Opinions of Wednesday, 6 March 2013

Columnist: Amenga–Etego, SaCut

NDC communication team is a saboteur group

These guys have proven it over the period that they have existed and operated. There is an NDC party propaganda machinery whose mandate has been usurped by the so – called government communication team whose real patrons, other than the NDC government have worn masks all this while.

Why, don’t we know that majority of these guys who constitute the government communication team have been answerable to some inside elements – namely the Ahwois – and the structure of this phantom group starts and ends with these patrons. It is too long ago when some members of this same parasitic, bootlicking, praise singing and utterly flattering group publicly defied government communication from the Presidency. A member of the group publicly condemned calls by then director of communication at the presidency Koku Anyidoho who called for ‘heads to roll’ for inefficiencies at the electricity company of Ghana.

Perhaps, if heads had truly rolled at the time, we wouldn’t be having energy crisis today. So: one may ask, where is the government communications team situated in the power structure of government? Is the communications directorate of the president or the ministry of information subservient to the government communications team? If not, where does this group derive its legitimacy and powers from? It is definitely not from the NDC party and power structure.

Why do we sit down and pretend that this group of so – called government communicators – some of who cannot even spell their own names properly - have opportunistically usurped the structure of the Propaganda secretariat of the NDC party thus, undermining the constitution of the party that we all belong and wish to communicate for.

Besides, the group was created during the reign of president Mills. President Mahama is in charge now. On what locus do these people still carry themselves about and calling themselves government communications team? Which of the governments? What is the criteria for including or excluding people from the group?

It is on record that some of these so – called government communicators whose over zealousness in their public speaking – especially with regards to NDC founder Jerry Rawlings - was queried by the then Vice President Mahama, but they tended to disregard his admonishment and reported him to the Ahwois. Kojo Twum Boafo, who is now quiet for reasons best known to himself as well as former deputy information minister Sammy Ablakwa have been fingered in this regard.

Recently, there have been many reasons to believe that it is some elements within this same government communications team who allegedly mislead the information minister Mahama Ayariga on the relationship between President Mahama and one American writer and gay activist Andrew Solomon which issue caused great embarrassment to the minister and the president himself.

The government communications team succeeded in sabotaging the late President Mills and his directorate of communications. They want to perpetuate that agenda under President Mahama but some of us will expose them for what they are, and what they truly stand for – even if it will cost us an arm and a leg.

It goes without telling that this group has never served the interest of the presidency and is not serving it now. If anything at all, they have sabotaged government and party structures – and served the supreme interest of their patrons – The Ahwois – whose grip on power in the present regime have seemingly waned.

SaCut Amenga–Etego – The writer is a multi – media journalist, broadcaster, ghost writer and political activist in Ghana.