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NPP and Nana Addo have lost the ideological bearings

Sat, 1 Dec 2012 Source: Tamakloe, Kojo

In my previous article I stated that Nana Addo as a conservative, traditionalist has lost his ideological bearing . This is because as I said conservatives need frugality in managing the fiscus and are socially conservative as well

• Fiscal Management . The NPP emphasis has been on free SHS. Kenya , Uganda and Zimbabwe have been cited as examples in Africa and so we should do the same. “ Frugality is the quality of being frugal, sparing, thrifty, prudent or economical in the use of consumable resources such as food, time or money, and avoiding waste ..” We are told we are going to use the Oil money to finance this . Good. But when do we get returns? Ghana now has 73% literacy rate so what is the real aim and so return on this kind of investment? Can we get a higher rate of return by investing the money on other aspects of life ?. What percentage of the population will benefit?

Kenya and Uganda cannot match the literacy rate of Ghana . Then we must also know what the Ugandans and the Kenyans hope to achieve . Are these the same results the NPP wants to achieve.? But in all this what worries me is the “partylisation” of Education. Education should not be a political football. Schooling per se is not a wealth creating tool. Wealth creation is a combination of Enterprise, capital, Land, and labor. Education is the factor impinging on enterprise and labor. They become more efficient when educated or skilled. . So the question I want to ask is how will the NPP make capital available ?. We have had land (farmland, gold, pristine coastlines, water and now oil) and we have not been able to transform them into useful marketable products to grow the economy . In fact we are far from even satisfying our most basic need of food security. We import rice, poultry, beef, fish, oil, milk, butter, wheat for our consumption . KNUST uses imported mowers to keep the grounds clean and UCC despite all the teaching aids projects do not produce locally manufactured apparatus We need to find ways to create a surplus and save , not spend

• Savings =Investment = Wealth

• The NPP could not complete a lot of projects and the Bush Highway and the Bui dam among others as funding needed had to come from outside. Why ? Because we had no surplus funds that can be said to be savings .

• TOR was in a mess as it was very short of funds and this is an investment that can yield ready dividends. It still is in need of cash injection to be fully functional

• Railways . This is a critical area of our lives. That can be used to even save our fuel consumption , as vehicles get stuck in traffic jams and waste a lot of fuel . The fuel efficiency will save our purchase of fuel most of which is in scarce foreign exchange . That will also translate into less pollution . Workers will arrive on time at work and less fatigued

• We are importing a lot of goods as the economy grows , and all the freight is brought in by foreign carriers be it by sea or by air. We have no national carriers , Will these with good management not bring in revenue while saving foreign exchange?

• Textile Industries . These industries are crying for cash to boost their production. . Will giving them the necessary cash not help them compete and create wealth . We had these but we import school uniforms . So while using State funds for the cloth from our own factories , the uniforms are then made in Ghana creating jobs and building on skills. Will that not dove tail into Nana Addo’s claim of industrialization. What about the cotton farms that will have a ready market ? Then do we need to then build accommodation for the Kayaye or build for the Zongo people ? They will do that for themselves. They will do that for themselves and have pride . They will even pay for their children to go to school

• So should NPP not be selling ideas about how to make our farmlands more productive with the oil money and creating more productive units by way of factories that will grow the economy and make jobs available to the youth

• Energy as engine of growth. We have so many alternatives now that need to be developed. We cannot because of lack of funds

• Housing . affordable housing needs funding , which will translate into good healthy environment and citizens

• Health facilities . Should the object be availability and access ., with an emphasis on prevention measures

• Nana Addo Akuffo does not come through as some one who can balance a budget. He has never lived within his means and I do not see him doing it now

• Social conservatism “Social conservatism is a political ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. The accepted goals and ideologies related to .it . Social conservatism is generally focused on the preservation of family values, primarily within the family but also with respect to society as a whole”

• NPP has not promoted family values especially after electing a Flag bearer who we all know has been a philanderer. How many times did he marry and how many out of wedlock children has he fathered? How is the party going to promote fidelity when the flag bearer does not understand it.

• Drug use . The man is alleged for many years now to be a drug user . At the debate one could see his body reaction when challenged and put under pressure. Instead of the NPP trying to find out why their candidate could not take the pressure they go on against the opponent

• Was he withdrawn form Oxford for drug use or for another untoward action like sexual harassment . The Oxford debacle if analyzed properly leaves more questions than only drug use or dismissal or no dismissal. Why do you leave such an august institution and even exclude it from your CV ,. How do you keep quiet about the circumstances if there was nothing untoward ?

• Will The Ghanaian family be united under him or divided. When Prez Kuffour

Left office we all saw the anger especially against him and his tribe to the point Ga Adangbe youth were against him even acquiring an Office in Accra . The Ashanti youth followed suit with demonstrations and threats and then the Ahanta Youth. It is important we do not revert to such naked tribalism by any future government . The nation cannot afford it . We thank the late Prez Mills and now President Mahama for bringing peace

International Relations . One can see the debate did not do much to give us a direction as to where the NPP and Nana Addo will go. Cote D’Ivoire does not represent foreign policy. We need to define what Ghana, s relation will be with the West, The East and more importantly with our African brothers and sisters and also with the other developing Nations. The first NPP government goofed up by siding with racist and apartheid South Africa. It then proceeded to throw out our brothers and sisters from our neighboring countries. Our economy plummeted . We had to uselessly devalue the cedi and it is only through great efforts by subsequent administrations that Ghana is back where it is now . We need to forge friendly relations so we can market out products . Does the NPP want to say our priority should be Cote D’Ivoire? Intra African trade now stands at 10% . Should we not focus on how to grow this?

Ghanaians , use December 7th 2012 to retire Nana Addo , not because of age necessarily, but because he is idealess and visionless. The question we need to answer is what has he got to show for his many years in public life? Kuma preko? How did he transform Akim Abuakwa in 12 years.? What strides did he make as Minister of Justice?. What difference did he make a Minister of Foreign affairs.? In any organization you get promoted on your achievements . The Presidency is too important to be toyed with .

RETIRE NANA Addo Akuffo

Forward ever , backward never

The writer Kojo Tamakloe an Nkrumaist ,believes it is through African Unity that Africa’s underdevelopment can be solved

Columnist: Tamakloe, Kojo