Comment: Where art thou? Ye Apostles of integrity!!

I happened to be listening to BBC news at 2am on 12/5/9 about the coverage of the India general elections which is said to be the biggest democracy in the world. In this news item, an Indian voter's view was sought on the promises made by the politicians during the campaign and whether he thinks they could be fulfilled. And what the gentleman said was very note-worthy. He simply said that voting for a politician in India is like buying fresh fish from the market. The fish may look very shiny but you take it home before getting to know that it is rotten. The gentleman further said that in the case of the rotten fish, it can easily be returned to the seller for either a replacement or refund on the same day. But in the case of voting for an incompetent political party, one has to endure the misrule for the entire duration of the party's term in office, which indeed, can be a long and arduous wait. This may be the judgment of Indian politicians by some people in that country but I can say without fear of contradiction that the current happenings in Ghana under the NDC administration is a perfect picture of that Indian voter's logic. The campaign preceding the 2008 general elections became a fertile ground for the NDC to play on the keyboard of people's emotions by promising them heaven on earth. Unfounded allegations were made against opponents without shame. I guess some of those wild pronouncements were made by these individuals because they knew they were not going to win the elections anyway. But, God being all knowing and doing things in mysterious ways, allowed the NDC to win power so that Ghanaians will know the difference between good and evil. Many outrageous promises were made by the NDC, prominent of which is the one-off premium for the NHIS. Britain, an industrialised country that has practiced this system for decades, still deducts huge sums of monies from their citizenry, monthly, to keep the system running. However, in a country such as ours where over 60 percent of our annual budget has to come from foreign donors, we were promised a one-off payment. Now, my fellow Ghanaians, please join me to compare and contrast the following: Atta Mills promised to hit the ground running but Rawlings says he is moving extremely slowly. Atta Mills promised to move Ghana in the right direction but Rawlings says he is moving in the wrong direction. Atta Mills promised us good governance with men of integrity but Rawlings says the caliber of his appointees portrays mediocrity. Atta Mills promised to seek wise council but Rawlings says he has surrounded himself with "characters�. Power cuts and carrying of �kufuor gallons� were made campaign issues by the NDC but what do we see now? Over 602 of our citizenry perished in horrific road accidents in the first 3 months of this year over which presidential crocodile tears were shed and that was it. Ministers don't have cars to carry on with their official duties, yet, serial callers are cruising around in former ministers' vehicles. There has even been an incident where a fight ensued between the followers of the northern regional chairman of the NDC and the security detail of the Vice President over the former being prevented from joining the latter's convoy. The Atta Mills government has, indeed, become a victim of its own hopeless campaign promises. Kojo Mpianim, a renowned economist, said weaning Ghana off the IMF was one of the greatest achievements of the NPP administration (Joy-Fm morning show,30/4/09). What invectives were not poured on the NPP administration by the NDC and its socialist surrogates, when the former dealt with the Breton-woods institutions. Today, the NDC is running to the IMF/World bank at the speed of light but these same pseudo socialists have not uttered a word in protest. The current process of electing DCE's/MCE's is neck deep in plain extortion, yet, the president who subjected himself to a body search at the airport due to his abhorrence for corruption, has not raised a finger. Oh!, where art thou, ye apostles of integrity; arise, for, your nation demands your devotion!! We were promised simple life-styles but a chattered plane full of apostles of integrity from the presidency and their cronies, was in Abidjan to watch a football match. The presidential convoy now travels in batches. The president made a trip to Britain and all his close associates are giving us different figures as regards the size of his entourage. People complain of hardship and president Atta Mills tells them he has been given a 4yr mandate and that nobody should expect him to put money into their pockets now!! This utterance by the president, probably, angered those NDC supporters to embark on toilet and lorry park seizing sprees. The NDC made a lot of noise about president Kufuor's travels. President Atta Mills is put under the same microscope and we are being told that Atta Mills didn't just get up to travel and that he was in Britain at the invitation of the British government. Now, will somebody please tell me when President Kufuor ever woke up from sleep and just went to the airport to board a plane to embark on a foreign visit without the knowledge of the host government? Junior doctors go on strike during NPP administration and the NDC said the doctors deserved better renumeration.The same thing happens under the NDC and the sector minister says it is politically motivated (Citi-fm morning show, 4/5/9). There were many ardent supporters of then candidate Atta Mills, who built an industry around organizing people to cause disaffection for the NPP government. Today, Atta Mills, as president, is asking all Ghanaians to back the NDC to govern. Aren't we still practicing a multi party democracy? Is our right to dislike, oppose and to make sure the NDC administration is voted out of power in 2012, now being taken away from us? Your Excellency, you had the authority to even send Ghana to war, had it become necessary, a day after being sworn in as president because the Constitution gives you that power as the chief executive of the land, so please stop getting hot under the collar when Ghanaians make demands from your government. Ghanaians were �suffering� and you promised to rescue us by hitting the ground running so what is this constant chorus of �we've not been in government long enough�? Now, did somebody see president Atta Mills being decorated with a sash and a medal by the Ivorian president on his visit to that country? Just three months in office and a medal has been enthusiastically grabbed with both hands and feet after refusing one from his own country. Kufuor is invited to the White House for a state visit and it is scorned by the NDC. Atta Mills gets an ordinary phone call from the White House and the NDC is head-over-heels with excitement. This, indeed, is a classic case which can best be described by the famous Fante adage that says; �Mboa nyinaa dzi abe naaso akoo kodzii bi no wofree no akoo bedzii abe�; to wit, every animal feeds on palm fruits but when the parrot tasted it, they called it parrot the palm fruit eater. Indeed, sincerity is a rare commodity within the NDC sorority. �Asem beba dabi�!!! At this juncture, I would like to remind my fellow Ghanaians that we forewarned them about the imperious instincts of the people of the NDC, but some-way some-how, they were voted into power. Therefore, the only word on my lips for you now is, there you are, or better still,�oyi wa�!, as my respected illiterate Fante elders will put it. This scenario is what Mr. Abdul Malik Kweku Baako will term as �education by negative experience�. May be, this has to happen so that we, the citizenry, will learn a bitter lesson to prompt us into �attitudinal change�, and also, to destroy the egg of a snake, when we come across one in the future, but not wait for it to be hatched and grow into a full-blown reptile before trying to kill it.