Letter to Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu: Don't try to defend the SDI budget

Dear Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu,

I have just listened to you on Top Story with Evans Mensah on Joy 99.7FM. You tried to convince me and all who listened to you that there was a mistake that was corrected but did not reflect in the final document and someone leaked the one on which it did not reflect to the minority for purposes of mischief… you went on and on. After listening to you tell that fiction with an incoherent plot, here is my conclusion:

I would have been convinced if I had sand in my head or if doctors at the psychiatric hospital had declared the content of my skull irredeemably rotten. Unfortunately, I have brains with some modicum of sanity. So, I realised that you made a mess of yourself on Joy FM this evening.

Sir, the problem is not with the GH¢800,000 for the website alone. The whole budget for the “Ministry of Special Stealing Initiative” looks stupid, to put it mildly. You risk appearing stupid if you try to rationalise it. I know you are an intelligent man. When you get home, take a seat, pour yourself a glass of water or fruit juice or anything without alcohol, take a sip and cool your heart. After that, take a look at the so-called budget and ask your conscience if it makes any sense.

You see, this goes beyond the minister in charge. It looks like a grand scheme to create, loot and share. My shock, however, is that no intelligence was employed in the stealing. I used to think that the NDC was full of crude thieves and the NPP were clever thieves, but seeing this budget has blurred the line for me.

You and your colleagues in parliament have failed us. When someone recently said parliamentarians were useless you people were fuming furiously, but when you stare at that piece of crap called a budget and consider that it was put before the Finance Committee of Parliament for scrutiny before it was finally passed by the house, can you say you and your colleagues are useful or helpful to the cause of our country?

Budget for the Ministry of Special Development Initiative

How do you feel when the average Ghanaian has to struggle to survive while the money meant for their development is stolen by a few? How do you feel when you cruise in your Toyota V8 while energetic men and women line up the streets to roast in the blistering sun while inhaling toxic fumes in an attempt to survive? How do you feel when our young men and women are sold into slavery in Libya while the money meant to make life bearable for them at home is being stolen by a few? How do you feel when human beings and animals share drinking water from dirty ponds? How do you feel when the Krachi Nchumuru District of the Volta Region has budgeted to drill 7 mechanised boreholes in 2018 at a cost of GH¢7000 each while this shameless ministry is drilling mechanised 1000 boreholes at the cost of GH¢132,000?

You and your government should be careful. You have done well with the free education and some campaign promises. Last year, I told the previous government that any idiot could borrow, build and brag so governance should not be reduced to only infrastructure. In the same way, any idiot could borrow and pay school fees and pay allowances. The governance we need to propel our country and give us dignity in the eyes of our international peers is one that has accountability and honesty in our the resources of the state are used. Your government is a disappointment in that sector.

I used to wonder why John Mahama would ever consider contesting the presidency in 2020 until this week. But do you know something? Ghanaians will one day run out of the patience they often have for four or eight years to change between NDC and NPP. What is happening is threatening the security of the nation. And the effect of it is like rain. It doesn’t fall on only one roof.

Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the situation your government has found itself in is worse than the content of a septic tank puller. If you want to save your face, try to keep the lower part of it shut. You risk appearing stupid if you try to rationalise this in anyway. Till our paths cross