John Mahama: Still in a wilderness

JDM is still frolicking on his “lame” political horse. Past week we got a small insight into how he thought the election campaign was running. For him, it was in the bag. With roads built, hospitals under construction and all the sod cut for two hundred schools that were in various stages of completion and never built, the job was done and dusted and the opposition had no other option than to lie to the electorate in order to see heaven come descend to Ghana even amid the corruption and poor economic and financial achievements.

I am rather impressed with the new iconic term we have in the media. The twist of a traditionally used term to buttress his arguments, if for nothing at all, brought a chuckle to my lips and then a sneer that he has the audacity to make such an argument. Since when did an incumbent figure was disadvantaged in a boot for air campaign in a major election decision such as the one we held in 2016?

With years of incumbent advantage at the helm of state, with the economy well in hand as he saw it, he still can’t figure out why he lost so badly?

Well, first of all, the NDC does not have as many members as it thinks it has. Over the years they have deceived themselves by cheating on the register that they have over five million members. This is certainly not possible when you do some sensible extrapolation and juxtapose that against the population growth in the country.

In some regions where the register grows at least twenty-five percent more than the population counted in the region and when dead people are counted in the graves and added to the list of registered numbers, it is easy to see why they even thought they had close to four million voters they could count on.

As far back as 1992, the NDC has found ways to keep winning, whether fair or foul. Then they started believing their own data and made projections based on these numbers.

The reluctance with which the Electoral Commissioner failed to let us see a true count when every astute statistician had already counted the numbers and come to the unbelievable conclusion that NDC had lost by an un-releasable margin told the story on 7th December.

But listening to John Mahama during the week, it was clear he is still wandering up north, totally without a clue about what went wrong. He admits it though, you have to give him that, but to think that he already knows the answer to losing, you must admire the NDC machinery for sending Dr. Kwesi Botchway on a wild goose chase, asking questions, which answers they will never tell the public. And that is NDC. We will hear only what will be said in the public domain and we will chase the talking heads forever. But the truth, they will never speak because that is the kind of management they practice. Hide it, keep it quiet, say it often enough and Joe Public will hear what the radio and TV stations echo, set up forums with gurus in politics who are clueless about inside dealings.

But enough of that. We have to deal with the ECG mess and the deeper quagmire we find ourselves. I am confused and I wonder whether there are many like me. Is this a new company or just a joint venture and this is what we have intelligently crafted as a way to ensure the lights stay on in all parts of the country? Whether it be 51% or 25% stake in a business, any person who thinks they can make this work with the way this compact is drafted must have some body part examined.

President Nana Addo says we are lazy and have lost our dynamic to make Ghana once again a country with more than its fair share of resources. I agree, but say where is the thinking out of the box that will take us from this control from the centre that was thrust on us since the colonial era? Can’t we see that then, when it was configured that way; we had virtually no qualified persons and the country was not that easily accessible?

So now even with Internet infrastructure and fast data transfer, we still can’t get our heads around a fully decentralised administration? If there is anything I disagree with this government about, it is this bloated centre and control from Jubilee House they are pushing. To cede control and tackle the key challenge of electronic processing is the real answer to our problems. I hope someone is listening.

Ameri is still lingering there. Maybe the most stinking deal ever cut in Ghana. I cringed at the whitewash when I read the paper put together by the seventeen-member team, some of who have faded away since the report was issued. There is something really amiss with this deal and I am fully convinced that some persons have created a massive pension cut out of the deal and both political parties are involved. If there is one thing I would like to die trying to solve, it has to be this. If there is a whistle blower out there, I would like to talk to you. OccupyGhana will lead your martyrdom.

Unlike our politicians whose pockets are bulging with largesse as they move from one election cycle to the next, the MTN Heroes of Change event will be staged in a couple of weeks. If you want to see what community sacrifice is truly about, please pop in and see the event. It is the third in the series and easily one of the most rewarding for those selfless persons in Ghana. This is my third year serving as a juror for this program and I have to say that I never knew we had so many people doing such great things for citizens in this country. God bless them all abundantly.

And I don’t mean those characters who dress lavishly and posture with a false gait in front of poor people, fleecing them of their last cedis with a promise of heaven when if they give all they have today and live the rest of their lives in false hope. You know where I am going. No need to mention names.

So even if it is not still clear, let me state here emphatically. Couldn’t the NDC government find it necessary to jail even an opposition member if not one of their own? Was there not enough evidence to prosecute one person of significant profile in the eight years they dragged Ghanaians through political and economic misery?

If they ever make it back to the helm of this country, the warning signs are clear. Roads, hospitals and partially completed schools do not an election win. Busting people out of jail when your Supreme Court has jailed them for contempt will never garner election votes.

And now that we fully understand how to count votes in this country, they should go back and figure out how many real members they have. I have the answers. JDM can call me, his assistant has my number.

And to the NPP, when complacency finally knocks on their door as it did when they were last running this country, they should remember that the elections are now a wide-open tunnel. Ghanaians see and hear a lot more and are prepared to rebel, damn the consequences. Ask the Chinese in the mining pits how things are going.

Ghana. Aha a y? d? papa. Alius valde week advenio. Another great week to come.