I listened to the Honourable Minister on Multi TV's Majority cocus. He was a
member of the pannel and his contribution was recorded on myjoyonlin.com where I had
the upportunity to listen to his assertion. He on the programme threw a challenge
that somebody should prove him wrong. Nobody has done it yet and I won't
either. The people I expected to answer NPP If I were Mills I will promote Hon
Baba Jamal to a higher office for the good work done, singing just the praises,
because that is what he is paid for. However, there are other aspects of President
Mills leadership very similar to those of The Nation's first president; Osagyefo
Dr Kwame Nkrumah that Baba refused to mention. Maybe they escaped him. To help
finish the good work he(Hon Baba Jamal) has started I will draw his attention to
those similarities where the law professor might even get the first spot instead of
second.
In order not to confuse the issues I will start from where our first Prime Minister
and President showed up in Ghanaian politics as compared to where Prof Mills started
and how they both behaved themselves. Dr Nkrumah was brought into the country and
into Ghanaian politics by the founders of the United Gold Coast Convention(UGCC).
The party had been formed and the fight against colonialism had already started
before they invited him to join hands with them to take over mother Ghana. Because
of his eloquence and Charisma, he was made the General secretary of the first
Ghanaian party to engage the whites in a tag of war for Ghana. Nkrumah after
gaining roots and having been promoted amomg the people by Dr J. B. Dankwah (founder
of UGCC) and his coleagues; Emmanuel Obitsebi Lamptey, Edward Akuffo-Addo, Ebenezer
Ako Adjei and Sir William Ofori Attah, Nkrumah took a twist that displeased the
Noble statesmen. It led to a division in the force that was
pursuing freedom for Ghana. Dr Kwame Nkrumah within those few years succeeded in
dividing the party that brought him to lime light in Ghanaian politics and went
ahead to polarise and divide the country Ghana as a whole. Children were turned
against their own parents, husbands against their wives etc. Nkrumah paid back the
people who did him this great favour with the worst of evil you can think of. He
imprisoned many, killed some and actually burried Dr J B Dankwah alive. On this
president Mills is second to Nkrumah trully. Look at how he has divided NDC. See
what he and his functionaries are doing to the Rawlingses. When it comes to
betrayal and ungratefulness Mills is only second to Nkrumah. Nkrumah had
upportunity to unite the country by bringing all those knowledgeable and learned
men on board in managing the the young Ghana, but no, he rather made, excuse me to
use the word, illitrates who knew nothing about governance his appointees and
ministers. He went for a "team B" just like President Mills. Pres Mills had all
the upportunity to unite this country but he went for the divisionary tactics,
backing NDC sympathisers against perceived opponents just like his mentor backed
the young pioneers against any perceived opponent of his regime.
It will interest you to know that Dr Nkrumah before leaving to London for his
studies was a known member of the Catholic Church. A young man known to be a
devoted Christian just like our President claims. Osagyefo showed so much "Cri Fe"
that the course he decided to read in the university was Theology (Biblical
Studies). Dr Nkrumah was later noted to have imported in a godess call kankanyame
into this country. His appointees often asked young children to recite these
sayings; "God give us toffee". And when the children said this no toffee dropped
from heaven. Then they ask them did God give you toffee? To which the children
responded; "No". Then they tell the children to say; "Osagyefo give us toffee". As
soon as the children pronounced these words they threw toffee in the air for them to
tell them that Dr Nkrumah could give them toffee but God wouldn't. He claimed
virtues but practiced vices. Today our president openly confess Religion,
christian religion to be precise but he was spotted with a black juju ring and till
tomorrow he has not answered anyone on the speculations relating to the strange
ring which forced his wedding ring off his finger. Do christians look on when
their children are killing? What has the president said about the four boys who
were killed in broad day light at Agbogbloshie? What has the christian president
done with relation to the woman who was murdered in her own house at Tamale? In
all these the suspects were identified but the so called "God fearing man" has
closed his eyes and pretended he has not seen anything. When Nana Addo's
security men were said to have assaulted a certain young man, we all remember what
he did. He dismissed them immediately. That is a man who lives by his words. If
Nana Addo comes to power, I am very convinced that even if his wife is guilty of
any offence he will let the law deal with her. He is a man of principles
not talk. What his (Mills) appointees are doing is idolising Mills as an angel
just like Nkrumah was idolised before those children. But we have seen it before,
thats how they idolised Papa J, now they call him a liar, a greedy man and a
corrupt man paying bribes with meat pie and 20 gh cedis. In this hypocrisy he is
second only to Nkrumah.
When we come to misuse of state funds Pres Mills is second only to Nkrumah. Nkrumah
met an economy which should have made no country in Africa to be able to compete
with us by now if it was managed juduciously. We were the first country in south
saharan Africa to gain independence from the british and were left with a lot of
credit. Ghana in those days funded the independence of many African countries. I
was shocked one day when I was shown a bridge on river nile in Burkinafaso which was
built with Ghanaians' money. No bridge in Ghana is as long as that bridge. Our
money was used to build universities in Kenya, Guinea and Egypt. Many other
projects were done with our funds which were not even made public. J H Gbedema
carried our money in sacks to support Nigeria for their independence. He met an
economy full of wealth but by the time he was ousted out of power, Ghana was at the
brink of economical collapse. President Mills inherited an
economy with external dept of $4.8 billion. Kuffours administration had been able
to canceal Ghana's debt with the HIPC innitiative leaving only this amount
after eight good years in office. President Mills, just two and half years into
office has raised our external debt as we speak now to $13.9 billion. This is
excluding all the numerous loans they have procured this year and those on the way
coming. The cabinet approved two major loans of $1.8bn from China to build the
Eastern Corridor Road and a controversial 442 million euros ($626.3m) from a
husband and wife, $5,000 clay-manufacturing firm in the Czech Republic have already
been procured. if you add all these we are running into $16.02billion debt an
extra of $12.1 billion in just two and half years. In Kuffour's eight years we
owed 4.8billion dollars in Mills two and half years we have a debt of 12.1billion
dollars. STX is also at the coner. Meanwhile, cost of all constructions
have been inflated well over 350%. The minister was mentioning school blocks,
toilets and roads but he failed to mention tha most of those projects were HIPC
benefits. School buildings built less than a year now are colapsing and when the
education minister was asked all she could say was, I am not aware. In wasting our
resources Mills is indeed second only to Nkrumah, Baba is right.
I can't mark Honourable Baba Jamal wrong if he says President Mills is second
only to Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah. Where I feel pain is that Dr Nkrumah was the
first president and had no one to learn from, but Pres Mills apart from serving
before as a vice president for four years, he has also seen them all and should have
learnt from their mistakes and take the right steps but all he is interested in is
power, how he will win an internal contest whilst Ghanaians wallow in poverty. if
he wanted to show Ghanaians true integrity he should have resigned because the moral
support by the people even within his own party is gone. The same thing happened to
Nkrumah, his own guard shot him five times, the walls saved him. He had become so
unpopular even among his own people because Ghanaians were living under fear and
insecurity. Ask the elders when he was overthrown, there was jubilation in the
whole of Ghana. Nkrumah knew how unpopular he had become
but he still held on to power. The same thing is what we are seing under Pres
Mills. People outside NDC are living in fear and insecurity. If you are perceived
to belong to NPP, you can be chased out of your job any time and no one will speak
for you. NDC "food sodier" can kill you and go scot free. Somebody police were
hunting for murder was found under a ministers bed umder Pres Mills. Killers will
walk free so long as they are NDC sympathisers. This insecurity has made Mills
unpopular but just like Osagyefo he will still hold on to power.
In all this lets clap for Hon Baba Jamal because President Mills is comparable only
to Dr Nkrumah. He is indeed second only to him.
God bless our homeland Ghana.
Noah D Asare. Frankfurt, Germany.
