Kikikikikiki, folks, I’m not financially fluent at all of late; but I just dialed 110, and do you know the response I got? 
“Congratulations you are now a deputy minister.”
“Congratulations you are now a deputy minister.”Jokes aside, the NPP government is turning out to be exactly what some of us expected it to be: useless. The 110 ministerial appointments is not only morally wrong, but terrifying. How can those sent to draw water start drinking everything? Life in Ghana today is getting excruciatingly hard, and I think religious leaders and civil society groups must look suitably concerned with these ill-reasoned decisions of President Akufo-Addo.
The appointment of ministers has been temporary stopped or – more accurately – paused, judging from the fact that the president has a parade of party activists and supporters breathing down his neck for appointments. More appointments are likely going to be made, and I won’t be surprised if deputy MCEs and DCEs are appointed.
As Ghanaians are trying to steel themselves against disappointment, they are being goaded by impatience, and criticizing this government is a task they wouldn’t like to ignore. President Akufo-Addo has risked far too much and the ramifications could be disastrous for him in 2020. Kikikikiiki, who whispered Nana One Term? Please let me sit my somewhere oo, I don’t want any Invisible Forces wahala.
I love the Akan proverb which says that a sore that will kill a dog is the type found on its head. And one is drawn to the inevitable conclusion that: Akufo-Addo’s desultory government is in an enfeebled state; it’s not dead, and not alive. Hehehehehe, how will you say this in twi?
Folks, I can tell you for a fact that there is going to be another landmark court case in this country soon. Chai, your ears dey itch you papa, don’t worry I’ll give you the fila pretty soon.
I have two favourites television and radio programmes, “Me wo case anaa?” which is translated as “Do I have a case?” and the “Listeners’ Choice” which gives listeners the opportunity to request songs for their friends and loved ones.
Now, coming to the imminent court case, a young man I know was refused recruitment into the Ghana Army because of his height which falls short of the criteria of the military. Kai, the young man is peeved, and has an axe to grind, a grudge to express and an ulterior motive to carry out. His problem is that if the Ghana Army can have its Commander-in-Chief with a height way below the standard of the military, then he hasn’t been treated fairly, and wants to go to the Supreme Court to test the law. The question I want to ask my esteemed readers is that: Owo case anaa?
A lady called into my favourite radio programme, and asked the DJ to play the song “Haja Skol”. The DJ told her the song she is requesting for didn’t exist, but she persisted and insisted that the song exists and must be played. She was taken off the line. It later occurred to me that she was referring to Steve Wonder’s “I just called”.
Going back to my earlier story, things are spinning out of control, and yaanom don’t seem to understand limit. They aren’t bound by morality or conscience or empathy because they are in the business of accumulation and control, and it scares me more to think of how things would be in this country if Nana Addo’s government continues to move on this slippery trajectory.
I see a hopeless situation because political parties who make the loudest noise in opposition turn to perform abysmally in government, and there are plethora of examples to cite, one of which I’ve used severally in my write-ups which I want to repeat for effect.
The Economist Magazine beautifully captured this problem in a cover story for its March 1, 2014 edition: “WHAT IS GONE WRONG WITH DEMOCRACY?” It reads: certainly many things are going wrong with democracy; chief among these is the insatiable quest of politicians, especially opposition elements to capture power at all costs, most often to the detriment of the very country they claim to love and want to serve.
According to the Economist, in most cases, when the opposition obtain power at all costs, the new regime stumbles, the economy flounders, and the country finds itself in a state at least as bad as it was before. It went on to say that the picture painted here was what happened in much of the Arab Spring, and also in Ukraine’s Orange Revolution more than a decade ago. In 2004, Mr. Yanukovch was ousted from office by vast street protests, only to be re-elected to the presidency because the opposition who replaced him turned out to be just as hopeless.
I see what happened in Ukraine repeating itself in Ghana in 2020, the chances of H.E. John Dramani Mahama coming back as president is exceedingly high, and I believe the ruling government knows about this, that is the reason why it is purportedly lobbying for a UN appointment for the former President without his knowledge, a ploy to take him completely off the presidency in future; and that is also why yaanom are using their false prophets to wage a psychological warfare that they have seen in the spirit realm that H.E. John Mahama can’t be president again.
My advice to the NDC is that temporary defeat must not be taken as a failure, for every failure brings with it the seed of an equivalent success; we now have no choice as a party – we win – or we perish! We must win! And JM is our surest bet! He is the acme of our political success in 2020. It is terribly unfair to blame him for our electoral loss. He may have made some mistakes, but no one is infallible; some minority MPs have even “vowed” to work against him if decides to contest again. Their reason: they were not given appointments; but before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.
I perfectly agree with the ex-president that the reasons for our defeat were multifaceted, and that is the more reason why I’ll urge the Kwesi Botchwey Committee to look much deeper; if the committee really wants a credible report then they should randomly select some branches across the length and breadth of the country and talk to the people from the grassroots because that is where the problems are. They are angry. I have been afraid of few things in my life – speaking the truth is not one of them. And I’m going to continue this article through gritted teeth. One of the major causes of our defeat is that JM was stabbed at the back by some of those he trusted. Who made the recommendation for an opposition member to be appointed to a sensitive position in Spain? Did such appointments occur in some other sensitive places too?
Before the elections, all that some of our rustic supporters needed were T-shirts – something to identify with the party they so much love. What happened was that most of the millions of printed campaign T-shirts are being kept by some regional and constituency executives with the intention of using them to campaign for votes in the next party elections. Most of our grassroots supporters were offended by the fact that they couldn’t get even T-shirts from their party in power, they may have thought the party is not worth dying for, so, saw no need to queue and vote.
On Election Day, most of our polling agents had their meals as late as 2 p.m., and most of them got GHC150 or less as their allowance instead of the alleged GHC200. In most instances, party election devices such as phones for the transmission of results were not used, and were shared among some constituency executives after the elections.
Additionally, it is alleged that party activists who worked on pink sheets in mosquito-infested rooms during the Supreme Court Election Petition case in 2013 were not paid. I hear some of them are bitter and hate JM with passion to the extent that some jubilated when he lost. It is obvious they worked against him. If this is true, I can bet with my last cedi that H.E. John Dramani Mahama wouldn’t have slept if he knew these hardworking folks have not being paid. One thing looks certain – somebody must have pocketed the money meant for these guys.
And those of you who gave huge sums of campaign money to your girlfriends to chop free, if you like say fi, I’ll drop your names. Is it also true that some of our appointees and party executives sponsored NPP campaign with NDC campaign cash? Chai, don’t joke with me oo, I pass CIA agent sef. And who is the security capo who allegedly made a certain call minutes before yaanom made their press conference announcing their electoral victory?
I respect former President Mahama very much as a leader and love him a great deal as a person; and it’s worth every moment I would spend whining about his qualities and achievements. He has written his name indelibly in the pages of the history of the great; and I have no intention to break my vow to support him in good times and in bad times.
My friend, JM, if you are reading this article, I just called to say I love you; I just called to say how much I care, and I mean it from the bottom of my heart. But I also want to tell you to watch your back. The people of the grassroots are not happy with some of your guys, and it may cost you if you have any intention of coming back, unless something is done about it. I request for your listening pressure, eii, sorry, pleasure “Haja Skol”. Until then, see you in Apul, I will frooow again.
