By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.

The sheepish announcement by Mr. Sylvester Mensah, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), that Messrs. Atta-Mills and Dramani Mahama's much-touted one-time health-insurance premium payment now effectively belongs to the proverbial dustbin of history, ought to send a morally sobering message to those who voted for the so-called National Democratic Congress (NDC) to retain power, that they have done both themselves and the country a great disservice.

And if the thoughtful reader were to ask me, of course, I would have absolutely no reservations, whatsoever, in pointing to abject deceit and criminal dishonesty as the indelible legacy of the Mills-Mahama government, and very likely also the Mahama/Amissah-Arthur administration. But what is even more rankling is to hear Mr. Mensah vehemently deny that the one-time health insurance premium-payment hoax pulled over the eyes of Ghanaian voters, in the lead-up to Election 2008, was never enshrined into the manifesto of the Mills-Mahama presidential campaign.

The preceding notwithstanding, at least it comes as quite refreshing news to learn of Mr. Mensah's admonishment to the clinically visionless key operatives of the Mahama government to stay miles away from such mischievous and villainous campaign hoax. But that such a humble-pie-eating reality check should come nearly six years after the fact is all the more pathetic. What this means is that Ghanaians are being inexcusably governed by a pack of mentally retarded politicians whose first priority appears to entail piggishly lining their pockets at the expense of the greater and nobler national interest (See "One-Time NHIS Premium 'Is History' - NHIA Boss" TV3Network.com / Ghanaweb.com 1/12/14).

If the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), under whose auspicious tenure the present progressively-minded National Health Insurance Scheme was conceived, crafted and implemented, is to have a fighting chance at Election 2016, then its key operatives have to be up and about all regions of the country highlighting these unique achievements to the people. But the NPP also needs to, even under trying opposition economic conditions, initiate and execute progressive programs and projects at the local and community levels, in order for prospective voters to fully appreciate the fact that it is not all cheap talk and insubstantial ego-preening rhetoric of vacuous promises.

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*Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.
Department of English
Nassau Community College of SUNY
Garden City, New York
Jan. 12, 2014
E-Mail: okoampaahoofe@optimum.net.
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