NDC logo. File photo.
In his attempt to lustrate the country off the perceived sleaze and corruption, the founder of the NDC Party, J. J. Rawlings, elbowed his way through Ghana’s political scene via a series of coup d’états, ruled despotically for eleven years and then formed the National Democratic Congress Party.
As a matter of fact, Rawlings and his NDC apologists kept trumpeting their perceived ethos-probity and accountability to the hearing of their political opponents.
In fact, despot Rawlings proselytised and brainwashed many unsuspecting Ghanaians to believe that those he deposed had emptied the national coffers and the only way forward was to purge the country of the perceived injustices.
Consequently, Rawlings carried out what he termed “house cleaning exercise”. Rawlings however went ahead and dealt with perceived offenders arbitrarily.
Regrettably, Rawlings exterminated innocent people, many of whom were accused of legitimately borrowing meagre sums of money from banks to support their businesses.
It goes without saying that Rawlings proceeded with his intentions and callously murdered prominent people including General Fred Akufo, General Kutu Acheampong, General Akwasi Afrifa and many others who were cited for sleaze and corruption which Rawlings believed had culminated in economic collapse, as it is happening in the current NDC government.
Isn’t it therefore ironic that the same people, who claim to appal sleaze and corruption and have thus made probity and accountability their prime mantra, would then cause the collapse of Ghana’s economy through wanton sleaze and gargantuan corruptions?
Truly, many observers hold a strong view that Ghana’s economic downslide came about as a result of the unbridled sleaze and gargantuan corruptions that have characterised the NDC government over the years.
Let us therefore take a critical look of some of the wanton sleaze and corruptions the holier-than-thou Mahama and his NDC government have perpetrated on the good people of Ghana all this while.
• The dubious Embraer 190 aircrafts deal which prompted former President Mills to set up a Committee to investigate the then Vice President Mahama.
• The $250 million bill we incurred on the unsuccessful STS housing deal which was spearheaded by the then Vice President John Dramani Mahama.
• The bizarre GH800 million judgement debt payments over the last seven and half years.
• The undeserving GH51.2 million judgement debt payment (create, loot and share) to Woyome.
• The weird $30 million judgement debt payment to Waterville, which the Supreme Court of Ghana ruled as unconstitutional and ordered the NDC government to retrieve, but to no avail.
• The wrongful $25 million judgement debt payment to ISOFOTON, which the NDC government has failed to retrieve despite the Supreme Court’s order.
• The scandal (create, loot and share) at the National Service Secretariat which cost Ghana millions of Ghana Cedis.
• The SADA scandal which deprived the people of the Northern Region millions of Cedis meant for development.
• The SUBA scandal which cost Ghana millions of Cedis meant for the improvement of the economy.
• The GYEEDA corruption scandal which deprived the youth of Ghana millions of Cedis meant for the creation of jobs.
• The amount of $250 million from the Euro bond which was meant for infrastructural development was lodged surreptitiously in an unauthorised bank account.
• Inflated costs of infrastructural projects (the Minister for Local Government, Collins Dauda has raised concerns previously).
In fact, the list is not exhaustive, but time and space would not allow me to enumerate all of them.
Let us therefore, remind President Mahama and his NDC apparatchiks that corruption is a key element in economic underperformance and a major obstacle to poverty alleviation and development, so they must cease squandering our resources.
The way forward, however, is for discerning Ghanaians to desist from voting for the NDC government in the forthcoming general election.
K. Badu, UK.
