I was listening to one of these radio stations here in the capital and one of unrepentant NDC apologists who was on the programme, was singing the praises of the president, to the high heavens. I was really taken aback, as to why that individual was shouting himself hoarse for the simple reason that Atta-Mills has gone to visit the offices of Internal Revenue Service(IRS), and that, because it was the first time a president has ever visited the offices of these revenue collection agencies, revenue targets are going to be exceeded.

Fifi Kwetey, a deputy minister of finance, in an interview proceeding the president’s visit to the finance ministry, also said that the president’s visit has given them (workers of the finance ministry), a shot-in-the-arm which was going to, on quote, “as it were motivate them to, as it were, put, as it were, the economy, as it were, in a, as it were, a good, as it were, shape, as it were”. That is how the alleged Togolese ‘flows’ with the Queen’s language, you know!
The repetitive utterance of the phrase, ‘as it were’ is not what really worries me.But, when the motivation of a deputy minister of finance of a great nation as Ghana, is a useless visit by a president who has become bored and has therefore decided to embark on a health walk after cocooning himself in the Slave Castle for so long, then, our nation, indeed, is on a very horrifying collision course.
Now, if the visit of the president to some of our parastatals will naturally transform into increase in revenue generation, then why do we need foreign investors, and also, running to the Breton-Wood institutions with begging bowls? Why the president doesn’t simply institutionalize these erratic and unproductive visits to all our parastatals?
I remember one coregent advice Obama gave when he visited Ghana. Obama admonished impotent and ideas-bereft African leaders to endeavour to build strong institutions rather than strong men.Atta-Mills, being the president of Ghana, is supposed to put in place trust-worthy and efficient mechanisms, with which he can access the day-to-day running of our state institutions.
After all, the president goes about touting the ‘Angelic’ acumen of his appointees and I expect him to rely on every briefing given him by these ‘heavenly’ individuals around him.Therefore, the president, having to take the trouble to embark on these useless walk-abouts in the city of Accra, can best be described as a total failure by his administration, to efficiently manage the affairs of our dear nation.
By this recent un-announced and fruitless visits to some institutions, the president is trying to put on the cloak of a Rambo, who thinks he is capable of being everywhere at the same time to solve every problem by himself. Why then, did the president change all the heads of these parastatals on the premise that he could not work with people who do not share his vision.
Now, if Atta-Mills, after replacing the heads of our parastatals with these ‘angelic social democrats’ who are one-hundred percent in-tune with his vision, has to personally visit the offices of these institutions in order to boost their moral to enable them render efficient services to our nation, as it is being trumpeted by these latter-day Atta-Mills apologists, then the NDC, led by then candidate Atta-Mills, pushed our dear nation to the brink of a civil war during the 2008 general elections, with their insipid lust for power, purely, for their parochial interests.
Now, just as the dust of these presidential comics, disguised as unannounced visits, was about to settle, the ‘Asomdwee hene’ decided to spring another comic surprise on the good people of this nation by embarking on a ‘konom tea’ voyage from the castle to Teshie, with his cabinet ministres, by riding on a fully air-conditioned state-of-the-art bus, with dispatched-riders, clearing the vehicular traffic ahead of them.
What exactly is the rational behind an act of Atta-Mills asking his ministers who reside at Sakomono and Regimanuel-Grey Estates in Tema, to drive past the Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) at Teshie, to the Castle, park their cars and join a bus back to Teshie?
Information available to me has it that the cars of these cabinet ministers were driven to Teshie to pick them up after the ‘konom tea’ retreat, while that luxurious bus on which they rode to Teshie, was driven back to the Castle, empty.Now, if this information is true, then Atta-Mills is engaging in a kind of communist inferior tactic that will surely make Kim Jon ill (the dear leader of North Korea), go green with envy.
This useless gimmick and insipid stunt by the president and members of his cabinet, was actually the front page story of (16/4/10) edition of the Daily Graphic Newspaper. I very well remember how Kwesi Pratt nearly suffered a cardiac arrest by just setting his eyes on the picture of Kufuor and his grand-children, on the front page of the Daily Graphic, on one Christmas season during the NPP administration.Kwesi’s reason for his abhorrence to that publication was that people could not afford the basics of life for the yuletide and it was therefore inhumane to display the picture of the person who was superintending the suffering of the masses at the time, on the front page of the national newspaper.
Today, this same double-tongued Kwesi Pratt was somersaulting all over the place, trying desperately, to extol Atta-Mills for embarking on a jolly-ride on an aristocratic bus from the Castle to Teshie, amists all the current wailing and gnashing of teeth by the people of this nation, as a result of extremely harsh economic conditions, total insecurity, contract killings, mountains of filth all around and numerous debilitating ethnic killings across the length and breath of the country.
Now, if you live in a nation that is infested with people who can sing from different angles of their CJA mouth, eventhough the principle at stake remains the same, then how do you expect any advancement in the state of affairs of this nation. Such people, who for the sake of their CJA-stomachs, are ever prepared to throw their avowed principle(if they have any in the first place)out of the window at the slightest aroma of ‘nkwan deewa’ ,must be wished away from our mists, with alacrity, by the decent people of this great nation of ours!!!!
Atta-Mills, on one of his current fruitless walk-abouts in Accra, said he was happy that his grand-niece defended him by saying in a hair dressing salon that Atta-Mills is not an electrician, when the people in the salon sought to blame Atta-Mills, following a power outage.Now,my simple question to the president is this; was Kufuor an electrician when you, with the support from the now defunct CJA,made the streets of Accra your permanent abode through senseless demonstrations, during the 2007 power crisis?
The then candidate Atta-Mills and his lying squadron christened the yellow containers as Kufuor gallons; was Kufuor the head of the Ghana Water Company? I guess Kufuor was being blamed because he was the president and the buck therefore stopped with him. It is therefore highly hypocritical for Atta-Mills, today, to be complaining about the complaints of Ghanaians. It is also extremely irresponsible on his part, as a president, to shirk his responsibility by telling us that he is not an electrician. Do you think a leader of a civilized nation can look into the face of his people and say to his people, what Atta-Mills is telling Ghanaians?
Can you imagine Barrack Obama telling Americans that he is not an electrician, in the face of a serious power crisis? For me, Atta-Mills is someone who is without principle and his constant religious pronouncements are nothing but a complete façade which must be ignored by all analytical minds in our country.
Atta-Mills, as the president of this nation, is certainly clueless in every area of governance and he will surely go down as the worst performing democratically elected leader in our nation’s history. He must therefore give the already economically over-burdened workers of our state institutions, the room to have their peace to operate, by putting an immediate halt to his absolutely fruitfulness and erratic leisure trips around the capital. For, Mr. President, the good people of this nation queued in the sun to elect a leader who can come up with innovative ideas to empower the citizenry, but, not someone who will engage in such useless gimmicks disguised as unannounced visits to our parastatals.
After all, haven’t these erratic power outages and acute water shortages, rather intensified, even after your ‘keep-fit’ exercises, disguised as surprise visits, around the capital,Mr. President?
Justice Abeeku Newton-Offei
E-mail: jusnoff@yahoo.com