Dear spectators, eii, sorry, citizens: it’s been a while since I came your way with some English lessons; and I want to do so in this article. It’s not appropriate to say “poisonous snakes,” a snake is not poisonous, it’s venomous. Things that are poisonous have to be touched or drank, but venom have to be injected.
Folks, having brought my English lesson to a close, I wish to draw your attention to the fact that some happenings going on in our country today are more dangerous than the unleashing of thousands of venomous snakes, and you will understand me after reading this article to the end.
In fact, I was unwell days after the declaration of the 2016 election results, a stab of pain ran through me, and I thought it was unfair for H.E. John Mahama to lose the election after all that he did for Ghana. But with later developments I have been mollified by the fact that what happened is an opportunity for the people of Ghana to compare leadership qualities and appreciate the man John Dramani Mahama.
God must have had a reason for what happened in 2016. In 1 Samuel 8:4-18 of the Bible, the elders of the tribes of Israel went to Samuel and requested for change – they wanted a king. Their reason was that Samuel was too old and his sons were very corrupt. This displeased God, but He had to grant them their wish, He however, warned them that the request for a king would be expensive and disastrous; and would cost them their freedom.
This was exactly what happened to Ghanaians on December 7, 2016. They chose change, believably against the wish of God, and they have made an expensive and a disastrous choice as the Israelites did.
President Akufo-Addo and the NPP promised the people of Ghana an Edenic country, but the outlook of Nana Addo’s government is catastrophic. The hardship he promised to ameliorate has snowballed, and the exigencies of reducing the burden of Ghanaians seem not to matter anymore. As I write, prices of goods and services have escalated. For example, average fuel price has been increased from GHC14 a gallon in December, 2016 to GHC22 per gallon in October 2020. Besides, the free fall of the cedi is something the people of Ghana now have to live with. The exchange rate to the dollar was GHC4.20 in January, 2017. But as I write this article, a dollar can be exchanged for an unbelievable GHC5.7.
Interestingly and shamefully, most media houses and pastors who shouted on rooftops whenever fuel price and the exchange rate went up by the slightest margin during the Mahama regime are now reticent.
The fear of disappointment is even made real by the fact that Nana Akufo-Addo and his NPP have backtracked on their campaign promises and are now making new promises by cutting sods for non-budgeted projects two months to elections.
For instance, Nana Akufo-Addo before the 2016 elections during his interaction with the chiefs and people of Busunya in the Nkoranza North constituency promised that he will pay customers of DKM Microfinance Company, Jester Motors and Investments, God is Love Fun Club, Creative Fun Club, Care for Humanity Fun Club International, Little Drops Helping Hand, etc. whose monies have been locked up, if he is voted for as president.
“If voted as president, I’ll do everything in my power to get your monies back to you,” Akufo-Addo said amidst cheers from the electorate.
My mouth, therefore, hung opened, when the Minister of Finance, Mr. Kenneth Yaw Ofori-Atta, said during vetting for his ministerial appointment in 2017 that he doesn’t know about any promise to pay customers of these affected financial institutions because it was not captured in the manifesto of his party.
The affected customers have been affronted by this comment, and haven’t recovered from shock. They haven’t been paid up till now! For this reason, the people of Ghana must be wary of the ongoing spontaneous and unintended sod-cutting sprees.
Of another matter of concern, Nana Akufo-Addo promised to protect the public purse by putting together a lean government, but surprisingly, he is leaching the public purse with the increase of the number of ministers and presidential staffers to an outrageous size.
Apart from retreating from those spurious promises, Nana’s leadership has so far been egregious by all standards. He has failed to address issues of corruption and the state of insecurity plaguing the country without batting an eye.
There are more venoms, over a hundred major scandals have been recorded under the Akufo-Addo government. Apart from the PDS and Agyapa Royalty stinking deals, the most embarrassing of these obnoxious scandals which have been reported by some top international media outfits are the the blacklisting of Ghana by the European Union for money laundering and financial fraud activities, the ordering of the Ghana High Commission in Belgium to withdraw all its money from the Giant European bank, ING Bank for money laundering and financial fraud issues, and the seizure of £26 million by UK customs from a key Ghanaian government official who attempted smuggling the colossal amount of money concealed in suit cases onboard a private jet.
Furthermore, some of his boorish gun-firing nominees and agents were deliberately obtuse during the recent voters’ registration exercise, and these are indications of the impunity with which this country is being governed; and the growing threats of violence as we prepare for the upcoming December 7 polls.
The future of the Akufo-Addo government looks gloomy and somber; I don’t see it surviving the ire of the people of Ghana beyond this year. I’m not reading more into the situation than there is because that is exactly what it looks like. The people of Ghana may not be able to contain their disappointment and anger; and that will be a natural response to a crisis situation on December 7, 2020.
Written by: Dr. Ayaarim Nawum Baa
