By K. Badu

I must admit, identifying one’s self as an ideologue of transparency, probity and accountability is not a bad idea. But it somehow becomes extremely troubling and hypocritical when a group of people who claim to be the exponents of such ethos would then make a ‘U-turn’ and dip their hands into the national coffers.

This is the reason why I cannot abandon my puzzlement over the conduct of the founders of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Party.

Take, for example, former President Rawlings and his cohorts founded the NDC Party at the backdrop of ‘transparency, probity and accountability’. But what are we witnessing in the current NDC government? We indeed wake up every morning to hear fresh news about damning sleaze and corruption in Mahama’s government.

It is worth pointing out that prior to the formation of the NDC Party, J. J. Rawlings and his cohorts annihilated people they perceived to be hijacking the progress of the nation. Consequently, prominent politicians and business men and women were exterminated for least offences. “They were shot for less”.

Regrettably, Rawlings and his conspiratorial plotters murdered innocent people, many of whom were bizarrely accused for legally borrowing meagre sums of money from banks to support their businesses.

While prominent politicians including General Fred Akuffo, General Kutu Acheampong, General Akwasi Afrifa and many others who were cited for sleaze and corruption which Rawlings believed to have culminated in economic collapse were sent to firing squad.

To be quite honest, Rawlings and his cabals rather chose communist approach to ensuring sanity into the system, hence exterminating innocent people with least provocation.

Consequently, many innocent people suffered humiliations and deaths under Rawlings’s despotic regime. Market women were stripped naked in the public and whipped mercilessly for either hauling their products or selling on high prices.

While their male counterparts were barbarically shaved with broken bottles and whipped for offences that would not even warrant a Police caution in a civilized society.

As if that was not enough, three eminent high court judges and a prominent retired army officer were barbarically murdered by PNDC henchmen on 30th June 1982 for carrying out their constitutionally mandated duties.

Apparently, the PNDC apologists savagely murdered the three eminent high court judges because their judgement did not go in their favour. How cruel some people could be?

“The evil that men do lives after them”. And, to those of you who believe in the Holy Book (Bible), it condemns murders in a number of verses.

“Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?” And the Lord said, “What have you done?” “The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear (Genesis 4:9-15).”

“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image (Genesis 9:6).”

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘you shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment (Matthew 5:21).”

“If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand (Ezekiel 33:8).”

“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death (Revelation 21:8).”

Isn’t it therefore hypocritical that the same people, who have previously murdered people they suspected to be indulging in sleaze and corruption would then cause the collapse of Ghana’s economy through wanton sleaze and gargantuan corruptions?

Tell me, will the Almighty God forgive the holier-than-thou NDC apparatchiks who are committing the same crimes (sleaze and corruptions) that their party founders killed innocent people for?

How would the Omnipresent God feel when the people who committed the atrocious scandals (such as Woyome’s GH51.2M; $250M STS largesse to Mahama; Millions of Ghana Cedis embezzled by the officials of SUBA, GYEEDA, SADA and the National Service Secretariat; all the dubious judgement payments amounting to GH800M), are all walking away freely?

Apparently, many observers hold a strong view that Ghana’s current economic downslide emanated from the unbridled sleaze and gargantuan corruptions that have characterised the NDC government over the years.

If that was the case, wouldn’t God be angry with the NDC apparatchiks for previously taking innocent lives for the same crimes they are committing?