Matters arising – Why NDC must go to uncover hidden truths

The NDC government recently took in two Guantanamo prisoners in a manner that doesn't pass mustard no matter how you dice it. From its inception to the day the two arrived in Ghana everything was shrouded in secrecy. In fact, for most Ghanaians, we got to hear about the terrorist transplants for the first time from the foreign media. Otherwise we would have been kept in total darkness. In one breath we were being told Ghana’s taking of the two harmless Gitmos was humanitarian gesture grounded in compassion sans common sense. On the other hand, four United States senators have initiated a bill that to all purposes and intention threatens to blackmail our collective interests should the two low level Yemeni Al Qaeda foot-soldiers ever escape from our 24-hour surveillance grip and return to the frontline to fight for Al Qaeda or ISIS. What that means is that Ghana has become Guantanamo annex for America. Why anybody will think this will attract no threat from Al Qaeda towards us is pure naivety or condescending misinformation. In the eyes of Al Qaeda and ISIS, Ghana is providing prisoner rendition services for America, and that in and by itself makes us a legitimate target for attack.

The whole deal came across like a favour, the price of which was way too much, for no apparent quid-pro-quo. Why would Ghana all of a sudden tarnish its Pan-African and Non-Aligned credentials for something that looked so bewildering as to make the president declare that Ghana is an ally of USA? Obviously, John Mahama, a BA History major, was not in class when Ghana’s Non-Aligned movement activities, starting with Nkrumah, was being taught. That got me thinking out loud to examine what has happened to Ghana's relationship with the USA in the last 2 years as to make us acquiesce so much easily and cheaply to America's pressure to swallow such humiliating gesture that did nothing for us than to paint us as a client-state of the USA......practically holding their night soil for them. Then it dawned on me, President Mahama must has been forced to do the unthinkable to atone for something he did against America. It was not about the donor aid money we get from them; every year USA gives to Egypt alone far more money than the whole of the rest of Africa combined. I won't even talk about Israel and many countries around the world that receive millions upon millions of America’s aid money more than us.

This brought me to a strange occurrence that happened early 2015. Do you all recall the moment in early 2015 when an American registered private plane, insured by Bank of Utah, but leased to the Engineers & Planners Company(EP), was spotted sitting on a tarmac in Tehran airport? EP is owned by Ibrahim Mahama, the president's brother. Up to date nobody has come to explain to us what business was EP leased plane doing in Tehran, Iran. Same plane was hired by the president to Zurich, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum. I posit that John Mahama received the Gitmo 2 to amend for getting on the wrong side of the Americans for flying American plane to Tehran’s airport, whereas the Americans had placed Iran under crushing economic squeeze that barred any country from trading with Iran under any circumstance that included anything derived from or belonged to America including patents intellectual property, technology, and currency. Why John Mahama will charter his brother's plane to ferry something to Tehran is a mystery that can only be unraveled by a new administration. The Americans have got dirt on John Mahama and receiving the Gitmo 2 is his way of mending fences.

And what did Akyems do to NDC to deserve so much hatred and discrimination from this NDC administration? I am talking about the positioning of the Eastern University at Krobo Odumasi. Before you say tribalism I want you to hear me out first. The premier university of Ghana, University of Ghana, Legon, was situated in the former bigger Eastern Region. Today it is situated in a carved out Greater Accra Region, otherwise on Ga land. Then we have this new Eastern university going to Krobo Odumasi, but wait a minute, the Krobos are part of the Gas....forming the Ga-Adangbe tribe. That said, the Ga-Adangbes have two state universities on their soil, and Okudzeto Ablakwa would want to say nothing untoward the Akyems went into the decision to situate the new Eastern University in Krobo-Odumasi. I posit that the NDC is discriminatory against Akyems....for no apparent reason than that they are the hotbed of the opposition NPP. Akyems have spent their resources.... cocoa, diamonds, bauxite, palm oil, coffee, timber, food crops, educationists, etc. to make Ghana what it is today and they get no respect. This discrimination explains why a significant portion of the Accra - Kumasi road – the Kwafokrom-Apedwa strip - that passes through the Akyem territory is left untarred up to date.

Let a healthy debate begin.

Submitted by: Eric Bottah (alias Oyokoba)

Email: ebottah@hotmail.com