#OccupyBoG demo: Dr Addison has multiplied our gains

Governor Addison describes me, a university professor, the kayayee who he continues to inflict pain and poverty on, and the people's representatives, the MPs as hooligans, and our actions as unnecessary. Dr. Addison even says we are uncivilized and do not know the appropriate channels to deliver our grievances. I can't believe he uttered these reprehensible comments against the taxpayers who feed him and his family.

I couldn't believe my eyes as I struggled through the article on GhanaWeb news. I would have understood it if these provocative and uninformed remarks were made by some leaders of the NPP such as Chairman Wontumi or Hon Ken Agyapong who have made a name for themselves for such careless talk.

Even if it were Hon Joe Wise, the 1st Deputy Speaker of Parliament, it would still have been understandable and tolerable. He called the 8 persons in Techiman South who were shot dead by NPP tugs during the 2020 election armed robbers. Dr. Addison typifies the public servant in Ghana. In which non-banana democracy will the governor of a central bank behave in the manner he did and still remain governor?

Even though Governor Addison was well aware that the people's representatives were coming to present a petition to him, he did not only refuse to receive the petition, he actually left the office long before we got there or did not come at all. As if that was not enough, he calls us hooligans, uncivilized, and persons who do not know the channel to table our grievances.

That is the public servant for you. In 2015, the current Finance Minister, Hon. Ken Ofori Atta took petitions to the seat of government and he was well received. Now, we can't even go close to the BOG because it is supposedly a security zone. Where in our statutory books is it listed as such?

Dr. Addison says it with impunity that he won't resign because the appointing authority to whom we entrusted the mandate wouldn't sack him. He could not even sack Hon Adwoa Sarfo who abdicated her position not only as an MP but also as the Minister for Gender, Children, and Social Protection for about a year. The biggest culprit, Hon. Ken Ofori Atta has remained in office after messing up the economy and taking us to IMF without consultation.

Former President, JDM and his finance Minister, Hon. Seth Terkpeh consulted extensively with Ghanaians before accepting the IMF loan. Hon. Ofori Atta on the other hand, had sworn heaven and earth NEVER to go to the IMF.

The only appointees who get sacked or reshuffled are the tough-talking and frank appointees from certain ethnic backgrounds such as Hon Abubakar Boniface Saddique and Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid both of the infamous Zongo Ministries and Hon. Otiko Djaba.

Allegations against Hon. Cecilia Dapaah and the former Minister of State, Hon. Charles Adu Boahen, were compelled to resign. So, why will a poor performing Governor not insult MPs and the people of Ghana in the manner he did? After all, the President's cousin, Hon. Ken Ofori Atta will protect him. Indeed, Hon. Ofori Atta actually issued a statement supporting Dr. Addison for collapsing our banks and dissipating our resources at the BOG.

I am very shocked that Dr. Addison will describe us as hooligans and the demonstration as unnecessary. He ignorantly explains that we could have used alternative channels. First, is he oblivious of the Constitutional provision which grants citizens the right to demonstrate? Second, why should Dr. Addison be the person to decide which channel was appropriate for us to express our disgust at his handling of the BOG? So, the MPs who make the laws and leaders of the several groups that organised the demo did not know the best means to register our displeasure as we did? Dr. Addison does not appreciate the position that he is in, neither does he appreciate the magnitude of the problem he has inflicted on Ghanaians. These are the characters that continue to help discredit the Nana Addo government and distance even NPP members from the party.

What's most provocative is Governor Addison's justification for the huge debt he created. He claims that the government going to the IMF was the cause of the debt as if we messed the economy up with them and agreed with them to go to the IMF. The decision to go to the IMF was a decision of the NPP government; its economic management team, the Finance Ministry, and the BOG. The debt structuring which he blames for the gargantuan debt was part of the IMF deal. You can't use your mess to justify another mess.

Then, with regards to the new BOG offices, he explained that the decision was made in 2019 when the bank made profit. How can the manager of the country's central bank make such an unsustainable justification? You took that decision in 2019 because you had money, then 5 years later your bank is broke, your country can't pay its debts, its old persons are dying because the country can't pay them their pension and investments, most youths are out of job, then you still have the guts to spend $250m on a building.

Already the BOG has two separate offices in Accra alone. How can you be that insensitive and insulting as to justify such an expenditure in such unimaginable financial crises never witnessed in our country?

The NPP as a party in government must rethink the actions of its appointees and other public servants in its government. The government is becoming increasingly discredited and unpopular because of the actions of public servants like Dr Addison.

What would Governor Addison have lost if he or even one of his deputies had received the petition, addressed the demonstrators diplomatically but still did not resign? After all, getting him to resign is only a part of the reasons for the demonstration. It was not the only reason. The level of arrogance of President Akufo Addo and his appointees is unparalleled in our public service history.

But, you see, for describing law abiding demonstrators as uncivilised and hooligans, he has actually multiplied our gains more than we had expected. Public opinion about the demonstration and its organisers has quadrupled while the rating for his government plummeted because of his unnecessary and provocative comments.

Thank you Dr. Addison, for supporting the demonstration. You just did us good.