When I first heard about the “Cocoa Roads Program” launched by President John Dramani Mahama, I could not stop myself from guffawing. The entire idea smacked of the sort of neo-colonialist development policy that saw the construction of the country’s railroad system linking the mineral - and cash-crop-rich areas of the country to the coastal ports of Sekondi-Takoradi and later Accra-Tema.

It shows how little the National Democratic Congress’ government has done towards the radical transformation of Ghana’s economy, from the wanton exploitation of commodities and raw materials to one that could boast of a viable industrial base that focuses on manufacturing and value-added products.

But even on this neocolonialist development front, to hear Nana Akufo-Addo say it, not much that is worthwhile has been achieved by the ruling National Democratic Congress. Winding up his just-ended presidential-election campaign tour of the Western Region, recently, the three-time presidential candidate of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) observed that a diddly little had been achieved by way of the construction of roads in this foremost cocoa-producing region of the country.

In essence, Nana Akufo-Addo’s argument is that President Mahama’s so-called Cocoa-Roads Program has been an abysmal failure. This poignant observation prompted Mr. Mahama and several of his minions and flunkies to retort that the NPP flagbearer had failed to recognize the remarkable number of roads constructed all over the Western Region, because Akufo-Addo had slept through most of his electioneering campaign tour of the region.

This kind of retort is very laughable because it does not muster logic. But then, who said the NDC leaders have ever been about the noble, wholesome and cognitively exacting business of logic? First of all, about the only way for Nana Akufo-Addo to have slept comfortably through most of his campaign tour of the Western Region, would have been if most of the roadways were of the pebble-smooth quality of the Nkrumah-paved Accra-Tema Motorway.

(See “Mahama’s ‘Sleeping Comment’ Against Nana Addo ‘Charitable’ – Baba Jamal” Starrfmonline.com / Ghanaweb.com 8/17/18).

Whatever the real conditions of the Western Region’s roadways may be, the fact still stands that most residents of the region, as well as people who have recently traveled through the region, are unreservedly agreed that the Western Region, matched up with its enormous wealth in natural resources and human productivity, is unarguably the most shortchanged region in the country.

And his neocolonialist development agenda clearly does not appear to have done much to remarkably improve the quality of the lives of the people of the region. Needless to say, there is far more to road construction than merely carting dried cocoa beans to the Port of Takoradi. Mr. Mahama could have done better to highlight the magnitude of investment that his government has achieved in the area of food production.

That Ghana continues to be a net importer of basic food items like rice, wheat and wheat-flour, sugar and dairy products ought to have been the focus of his government. And on the foregoing count ought to be recalled the painful fact that President Mahama woefully failed to put in a personal appearance at the National Farmers’ Day Celebration which was held somewhere in one of the so-called Three Norther Regions last year.

And his lame and downright insulting and utterly frivolous excuse then was that foggy climatic conditions had prevented him from flying Up-North.

Such untenable excuse could not be even more untenable, especially when one reckons the fact that Mr. Mahama was born Up-North where he has also spent a considerable period of his life. In other words, the man knows the climatic conditions of the region the way he recognizes his own face in front of the mirror.

Indeed, were he the visionary leader that he claims to be, the Gonja petty chieftain would have made plans ahead of schedule and possibly traveled there by road. Needless to say, this is the kind of rudderless leader and politician who would have Ghanaians believe that Akufo-Addo must be speaking from the wrong corner of his mouth, when the former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice disputes President Mahama’s vacuously pontifical claims that all the roads in the Western Region, since he assumed reins of governance, have been paved with gold by his National Democratic Congress government. Good for you, Little Dramani!