A scholarship scheme was set up and the
brilliant ones had chance to train abroad mainly in Russia and Cuba in
science and technology, aviation and aeronautics, medicine, dentistry, and
others. On agriculture, the State Farms was set up to engage many of the
able bodied youth to go into farming. Food was such in abundance that there
was no fear for famine. Many silos were built to store food for the lean
seasons. As a result of his socialism-centred ideology, he set up the Ghana
Housing Corporation to embark on cheap and simple but affordable houses on
hire-purchase basis. His government embarked on such affordable
hire-purchase houses in Accra, Kumasi and other places. In Accra,
Teshie-Nungua Estates sprang up; at Kaneshie, the Awudome estates and its
environs also took shape. Also, at Kanda, more than 100 decent bungalows
came into being to house his ministers and top government appointees. At
Lartebiokorshie, the magnificent ten or more 5-storey buildings overlooking
the Kortle Bu Hospital have been in existence for ages to house senior
government appointees. The Tema Township made up of several communities,
was constructed by the Nkrumah government. His nationwide achievement will
be replete if mention is not made of the Tema Harbour built by him in 1959
to supplement the existing Takoradi Harbour built in 1927. The Valco
aluminum smelter plant and factory was jointly established with the Kaiser
Aluminum Incorporation of the U.S. and Ghana. Dr. Nkrumah’s achievements
will not be complete without the mention of the Akosombo Dam that probably,
has been the first man-made HEP on the African Continent and has continued
to be the largest man-made lake in the world. The source of Ghana’s energy
has mainly hinged on the electricity powered by this multi-million US
Dollar dam built and completed by the Italians in 1965. Unfortunately, Dr.
Nkrumah never lived in Ghana for long to enjoy the benefits of same. Just
about three weeks after its commissioning, Dr. Nkrumah left Ghana for a
state visit to Hanoi, North Vietnam that became his journey of no return.
The best proximity for him was Conakry, Guinea. The Tema Motorway, linking
Tema with Accra, a distance of 25 kilometers, built with reinforced
concrete cement, has been one of the greatest landmarks in Ghana’s history
since his exit. In the regions, Kumasi, the Ashanti capital also recorded
similar estates at both North and South Suntresu plus of course, the
Kwadaso and Patasi estates. On transport and communication, he established
the State Transport Corporation for road transport; also, he set up the
Black Star Line with as many as 6 or more sea-going vessels to cart the
country’s exports and imports to and from Europe. In order to boost the
economy, he purchased two Viscount 10 (VC.10) aircraft to operate
Accra-London-Accra, Accra-Beirut-Accra routes and initially, Ghana’s
economy boomed to make Ghana the beacon of Africa. On culture, the Kumasi
Cultural Centre received a boost and that saw tremendous change indeed. *
*STAR OF AFRICA*
*That was when Ghana earned the accolade, “Star of Africa” and it is
unfortunate that due to greediness, nepotism, tribalism and avarice, none
of these former state owned enterprises can be said to be our pride
anymore. In general, almost everything worked to perfection those days.
Decentralization was at its best; from the district to the regional and
finally to the headquarters in Accra or the ministry’s head office. Dr.
Nkrumah’s penchant for the total liberation of the African Continent
probably must have accounted for his downfall. He became power drunk and
started spending money here and there to ensure every bit of the continent
was liberated. As a result, nationals from other countries came to the
Winneba Ideological Institute to study and be indoctrinated with
Colonialism, Neo-Colonialism, Nkrumaism, Socialism, et cetera. It was not
surprising at all that soon after their course of study, these products
went back to destabilize their home governments with the fresh ideas gained
from Ghana. The net result was that Nkrumah became so powerful that back
home in Ghana, he set up the Preventive Detention Act (PDA) to couch his
opponents. The least noise heard, his opponents were thrown into jail at
the Nsawam Medium Security Prison for life in condemned cells without the
option of a fair trial by our courts. Some, it was not secret, died while
in detention. Notable ones amongst them was Dr. J.B. Danquah, who died in
1965. Unlike E. Obetsebi Lamptey, Jake Obetsebi Lamptey’s father, his
corpse was found on time for family burial whereas the former’s was
allegedly buried by the prison authorities. The lucky ones however returned
maimed or blind soon after his overthrow. Some of such persons were Messrs
Victor Owusu, R.R. Amponsah, Yaw Manu and many others. The situation became
worse off that the military could no longer tolerate his countenance and
had to boot him out a day after he had left Ghana for a state visit to
Hanoi, North Viet Nam. *
*ONE MAN’S MEAT** …..*
*While Rome was burning, Emperor Nero was busily feasting with the family.
He did not give a dime. He did not mind a hoot about the catastrophe that
had befallen his compatriots. This same statement or phenomenon
coincidentally fits the unpatriotic stance of HE John Mahama. Ghana can
burn, he does not bother. All Ghanaians can go hang! Ghanaians talk too
much. As long as he remained the president whether by legal or illegal
means, no matter how Ghanaians rubbish him, he does not matter. To him,
Ghanaians are too lazy because, many people waste their time at the radio
stations to talk “nonsense and rubbish” on very trivial and frivolous
things instead of staying at the office working to make meaning to the
country’s development. But why can we not talk? How much is the ordinary
worker’s salary per month? Just peanuts! This scenario is synonymous of
what is happening now at home while the entire family is holidaying
elsewhere at the expense of the State. The news in town is that while most
Ghanaians cannot easily afford two or three square meals a day, while
others too, take just one meal in two days (not because such people want to
go on a diet or on a slimming course); pay for their children/wards school
fees plus a bag of cement and a bucket of oil paint that have become
unofficial but a sanctioned conditionality from all heads of government
schools, the exorbitant and ‘shylock’ rent for housing accommodation all
over the country, buy the commonest food – “yorke garri” (garri and beans
with palm oil and fried ripe plantains – courtesy, pre-chairman Rawlings of
yesteryears), high transport fares, plus of course, the already cooked
increases of electricity and water bills that will go up by 7.4% and 6.8%
respectively on January 1, 2014, et cetera, the State has quietly endorsed
the payment of a special package for the family to cool off in far away
oil-city Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. Information reaching this
junketing author indicates that a modest hotel room (like the “Ebeye Yie”
Hotel at Bubuashie, an Accra suburb, that has been in existence before
modern 3, 4 and 5-star hotels like the Novotel, Golden Tulip, La Palm, La
Beach Hotel etc. ) in that oil-city costs some $800.00 per night excluding
meals (lunch and dinner) that normally cost $200.00 per plate minus the
cost of wines and hot drinks that could easily be the delicacy of the first
family of four (4) to be on a safe side. Since they are not Moslems, (that
could, otherwise, have been an abominable ‘haram’ damnable and chastised by
the Holy Quran), special drinks would be tasted for talkative Ghanaians to
pick up the bill. Because of the expensive nature and cost of living there,
many Ghanaian travelers share the room in fours with four beds in a room to
cut cost. Or could it be that he has bought a house in Dubai that he
wanted to christen it around the Xmas but we do not know yet! Could the
same place have been the rendezvous where a leading Ghanaian judge
transited en route to the US for holidays soon after the August 29 infamous
ruling? Hmmm! To buttress this point, I will like to quote former US
President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, “If a free society cannot help the poor,
it cannot save the few who are rich”. Even though the president needed some
rest and take leave of his busy schedule, the fact that he decided to
travel to Dubai where a bottle of coca cola costs US$10.00 and US$15.00
canned one was not the best option and more especially, the timing. The
staring and poignant poverty in the faces of many Ghanaians and the
thousands of teenage kayayee porters who are predominantly natives from his
own backyard (the northern region, who cannot easily find decent accom
-modation in our cities and urban towns, provide themselves with two (not
three) square meals a day and their hundreds of children without proper
fathers should have pricked the president from taking that childish
decision if even his advisors had so badly advised him for that trip.
Anyway, “a large chair does not make a king”. And so also, “anybody who
does not know history, cannot plan for the future”, and it looks obvious
that since Mr. Mahama is a communi -cator, might not have knowledge in
history, otherwise, he would not have undertaken that frivolous trip to
incur the displeasure of the many poor ones and burden us with
US$3,000.00/night with his family of four at the expense of the State. If
Mr. Mahama does not know now, may be his minister of Education, can furnish
him with this latest information. And it is that the parent of a new
student who gained admission to pursue the NDC’s 3-year senior high school
course at the Yaa Asantewaa school in Kumasi last October
(mid-October-December, i.e. 1st term) was asked to pay a total of
Gh2,000.00 before securing admission – not bribe money but all incidentals.
Not only that but also while her ward carried her chop-box and handled her
suitcase under one armpit, the poor student’s mother also carried a
5-gallon emulsion paint with the father trying to stiffen his neck to carry
a bag of 50-kilo cement for the school’s infrastructure development. You
may ask me why? That is ‘Mahama Ghana’ for you. Why are all this nuisance
from these heads of schools (CHASS), one will dare ask? It is hoped that
S.O.A., her deputy, will jump into the cockpit to rescue the situation as
he used to worry Mr. Martin A.B.K. Amidu to endorse the payment of
unjustified judgment debt with telephone calls and the like. *
*DATES TO REMEMBER*
*For those who care to know a little bit about Ghana’s history, here are
some dates that should never be glossed over but be seriously remembered
all the time: The first and foremost, is March 6, 1957 is when the country
gained independence from the British. The second is July 1,1960, when Ghana
became a sovereign state ahead of all the African states south of the
Sahara. The third and probably, a date many people who did not agree with
the event will not like to revisit was, Thursday, February 24, 1966, when
the CPP government was overthrown in a military coup d’etat led by Col.
Emmanuel Kwashie Kotoka. The first coup d’etat that administered the
country for three and a half years or more (February 24, 1966 to early
October 1969) before they handed over power to a civilian government of the
Progress Party led by Dr. K. A, Busia after he had won a general election
supervised by the military with Mr. V.C.R.A.C. Crabbe as an impartial
non-partisan and biased electoral commissioner. The Busia Administration
stayed in power for 30 months and was booted out by Col. Ignatius Kutu
Acheampong. On January 13, 1972, the second military adventurists usurped
the democratically elected government that had come to power through a
keenly contested election conducted in 1969 and a landslide majority had
been won - a total of 105 out of a 140-seat parliament. Dr. K.A. Busia’s
(PP - Progress Party that won against K.A. Gbedema’s NAL (National Alliance
of Liberals) was also overthrown by Acheampong on the flimsy excuse that
he, Acheampong, was a product of Nkrumah’s Ideological Institute of
Winneba. He saw no reason why his mentor’s government should be overthrown
by Busia’s benefactors and be aided to head a quasi-government institution,
the Mass Civic Education, that enabled him to go round the nukes and
cronies of Ghana just as the National Centre for Civic Education does
recently and when the ban on party politics was lifted, Dr. Busia, then
chairman of that institution, after gaining a quick and false start,
quickly stepped in to form a party to contest that same election. They also
stayed on for 6 years – the National Redemption Council - NRC – until some
misunderstanding arose between the leadership and a palace coup also took
place – this time, a bosom colleague – Fred W.K. Akufo on or about July 8,
1978.*
*AFRC – ARMED FORCES REVOLUTIONARY COUNCIL AND PNDC*
*As snipers often say, Fred’s envy to boot out Acheampong from office
enabled Mr. Jerry Rawlings to sneak through to also enter the political
arena on Monday, June 4, 1979, with the charge that the so-called senior
military officers had abandoned the military profession and gone overboard
into business; and some others abusing the system by using their uniform to
acquire wealth and property. What do we see now these days anyway? Has
anything changed? A senior officer (Col. Roger Felli), was said to have
used his uniform to secure just Gh**¢**5.00 (**¢**50,000.00) those days for
some urgent need but was later arrested alongside other senior officers –
Major-Generals R.E.A. Kotei, E.K. Utuka, Commander Joy Amedume, Air Vice
Marshal Yaw Boakye, including three former heads of State – General IK
Acheampong, F.W.K. Akuffo and especially A.A. Afrifa (who had since long
retired from the military but wanted a return to politics). All the above
were shot by firing squad between Saturday, June 9 and 16, 1979. **The
salient and probably the more intriguing question one would dare ask Mr.
Rawlings and his former clique is, since their death by firing squad to put
fear in the Ghanaian, how much wealth and properties have the same accusers
not made in life without first and foremost, forgetting to remove the peck
that was in their eyes as explicitly stated by the Book of Matthew Chapter
7:7? Then came also the dastard and bestial murder of three high court
judges – Justices Cecilia Koranteng (then a 3-month-old nursing mother),
Sarkodie, Agyepong and a retired Army Major, Sam Acquah, then personnel
manager of GIHOC, on June 30, 1982, whose labour case versus the State, was
said to have been won by the workers group to discredit Joachim Amartey
Kwei, who was then a PNDC member. Mr. J.J. Rawlings as Chairman of the PNDC
for 11 years, became the household name in Ghana and because of atrocities
that were meted out to political opponents, his Mao Tse Tsung style of
governance became intolerable by the international community and was
compelled to entertain divergent views from opponents and so was advised to
allow multi-party democracy to prevail otherwise, Ghana was to be cut from
the outside world. Having been propped up by the likes of the Tsikata and
Ahwoi Brothers – Kojo as security capo, Tsatsu as legal and finance and
later becoming Jerry’s financial wizard and Fui, the quiet and unassuming
unsung hero dictating the pace from the background; and Ato for Trade and
Energy, Kwesi for Ghana Export Promotion and Kwamena Ahwoi for the
never-to-be-forgotten Citizens’ Vetting Committee that sent thousands into
self-exile respectively for 11 years where these two trios were in fact the
master tacticians and strategists with Paul Victor Obeng dictating the
administrative pace and doing the “monkey” work from the touchlines as the
de facto prime minister with oratorical skills, Ghana in fact became the
epitome of anarchy. Those who could not tolerate such sight and scene
decided to leave the shores for their safety and peace. One really wonders
whether none of them earned much more than Gh**¢**5.00 while in office or
had much more wealth than those they accused of and sent to the gallows?
All the same, Ghanaians are the best judges as you read this piece.*
*REFERENDUM FOR MULTI-PARTY DEMOCRACY*
*The referendum at the end of April 1992 settled the scores for return to
multi-party democracy to pave way for general elections on December 7 of
the same year to elect Mr. Rawlings as the military-turn-coat president
after 11 years. After Rawlings’ two successful terms came to an end, he had
managed to give Accra, the national capital with new facelift. Also, the
National Theatre, the Accra Conference Centre, and some hundreds of
kilometers of road infra -structure had been made. But his tenure will go
down in history as the government that spoilt our educational structure
with the hurriedly packaged introduction of the infamous JSS educational
policy while he quickly sent his kids abroad to escape the experiment.
After Rawlings, Mr. John Kufuor beat his challenger, Prof. John Mills, who
had been unilaterally declared by his mentor at a Swedru rally by
acclamation in a second round contest on December 28, 2000. Mr. Kufuor also
became president for two terms. While in office, he managed to set up many
poverty alleviation measures including the school feeding program -me to
encourage many children of school-going age to go to school; free school
children bussing to enjoy free ride on public transport buses; free
ante-natal maternal health care facility, the National Health lnsurance
System, the criminal libel law was also repealed and scrapped from our
statute books. Free speech became the order of the day in his era;
thousands of kilometer road networks were put to shape. Again, the
Accra-Aburi road that had for ages been the no-go area for large 60-seater
buses and trucks, especially, long articulated trucks, could, for the first
time in Ghana’s history, ply the Accra-Aburi road with the utmost ease. The
Peduase Lodge, the presidential weekend resort that had not seen any
facelift since 1966 was refurbished for the first time. The Ministry of
Defence also had their fair share with ka new multi-dollar edifice near the
El Wak Stadium. The Burma Hall, notwithstanding, needing some modern
renovation, also was given a new facelift. The Kasoa-Yamoransa-Cape Coast
road network that was the native route of the late former president,
Prof. John Mills (who was for 4 years vice-president, but never saw the
need for that facelift), has reduced the travel fatigue of motorists
greatly. The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi now has a helipad
from where accident victims could be airlifted from the hospital to say,
the Korle Bu Hospital that hitherto been classified as graveyard by Mr.
Rawlings when he overthrew the Limann’s democratically elected government
but equally, failed on his part during his 19-year reign; first, as
chairman of the PNDC for 11 years and second, as president of both the two
terms of the 4th Republic to do any refurbishment on the hospital. On
sports, Mr. Kufuor built two new stadia at Essiepong, near Sekondi and
Tamale with the Baba Yara and Ohene Djan Stadia in Kumasi and Accra
respectively seeing great signs of improvement in their structures. To
crown his haul of medals, JAK added the construction of the Bui Dam in
Brong Ahafo region to alleviate the suffering of energy deficit. Even
though he knew he was leaving office, he purchased a 15-seater presidential
jet for the in-coming president to enjoy his privacy instead of flying
alongside with the public on commercial passenger flights. Mr. Kufuor’s
8-year tenure of two terms indeed saw tremendous changes in Ghana and could
be ranked as the No. 2 to Dr. Nkrumah’s reign. jUnfortunately, his
heir-apparent, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo failed to snatch the golden
diadem in a first round encounter and lost narrowly in a re-run to Prof.
Mills on January 4, 2009, Mr. Mills’s presidency more or less was shrouded
in secrecy; but as one would think, his health fast deteriorated and
eventually lost his nasal senses and the party big wigs sensing danger that
he might not last his term because of periodic health problems, all what
Ghanaians were presented with was the sudden unprecedented announcement by
the chief of staff, Henry Martey Newman, one lunch-time of Tuesday, July
24, 2012; time ,14.15 hours that the associate professor had passed on.
That same day, Mr. John Mahama was quickly sworn into office by the Chief
Justice, Her Ladyship, Mrs. Justice Georgina Theodora Wood at 20.30 hours
when the parliament was rushed into convening for that momentous occasion.
To date, no one except those close to him, know how the celebrated icon met
his death after he had feted the Castle press corps the previous Saturday
night on his birthday occasion. The continuation of the NDC governance is
what everybody seems to witness since that day. The saying that, “if it
doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you” clearly fits Mr. Mahama’s
posture because, Ghanaians have accorded him special respect till now. For
all you know, his regime will go down in history as the first to be the
professor of promises that never bear or yield fruits – the Kotukuraba
Market in Cape Coast to be the No.1 in the sub-region; the KIA to become
the domestic airport to be replaced by a more modern airport at Prampram;
the Tamale airport to be the first international yet to compete with
Johannesburg or Charles de Gaulle airport of Paris; 200 community senior
high school all over the place whereas in fact none has seen the green
light at the close of his first of his 4-year term in office; a domestic
airport to be constructed at Koforidua, a flying distance that a chopper
can easily make it in 8 minutes; the removal of 2,000 schools under trees
whilst only 60 had so far been lucky to have sandcrete structures. May be,
he has forgotten himself that “a large chair does not make a king as well
as anybody who does not know history, cannot plan for the future”. All
that JDM has done or can do with perfection is tones of promises to confuse
the Ghanaian populace. *
*PERSECUTION*
*The best anybody could say about the NDC 3 under Mr. Mahama is nothing
less than persecution of businessmen. Prominent amongst them are the
proprietors of Kinapharma company, Pokupharma, and latest, the Tobinco
Pharmacy. As if possessed, since the last 30 years, the NDC, characteristic
of their governance, has not been able to fathom any new mechanisms but
only to destroy the businesses of the few well-to-do persons in society.
Their war cry has always been to help the poor but in a way, tend to run
down other people’s businesses thus creating unemployment. Since January 7,
2009, the number of businesses that have been ruined run to billions of the
US Dollars. Their cup of tea has always been to create, loot and share with
the chop-chop from judgment debt the bread and butter of their big wigs.
Take it or leave it! *
* COMPARISON*
* For the purposes of clarity, probity, accountability and transparency,
Mr. Rawlings should try to expunge himself from what he said about Mr. John
Kufuor sometime ago in May, 2007, precisely as recorded or quoted by the
No.2017 edition of the “Daily Guide”, Monday, May 7, 2007 and titled
“Rawlings Again” and compare same to his “student Mr. John Mahama” to
determine which of the two regimes the American CIA would better have
wished to throw out of government there and then. Is it because his hands
have been softened secretly to silence him hence the inability to chastise
JDM? I will urge readers to patiently read the statement attributed to Mr.
Rawlings re his accusation as thoroughly captured by the paper’s reporter,
Bennett Akuaku, and simply compare the same to what pertains today in Mr.
Mahama’s government and the accuser’s long silence. Please read the
excerpts culled from that issue - *
*“The Ex-President, Flt.-Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, has indicated that the
Fourth Republic Constitution could be thrown overboard in the not too
distant future, hinting on another bloody revolution in the country.
Justifying what he inflicted on the country in June 1979 and December 1981;
in which hundreds were either killed, maimed or missing, the ‘master coup
planner’ said the third revolution could be bloodier, stressing that the
stage was already set. The only surviving Ghanaian former President,
expressing this premonition when he delivered an address during the Africa
Day 2007 celebration in The Hague, Holland recently, told his audience that
but for a caution given by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to the
Ghana government in January 2006, the coup would long have taken place. The
CIA, he said, saw the coup from afar and rushed down to Ghana early last
year to warn President John Agyekum Kufuor not to expect an American
intervention if he failed to tackle the corruption in his government. In
another breath, Rawlings said President Bush, whose government, he alleged,
was then frowning at corruption in Ghana, hailed Kufuor as the most
visionary leader on the African continent. According to him, the very
circumstances that prompted him to pick the gun in his two previous
military juntas against General Frederick W.K. Akuffo and President Hilla
Limann had been repeated by President Kufuor, so it would not be out of
place for the nation to once again tread the path of revolution. “A man has
the right to revolt if there is no other means to liberate himself,” he
told an African Bulletin reporter who wanted to know from him if he would
love to save the country one more time. To him, the oppression and
repression under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government was many times
worse than any other ……” Please grab a copy of that issue in question to
complete reading and form your own opinion for time and space and be your
own judge in that respect and perspective. Fellow countrymen/women, what do
we see today, and all other days of late? *
*STARTLING BUT PUZZLING QUESTIONS*
*Meanwhile, Ghanaians should join the author to pose these startling
questions: a. How much money was realized after many businessmen had been
forced to *
*pay some money and who were the signatories to that so-called A/C No. 48
at the Legon Ghana Commercial Bank during the AFRC days?*
*b. Who was the buyer of the Aboso Glass factory that was divested under
the PNDC regime? Was it Gilchrist Olympio and if so, how much did he pay
to Ghana government chest?*
*c. Who also purchased the Nsawam Cannery and at what price? And was the
* *money paid to Ghana at all?*
*d. Is it a truism that his “Nana” purchased the Kanda GNTC for Gh**¢**500.00
and was the payment made at all? *
*e. Who sold out all the 4 or so Black Star Line ships and for what price?*
*f. By Mr. Rawlings admission, was it true that some 232 Ghanaians were
killed and got disappeared from the planet Earth during his second military
adventure?*
*g. Did Mr. Rawlings not give instructions to the police to beat the ‘poor’
driver and his mate who inadvertently crossed his pleasure vehicle on the
Tema motorway to death? As a staunch Catholic, he should be honest with
himself through confession.*
*h. The NPP built 6-room block of classroom with toilet facility for
Gh**¢**80,000
whilst his NDC led government, courtesy, Mahama Ayariga, then Deputy
Minister of Education used Gh**¢**320,000.00 to execute same. What does he
make of the Gh**¢**240,000,00 difference – corruption or what? *
*i. Has Mr. Rawlings been following the hue and cry or hullabaloo of the
sale of the Merchant Bank by the Rand Bank of South Africa and the Fortis
Bank where, in each case, the premier bidder offered to pay $194m with
additional responsibility for 70% of the bank’s liabilities while the
Fortis also pressed for $90m with liability for the banks 30% burden to
shoulder and eventually, the last bidder was given the nod? What is Mr.
Rawlings’s stake on this national issue? Will he appreciate if the CIA or
the FBI rushed in with full force to initiate their intelligence findings
to uproot the rot?*
*j. Was Mr. Rawlings in the country when an NDC appointee purchased 4 car
tyres (neither Michelin nor Dunlop) for Gh**¢6**,000.00? What is his stake
on this also?*
*k. Where was Mr. Rawlings when Dr. Louisa Hannah Bissiw, the Deputy
Minister for Water Resources, Works & Housing refurbished each vacated
government bungalow by the out-gone ministers for Gh**¢**80,000.00?*
*l. Was Mr. Rawlings in town when 250 Ghanaian students for 5-year medical
studies in Cuba was for free but his NDC government under JDM tried to
compound the burden of the Ghanaian tax-payer with fictitious charges? Is
Mr. Rawlings awake and did he noticed the attendant corruption?*
*m. Which of the two judgments (the 1982 for which 3 high court judges and
the Major lost their lives or the August 29, 2013 corrupted judgment that
will never be forgotten in world history) will he have raised queries if he
had the power to punish if Ghana were still in the Stone Age era like he
appeared onto the political landscape?*
*n. What prompted Mr. Rawlings to castigate his apprentice’s government of
surrounding itself with evil dwarfs with sharp teeth, corrupt ministers et
cetera that was amassing wealth and properties all the time?*
*o. What is Mr. Rawlings’s stake on the wrongful payment of judgment debts
to Alfred Agbesi Woyome, ISOFOTON, CP, African Automobile, Waterville,
etc., totaling $980m? Author stands for correction. *
*p. What was on Mr. Rawlings’s mind when PNDC agreed with the US govern
-ment on the extradition of his cousin, Michael Sousoudis, from the US to
Ghana for 8 full-blooded Ghanaians alleged to spy for the US from Ghana to
be banished from their own country to the US? *
*FOOD FOR THOUGHT*
· *Mr Mahama ensured that he spoilt the Xmas celebration of
Ghanaians and left for Dubai to enjoy the pleasures there. How can you as
head of state leave your compatriots in limbo and go to enjoy leisure while
so many problems keep mounting up? Will his obstinate action be tantamount
to Emperor Nero of Rome? Had it not been the uprightness of the vociferous
Ghanaian media, Madam Theodocia Oku – the National Flag designer, would
have had her long toiled service to Mother been relegated to the dustbin.
The reason, the national hockey pitch, that she single-handedly struggled
and paid for its sustenance and maintenance from her little and meager
resources would have changed and her name that will immortalize the
facility been changed by the controversial and inconsequential Alfred Okoe
Vanderpuye, the infamous Mayor of Accra. Accept, Madam, the little token
from me by way of adding my shrill voice to the numerous voices that were
heard and saved the situation on July 24, 2013 to unceremoniously and
undeservedly rename the national hockey pitch to commemorate the first
anniversary of the “strange” death of the late Prof. John Mills because of
his interest in that sports while alive. As the patent and characteristic
of the NDC, they always reap from what they have not sown. Madam, A Y E K
O O O ! ! You have distinguished yourself from nowhere to fame and by
their shameful action to re-name the National Hockey pitch after John Mills
(whose mysterious death is still shrouded in secrecy) because of his
interest in hockey became a non-starter. Haaba! W’awe nam no nyinaa ma no
aka dompe nkoaa! Aden? *
· *Has Ghana any future after 2013 if Prez. Mahama has guts to
negate a constitutional requirement stipulated in the constitution that he
swore (Tuesday, July 24, 2012 on Mills’s death and again on January 7,
2013) to defend at all times even at the peril of his life but has made a
U-turn to legalize an illegality – i.e. the extension of an IGP’s continued
stay in the service after attaining age 60 (because of tribalism) and
nobody, repeat nobody, raises any query, not even the Parliament?*
· *Has Ghana any future after 2013 if the SC, otherwise a very
sacred institution, can relegate the supreme will of the people
(electorates) to the background because they saw nothing wrong with the
performance of Electoral Commission and its assigns during the 2012 general
elections (not even 27 0 and the Finger of God) to warrant the marathon
court proceedings?*
· *Cherished reader, has Ghana any future at all, if a learned
intellectual judge of international repute instead of a day nursery pupil
can lower the side glass of his car and throw an empty sachet water plastic
bag onto the ground because Zoomlion has been contracted to do the
nationwide cleaning, then where is the country heading towards? *
· *Has Ghana any future if the Supreme Court of all courts of
adjudicature can be corrupted to give a corrupted ruling of international
dimension in the full glare of the world on television, how will our
developing partners take us for?*
· *Has Ghana any future after 2013 with the ‘corrupted judgment of
the 2012 EPH’ that has sent shivers down the spines of our development
partners? *
· *Has Ghana any future if the SC judges can corrupt a ruling, then
what about the judges/magistrates of the smaller courts?*
· *Has Ghana any future if the Ghana Police will not stop collecting
their daily bribes from motorists, then we’re in trouble?*
· *Has Ghana any future if our governments defiantly continue to
overlook the dastard activities of the nomadic Fulanis at the expense and
to the detriment of indigenous Ghanaians in the Asante-Akyem and Afram
Plains areas?*
· *Has Ghana any future “koraa” with the easy-going executive that
has necessitated a stern caution from Mr. Rawlings for Mr. Mahama to sack
his ministers? *
· *Has Ghana any hopeful future with the “yea, yea” lackadaisical
legislature who will always use their numerical advantage to brush aside
the sensible suggestions from the opposition? *
· *Has this dear nation of ours any better future with the spate of
armed robberies?*
· *Has our country any promising future now that kidnapping has
started from the church premises? *
· *Has Ghana any hope at all if Ghanaians do not have attitudinal
change?*
*I will like to quote Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, former CEO of the
Korle Teaching Hospital, and it is this: “Lord, let the change that I want
to see in Ghana, begin with me”. Personally, not until all manner of
persons had significance for attitudinal change in all spheres, there will
never be anything better for us. *
*Is it proper for a father to leave wife and children to their fate in the
hands of an unexpected caretaker visitor during the festive mood? That is
the situation that Ghanaians find themselves now. It is only an
irresponsible, reckless father who will leave his household to the care of
an unknown person during an occasion such as that. After reading this
lengthy piece, please confirm whether Mother Ghana has any future at all,
after the just ended year, 2013.*
*ADMONITION*
*To bring the curtain down, let us as one nation with our common destiny,
console ourselves with a quote from the Good Book, Isaiah 41:8-10 “But
thou, Israel, art my servant (Ghana, my nation), Jacob whom I have chosen,
the seed of Abraham my chosen. 9 Thou whom I have taken from the end of the
earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou
art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. 10 Fear thou
not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will
strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; I will uphold thee with the right
hand of my righteousness.” *
*May the Good Lord Guide us all especially some of our judges to have the
fear of the Lord (because good name is better than riches –money or wealth
is nothing to mortal man) and usher us into the New Year with His abundant
Grace, Hope and Cheerfulness. AMEN.*
* By:amaningkwarteng1@gmail.com
