The apex court is our witness: The alternative is scary!

On 7th December 2016, discerning Ghanaians found in NPP, a redeemer, in whom they reposed their absolute trust to set them free from the NDC administration’s unpardonable economic mess.

Thus, contending schools of thought have been argued forcefully that discerning Ghanaians made the right choice on both December 2016 and 2020 by electing the septuagenarian Nana Akufo-Addo and retiring the sexagenarian John Dramani Mahama.

Well, you may agree to disagree, but the fact remains that Ghana found itself in the throes of economic collapse due to the erstwhile Mahama’s administration economic mismanagement and wanton corruption.

Believe it or not, there is incontrovertible evidence of unbridled bribery and corruption, including monies which were given to parasitic creatures who did not render any services towards the national development. Woyome and Akua Donkor come to mind.

Dearest reader, you may take my word for it, a large portion of Ghana’s scarce resources, regrettably, went down the drain due to the mismanagement and the wanton corruption perpetrated by the officials of the erstwhile Mahama administration.

If you may recall, somewhere in 2017, the founder of the NDC, the late President Rawlings, asserted somewhat passionately that Akufo-Addo, unfortunately, inherited national corruption at its worst from the erstwhile National Democratic Congress administration led by former President John Dramani Mahama(see: Akufo-Addo inherited ‘corruption at its worst’-Rawlings; ghanaweb.com, 2/11/2017).

Former President Rawlings opined: “By the time this administration came into office, the country was literally drowning in the practice of corruption with impunity. This administration has, therefore, inherited national corruption at its worst.”

Many observers thus believe that sleazes, bribery and corruption, as former President Rawlings would aptly articulate, were so pervasive in the outgone NDC administration to an extent that the NPP government had no option than to arraign uncountable suspects before the law courts.

Ironically, former President Rawlings is said to have founded the NDC based on the ethos of probity, accountability and transparency. And yet bribery and corruption permeated every facet of the outgone NDC administration.

The all-important question then is: where is their honesty and integrity when they allegedly squandered funds meant to transform the lives of the penniless in society through dubious deals such as the Brazil World Cup, the infamous bus branding, SUBA,GYEEDA, SADA, MASLOC, SSNIT, among others?

Clearly, the NDC loyalists much trumpeting ethos of probity, transparency and accountability is a charade. It is rather an illustrative case of preaching virtue and practising vice.

The bribery and corruption, as a matter of fact and observation, pervaded every recognised department of the erstwhile NDC administration, hence being given the famous descriptive epithet, ‘create loot and share’ by an eminent Supreme Court Judge.

It is, therefore, regrettable to note that the founders of the NDC accused and exterminated people with unfounded allegations of sleazes and corruption, including eight army officers.

However, if we honestly juxtapose the alleged corrupt practices of the murdered army officers in the 1979 coup d’état with the sleazes and corruption which took place in the erstwhile NDC administration, we cannot help but to conclude that the Generals were “shot for less”.

Dearest reader, the bribery and corruption, so to speak, were so widespread to an extent that, the founder of the NDC, the late Rawlings, once bemoaned and grouched openly: “I want to remind people that we could not have possibly forgotten that Generals were executed. The greed, corruption and injustice of today is a thousand times more than what these Generals were executed for, and if we are unable to restore a firm measure of integrity into our dealings, then the blood of many would have been shed in vain” (Rawlings 2017).

Suffice it to stress that a couple of years ago, a competent court of jurisdiction convicted two of the numerous corruption suspects in the erstwhile NDC administration and sentenced them to six and twelve years respectively.

Besides, more recently, two more appointees of National Communication Authority (NCA) under Mahama’s administration have been convicted and sentenced to prison for malfeasance.

Some of us, as a matter of principle, share in the sentiments of the concerned Ghanaians, who have been maintaining all along that the sins of the four convicts are meagre in comparison with the other scandalous corruption cases which took place in the erstwhile Mahama administration.

But despite the convictions, no less a person than former President Mahama went ahead and complained bitterly: “This trial by newspaper affects the credibility of the government. If you hear that several sums of money have gone missing yet no one has been arrested for prosecution, then you are destroying the confidence of people in the credibility of the government. So the trial by media must stop (ghanaweb.com).”

Perhaps someone ought to inform Ex-president Mahama that the current Attorney General is seriously working towards bringing the suspects to book.

Take, for example, on 14th March 2018, the State filed a case of causing financial loss against the former Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD and the CEO of Zeera Group of Companies and Agricult Ghana Limited, who have been accused of embezzling over GH260 million under the watch of former President Mahama.

Credible sources have confided in some of us that forensic investigations are progressing steadily in a number of bribery and corruption cases which took place in the outgone Mahama’s administration.

As I write, about 21 suspects from the previous NDC administration are standing trial for charges of alleged bribery and corruption.

There is also a possibility of the double salary grabbing NDC Members of Parliament having their day in the law courts.

But in spite of the Mahama’s government’s unbridled corruption and incompetence, the loyalists NDC supporters would want discerning Ghanaians into believing that the erstwhile NDC government provided exceptional governance.

Indeed, clumsy understanding of patriotism exists in the minds of many Ghanaians, who prefer needless praise singing to defending the national interests.

Given the circumstances, we can confidently deduce that JSC Dotse was absolutely right for describing Mahama’s administration as: ‘create loot and share’.

We should, however, take solace in the fact that the Akufo-Addo’s government is tackling the erstwhile Mahama’s government economic mess head-on.

Long live Ghana!

K. Badu, UK.

k.badu2011@gmail.com