Propagate the true better Ghana agenda

Countrymen, Ghana has so much developed economically that any crescent of dissention from perceived opponents who think otherwise must be crushed effectively with an iron fist. Ghanaians are now citizens of a political haven where lean goats are now transmogrifying into obese cows thanks to the unprecedented first class leadership of a youthful president who is only a little above fifty years.

That aside, there are some who are not appreciating his Excellency’s tireless efforts to wrestle the depreciating cedi from diabolic dwarfs deliberating tearing Kwame Nkrumah’s cedi apart. At the moment, we are told to believe unequivocally that the new skyscrapers springing up around the airport area have plummeted the value of the cedi as most of the materials used in their construction are imported. Where, therefore, lies the sense in the call for the patronage of made in Ghana materials in order to reduce imports?

But that is even a feather in the China cup of the government as these infrastructures are beautifying the millennium city of Accra. A feat ex president Kuffour and his crassly corrupt cohorts failed miserably to achieve. The proceeds from the cheap sale of Ghana Telecom to the Vodafone brand could have been used in this regard and not recklessly applied to fund the nauseating pompous display and decoration of himself and cronies with glittering gold chains.

Folks, sage government communicators constantly remind us that Accra’s filth and cholera can only be an accumulated failure of the erstwhile NPP government to effectively deal with the poor sanitary culture of Ghanaians, especially those who live close to the sea who have nurtured that peculiar penchant for shit bombing the sea openly and gleefully.

Additionally, the NDC party’s manifesto that captured the idea of ridding Accra of filth within hundred days which was a political meat is now rotten. The one-time NHIS premium promised by the President John Mahama led NDC government has failed to materialise. Today, we are prevailed on to pretend all is well by praising the president and the mayor of Accra.

In fact, his (mayor) yeoman’s effort to restore timeless sanitary solutions to the perennial filth menace has booted the vice president from his hyper hibernation mode to further fire him (mayor) to quicken his pace as cholera consumes the precious lives of persons who care little about their immediate environment.

Beyond this, the slow-but-sure trait of the vice president blended perfectly with the lovable personality of the late P.V. Obeng which culminated into the congregation of the best economic brains at Senchi. The undisclosed humongous money spent to birth the sterile Senchi consensus document could only prepare the minds of Ghanaians for an IMF bailout.

By the way, the learned government appointee at the presidency who surmised the implementation of the Senchi report has been stalled due to the death of one man has been calmly called to order to avert further ridicule. Now, the economy is said to be more robust than ever.

This positive assertion has resulted magically in the singular gesture of government prostrating before the mighty IMF for policy credibility despite the well tailored home-grown policies government rolled out to sustain economic growth. They claim the move has inspired some positive micro and macroeconomic indicators.

Therefore, the avowed critics of the visionary president have been strongly advised to desist from branding a technical support from the IMF as a bailout. In reality, if the expression bailout stirs political discomfort, then an economic ‘bail-in’ will be an apt description to signify government’s clamour to clandestinely tie the economic fortunes of Ghana to the apron of our benefactors (IMF) despite the attainment of a lower middle income status.

This newly embraced status which seems to inflict financial wounds to the purse of the ministry of finance and the central bank has provoked spurious assertions from government appointees who claim to be financial gurus. One recently said we are victims of our success because government no longer receives massive inflows of grants from development partners.

Folks, permit me to indulge in some home grown logic borrowed logic here. If you sacrifice to put your ward through the best form of education you can afford and now he or she has graduated from the university with both entrepreneurial and academic skills. By divine or personal efforts, your ward is gainfully employed to become the captain of his life. Must your ward turn around to blame you for weaning him or her off your support after becoming reckless financially?

That sordid situation is Ghana’s bane. Some time past, our ears were inundated with the single digit inflation mantra. Hopes were high as we were made to believe proceeds from the oil sales were to boost the deplorable state of the poor masses. The better Ghana agenda was set in motion with the usual accompaniment of twisting of the mouth in ridiculous primitive fashion. We were described severally as the shining example of Africa as government communicators and rented press run wild to assert government’s unprecedented economic records. So what has changed in 2014?

The sorry state of Ghana’s economy now has kept us at our knees. We are told not to talk the economy and the cedi down. They claim we are creating fear and panic when industrial growth is as good as nil and the cedi keeps on depreciating against the dollar at an average of 40 percent. The cedi is backtracking fast against the British pound and Euro. And in all this, we are told to keep silent and enjoy the negative economic boom.

Even a revered parson who is classified as being blind to the gargantuan economic strides of the country has been branded as a political figure in cassock who shamelessly extorts money from his sheepish congregants to expand his business empire.

If you care to know, his only economic crime in this murky splendid economic performance is his mouth’s blunt referral of the country and economy as sinking like the Titanic ship. The bootlickers claim an economy that is growing at 6 percent per annum cannot be sinking for Christ’s sake. If that is the case, why are interest rates, the cost of doing business and the unemployment rate soaring beyond redemption? I challenge the government to provide us with the unemployment figures at its disposal since it assumed office from January 7, 2009 to date to prove the doubting Thomases wrong.

The only wise reasons in connection with the barrage of insults meted out to the revered parson for faulting government economically that an insecure government appointee and communicator who is yet to secure his licence in law practice can assign to this perceived sacrilege are that, he (parson) is only envious and wailing bitterly due to the withdrawal of his diplomatic passport. Really? This can only happen in an economically challenged Ghana.

Friends, we are daily encouraged to celebrate mediocrity by persons who have gone past it. There is a constant invitation to join the usual better Ghana agenda cacophony that is reflecting in the pockets of a chosen few who wield political power.

Ghana has to rise from its economic ashes. Certain people cannot chew the sardine in the tin and smear our mouths with the oil and shamelessly command us to sing their praises by harping on their poor economic credentials. Enough of that; let our leaders be seen to be building the nation wisely and selflessly.

AUTHOR: OKOFO-DARTEY SAMUEL

E-MAIL: sodesq2000@yahoo.com