The political pendulum in Ghana is tilting in the wrong direction and it has reached a point of no surprises. There is real madness in Ghana today, a staggering trend that circumvents the perception by Dr Kwame Nkrumah of blessed memory that ‘the African, when giving the chance is capable of handling his own affairs’. In today’s Ghana, honesty, patriotism and truthfulness have no relevance as the nation is consumed with high level corruption and greed. Sadly to say, it is all about one’s self, his family and the political party he or she belongs, and the citizens can go to hell. Corruption is on top gear among politicians and the civil servants who are the worse culprits. The emerging scandalous events are not just pathetic and despicable but preposterous and amazing. The recent revelation about the disbursement of C520,000.00 billion to Mr Woyome is so frightening that it leaves me to question the thinking and believes of our leaders today, most of who are arrogant, despicable and corrupt. It is disheartening to realize that our nation has no agenda, no philosophy and no direction. We are terribly mismanaged, and everything is senseless and meaningless as people thrive in deprivation in the midst of plenty! What a nation.
Ghana is a crazy country. How come that an amount of C520 billion cedis could be paid to an individual (Mr Wayome ) without the knowledge of the sitting president although the Chief of Staff was reportedly informed per copy of payment authorization ? This staggering amount is even greater than funds allocated to some of the small ministries under the national budget projections. If President Mills indeed did not know about this astounding deal as alleged then it confirms the speculation that he is not in control of the governmental machinery. However, if he had prior knowledge about the deal, then as a law professor, what was his take on the issue under reference? Mr President, nobody is saying that the state cannot be sued because if it makes a mistake and breaches someone’s rights, the person or company can take the nation to task. What beats the imagination of the citizenry is the modus operandi about the superman, Mr Woyome and his resurrection from nowhere to demand and receive NC52 million cedis. The government of Ghana deals with corporate bodies and one expects the like to sue as and when feasible. If the Government of Ghana contracts with Waterville Company, how does somebody like John Doe(Mr Wayome) sue for redress under the same contract. Is Waterville Company ( a legal body which can sue and be sued) the same as Mr Woyome(another legal body) ? This is amazing, however, when people conspire to perpetuate crime they lose their basic bearings, their sense of self as they are driven by greed. It is therefore not surprising that intelligent people can so soon forget their basic knowledge about the laws on contracts.
Mr President, as a law professor, you know that parties to a conditions precedent contract which was the case between the state and Waterville Company cannot ask parties to perform if the contingent condition (financing) is not removed (satisfied). This is a simple and straight forward case which culminated in the abrogation of the contract because the stadia have to be ready for games (the CAN 2008 Games) and there was no room for excuses as it was time related. What would have happened if we had not prepared the stadia for the games as a result of the inefficiencies of Waterville Co Ltd and other companies? Let us be objective for once and speak the truth Mr President, Mrs Betty Mould Iddrisu, the former Ag is bad news for the nation for doing something which is not defendable.
Mr President, as my leader, I expect you to understand our history and the philosophies of your party. Barely 32 years ago, some concerned people took arms to liberate this nation from corruption and greed, and they libeled it “A Revolution”. Some people lost their lives and properties while others went through a great deal of pains, all in lieu of creating a responsible society devoid of insatiability and dishonesty. After all these years, what are we witnessing from the NDC Administration, the off spring of the PNDC? The same followers of the concerned people who sought to ensure change have assumed the responsibility of restoring the old order of greed, arrogance and corruption. As an insult to the philosophies and believes of the party, the NDC gurus involved in the scandal choose to commit the greatest crime of our history on the very day their mother organization resurrected( 4th June) to curb corruption and ensure accountability. The General Secretary of the NDC Party in displaying arrogance had the nerves to call it foolish in answering questions relating to the so called $20 million party office. The emerging politics of insult, display of arrogance and corruption is endemic at all levels. It is really funny in Africa when weighing power and governance which explains why people like President Rawlings make a coup which historically have derailed our economic development. I thank God for being alive to witness today’s events in view of all the sacrifices made by Ghanaians and I am waiting for a statement by former President Rawlings in relation to the Woyomegate.
Mr President, your integrity is at stake and you have to come clean on this disturbing case. There are a lot of questions that have to be answered as our president and we demand that as citizens. How can our nation which is battling with cash flow evolve c520 billion to pay Mr Woyome in 3month against courts order? Who does Mr Barton-Odro work for, the state or Mr Woyome? Since the Chief of Staff was supposedly informed, did he relay the info to you? Why it is that no NPP functionary was questioned since they initiated the original contract on behalf of the government of Ghana? Mr President, if you were informed about the payment, were you briefed about the modus operandi? This amount is no chicken feed since it is even more than the grant allocated to some of the small ministries in Ghana. When former President Rawlings made a statement about ‘greedy bustards’, many people questioned his moral authority without knowing that he has access to intelligence reports by nature of his position and could have even heard about this crime. I personally do not blame some of the arrogant NDC functionaries for their elapses because many were born after the 31st DEC REVOLUTION, they do not know their history and many are in the party for their own bite. Most people do not understand why NDC emerged as an alternate party to NPP and CPP during the 2008 election and their failure to identify the related reasons will send them back to opposition. They have lost their sense of self and need to go back into opposition for reformation (learn).
The leadership has definitely lost direction and it will help them and our democracy to relinquished power, go back into opposition, re-align the party by inculcating its philosophies in their new followers and seek for re-election. President Mills executive presidency has been a nightmare for our democracy, he pretends to have control over the governmental machinery but developments in Ghana defines all the loud noises we hear daily on our airways and what we read from print media. Our nation today is engulfed by land issues, the Chinese nationals have ransacked the nation with impunity illegally destroying our lands, our cities are not planned, corruption is on the ascendency especially in our governmental machinery, high cost of living increasing the poverty levels, our local markets are now dominated by the Chinese nationals, no national policy on education etc. We have to remember that great nations like United States of America works because they believe in themselves, their philosophies and history. What is the correlation between our nation and the citizenry? It is simple, each one for him or herself God for us all. This is sad and very pathetic. We have no identity, no direction, and no philosophies. Some of our sitting MP’s do not even know our national anthem because they do not believe in our national course if any. Our path to national reconstruction is very ragged and disturbing but we can get to the promise land with an effective and selfless leadership.
Our leaders (political and civil) should remember to weigh their decisions and actions because most of our people are really suffering. There is serious poverty all over in Ghana and people have become immune to their hardships. People see hopelessness with pain written on their faces. Many struggle to make ends meet; our mothers, working teenagers, the handicapped, disadvantaged and the deprived. It is therefore preposterous to allow few greedy sharks to take the nation to ransom. We are talking about 520( five hundred and twenty) billion cedis in a country where most people earn less than 2 (two)million a month. Let us protect our democracy, Mr President, by doing the right things for our own good because this case will bring no peace unless it is well resolved. Countrymen and women of Ghanaian origin, I speak for the suffering souls in our country and not for any political party. It is time for us as a people to tell our leaders the hard facts and not just succumb to their predictions. They have for far too long taken us for a ride and it is payback time. I call on all well meaning Ghanaians of our respective political groupings to end their blind-eye politics, and fight for Mother Ghana instead of kowtowing to some of the greedy and corrupt politicians who parade in the corridors of power for their own selfish needs. Our democracy will grow only when we begin to question the deeds and actions of our leaders, for that is the only way to know their philosophies. Happy New Year.
ERIC K EDUSEI, VA .USA.