General News of Wednesday, 20 November 2013

Source: The Enquirer

NPP in 2nd gear to sabotage Mahama's gov't

Whoever feels that the scathing attack Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, New Patriotic Party (NPP) Vice Presidential candidate for 2008 and 2012 launched on President Mahama at the late Alhaji Aliu Mahama anniversary lecture and the boycott that the Minority in Parliament staged are sheer coincidences must be kidding.

The two incidents are a grand scheme well planned and orchestrated by the NPP to commence the second lap of efforts to make things uncomfortable for the Mahama administration.

The first lap was the election petition three key members filed at the Supreme Court to challenge the result of the December 2012 Presidential elections.

The election petition was used to unsettle the Mahama administration; for almost nine months, everything came to a halt.

Having failed to achieve the desired results, the NPP has moved the second gear to frustrate the government.

Dr. Bawumia, interestingly, is now the new conduit of the NPP for the unnecessary and unwarranted attacks.

The former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, whose major contribution in grassroots campaign in the run-up to the 2012 election was comically going round pounding fufu, set the tone for the sinister agenda against the Mahama administration.

Unfortunately for him, the platform for the heinous agenda was wrong, as it was to eulogize the former Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, who abhorred politics of attacks and insults.

The Minority in Parliament also played its role in the whole sabotage game plan when it staged a walkout last Friday, when approval was given to a thresh-hold of 2.5 per cent increment in the Value added Bill.

As usual, the Minority, with its leader, held a press conference where Mr. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, said VAT is currently 12.5 per cent with a 2.5 percent national health insurance levy summing up to 15 percent.

He contended that the 2.5 percent increment by parliament on the VAT component will therefore increase the total to 17.5 percent.

With an agenda to pursue, the Minority made things look as if the Majority was perpetrating a crime against the state of Ghana.

However, Dr. Benjamin Kunbuor, Majority Leader and Minister for Government Business, exposed them when he said the minority had not challenged the economic sense of the 2.5 per cent. Adding that, the decision to add the figure was discussed with the minority involved and the speaker ruled on it.

He said the minority was questioning the procedure for the introduction of the rate, and that caused the walk-out.

Dr. Kunbuor said there was no breach of parliament procedure, noting that, as long as activities do not offend the constitutions, Parliamentary proceedings on the issue continue.

It is recalled that Mr. Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, a cousin of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, gave a hint of the NPP’s move to frustrate government when the election petition was being heard at the Supreme Court.

According to him, the petition was not about the law but was to destabilize the President within his comfort zone.

The party itself and some functionaries were able to create the impression of uneasiness in the country at the period the petition was heard.

In fact, some young activists of the party, aided by some big wigs, found the ‘Let My Vote Count,” rabble-rouses as part of strategies to create disaffection for the government.