Opinions of Monday, 16 November 2020

Columnist: Abena Achiaa Gyampatu

Can Akufo-Addo win again with his lies ?

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo

From his unfulfilled 2016 promise to transform the Ghanaian economy in 18 months, fully pay all government contractors in 90 days, make Accra the cleanest city in Africa and right down to his promise to build 350 Senior High Schools in 18 months, the man Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has established himself as a typical African politician whose words must be taken with a pinch of salt.

Simply put, the litany of broken promises and outright lies told by Nana Akufo-Addo in 2016, passes him easily as a man who lied his way into office and cannot be trusted by discerning members of the Ghanaian society.

Noticing how much Akufo-Addo is not trustworthy did not just dawn on Ghanaians, it has been coming for months now.

So, on 14th September 2019, former General Secretary of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) Comrade Nii Armah Akomfrah pronounced a guilty verdict on the President. Using his Facebook page, he wrote about the hope that Ghanaians genuinely had in President Akufo-Addo, but which have been dashed.

Under the heading: “FROM HOPE TO ZERO” the sworn Nkrumahist expressed the disappointment of many Ghanaians who had trusted the words of the 2016 New Patriotic Party (NPP) Presidential Candidate.

“In less than 3 years, the NPP Govt has dissipated the hope of those who voted for them,” Mr Armah Akomfrah stated. He went on to explain: “They have lost the argument on good governance. Impunity is at its most rampant.

Corruption laced with the highest level of arrogance is at its most devious.” Not enthused about President Akufo’Addo’s record number of appointees, he continued: “With a huge number of Ministers and the biggest Government in the history of Ghana, they have lost the argument on competence.”

“They have lost all moral authority and credibility,” Comrade Akomfrah wrote, and concluded with a hashtag “NPPMUSTGO”.

The verdict of Nii Armah Akomfrah came in the third year of the Akufo-Addo regime, yet it stands true to today, in the fourth year, with just about 20 days to the polls.

With Mr Akufo-Addo betraying his promise not to add on to the public sector debt, his promise to protect the public purse, his promise not to involve his family and friends in his government, his promise not to attack small scale mining, and all the way to his promise not to cut sod or commission projects in an election year, the 76-year-old President Nana Addo has gained the notorious title, as an elderly man who deceived Ghanaians in 2016 with lies and fake promises, just to get votes and become President.

The Nii Armah Akomfrahs of the CPP saw it over a year ago, that all hope is lost in President Akufo-Addo. Many Ghanaians realized the same this year: that the man who begged to become President cannot be trusted any longer. With Ghanaians watching the unpacking of the stinking PDS and Agyapa scandals featuring members of President Akufo-Addo’s family and friends, one thing is for sure: President Nana Akufo-Addo has been exposed for his many lies and false promises, and that he is unworthy of trust.

From the foregoing, President Nana Addo has cemented his place in history as one who lied to become President and cannot use lies to secure a second term in office. The Akans say: “when the fool becomes wise, the game ends.” Those that Mr Akufo-Addo took for fools in 2016, are today wise and can’t be fooled again.

Truth Stands.