Opinions of Monday, 5 December 2022

Columnist: Joel Savage

The arrest of Akufo Addo's political opponents and critics, is a cowardly act of intimidation

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo

The present leader, Nana Akufo-Addo, has declared war on critics of the current administration and continues to detain his political opponents. This political strategy is not only cowardly and intimidating tactics but also reflects a fear of losing power because the president is aware that his administration has failed.

Akufo-Addo should have long since resigned in any developing country, let alone a developed one. He thinks his strong wall of corrupt judicial system he has created will protect him.

Although Ghana has excellent journalists, I can't figure out why so many of them are unable to even report on the slaughter that is taking place in our beloved country. People are not ruled with force, since power belongs to them but Akufo Addo is intimidating Ghanaians in an effort to gain leadership recognition in a nation where the majority does not want to see him or hear of his name. As a result, he is currently threatening and detaining his detractors while trying to pass for democratic leadership.

Under this administration, nothing is functioning well because none of the NPP politicians, including the president, Nana Akufo Addo, are who they want the public to believe they are. They have lost their way.

They are corrupt, inept, and incompetent. Therefore, as money is being put in foreign banks, the state of Ghana's valuable resources are either being lost through poor management or corruption, yet Akufo Addo is sensitive to criticism.

Even Ken Ofori-Atta, the finance minister, who is also accountable for the economic disaster and the devaluation of Ghana's currency, Akufo Addo doesn't want him to resign, since he is a relative.

As a result, Akufo Addo is more concerned with the dynasty system of administration than with the well-being of the vulnerable. The appointment of a relative as finance minister is just to facilitate easy corruption, something Ghanaians should have understood from the start.

Wasn't Akufo Addo the same person who called John Mahama inept and demanded that he resign as president because the value of the Cedi to the dollar was GHC3.72 at the time? Not the same president that uttered "Yeti Sika Su Na Ekomdi Yen" If Ghana has as much money as he stated, why does Akufo Addo seem to be the worst president in its political history by denying the common people a better standard of living?

Akufo Addo believes that declaring war on his political opponents and critics is the best course of action to get through the unprecedented hardships and ongoing corruption that have affected Ghana's infrastructure, causing a high rate of unemployment, crime, a collapsed economy, and a depreciating currency. This is because Akufo Addo is afraid of everything around him and his failure as a leader, he is now sensitive to criticism.

Ghanaians must remember that Akufo Addo, who has increased the VAT to 2.5%, was the same person who opposed former Ghanaian president John Jerry Rawlings when he implemented the Value-Added Tax. What does this terrorizing of his detractors and political rivals mean, then?

Does Akufo Addo adhere to the Kharma law? What goes around comes around, Mr. President; this is what I'm telling you today. When one throws a ball against a wall, it bounces back to you sometimes.

About seven years ago, Akufo Addo was elected president, and ever since, life in Ghana has been a nightmare for the populace. Even though the president himself chastised the NDC government when the country was infinitely better than the devastation we are witnessing, it appears that the president wants to be congratulated or applauded for every disaster that has befallen our nation under his administration.

This intimidation cannot continue because Akufo Addo cannot treat Ghanaians in that manner if he wants their support. The president's issue is that he refuses to acknowledge that the majority of Ghanaians no longer have confidence in him.

The president is continuing to waste his time on the wrong causes, just as he squandered time persuading Ghanaians that building a cathedral will benefit the country and put food on the tables of the weak and needy masses.

If Akufo Addo is so intelligent, he should have realized by now that incarcerating political opponents and critics won't meet the needs of the weak or address their issues. To run a better government, he ought to instead focus on those critiques. No one compelled him to run for office; if he can't handle criticism, he should resign. The most infamous administration in Ghana's political history is now his.

The president deceived the populace into giving him the authority to fight corruption, then later, he institutionalized corruption in his government, by allowing NPP politicians and journalists to participate in corruption. Because he has shown Ghanaians that he supports corruption by keeping individuals like Paul Adom-Otchere, Charles Bissue, Eugene Arhin, and other individuals in his ministry, instead of them going to prison, Ghanaians shouldn't anticipate a decrease in crime and corruption in the country.

The more alarming aspect is the idiots who don't care about Ghana's situation or the harm it poses to the future, encouraging corruption in the NPP government because, in their opinion, Mahama did the same thing. How can they expect Ghana to advance as a nation if this is their justification?

Are they ignorant of the fact that the corruption they are encouraging and supporting will have an impact on them more than on the participating politicians? If you lack intelligence, you are stupid, since it is not a commodity that can be purchased at the grocery store.

In Ghana today, unemployment, corruption, and mistrust of the government are the primary factors of extremism. Therefore, Akufo Addo needs to cease detaining his opponents and political rivals. Instead, he needs to imprison dishonest politicians, fight against extremism by fostering better interethnic relations, and wisely utilize Ghana's resources to draw in investments and generate jobs. Ghana must progress as a nation, and if the president can’t do it, he must step down.