The Negative Achievements of President Mills

Is President Mills an outstanding political achiever, a friend once posed this question to me. "An outstanding political achiever creates and pursues a vision. This goal needs to be idealistic and directed toward a better national future" There is recent national euphoria about the achievements of President Mills. The President's supporters within the NDC are crisscrossing the length and breadth of Ghana trumpeting the achievements of President John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills.

The President is doing his bit but I can hardly see him as any outstanding political achiever going by the quoted definition of an outstanding political achiever. He can be credited for certain positive achievements but his negative political attributes are exceedingly overwhelming.

He is not fully in control of his government. He warns against politics of insults yet his baby-face Deputy Ministers are vituperatively in full gear to run down their political rivals. His Deputy Chief of Staff, Dishonourable Alex Segbefia, employs his friend, Carl Wilson, to steal on behalf of the government in broad daylight. The President looked on without saying a word when there was a daily public outcry against the overt thievery by Carl Wilson. He had his own software to run to detect and to impound foreign stolen cars. Interestingly, all such cars were the expensive type needed by the NDC gurus. The cars were either shared among them or sold at a pittance to them and the money pocketed by the NDC. It had to take the NDC rampaging foot-soldiers to wake up the then slumbering President Mills to sack Carl Wilson. Carl Wilson had the audacity to go back to the Tema port intending to seize more cars. He was beaten up by the security operatives before the Sleeping giant woke up to sack Carl from the National Security Force. This same stubborn gun tooting Togolese Carl Wilson who mysteriously wriggled himself into Atta Mills' government recently pulled a pistol at some football fans in Obuasi. Does this NDC man have any respect for his boss, President Mills? No.

The outrageously rampaging NDC foot-soldiers tell who the President should sack before he acts. He is not fully proactive but reactive. This is a President who in opposition was accusing the Kufuor and his Government Ministers of stealing. But his NDC Ministers are seen to be far worse when it comes to talking about who is the real thief. As Kufuor and his Ministers "chopped Ghana money waa waa", the Ministers of President Mills' NDC are "chopping Ghana money in double portions of Fuka fuka-cum-waa waa". If I were not telling the truth, why is it that Ama Benyiwa Doe and Allotey Jacobs are on each other's throat over the award of, or allocation of contracts? What about General Mosquito Johnson Asiedu Nketia selling manufactured blocks to the Bui Dam Project contractors at twice the ongoing price while still sitting on the Board of Bui Dam Project? Are Ablakwah and Segbefia not faulted in the same vein?

Government contracts are awarded to these NDC guys without going through proper tendering but also at bloated prices. Are the contracts awarded the way they are now just to enrich the NDC guys to enable them pay back a 10% share profit into the party's kitty? President Mills accuses the NPP government of doing little yet the NPP found petrol in commercial quantity for Ghana. From this oil find, President Mills has been able to borrow huge sums of money to start carrying out his "Better Ghana Agenda" projects. Without the oil find, who will President Mills be? As Rawlings once said in response to people's agitation to sack Kojo Tsikata, "Without Kojo Tsikata I am whom?" Meaning, without Kojo Tsikata, he, Rawlings, is nobody. Similarly, without the oil find President Mills may not be able to proceed on that foreign borrowing spree. Give the devil his due, so Jesus Christ did admonish. Will President Mills now acknowledge certain good achievements by the Kufuor's NPP government, at least the oil find?

The composition of President Mills' government does not reflect the regional balance. It is lopsidedly hijacked by our brothers and sisters from the North and the Volta. This is an undeniable fact. President Mills has been ill-advised by that choleric-mouthed Tony Aiddo to discontinue with all the uncompleted projects left by the Kufuor's NPP government. Tony's offered reasons are childish. I am not going to repeat why because I have already published a full article on that. Here is a President cutting sods left, right, forward and backward to initiate new projects. In case he was unable to complete them before he gets voted out of power in 2012, how will he feel if Nana Akuffo Addo Dankwah follows his nation-wrecking parochial mentality? With such policies, it is Ghanaians and the nation that suffers but not the architects of such silly policies.

Nevertheless, President Mills has positive attributes. He is a Christian who walks in the ways of Jesus Christ. He has good intentions for Ghana. This is verifiably evident in his ceaseless sod-cuttings and projects commissioning. He is slow to anger and gives his insulting Ministers time to self-reform. He swallows all the insults and name-callings directed at him by Former President Rawlings without uttering a word.

President Mills will be relieved of his post come 2012 by Nana Akuffo Addo Dankwah.

We shall say to him, well done, "Akoa nokwafo, wo adi kakra yi ho nokware" go and rest. NDC should not push President Mills any further as he is not healthy enough to continue to suffer unwarranted insults. He is also not there to ensure the attainment of the selfish aspirations of certain corrupt individuals in higher positions within the party and the government.

Let it be known to all and sundry that "Good intentions alone will not bring about world peace"

Rockson Adofo