Prof Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang
About four decades ago, Ghana ushered in the Third Republic led by Hilla Limann. When Imoro Egala, then a kingpin of the Nkrumaist group, mobilised the CPP remnants to regroup as the People’s National Party (PNP), they faced the dilemma of choosing a presidential candidate, because Egala had been disqualified.
However, Egala managed to introduce Limann to the Central Committee of the party as the “heir” apparent to which someone at the meeting screamed, “Li Who.” But Egala managed to silence the dissenting voices and Limann became President after the elections in June 1979, birthing the Third Republic in September 1979.
This was after a group of young officers led by JJ Rawlings claimed they had embarked on a house cleaning exercise, unleashing terror and fear among the trading community. JJ Rawlings at the inauguration of Limann in Parliament House, now the premises of Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), told him he was on probation. What happened thereafter is history.
During the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) military interregnum, discipline broke loose among the ranks and even a section of the officer corps, leading to widespread looting and attack on traders at Makola, part of which was demolished by the soldiers because of “kalabule.”
When Limann assumed office, the shelves were empty, creating hardships across the country. It took a decisive move by Limann on the advice of the international community to liberalise the economy, and the shelves were back to life with all kinds of merchandise including textiles.
However, sooner than later, the greed of the trader was back with prices of goods and services pegged at skyrocketing levels reminiscent of the AFRC hard days.
The PNP government sought to instill sanity into the system and President Limann directed the then Inspector General of Police (IGP) to enforce price controls. The Police Chief, who thought the Third Republic had brought a semblance of freedom and independence, for which he could be an island, looked Limann in the face to respond, “there is no price control in Ghana.” The next day he was sacked.
We think the government of Nana Akufo-Addo owes it a duty to Ghanaians to restrain traders who are engaged in profiteering racket, attributing rising prices to the value of the cedi against the dollar and high transportation cost. With that excuse on their lips and finding allies in the NDC who want to use the suffering of the people to regain power, the traders have ran amok, behaving as if there are no laws in the country. The traders must be called to order to avoid the indiscriminate adjustments to their margins, including local foodstuffs, vegetables, fish and fruits.
Every day, these irresponsible opposition elements expose their ignorance by their words and deeds and that was what NDC lawyer, Martin Kpebu displayed when he carried some tubers of yam to the studios of the official campaign television network of the NDC, TV3.
The negative campaign to paint gloomy living conditions in the country is not limited to agriculture but the fisheries sector. Recently, when the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Mavis Hawa Koomson announced this year’s closed season, the NDC led by its running mate, Grandma Naana Jane, told the fisherfolks that if they vote for the NDC, the John Mahama government will scrap the closed season.
When we say NDC is one of the negative features of our national life, some NDC apparatchiks do not understand us. In most traditional farming communities, the custodians of the land set aside a day when the farmers are restrained from going to farm just to make sure that the land regenerates itself during the rest days.
And to make sure the days are observed, the chiefs and elders make it a taboo. Now, Mavis Hawa Koomson has made it a point to follow the closed season for game and institute similar practice for artisanal fishing but the NDC is opposed to the global action to save the planet and the livelihoods of the people.
A few months ago, housewives and households complained about the skyrocketing prices of vegetables, especially tomatoes and peppers. Â We have been told that, there is already a near glut of tomatoes on the market, while the fisherfolks in James Town are celebrating bumper catch, a testament of Mavis Hawa Koomson’s progressive closed season that some neighbouring countries want to learn from.