Opinions of Thursday, 5 October 2023

Columnist: Abdul Hakeem

The rise and fall of President Akufo-Addo: Once upon a time – Part II

Nana Akufo-Addo Nana Akufo-Addo

Though a tiny portion of the Atlantic Ocean, the mystery surrounding the Bermuda Triangle has continued to puzzle a lot of scientific minds. Why do ships and even airplanes vanish into thin air without a trace within that godforsaken portion of the Atlantic Ocean: between Miami, Puerto Rico, and Bermuda island in the Atlantic ocean? Well, many call it the Devil’s Triangle because of the hundreds of lives, ships, and airplanes it has claimed.

Numerous theories have been theorized ranging from sea monsters, and bad weather, to aliens, about the mystery. The University of Colorado recently seems to have solved the mystery when satellite weather images were taken of the area and certain hexagonal thick clouds were found surrounding the triangle. These USA scientists at the University of Colorado also theorized that these unusual hexagonal clouds could be acting as real air bombs triggering hurricane-force winds that have enormous amounts of power no ship or airplane can withstand.

So they get deadly blown and blasted away by these winds. Whether that is the correct solution to the Bermuda Triangle tragedy, it’s still a theory. Like the Bermuda Triangle, the mystery of Akufo Addo’s government does not yield any gain but pain, agony, and national shame, despite unprecedented resources at its disposal than any other government ever in the history of Ghana, and the supposed numerous “intellectuals” working in the government to manage the economy, beat anybody’s imagination.

Many Ghanaians were seriously disgruntled that the #OccupyJulorBiHouse demonstrators did not simply adopt OccupyJulorHouse or OccupyDevilHouse instead. The reference is certainly not to the seat of government of Ghana, but to the current armed robbers who have infiltrated the presidency and have collapsed the country with their daily wicked robbery of the paltry resources of the land.

Perhaps, the latest clarion call made by the leader of the Kennedy Agyapong Team, Lawyer William Kusi, not to risk the destiny and tomorrow of Ghana in the hands of speech makers, succinctly describes what President Akufo Addo and his gigantic government are only capable of apart from evil and thievery. According to him, the President and his protégé only know how to make good speeches but have zero appreciation of economic management. Kennedy Agyapong himself adjudged the Akufo Addo-led government as the worst corrupt government in Ghana’s history.

While we are all living witnesses to the ailing, failing, and flailing Ghanaian economy due to the unspeakable tragedy of incompetence and massive corruption if the fish comes out of the river to claim the crocodile has only one eye, a monkey has no business in questioning the authenticity of such claims than to accept it?

Truth be told, one of history’s greatest speakers and orators in Europe around a hundred years ago, were Benito Mussolini of Italy and Germany’s Adolf Hitler, who used speeches to galvanize their citizens into accepting and endorsing evil policies of Fascism and Nazism.

But despite their good speeches and the flowery language they dazzled and captivated their citizens with, Adolf Hitler committed suicide after staging the Holocaust and destroying a greater percentage of his own country’s infrastructure; Benito Mussolini, like the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, was
caught by his citizens and killed when he was disguising to escape from Italy with two German officers in a Jeep. Mussolini’s case was even worse; the Italians decided to hang his corpse on a tree for every citizen to vent his anger and hatred by pelting him till he began to decompose.

Today, over a hundred years later, President Akufo Addo appears to be a representative of these “evil” and wicked leaders like Benito Mussolini of Italy, Adolf Hitler of Germany, Mao Zedong of China, Saddam Hussein of Iraq, Papa Doc Duvalier of Haiti, Kim jong-ill of North Korea, among others,
who sacrificed their people to stay politically relevant at all costs.

In Part One of this article, I tried to dissect the problem with Akufo Addo and his accursed government when I mentioned arrogance of knowledge and feeling of self-importance over others, being what has brought the curse of God upon this government and its managers.

Actually, in my previous articles before the 2020 general elections, I tried to economically dissect the issue and my prognosis and diagnosis indicated that wrong and very incompetent choice of economic policies by the government has been partially culpable of the problem.

For those who don’t believe in religion and the spiritual realm, I argued in my earlier articles titled: “Investigate the NPP’s Economic Growth Claims”, that predictions of the global economy have often been the key determinant for the growth of the Ghanaian economy at the time. Mostly captured in the Part
Two of Ghana’s budget statements, when the global economy is predicted to be positive and growing, then it’s positive also in Ghana. The Akufo Addo administration would then claim credit for the growing economy. And this is not due to their hard work or any wherewithal of economic management. Pure coincidence and recklessness.

The second reason which was cushioned by the global economic factors, was the policy choice of the government which was quite reckless and less than competent if not uncaring for the citizens of Ghana. The government opted for an economic policy known as the Expansionary Fiscal Policy to replace the Contractionary Fiscal Policy. The IMF in their wisdom chose for the Mahama administration to charter in 2015.

According to Kingly Amadeo, the former policy (Expansionary fiscal policy) is rather dangerous when calamity strikes during its usage. Especially, when the calamity is on a global scale. The policy is only used after a serious economic crisis. He gave an example of the American depression in the 1930s which
prompted the American government to use the policy in 1929 and 1931. Amadeo explains that expansionary fiscal policy is often used within a year. And that no responsible government uses it beyond a year consecutively. A reason why the USA government used it in 1929 and 1931.

After introducing the policy in 1929, the depression returned in 1931 so the US government reintroduced it. In short, expansionary fiscal policy is an economic painkiller that ought not to be used to grow the economy but as a panacea, and only when the economy hits the rocks (in crisis).

Amadeo also revealed that no developing country can grow its economy in any dramatic manner except with these global economic forces in place or the adoption of this economic policy. In this case, using expansionary fiscal policy without any aftermath of an economic disaster or meltdown is like a man who takes pills without sickness. Just to abuse the drugs to work harder. Ghana’s trouble under Akufo Addo is that, they used a pill when they were not sick, and when they became sick, the pill was no more and when the new pill was dashed to Ghana, the immune system didn’t accept it again.

In investigating the so-called economic growth under Akufo Addo which was acclaimed to be the fastest-growing economy in the world, I found that Ghana was enjoying this global economic positive order predictions; two, Ghana was still under the IMF program initiated by the Mahama administration in 2015; three, the government adopted the Expansionary fiscal policy for all the four years in government when Ghana was not in any economic crisis at the time. Being on economic drugs and painkillers, the economy of Ghana, like a healthy yahoo boy who drinks a mixture of energy drinks, samalin cough syrup, and tramadol, went wild.

But as Amadeo said, when an economy is run based on this policy and any calamity strikes, that economy suffers the most. Our case in Ghana was bad because the policy was not only abused for one year but the entire term of the NPP and till date. The problem is that expansionary fiscal policy allows the government to expand expenditures with little or without savings. So, just like at the individual level, when an employee spends all his salary without savings if any emergency arises, he is going to suffer.

It becomes worse off if the spending is on things that cannot generate and recoup money quickly. And because much of the spending of the Akufo Addo government has been on renting luxury jets, “champagne and akpeteshie”, global crises such as the Covid-19, Russia-Ukraine, etc. have hit Ghana harder than any nation because of incompetent usage of an economic policy.

The question now is, why did the government not see the need not to adopt that policy and even abuse it that wantonly and recklessly? That is because our elders say that a person to be burnt and hurt by fire first catches cold. Then he goes to warm himself up, and the fire burns him instead. Another factor that constitutes this part two of the article is why the Akufo Addo administration has failed flat is the alleged demonic, Mallam and Juju politics including human sacrifices the Akufo Addo-led NPP did to win the 2016 general elections, which have resulted in our national penury and agony.

The first of them is the accusation that the murder of JB Danquah-Adu, the late Abuakwa North Member of Parliament, was human sacrifice carried out by Flagbearer Akufo Addo and the NPP to come to power when he lost twice in his presidential bid in 2008 and 2012.

Perhaps, it’s not that bad, grotesque, and bizarre to claim the life of another human being on a battlefield or in preparation for it. And probably several other lives might have been claimed by politicians in general simply to win political power. Because another rumor mill has it that a certain political party buried a mulatto alive to win elections. But what about if these lives are that of innocent animals in the most gruesome way? Would God spare such a group of people or nation?

In lamenting the evils that have gripped the Northern Region and what Tamale as a city of Islam in particular has become having been infiltrated by spiritual charlatans, misfits, etc., a local preacher Afa Mutala narrates, among other things, the charm and juju of some Muslims, who later came to confess their
sins to him, have done for politicians to win and stay in political power.
Few of these demonic acts done by politicians he the local preacher believed could have triggered the wrath of God upon the land and hence the economic failure, political crass, and social degeneration we are battling with, are each heart-wrenching and spine-chilling.

So, for a political party to win power and treat the citizens like coins in their pockets, one of the confessors confessed that a magician was brought from Cote d'Ivoire to perform a certain charm for that political party. The magician tasked the party to find three hundred (300) frogs for the charm. He then produced 300 amulets and each amulet was forcefully pushed inside the mouth of each of the frogs and had their mouths sewed up! Afterwards, they buried all the frogs alive. In this country!

The second one was more terrible than the first. A live chameleon was skinned alive by a Malam and some satanic verses and symbols were drawn and written on the flesh of the chameleon and it was buried alive afterwards.

The third and fourth ones involved two cattle one was also flayed alive with a knife, and the other cow had its fur shaved off with the hottest water while the cow was still alive. Each of them had similar satanic verses and diagrams and symbols written on their bodies and were buried alive! For a political
party to win elections.

The local preacher did not mention any political party's name. He, however, questioned why Muslims, especially so-called Muslim clerics who engage in this form of wickedness are heartless. And that even non-Muslims do not need the services of the demons, why then would a Muslim go to the devil to seek such a wicked service from it? Then he gave an example of what another confessor told
him about the late former president Atta Mills who gave a hint with regards to the political party that could have committed these atrocities to provoke and invoke the curse of God upon our land.

According to this confessor, a cow was presented to the late former President Prof. Mills, and asked to place his hand on the cow and make his intention as far as his presidential bid was concerned for the cow to be slaughtered in sacrifice. But the late Prof. Mills refused and said, "If God can't help me become president, this cow cannot help me.”

Now, if the NDC could not kill a cow in sacrifice to win an election, and judging from the accusations levelled against the NPP and President Akufo Addo following the murder or sacrifice of JB Danquah-Adu, which political party could have buried the frogs, flayed alive the cows, buried a horse alive, buried a
human being (mulatto) alive to win general elections the first confessor confessed to the local preacher? And why the difficulties under this government?

Fellow Ghanaians, the deafening silence of the good citizens of Ghana, including paramount chiefs, despite the appalling epileptic economy, might not be normal. Perhaps, Ghanaians are under some magic spell of the government. And guaranteed that the confessor alleged that they forced amulets into the mouths of frogs, sewed them up, and buried them alive in the most pharaonic manner, suggests
that political party wanted Ghanaians to be silent over their mismanagement, gangsterism, thievery, and gross economic mess!

Again, the fact that everything President Akufo Addo touches dies and his fear for his own shadow when he can no longer travel without his chair to gatherings, is a palpable testament that some disgruntled spirits may be hunting the man and Ghana.

Fellow Ghanaians, whether true or false these allegations and accusations, coming events shall surely cast their shadow. If the NPP and President Akufo Addo did these evils to come to power and to spiritually gag the nation, we wouldn’t need cowardly soldiers to master the courage to overthrow them.

The God who overcame and delivered Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Papa Doc Duvalier, etc., to their citizens, would soon deliver our national enemy into our hands.

We wait with bated breath.