When Ghanaians were fed up with the NDC, they voted it out of power in 2000. They replaced it with the NPP and provided it a great deal of support and goodwill that resulted in a second-term victory for the party in the 2004 elections. But what did the NPP administration give Ghanaians?

• About 2 years into their reign, the President or his son, or both, purchased a huge Hotel, which is now known as Hotel Kufuor a.k.a. Hotel de Waa Waa Waa.

• Less than 2 years in their tenure of office, a whole King and 40 of his elders got murdered in a chieftaincy dispute, and as I write today, 6 years later, nobody has been held responsible for these murders.

• Then a CPP regional chairman was arrested in an election year in 2004, sent to military custody, and tortured brutally to death. As a I write today, 4 years later, Ghanaians in general, and CPP in particular, have not had justice from the NPP government that we elected to protect us.

• Ghanaian citizens have complained in various ways about general official corruption and specific corrupt practices of NPP officials. Yet, the President tells us that he would not act until citizens provide evidence. He says without evidence, there would be no investigations because we are lazy liars. What evidence does the NPP govt. want without an investigation?

• Then, the disgrace came upon all Ghanaians when a sitting member of Parliament and a top financier of the ruling NPP was arrested and convicted far away in the United States for drug trafficking. WHAT A SHAME!

• Then we heard about a large quantity of narcotics drugs (cocaine) that had been spotted by foreign agents on high seas heading for Ghana. Our NPP government had duly been alerted and advised that foreign assistance could be provided if necessary to arrest the drugs. Our NPP government assured the foreign agents that the government was on top of issues and would get everything under control. Two weeks later, Ghanaians were told that the drugs, 77 large parcels of cocaine had arrived in Ghana alright but had gone missing upon arrival. As I write today, our NPP government has not been able to tell us the circumstances leading to the loss of the drugs, and where the drugs have gone. A commission was later hurriedly put together to unravel the mystery and it failed to do so. However, the head of the commission was subsequently appointed the Chief Justice of our Supreme Court soon after the commission’s sitting. THE ABUNDANCE OF NARCOTICS DRUGS IN GHANA IS CONTRIBUTING LARGELY TO ARMED ROBBERY WHICH IS PUTTING EVERYBODY IN PERPETUAL FEAR.

• Then, we have stories of large quantities of seized cocaine in police custody missing on not less than 2 occasions. As I write today, nobody has been held for these acts. The police boss was later given national award in gold chain that cost the Ghanaian taxpayer $20,000. Once I have mentioned national award, let me also remind us that the President also awarded himself a gold chain worth $65,000 while many of his ministers, including the presidential candidate of his party, Nana Akufo-Addo, each received gold chain worth $20,000.

• Then, it was reported in the official national daily that 3 women executive from the Dzorwulo branch of the ruling NPP had been caught at the international airport attempting to traffic narcotics drugs. At the time, the now presidential candidate of the NPP was Ghana’s Attorney General. He has let the 3 women go without prosecution. Ghanaians do not understand but nobody bothers to explain anything to us because they think the votes would come for them anyway. They believe that once they pump a lot of money into the process and frighten us about AFRC and PNDC and tell us that Prof. Mills would bring back all that military dictators have ever done in Ghana, we shall forget about every of their greedy behavior and give them our votes once again.

• Then, our NPP government loses a landmark case in the Supreme Court. What did they do? Did they accept the verdict in good faith to accord dignity to our Supreme Court? No. They vowed that they would do anything possible to overturn the decision in favor of government. Subsequently, they applied for a review of the case and they hurriedly appointed a new justice to the Supreme Court who, indeed, helped the government to change the same Supreme Court’s decision now in favor of the NPP government.

• Then a national chairman of the ruling NPP shocks the whole nation when he said the President had received kickbacks at the Castle. Kickback means government inflates contract prices so that contractors would pay the excess money back to the coffers of some people. So, NPP national chairman accuses a NPP President of inflating government contract prices and receiving kickbacks and releasing only bits of it for party activities. Hmmm.

• Then we all know that one man was entrusted with far more than $20 million (U.S. Dollars) to plan the celebration of Ghana@50. The person hitherto refuses to account for how he has spent the money. He “rubbished” parliament when he was invited to the house of our representatives to explain how he had spent the money. So, Ghanaians want to endorse this arrogance and thievery? I don’t think so. It does not matter where in Ghana we come from and which ethnic groups we belong, we all have to condemn this instead of endorse it. How do we condemn these acts? It’s simple: REJECT NPP ON DECEMBER 28TH.

• Then a multi-million Presidential Palace was built at a cost, which only very top government officials know. When Ghanaians demanded to know how much it has cost the taxpayer to build the Palace, we were told that we must not worry about the cost but rather think about the value of the Palace for our country. I AM NOT LYING; THIS IS HAPPENING IN GHANA ONLY BECAUSE THE RULING PARTY BELIEVES THEY WOULD HAVE THE VOTES AGAIN ANYWAY.

• Then 2 presidential jets were purchased recently when the same party, while in opposition, had vehemently criticized the purchase of only one by the NDC govt. The NPP administration failed to use the old jet for about 4 years, leaving it to deteriorate before disposing of it in secrecy. Now, it has bought 2 jets. THEY FEEL SAFE BECAUSE THEIR STRONGHOLDS WOULD NOT BOTHER ABOUT THESE THINGS AND WOULD DELIVER THE VOTES ANYWAY.

• Then in an election year, the NPP government rushes to sell Ghana Telecom when many Ghanaians raised objection to the sale. Not only that; the NPP government managed to get its majority in parliament to approve a sale of VALCO to no buyer. THIS IS TRUE, FOLKS. I AM NOT MAKING THESE FACTS UP. NPP actually approved a sale agreement of VALCO without a buyer.

• Then 5 days to a general election, NPP government diverts a whooping amount of $5million (US dollars) for what they describe as “national security purposes.” Whew! Ghanaians! IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING? AND WE WANT TO ENDORSE IT WITH OUR THUMBS? Hmmmm. Future generations will never forgive us. Which Ghanaian, be him or her, a Ga, a Frafra, an Ewe, an Asante, a Fante, etc. etc. would not be disappointed and angry with such a government as the NPP government? Which Ghanaian would not want to change this government for a more responsible one at the least opportunity? Someone says Asantes constitute the bulk of NPP and would support the party no matter what it does. But I beg to differ. I believe Asantes are decent and very hardworking people, who, if they understand these things very well, would go all out to show their anger. THE TIME IS NOW FOR THEM TO RECONSIDER THESE THINGS AND RESOLVE NOT TO ENDORSE THEM. In fact, when Americans were angry with their Republican government of George Bush, they kicked the party out of power without regretting it. Why can’t we do the same in Ghana? YES WE CAN!

NANA AKUFO-ADDO

But, wait a minute; the above is not all of the urgent reasons why we need to change the NPP as the ruling party. Apart from the fact that the presidential candidate of the ruling party, Nana Akufo-Addo was a senior cabinet minister in the NPP administration that is responsible for all that I have outlined above and more, and has actually campaigned on the records of the party during the 1st round of the elections, some direct personal allegations have been made against Nana Akufo-Addo himself. During NPP’s primaries, and subsequently, in the run-up to the recent elections, Nana Akufo-Addo was accused as follows:

• That he was Ghana’s Attorney General when 3 NPP women from Dzorwulo were arrested for drug trafficking but he let them go without prosecution.

• That he discontinued the prosecution of Frank Benneh, a drug pusher who had been prosecuted and convicted by the previous NDC administration.

• That he personally deals in narcotics drugs

• That he accepts campaign contribution from drug barons

• That he personally uses narcotics drugs

Let’s remember that Nana Akufo-Addo has maintained dead silence on these allegations while his supporters and lawyers constantly threaten anyone who wants to push for answers. He has treated all of us, Ghanaians, regardless of our ethnic origins, with contempt. He does not think we deserve to know the truth. That is why they are always making excuses for him that we must provide evidence or that the allegations are stupid and do not deserve his response. HE HAS TREATED US WITH CONTEMPT BECAUSE HE BELIEVES THAT THE VOTES WOULD COME ANYWAY FROM HIS STRONGHOLD IN ASHANTI, PARTS OF EASTERN, BRONG AHAFO AND WESTERN etc. Let’s remember also that it was Dr. Arthur Kennedy, who, when he was shocked with the amount of money Nana Akufo-Addo and Alan were pumping into their primary campaign, said the following:

“If we do not take our time, one cocaine dealer would just take his money and buy this country and put our lives in danger.” – Dr. Arthur Kennedy "Dr Kwabena Arthur Kennedy also cautioned NPP delegates who would be voting to elect their presidential candidate to be mindful of some of the aspirants who have been going round splashing money on them because the source of the money could be a questionable one.” – Published by the Ghanaian Chronicle. Again, let’s remember that a lot of well-meaning Ghanaians including a senior research official at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Center have complained that there might be drug money in our election this year. They are shocked by the amount of money the NPP has pumped into its campaign. NPP’s answer to all the corruption complaints, drugs allegations, arrogance, etc is to use a lot of money, the source of which is not known, to hire almost all the top Ghanaian musicians to follow Nana Akufo-Addo wherever he goes. To buy commercial spots on all the major TV and radio stations of the nations to constantly advertise to confuse Ghanaians into endorsing wrongdoing, corruption, arrogance, and incompetence. NPP has even commercialized the State-owned TV, GTV such that the previous political program of allowing each party a slot to make political broadcast has been cancelled. Now, everything a political party must show on GTV must be paid for. By doing so, the station has given the upper hand to the NPP, which has very much money at its disposal. Also, GTV rejects invitations and adverts from the main opposition party but accepts anything the NPP brings to it. NPP has also used the BNI to conduct a sham of opinion poll for the party. So, this is how they are answering our queries for their stewardship and some of us have fallen for this.

NPP’s answer to Ghanaians’ concern is to inject a lot of money into the elections and let all the TV stations cover their political rallies and activities live so that no other party would have the chance to show anything, and hire all the top musicians and artistes to make it look more popular than any other party. If they do all of these, Ghanaians would forget about all wrong things they are doing and all the unanswered allegations, and they would vote for us. They shall also get our stronghold in Ashanti and other areas dominated by Asantes to vote massively for them. BUT I THINK OUR ASANTE BROTHERS AND SISTERS ARE EQUALLY ANGRY AS OTHER GHANAIANS AND WOULD SHOW THAT ON DECEMBER 28TH WHEN WE HAVE THE CHANCE AGAIN TO SPEAK TO OUR POLITICIANS. As if all the above misdeeds were not disgusting to Ghanaians enough, a few weeks before the general elections, we heard that the communication director of Nana Akufo-Addo, Dr. Arthur Kennedy had been given a $30,000 contract by the government without bidding for it. Many officials at the Ministry of Health explained that the contract was not necessary at all and it was only “a job for the boys.” This is corruption right in the top hierarchy of Akufo-Addo’s team even before he would become the President of Ghana. And they want us to endorse this by finding legal bases and excuses for why Arthur Kennedy would have “a grace and favor” contract without bidding for it. SHAME ON THESE PEOPLE! Again, as if this is not insulting enough to the senses of Ghanaians, in the week of the elections, there was a public announcement in a national daily that the campaign chairman of Nana Akufo-Addo, Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey was buying the government bungalow in which he lives as a “grace and favor” tenant. JESUS CHRIST! How do these people take their supporters for? FOOLS OR WHAT? They expect their strongholds to overlook all of this arrogance and still endorse these things? Hmmm.

Jake confirmed the transaction on national radio. That is corruption at its height right at the very top of Akufo-Addo’s team when he has not even won the presidency yet. How can Ghanaians condemn this foolishness? How can Ghanaians stop this arrogance? How can Ghanaians stop this transaction in particular if NPP wins the general elections? To tell you the truth, I don’t know how we can stop the transaction and other corrupt practices and arrogance we have already noticed from Akufo-Addo’s team. During the NPP regime that is ending, Ghanaians tried various means to stop many wrong policies and actions but failed. I AM HOWEVER, SURE OF HOW GHANAIANS CAN ENDORSE NPP’S ARROGANCE AND APPROVE THE SALE OF THE GOVERNMENT BUNGALOW TO JAKE AND GIVE CREDIT TO ARTHUR KENNEDY FOR WINNIG A CONTRACT WITHOUT BIDDING FOR IT. The simple way to approve all of that is to re-elect NPP to power on December 28th. I have discussed some of the above points with a few of my foreign friends and they said I was lying. They did not believe that those things actually happened in Ghana and Ghanaians did not care. I told them that we cared a lot and we would show that in our general elections. But, there was a second Ghanaian in the discussion, and he remarked that NPP might win all the same because we voted on ethnic lines and Asantes were in the majority. I asked him if he thought Asantes were fools and he could not answer. I don’t believe Asantes are fools at all; I trust the judgment of the majority of them. Those in this majority are the ones Ghanaians must count on to send a clear message to their kinsmen to assist the rest of Ghana in rejecting NPP’s arrogance and corruption. GHANAIANS MUST NOT APPROVE THE SALE OF THE ‘GRACE AND FAVOR” GOVERNMENT BUNGALOW TO JAKE BY VOTING FOR NPP ON DECEMBER 28TH. Let us not be frightened with news about AFRC and PNDC. If Prof. Mills presides over a new NDC government and messes up, we shall vote him and his party out as well. This is the only way we can make our political leaders responsible and accountable for us. LET’S GATHER THE COURAGE AND SAY NO TO NPP! WE CAN DO IT! America just elected a black President against all doubts, fears, and negative propaganda. Ghana can also change those is power who have taken us for granted. YES WE CAN!

Finally, I want to live you with a piece of advice from comments made by one Mr. Larry Gibson, described as Akufo-Addo’s U.S. political consultant. Mr. Gibson was reported in a Ghanaian media recently to have said the following.

“The voters understand that they are electing a person more than they are electing a program. That’s universal. . .Far more important is the assessment of what type of person this is, . .Policies are important, but for elections people want a sense of the person, . .the more successful candidates are not necessarily those with the most popular policies."–Mr. Gibson. MR. GIBSON ASKS US TO FIND OUT WHAT TYPE OF PERSON IS AKUFO-ADDO AND WHAT TYPE OF PERSON IS PROF. MILLS. Mills has boldly and freely answered all the questions about his health situation and relationship with JJR. HAS AKUFO-ADDO ANSWERED ALL THE DRUG ALLEGATIONS YET? So, do we know this man very well to entrust the destiny of Ghana into his hands? I LEAVE THAT QUESTION FOR YOUR CONSCIENCES, FELLOW GHANAIANS.

Remember to vote for CHANGE on December 28th. Remember to tell all those who voted to approve the sale of government bungalow to Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey in the first round to also vote for change so that the bungalow can remain for us, our children, and our children’s children to occupy when in government. VOTING FOR CHANGE IS THE ONLY WAY WE CAN MAKE OUR GOVERNMENTS RESPONSIBLE AND ACCOUNTABLE TO US. THANK YOU!

BISHOP Dela dela@bishop.com