Prof. Mills; A Complete Liability to his Party and the State

In a country where multi-party democracy rules as being practised in Ghana, candidates are elected into political positions to serve the nation by way of initiating and implementing socio-economic policies that could improve people’s living standards. Anything that goes contrary to the above has the tendency to derail the country’s economic progress and consequently put majority of the citizens into perpetual poverty. It is thus imperative for those in public office to protect the national purse and to ensure that Ghana’s scarce resources are used profitably. That is the basis of economics as a subject. It seems however, that the government of the day has deviated from this noble cause as the issue of ‘fraudulent’ debt payments has taken precedence over improved education, energy, health, and transportation. The multiplier effects of this reckless action by the NDC government, no doubt, have been felt by the poor and other vulnerable people in the country. If the high cost of living, the spate of preventable deaths, the high cost of education, and health were matters of concern to the “I care for you” president, I am sure Mills would have acted wisely to prevent the unwarranted dissipation of the national coffers by his irresponsible appointees. It is in this direction that I expect every patriotic Ghanaian to side with me in concluding that Prof. John Atta Mills has been a total liability as far as the management of his own party and the country is concerned.

According to William Shakespeare; “All that glitters is not gold” and if this wise saying was to be reflected thoroughly by the admirers of Prof. Mills, they would not hesitate to change their minds towards him. Indeed, Prof. Mills was born with human face but that should not be mistaken to mean that he has humane ideas. He might possess innocent face that could deceive people like Kwame Pianim to absolve him from corruption but I can say without hesitation that Mills is part of this social canker. Prof. Mills’ soft voice, though not appealing, could convince people to see him as a good man but I tell you the man is vindictive. His fake promises, especially during electioneering campaigns could win him the presidency but folks, Mills is not fit to rule Ghanaians. Seriously, his demeanour could force people to label him “Asomdweehene”, but my dear reader, never be deceived by people’s appearances because Atta Mills is simply the epitome of corruption, incompetence, wickedness, deceit, and disunity. In fact, he is the embodiment of any vice that anybody can think of in this world and Ghanaians should watch him closely as December approaches.

Peace, as we all know, is sine qua non to the development of any country. But how far has Prof. Mills united the NDC in particular and Ghana as a whole? Ever since this man became the leader and flag-bearer of the ‘National Debt Collectors’ (NDC), the party has been thrown into a state of confusion though Mills touts himself as the ‘King of Peace’. The imposition of Prof. Mills on the NDC by the founder, Jeremiah Rawlings resulted in the formation of the National Reformed Party (NRP) in 2000. His election as the leader and flag-bearer of the NDC for the 2008 general elections led to the formation of Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) in 2006. And his recent ‘endorsement’ as the leader and flag-bearer of the NDC has once again divided the party into GAME and FONKAR groups. This, coupled with his strained relationship with the Rawlingses, has led to the formation of the National Democratic Party (NDP).

In his 8 year period in opposition, Prof. Mills through his own annual “State of the Nation Addresses”, frequent press conferences, and his frontline role in the Committee for Joint Action’s (CJA) demonstrations showed his preparedness to tackle the myriad of problems confronting the nation. But in government, Mills has resorted to blame games. He faulted the erstwhile NPP for a ‘broken economy’ when oil was at his disposal. The shortage of gas, kerosene, and petrol in the country had all been attributed to the NPP not forgetting the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) debt. Mills’ poor handling of filth in the cities led to cholera outbreak and the NPP was responsible for that. The fire outbreaks that hit the nation, especially those involving government buildings, were put at the doorsteps of the NPP. In October 2011, the poor implementation of the single spine salary structure led to a 17-day strike by the country’s medical practitioners and here again former president Kufuor was blamed for not leaving any money in the national kitty to kick-start the policy. In the course of the year most of the food served in the basic schools were said to have been infested with maggots and the NPP was wrongly faulted. The NDC deliberated put the serial killings of women on the necks of NPP members as they even linked a whole NPP MP to that effect. The pockets of violence that erupted at Akwatia, Chereponi, and Atiwa were all forced on the NPP.

The blame game did not end there for Amina’s robbery case was also linked to the NPP. This was followed by the display of Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings’ posters in the Eastern Region and once again the NPP did not go scot free as they were accused of bringing confusion to the NDC. They lose court cases and they blame the NPP for packing the courts with their cronies. The 2011 Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) recorded less than 50% pass rate and the opposition NPP was blamed for the poor results. On politics of insults the NDC shamefully by-passed Fiifi Kwetey, Tony Aidoo, Koku Anydohu, Kobby Acheampong, Ablakwa, and a chunk of the ‘greedy bastards’ and apportioned blame on the NPP. Recently, the country experienced complete black outs including the one at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium and the NPP was again fingered. The shortage of cement in the country, the high prices of goods and services at the consumer market have all been blamed on the NPP sympathisers. All series of demonstrations and strike actions undertaken by nurses, teachers, doctors, and even prison officers and fishermen have been linked with the NPP, a situation that casts slur on the intelligence of these professional bodies. A couple of months ago, the Central Regional Minister, Ama Benyiwa-Doe was on radio accusing the NPP of masterminding violence between Ewes and Fantes at Ekumfi Narkwa. Again, with deep silence emanating from the Slave Castle, news broke out that the president was either in coma or dead. This, the NPP was blamed for orchestrating the bad news though Prof. Mills lives, dines, and sleeps in the Castle with NDC members. Does anybody remember the hullabaloo about the currency depreciation? The NPP was again blamed for the redenomination of the cedi in 2007. The Black Stars lost to their Zambian counterparts at the just ended African Cup of Nations Tournament held in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon and some of the players were accused of sabotaging the team because they are NPP sympathisers.

Knowing that the payment of these judgement debts will definitely send the NDC into opposition, come December, the NDC propagandists are trying hard to link the NPP with this economic crime. Having told Ghanaians that he was not criminally-minded to dole out GHC51m to Alfred Woyome, the EOCO report said it all about the deceit and criminality of the man called Atta Mills. With their image so battered beyond repairs, the NDC organised a press conference and blamed the NPP for the Woyomegate though Woyome himself did admit on Peace FM that he had no contract with the government. Talk about the Waterville scandal or the 94m euro to Construction Pioneers (CP) and the ‘thief debt collector’, Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa, will reveal that Ghanaians should brace themselves up for more payments. No wonder a deputy Minister is siding with African Automobile Limited (AAL) and Isofoton to rob the state in these fraudulent deals. In a nutshell, the NPP is the cause of Ghana’s woes but surprisingly, not a single member in the party has been summoned let alone been prosecuted by any competent court of the land.

Folks, should we wait till Prof. Mills apportion blame on the NPP for his inability to impregnate Naadu Mills or take responsibility of his only child? We must all guard against these unnecessary blame games since they are of no use in our modern politics. If you blame your opponents for your own failures, then it is only appropriate to credit the same people with your achievements. Failure to do so seriously undermines one’s integrity and I hope that one day the NPP would be credited for the discovery of oil in Ghana by these NDC propagandists. The Ahwois, as evidence suggests, got Prof. Mills exactly where they wanted him to be – in presidency but not in control; alive but dead psychologically and now what a brilliant opportunity to share the country’s financial resources among themselves. The man Atta Mills has been a complete waste of time at the presidency and must not be allowed to spend even an hour beyond January 7, 2013 by any patriotic Ghanaian. Another term for Mills could jeopardise the future of Ghanaian children. Let’s therefore join the crusade and stop Mills from driving the Yutong bus because he has drunk the alcohol of corruption, thievery, incompetence, lies, and backwardness, which are all against ‘political road safety laws’.

God bless Ghana! God bless the NPP!! God bless Kufuor!!!

Katakyie Kwame Opoku Agyemang, Hull. UK

A native of Asante Bekwai- Asakyiri

Official blog (www.katakyie.com) katakyienpp@yahoo.co.uk 07577626433

“Vision, coupled with persistency, results in true success”