The beauty of democracy is the ability to share one’s views without fear of intimidation or arrest. To the former past SRC President, I would say eight years of NDC administration paved the way for each and everyone of us to get to where we are, whether you accept it or not. I will excuse the former SRC President for having a partisan bias against the NDC for that is his democratic right. But in his overzealousness in praising the NPP and condemning the NDC, he should be reminded of the wise Akan proverb which says that, “the bad doctor who nursed the patient for the arrival of the better doctor also deserves commendation for a good job done”! However, in the context of Ghana’s political dispensation, it is very doubtable that Kufuor and his NPP qualify as the “good doctor”. Nevertheless, the proverb is still relevant to NPP partisans such as Mr. Asante who think Kufuor is the best thing that ever happened to Ghana.
Mr. Asante, it is no words of your own that Ghana is at the crossroads of economic renaissance. I therefore agree with you that there is really the need to get somebody with a great economic track record to take over from President Kufuor.
In your simple academic analysis of economic facts between Hon. Osafo Marfo and Vice-President Atta Mills, I was surprised you used only one yardstick in your judgement, “inflation”. I wished that you would have made our university proud by explaining how your claim of a lower inflation has positively affected the economic welfare of the average Ghanaian on the streets. Ghana as a country had a good track record of debt repayment under the NDC and the international lenders would attest to that fact based on S&P credit rating. Also, in spite of the downward trend of our primary export products (gold and cocoa) during the NDC era, they were still able to make life better for Ghanaians than they are today. Mr. Asante, it is unfortunate that you had to stretch beyond the soccer team of NPP presidential aspirants to compare Osafo Marfo to this highly reputable and unblemished Ghanaian son, Atta Mills in order to give credence to his flagging candidacy in a Presidential primary. Your desperate attempt is tantamount to comparing an average Colts player to a soccer maestro in our One Touch League. Advise Osafo Marfo to compare his “achievements” with the members of his own team before he can gain “sele” to compete with the Maestro himself come December 2008.
On the issue of debt cancellation, I am very happy to take you back to what the international community cited as their reason for canceling Ghana’s debts. They did not say Ghana, our beloved country, had had two years of good governance or two years of successful debt repayment under the NPP, so we deserve debt cancellation. Rather, they were patting all Ghanaians including the NPP and NDC on the back for a successful democratic transition in 1992 which was successfully steered by the NDC. In fact, the NDC bequeathed onto the NPP a functioning state with workable institutions when it relinquished power smoothly, which was one of the most smoothest and peaceful in our sub-region. If you think this is no big deal, go and ask President Sirleaf of Liberia or Laurent Gbabgo of Cote D’Ivoire about the challenges of inheriting a failed state and you will appreciate the fact that President Kufuor was dealt a good hand under the NDC. I have never had the opportunity to respond to any of the emails posted on Ghanaweb which has been a wonderful arena created by a friend I met in the US, Akoto, years back. However, I could not resist the temptation to set the facts straight on Mr. Asante’s factually challenged piece on Prof Mills which I consider a desperate attempt to resuscitate the struggling NPP Presidential primary campaign of Yaw Osafo Marfo.
To highlight on a few of Osafo’s weakness is to describe the man himself. A minister of Finance who due to cronyism was spared the Nsawam prisons after causing financial to the state through the so-called “IFC” scam.
Hope Mr. Asante would learn to set the record straight and not deceive Ghanaians.
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