Pay Local Contrators Now Or………..?

Let me use this fine opportunity to bring to the fore what I think if care is not taken will succeed in bringing down the government of Atta Mills in the impending 2012 general elections. Professor Mills should know that by defeating Nana Konadu at NDC primaries does not mean that he can win the 2012 general elections if he does not behave the way he should as he says he a father for all in the country.

Let me start by saying that the three northern regions are the strongest traditional strongholds in the country apart from the Volta Region of Ghana .I do not want to appear to be a prophet of doom. What I want to say is that local contractors in the three regions are really suffering due to nonpayment of contract jobs executed so far under the current NDC regime.

For the past one and half years, local contractors are really suffering in the three northern regions. This is particularly so under the department of Urban Roads. All those who have worked and pre-financed their contract works are under heavy pressure to get their money back from the government. What prompted me to write is that am a very hard supporter of the NDC, infact a card bearing member of the party. They are now secretly paying some of the contractors who are their cronies to the detriment of the real foot soldiers of the party in the three northern regions.

Am not saying that the president may be directly involved in the payment of contractors, but he should know that he takes responsibility for the actions of his ministers. The president should begin to know some of his ministers better especially the minister for roads and highways, Joe Gidisu and the finance minister. All local contractors think that these two gentlemen are behind the wheels to frustrate contractors in the three northern regions. They are around the ring of allegations of selective payment to the detriment of the poor hard working contractors in the northern regions.

Am writing to remind the president on his ‘father for all theory’ is making all of us to believe in. We must have full trust in him and his ability to cater for all of his children who truly care for him and his government. But what do we see hungry contractors who are desperate for mere survival.

I want to use this medium to draw the attention of the president to at least assist us to be able to have ‘something small’ to be able to fast for the next thirty days by paying all contractors in the three Northern regions of the country now, now, now.

Don’t forget it was the three northern regions which threw their weight behind the president in the run-up to the 2008 general elections. We expect the president to reciprocate in similar fashion by allowing us to have a lifeline by paying us the contractors in the most deprived part of the country, the three northern regions in the north.

We do not want to take any hasty decision that may be regrettable but we also want to caution that the dog in the north says that ‘fall and I will falls constitutes their kind of play’. If one dog will fall only for the other to stand and be biting, it amounts to nothing but a ‘FIGHT’. We want to avoid this kind of confrontation hence this write up.

Now all they do is t get well connected people to lead some contractors to the payment centers of the department of Urban Roads for their monies to be paid to them. We do not want to believe that we have been trapped when your government and its functionaries decided to bail us out by taking us to department of urban roads for the awards of contracts.Look at it now we are worse for it. We are hugely indebted to creditors.

We can’t break even if payments are effected even this very minute. All the same we are asking for mere survival and as a father please listen to our plea and cry.

During the NPP time things were far better than now. We voted for you because we thought a lot of improvement will be our lot. We do not want reminisce of an era we all supported to be pushed out of the system.

At least we think that as a president we are giving you a second chance to rectify this anomaly of selective payment to local contractors which your appointees and officials are heavily involved in.

Going by the ‘Taka Tika Gangale’ theory propounded by our own vice president who is your number two man in the country, am afraid we are heading towards dooms day if ‘taka,tika Gangale’ are not applied with rapidity it deserves now now the ‘inevitable may happen. That we all can assure ourselves.

Please let us see some action now, now in an action year which is not clicking by your own dictatates and political pronouncements.

Yours Faithfully

Sumah Dery (sumahdery@yahoo.com)