Why is the government fibbing?

When Ghanaians went to the polls and voted for a change, they didn’t do so for fun. They wanted a change that would lead to a transformation in their lives. They didn’t just ask for a change because the former government was not up to the task they were mandated to execute, but rather wanted a significant improvement in their living standards. If you examine the theory of needs by Abraham Maslow or any of the other theorists you would fathom that human beings in most cases seek higher order needs when their basic needs are met. By this I am not the least insinuating that the Kufour administration was able to satisfy all the basic needs of the citizenry. Certainly not! The bottom line here is that the former government didn’t lose the last elections because they didn’t cut ice on the citizenry in terms of governance and the management of the economy. The point I want to drum home is that it was impossible for the prior administration to have solved all our problems within the span of 8 years. Even former President Rawlings, who ruled the country for about 20 years couldn’t bridge the gap between the rich and the poor as he promised us. Most of the allegations that he used as a smokescreen to take the law into his own hands to chase out a democratically elected government are still living with us. If you take a critical look at the Ghanaian economy you would realize that a lot has been done between 2001 and 2008. I must also admit that some of the activities of the prior administration were not in the best interest of the people. The New Patriotic Party contributed immensely to what the National Democratic Congress did before they were voted out of office in December 2000.

Looking at the margin of victory by the current administration in the last polls, I find it increasingly difficult to comprehend the way they have been conducting themselves 6 months into their mandate. The margin of victory, which was less than 40,000 votes, should ring a bell in their minds that the tide could turn against them if they don’t buckle down to work in the supreme interest of the people. For people with statistical minds, the about 40,000 votes’ difference is not significant, which means that last year’s election was almost a tie.

I cannot get it when the current government is trying desperately to fault the former government in almost everything when their main responsibility is to improve the lot of the people. In giving them the mandate to govern, what we were saying is that we want a change in our present and future lives. We want you to lead us to fulfill our dreams. We want a better Ghana for our children and children’s children. We want you to continue with the developmental agenda that the prior administration couldn’t finish. We want an educational system that provides every child the opportunity to live their dreams, regardless of where they are situated. We want a Ghana where public and civil servants can also enjoy the better side of life. We want a country where our youth will not be chasing nonexistent jobs after the completion of their education, among others. As a point of fact, the government won the elections mostly because of the numerous promises they offered on the campaign trail. And to be honest all these promises and a lot more are captured in their manifesto.

Instead of the government doing the aforementioned, they are not. If the purpose of their being at the helm in the country is to blame the erstwhile administration for their inaction and cowardice- their inability to assume responsibility for the upward adjustment of the fuel prices, then I think there was no justification for the change in the direction of the country. What is worrying, though, is the mis-and disinformation the government is feeding the folks. When they assumed office, they were talking about a broken economy when available statistics from the Ghana Statistical Service showed the contrary. They even went to the extent of lying about the growth rate recorded in 2008 which happened to be unprecedented in the country in about 20 years. After increasing the price of fuel by 30% last week, which is against their campaign promise of reducing the price of fuel drastically, they have again resorted to throwing dust into the eyes of the citizenry by presenting a misleading picture about the debt portfolio at the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR). If the government is not being disingenuous, how on earth can 3 high profile officials come out with different figures regarding the accumulated debt at TOR? Whilst the President, John Atta Mills indicated that the TOR debt is GH¢1.14 billion or 11.4 trillion old cedis, the Vice President- John Mahama put the figure at GH¢930 million or 9.3 trillion old cedis as at the close of December 2008. The Minister of Energy, Dr. Oteng-Adjei, on his part, put the TOR debt figure at GH¢106 million or 1.06 trillion old cedis just last Friday, 12th June, 2009 on the floor of parliament. In the midst of all these conflicting figures, one finds it difficult to understand the sincerity and motives of the government. However, according to a report in The Daily Graphic on Monday, 15. 6. 2009, the total net indebtedness of TOR stood at GH¢441.27 million or 4.41 trillion old cedis as of December 31, 2008.

In their attempt to justify the increase in the price of fuel by making the previous government the fall guy, they have inadvertently exposed their ineptitude in leading the good people of our fatherland. I was expecting them to eat a humble pie after they upwardly adjusted the fuel price and not to unjustifiably blame the former government for “leaving a big hole in the economy” according to the President. The fact that the government promised to reduce the price of fuel drastically if they were given the mandate to rule does not mean that they cannot renege on their promise when they were confronted with reality. I believe that the good people of our motherland would have let sleeping dogs to lie if the government had eating a humble pie, and not putting the blame on the corridors of the former administration. In their attempts to appease a small section of the citizenry by fibbing, they are at the same time creating an avenue for majority of the populace to doubt their credibility and also discouraging potential investors from investing in the country. Unlike Rush Limbaugh, the conservative talk show host who has repeatedly stated that he hopes that Barak Obama fails, which is unpatriotic to say the least, I believe that majority of Ghanaians wish that our president and his administration succeed. This said, we expect them to set their gaze on fixing the economy. We expect them to honor their promise of making our country a better one by improving our living standards. We want to see the economic management team- headed by the President’s brother which was established a couple of months ago to start playing ball. We want to see action plans aim at creating jobs for the numerous jobless folks, especially the youth who as a result of their frustrations have resorted to criminal ways- “sakawa”, “sika aduro”, etc. etc. of being in money. Mr. President, you will serve us best if you work assiduously to improve our economic standings and not deliberately misspeaking about the economy. God bless Ghana!!

Source: Kingsley Nyarko, PhD, Educational Consultant, IAF- Munich (kingpong73@yahoo.com)