To announce that there must be no criticism of the President or that we stand by the President right or wrong is not only unpatriotic and servile but is morally treasonable to the Ghanaian public. I don't hate the president but I just want him to do a good job. If the president's reasoning is taken to it's logical extremes, nobody would be fit for the job of Chief Executive of the planning Committee of Ghana's Golden jubilee Independence Celebration but Dr. Wereko Brobbey. If truth is really the national language, this man should have been in prison for causing financial loss to the state.

Only God knows what is justice in some cases, a wise way of acknowledging that sometimes justice simply cannot be found.By choosing this man to take charge of this celebration, the president has made a colossal error of judgement. A thoughtless mistake like this is fatal to the credibility of the government. Are people given top positions in Ghana by virtue of their affinity to the top echeolon or by croynism?. Just because this man is the nephew of Victor Owusu does not give the president licence to make him his guardian angel.At every turn in his career, terrible mistakes have been made, from UGM to VRA. He is incompetent in his duties and his puffed up resume should have set off alarm bells.The man is arrogant and his hubris was seen the way he granted an interview on an FM station and how he treated the workers of VRA.The sub-text of this man's bombast in the interview is that the government has the right to celebrate the occassion with such a colossal amount of money.

Many of his points or reasons were transparently bogus.He is devoid of vision and always rendered incoherent by his irrational anger. Any position this man is entrusted with, could be read through the lens of suspicion as nothing good could come out of it. It would therefore be hazardous to the health of Ghana if this man is allowed to control things.

I know for sure that even amongst the NPP members most of them donot like the decision by the president but there is or has been an attempt to create a political environment in which nobody dares to criticize the administration, the president or reveal inconvenient facts about their actions.That attempt has relied from the beginning on ascribing treasonous motives to those who refuse to toe the line.The behaviour of this government in choosing people into positions some of them have no business holding is a conspectus of what people always think and say about it.

Nepotism and cronyism has been the bricks and mortar of the government. There are more qualified people in Ghana than Wereko Brobbey who might not be members of the NPP party and who have been by-passed. I heap most of the blame on the opposition party who are spineless and as such cannot raise the red flag on what the president has done. Each party shares the blame for sullying the process and the Press is also afraid of beind sued in case they cross the line and therefore go along with whatever is happening in the country which to me is a serious journalistic betrayal.

Ghanaians have every right to celebrate 50 years of Independence but the amount of money earmarked for this is too much considering the hardship people back home are facing. Anybody who thinks this amount of money is right is deficient in reasoning. Parliamentarians of NPP and NDC sound like the Sunnis and Shiites. They are firmly convinced that whatever their party does is good.The fact that the NDC hosted the 55th OAU summit and the 1991 Non aligned movement does not give the NPP the blank check to do the same thing.What really have we achieved after 50 years?.We were at par with India and ahead of South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia but now we are still begging for everything and these countries are way ahead of us.Ghana has to cut it's coat according to it's size and think of the citizens first.If some countries have so much money to spend them on celebrations, that's their business and luck. I really donot know what the politicians were thinking when they approved of such pork barrel spending on a single celebration. Maybe they don't have conscience,pulse and mind.Their loyalty to the president overrides their concerns for Ghanaians and they are more loyal to party than to principle.They should be people with a sense of civic responsibility.Really it isn't the seas that are rising but Ghana that is sinking when we have such dim-wit politicians who only care about themselves. It seems the administration always place ideological commitment ahead of sound judgement.

How many computers, hospital beds, or boreholes can half of this money provide to the people?. The president's son is schooling in the USA where computers are common. How many do we have in all our universities?.At least half of the $20million can buy a lot or provide chairs and tables for students who wouldn't have to stand outside during lectures. Nothing new has been created for the boys and girls who have left school and are frustated because there are no jobs for them and as such engaging in nefarious activities.Most schools in Ghana are in existence by virtue of the various missions. Most roads or government buildings before independence are still being used. Not even one kilometre of railway line has been added to what the British left us. Is this something to be proud of and celebrate in grand style?. Ghana politics is designed to correct itself via elections and I think when people get inside the voting booth, they probably would think the envisioned NPP remedy is worse than the current perceived NDC disease.With the price of petrol now up,prices of things are going to skyrocket which means the ladder to better days is getting taller and steepening everyday for the average Ghanaian.

The government would have to swallow it's pride and listen to the people as there has been a mounting chorus of anger and disgust on various FM stations across the country.These people have now realised how their goodwill and patriotism have been abused.I will urge Ghanaians especially the students to demonstrate against this huge amount of money which is going to go waste by ending up in some peoples pockets.Dissent is the highest form of patriotism as Thomas Jefferson once said and real patriots put country before party.Student's the ball is in your court to do something about this crazy decision because an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. People should not forget that honest critics recognize what is wrong.

Defeatists refuse to see that anything is right.It is also a civic duty of all Ghanaians to disagree with an administration that is going wrong on some critical decisions. If there are NPP supporters who can tell right from wrong would they speak up?.

Seth Bonsu. (Denver-USA)
Email: sethbonsu@msn.com