Alhaji Oduro is the owner of a Ford Transit, and his driver, Mr. Samuel Abass, has been working for him with honesty and integrity. He makes monthly sales of GHC 2,000 without excuses, no matter what. The driver takes care of all maintenance on the vehicle without informing the owner.

Then Mr. Nyansahene and his prospective mate, Bawuah, came to Alhaji Oduro asking him to give them the vehicle to drive and accusing his driver of cheating him by making monthly sales of GHC2,000, Nyansahene promised to make a monthly sale of GHC 7, 000.

The car owner refused to listen, and Nyansahene came back again with his prospective mate, Bawuah. They tried to convince the owner, but it did not work. Nyansahene came back for the third time; this time he and his friend did the talking and convinced the owner. The mate told the owner that he had been a station master before and knew how much sales other drivers were making monthly. They promised to make monthly sales of GHC 10, 000.

The owner was overwhelmed by this promise and their unflinching determination. His wife and children were all convinced, and they all decided to give the vehicle to Nyansahene and Bawuah. The first driver, Samuel Abass, handed over the key and thanked the owner. The new driver and the mate have never made monthly sales of GHC1000 since taking over. They constantly blame the old driver; the car owner is now compelled to use his savings to repair the vehicle ever since he changed the driver. What a paradox!

During the 2016 general elections, the entire country was thrown into an unprecedented euphoria by the charismatic and compelling characters of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his then-running mate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. They captured the imaginations of the masses and won their confidence. The two were convincing, and the oratory skills of Akufo-Addo, coupled with his renditions of “I am incorruptible," “We have the men,” and “I will not run a family and friends government,”.

Ghanaians were convinced that Akufo-Addo and Dr. Bawumia were the answer to their prayers. Ghanaians were reminded of his energetic fight against the introduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT) with his “Kume Preko” demonstration and how he abhors nuisance taxation that raises the cost of living. During that time, he gave an interview with the AP news agency, where he said, “The policies that the government (Rawlings NDC) is introducing are policies that do not find favour with the general mass of our people and that the mass of our people has been systematically impoverished.”

This same man, after ascending to the highest office of the land, increased the same tax he was fighting against by introducing VAT on domestic electricity consumption. It was the same Akufo-Addo who condemned Rawlings for introducing a tax he claimed was insensitive to the plight of the citizenry. Now, he has introduced a policy that taxes money in the pockets of the masses, i.e., E-Levy. During the introduction process, Ghanaians expressed their displeasure, but Akufo-Addo did not flinch. In opposition, Akufo-Addo accused former president Mahama of “yentie obiaa” (we will not listen to anyone), yet he has refused to listen to anyone in grand style.

Akufo-Addo while in opposition, mounted a platform and complained about the exchange rate being $.1 to GHC 2, and promised to bring it down. Today, $1 is to GHC 13, he complained about a ball of Kenkey selling at GHC 1, today it is GHC5.00, under the presidency of Akufo-Addo and Bawumia. The “old” Akufo-Addo accused former president Mills of having an overbloated government; today, Akufo-Addo has given us the biggest government size in the history of Ghana. Akufo-Addo and Bawumia promised to move us from taxation to production, yet they have moved us from taxation to extortion.

Imagine Akufo-Addo in opposition watching Akufo-Addo as president on BBC saying that Ghanaian citizens are not taxed enough, emphasising that “people never like taxes; I don't know a group of people, especially businesses when taxes are brought to them, that like it”. How would candidate Akufo-Addo feel about President Akufo-Addo? Akufo-Addo and his campaign team touted his credentials as a seasoned lawyer with an impeccable record in human rights, yet it was under his watch that military men gunned down eight innocent souls during the 2020 general elections; it was under his watch that military men stormed Ashaiman in broad daylight and subjected the residents to the most appalling inhumane treatment one can ever imagine, with the president saying nothing about both incidents.

It was later alleged that the Ashaiman brutality was sanctioned from the top. Even though absolute power corrupts absolutely, I don’t think Akufo-Addo changed because of power, but he only showed us the true him after getting power. He pretended to be different and incorruptible just to deceive us, and he succeeded. Akufo-Addo is the greatest deception that has ever happened to this country.

Nyansahene is due for compulsory retirement, and he is trying hard to deceive Alhaji Oduro to give the vehicle to Bawuah. Once bitten twice shy, a word to the wise is enough. If we allow him to deceive us to give him another term through Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia (perish the thought), it will be the cherry on the icing on the cake for Akufo-Addo in his craft of deceit.