THE NDC party and the government have tried tirelessly to justify their inability to fulfill their horrendous campaign promises in 2008 by trying fruitlessly to imprint on the minds of Ghanaians the supposed enormity of the situation they inherited from the NPP government by churning out fictitious figures and coming out with ghost projects. They have the effrontery to do this because in their minds, Ghanaians are so gullible that whatever lies they churn out will be accepted as the truth. They should revise their notes because we have learnt our lessons and now in a position to subject whatever they say to secular scrutiny and expose them when they lie. Though it is an undeniable fact that the NDC has really carved a shameful niche for itself in terms of telling lies, it is important to bring out the fact any time they lie.

On page 12 of the August 28, 2010 edition of the Daily Graphic, the Deputy Minister for Local Government, Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, was reported to have said that ‘it was not true that the government was slow in the implementation of its development agenda’. Let’s assume that Mr. Afriyie-Ankrah was not in the country when the president went to parliament this year to deliver his state of the nation address. If he was not in the country at that time, was he not briefed? If not, did he not read about it? Is Mr. Afriyie-Ankrah saying that he knows better than the president? The president himself accepted in parliament that indeed he is slow and pleaded with Ghanaians to add the two important words ‘but sure’. Afriyie-Ankrah should abreast himself with this fact which was accepted by the president.

In the same publication, Mr. Afriyie-Ankrah embarked on a lying spree and said that the NDC inherited a budget deficit of 22 percent from the NPP and this government has reduced it to 14 percent. It is a pity that people who are being paid through the sweat of the good people of this country are denying Ghanaians the truth. What sin at have we committed to deserve this kind of callous treatment from the Atta Mills led government? My piece of advice to the NDC ministers and operatives is to crosscheck their facts before they speak. In paragraph 10 of the Minister of Finance’s own ‘Letter of Intent, Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies, and Technical Memorandum of Understanding’ to the IMF in June, 2009, the budget deficit for the year 2008 was 14.5 percent and not 22 percent that the Deputy Minister is forcing it down our throat. Also, paragraph 9 of the Bank of Ghana Monetary Policy Committee’s report which was released on April 16, 2010, quoted 2008 budget deficit as 14.5 percent. I think that the Deputy Minister should be aware of all these facts which did not emanate from any other institutions but Ministry of Finance and Bank of Ghana. I do not blame Mr. Afriyie-Ankrah so much because it seems this distortion has received the blessing of the castle because the president himself talked about 22 percent budget deficit being inherited from the NPP when he had an encounter with the media at the castle on his one year in office as president. How can a God-fearing president, as we have been made to believe, deliberately lie to Ghanaians whereas the facts are available to him? Is he now the chief propagandist of the NDC? The documents I referred to are all on the internet and people should search for them and read and see how unfair this government has been to Ghanaians when it comes to the facts. They are telling these lies to Ghanaians and documenting to truth to international bodies because they know that there they cannot lie else they would be punished severely as it happened to Ghana when these same people lied to the World Bank in 2000.They are taking Ghanaians for granted because they believe that ‘the only way you can hide something from the black man is to put it into writing’. But not in this era!

Mr. Afriyie-Ankrah , as expected, again told the lie about this Do-Little government’s ghost ‘school under trees projects’. One thing that saddens my heart is the inability of News readers, morning show hosts and presenters on the various radio stations on which these NDC propagandists spew these lies to demand evidence of these schools under trees projects. I have written quiet extensively about these schools under trees projects and it is now up to the media to let Ghanaians know the truth by letting Ghanaians know where those 1000 classroom blocks have been provided for schools that were operating under trees within the last 18 months. How could the government build more than 800 classroom blocks for schools operating under trees in 2009, the year in which the NDC government had just assumed office and it was in the same year that the construction sector registered a negative growth and build only 165 for the entire country in 2010 per paragraph 143 of the 2010 budget? The NDC is lying everywhere as a face-saving measure because they have realized that they cannot fulfill their numerous horrendous promises to the good people of Ghana in 2008. But some us are prepared to let Ghanaians know the reality on the ground so that they can make an informed choice come 2012 but not a choice premised on lies as we have now. RICHARD TAKYI-MENSAH nanabaamoako@yahoo.com