By Fadi Dabbousi

Where do I begin? It is quite confusing to remember 501 promises made to Ghanaians in sequential order, especially that barely 4 have been fulfilled. Well, let me share some quotes from a recently launched book, titled "59 Years To Nowhere...and counting...The Future is Now".

To this effect, below are excerpts and page references that speak to John Mahama's empty promises:

Page 28: " Responsible leaders, you would suppose they are, steal one another’s ideas. Unethical plagiarism is now reason for cheering on useless Politicians. Mis-leaders would be more an apt description of some of the hunky, bed-frolicking, empty promisers.

Leaders who tell lies and followers who clap are partners in crime especially that, lately, untruths are told flagrantly without shame. It follows that if one buys a stolen item, they are just as culpable as the thief and the facilitator, making my submission on their criminality quite relevant. The scenarios are the same."

Page 89 (referring to John Mahama): "He has reneged on most of his promises yet chose to force the Power Minister to resign on the last day of December, 2015, because of a failed promise. That is not only paradoxical, but a state-of-the-art joke. Though it was warranted, he should have applied the same sanction upon himself for failing to fulfil his promises numerous times.

It would seem that until real change is effected, and until the government of the day is shown the Exit Door, we would not see progress in decades to come."

Page 110: " In Ghana, the National Health Insurance Scheme was started with the intent of alleviating the suffering of the people, but, since 2009, this system was run down by a government that cared for nothing but to remain clinging on to power. Huge promises beyond the capabilities of any government were made, but situations remained the way they were, and in many instances worsened. Schools under trees remained, and if it is worth mentioning at all, some were re-located from under the mango tree (mangoase) to under the coconut tree (kubease), denying children shade that protected them from the damaging rays of the sun."

Page 112: " Promises of a better Ghana agenda soon turned into a bitter Ghana agenda with agitations everywhere. Nurses remained unpaid for months, and when they voiced their democratic right to complain, they were branded unpatriotic because some cohorts in power deemed them a stumbling block in their "chop-chop" agenda (to wit “corruption”). Doctors went on strike because they were suffering the same fate, but were threatened with termination if they continued. Private sector workers grumbled and were told to “shut up”; disenfranchised Ghanaians went on a “won gbo” (we are dying) demonstration, over one million strong, but they got a despicable reply, “Y?n Tie Obiaa”, in Akan dialect meaning “we will listen to no one.”
Page 114: "The free and quality education promised by Hon Nana Akufo-Addo as declared in his manifesto ahead of the 2012 election campaign was condemned in no uncertain terms by the NDC government. All manner of accusations were hurled at the NPP for this very smart message with assertions that it was meant to bamboozle the electorate. After stealing the elections and coercing the EC to declare them winners, as was construed by the millions of disenfranchised Ghanaians, they reversed their fight against the free SHS education. The difficulty I have, though, is that if the government of John Mahama couldn’t afford chalk for a few schools, how were they going to afford a decent feeding program, uniforms and shoes, books and stationery, for all Ghanaian children? They would try playing smart by affording this program for a select few then turn around and tout it in the media until people’s heads got saturated. This time, they are mistaken. It will be the turn of the majority of Ghanaians to retire the song “y?n tie obiaa” and dance to the tune “Woso biaa nay?y?no more” (the more you cry the more we will do)!"

Pages 186/187: " The President commissions incomplete projects, sets forty year shackling and unsustainable plans in order to score cheap political points. He promises to bring bullet trains to the country when the railway system is dysfunctional. He behaves as if the country is his property by bequest. The Bui Hydroelectric dam was commissioned much before its completion, and no sooner had he pressed the button than the current went … Phweep; DEAD! Quite a reminder of the advertisement for raid insecticide, “Ready, steady, Dead!”

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By the way the Bui Hydroelectric Dam was initiated by H.E John Agyekum Kufuor, shortly before the expiration of his Presidency, but the NDC wanted to use it to score cheap political points.
Keep the fire burning, stay tuned for Part II