Nana Akomea And Matters Arising

Nana Akomea has of late been running amok, trying hard to create sensation out of nothing. Among the sensation of the past few weeks is his press conference on Embrae F I95 and the tape depicting the so called voice of Deputy Information Minister – Mr Baba Jamal.

In this article my main concern is on the prices of some aircrafts including Embrae FI95 which Nana Akomea claims to have printed from the net. According to his claim the price of an Embrae F 195 is far cheaper than the corresponding price given by the Minister of Defence.

To seek the truth, I had to talk to some seasoned military expects some of whom served under former president Kuffour. The first information given by these military officers was that no serious major military aircraft manufacturer will paste the prices of aircraft on the net. The reason they gave was that the transitional time period between the ordering of the aircraft and the delivery can be several months to years. During this period inflational changes and other variables will definitely lead to increases in price. Besides, structural changes requested by the purchaser for his aircraft can equally change the price. In the case of the Embrae F195 – among other things – the volume of the tank had to be increased to enable the plane to fly longer distances without stopping for fuel. The number of seats is also to be varied. Under these conditions, the price can not and will not correspond to the prices Mr. Akomea collected from the net. Another concern of Mr. Akomeah was that as long as there are social demands from the people, it is not necessary to equip the Ghana Air Force. Now, whether his concern is legitimate or not – one thing is very important: no country can afford to joke with its national defences. Having said that it is important to note that the last time Ghana Air Force received equipment was 37 years ago. The first and last major fleet renewal by the Ghana Air Force was in 1974. The Air force currently has only two operational transport aircraft. These are the Falcon 900 acquired by the Kuffour administration and the F 27 propeller aircraft acquired in 1974. Unfortunately, Mr. Akomea did not see the need to talk about social demands of the people when Kuffour was acquiring the Falcon 900. Is it hypocrisy and double standards or negligence of political duties? It is interesting to note that even where there is no cause leading members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) artificially create situations to induce political capital and to throw dust into the eyes of the average Ghanaian. As stated above, the first and the last major fleet renewal for the Air force was in 1974. In spite of the need to equip the Ghana Air Force at regular intervals we have not been doing so possibly for financial reasons. Now that the prudent economic policies of Prof. Mills have made it possible to make purchases, the NPP is quick to criticise. They should understand that we are in Government not only to create the necessary social interventions to alleviate poverty, but also to change the face of Ghana Air Force. The programme includes the acquisition of a new Embrae F195 jet aircraft, two new CASA 295 turbo prop aircraft, two diamond surveillance and training aircraft as well as a modern wide bodied hangar for services, maintenance and repair of aircraft. Certainly Nana Akomea has many prices to look for on his search machine!

To convince ourselves about the legitimacy of the purchase, it is important to know why the purchases are being made at this time. The decision to quip the Ghana Air Force was principally to provide support services to the operation of the Air Force. This will for instance benefit the Ghana Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) for the lifting of humanitarian logistics and also assisting in the emergency airlift from foreign countries. If we had this aircraft, the recent material and human loses during the flooding in Eastern Region would have been minimal. Problems and cost of lifting Ghanaians from Libya during the rioting would also have been minimal. The aircrafts are also meant for troops transport and logistics, actions during United Nation Peace Keeping Operations, medical evacuation, power line inspections and emergency response for the oil industry. For an average Ghanaian, the above duties of the aircrafts are more important than any social demands from the constituency of Mr. Akomea.

It is important for Nana Akomea to note that his sensationalism cannot stop us from delivering our “Better Ghana Agenda”. Any attempt to reverse the dynamic development and progress in the country will certainly be resisted by the good people of Ghana.

The “Better Ghana Agenda” is showing itself in the extended social interventions put in place by the NDC government. Free text books, free school uniforms, free school feeding programme are being enjoyed by many rural and urban areas. This invariably has reduced the expenditure of the average Ghanaian and has put more money in the pocket of the people. The 50% increment in the capitation grant, free hospital services for pregnant women, increases in cocoa price and the introduction of social schemes for farmers has helped in the alleviation of poverty. In three years the Mills administration has increased the base salary three times - 8% in 2009, 10% in 2010 and 20% in 2011. The introduction of the SSSS which Mr Kufour cunningly avoided in 2006 is now 70% complete.

Massive infrastructure is being carried out along the Northern and Southern corridors; the railway line from Nsawam through Kumasi to Paga has taken off. Thousands of schools under trees are being built. Thousands of flats in a housing project by STX from Korea are to be built. Extensive electrification through Northern Ghana to Burkina Faso and the electrification projects in the Western Region- where 1,200 villages and towns in 860 communities will benefit- is being carried out. The $350 million US –Government EXIM Bank project will also benefit Central and Brong Ahafo Regions. Ghana is now harvesting investment boom with a gross Domestic Product (GDP) of over GHc 44.8 billion. Ghana has now the highest Growth rate in the world and inflation is at its lowest for decades. Naturally business men are able to plan on long term basis.

With the above, I find it difficult to see the social demands Mr. Akomea was talking about. Let us leave the Ghanaian voters to decide. This is because Nana Akomea is an Honourable Parliamentarian and “ BRUTUS IS AN HONOURABLE MAN”.

Dr. Ebenezer Hayford University of Ghana, Legon