-Slams Creeping Intolerance



Whereas some members of the National Democratic Congress and functionaries of the Mahama administration took The aL-hAJJ to the cleaners for questioning the commitment of some appointees towards President Mahama’s success; former President Jerry John Rawlings is similarly raising concerns over inconsistency in government communications.

Perhaps, having had enough of the ‘casual’ conduct of these appointees some of who have been with government since 2009, ex-President Rawlings could not fathom why the Mahama administration is still struggling to get some of its act together. He singled out government communications for consideration.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the governing party’s 24th anniversary celebration in Accra last Friday, the NDC founder implored government officials to speak with one voice; saying that multiple contradictory responses from appointees of government are unpardonable.

“Today it is not uncommon for there to be multiple and contradictory responses from government officials to allegations against government or party. This is understandable, but also unpardonable,” Rawlings observed.

The founder of the NDC, whose remarks was a far departure from his usual ‘boom’ speeches, was also conciliatory. He used the occasion to admonish the party’s leaders at all levels to learn to accept criticism and also make the forthcoming November polls devoid of a “poisonous” atmosphere.

The former Air Force pilot further admonished appointees against belligerent posturing and creeping arrogance of power “We cannot win the trust of the people by putting up unnecessarily aggressive and abrasive behavior. It will sour the electoral result and poison an already challenged political environment. …Let’s be of our best behaviour”.


A similar sentiment was last weekend expressed by Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, during a panel discussion on Accra-based Radio Gold’s Alhaji & Alhaji programme.


The veteran journalist berated Ministers in the country for being lazy and leaving their duties for President Mahama to execute on their behalf.


He wondered “Why for every single project, if the President, himself, does not travel there; nothing happens? What are the Ministers doing? Are the Ministers not tired of sitting in their offices?”

"These days every Minister is trying to look like an American business tycoon; coat, tie and so on. Very soon some of them will be wearing bowler hats…There was a time when under this very NDC, you saw how Ministers appeared – business-like – you saw Ministers as people who were ready to do some work, to dirty their hands, to mingle and so on. When did all those traditions change? The same NDC…It was difficult to see an NDC Minister suited; fully suited with shiny shoes. It was difficult. Today, you see it. That’s an indication of the change in work attitude," Mr Pratt noted.


Former President Rawlings and Mr Pratt’s observations come at a time when ministers and government communicators for some time now have been given conflicting accounts on government position, mostly on economy and corruption charges.

Recent among varying accounts by government functionaries which could have prompted the former military strongman to voice out his concern are the ongoing changeable explanations on the state of the newly commissioned Komenda Sugar factory.

While some appointees of government claim the factory has been shut down, others controvert this with video and pictorial evidence of the factory operating only for Ghanaians to be told by another official that the ECG is to be blamed for the factory shut down.

Symptomatically, whilst a deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Hon. Murtala Mohammed has rejected claims that the factory has been shut down and has promised to produce samples of sugar from the factory, his boss and sector minister, Dr Ekow Spio-Gabrah is also blaming the Electricity Company of Ghana for the shutdown.

Though, the NDC has been in power for almost eight years, the trade minister, embarrassingly, is blaming the Kufuor government for doing little to improve the energy sector which he said has forced ECG to cut supply to the factory leading to its shutdown.


Even before the never ending controversy over the Komenda sugar factory died down, President John Mahama and his Finance Minister, Seth Terkper were running into each other over whether government intends to tax pension funds.

President John Dramani Mahama was subsequently forced to defused claims making the rounds that government was introducing new taxes on allowances and pensions.

Public uproar over the issue heightened following an assertion by the Finance Minister Terkper that allowances and pensions are supposed to be taxed under the new income tax law, Act 896, 2015, because they are all forms of income no matter how they are earned.

President John Dramani Mahama who was attending an ECOWAS Heads of State meeting in Senegal was, however, compelled to resort to micro blogging site, twitter to deny the statements making rounds that new taxes were been introduced, especially, on allowances and pensions.

Before the President’s intervention, Mr Terkper, in response to the public disapproval of the tax, said “It’s a thorny one because you are exiting. But remember that as you make your social security contributions, they are exempt from tax even though it is part of your income. Perhaps we will have to exempt a certain level of income on the pension so that those who are fortunate enough to make fat pensions they may pay a little tax.”


While these happenings have in most instances cast government in bad light, what most appointees of the Mahama government have over the years perfected in doing, albeit to the chagrin of supporters of the ruling party and many Ghanaians, is to always wait until 'petty' problems develop and/or escalate before they wake up from their slumber. In so doing, they end up putting the government in bad light and thereby making it unpopular.