John Mahama
Nine years ago, Dr. Alhaji Bawumia was not the Vice President of Ghana. He was the running mate of Candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Nine Years ago, John Dramani Mahama was the President of Ghana and his Vice President was Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur. Nine years ago, under the watch of John Dramani Mahama and Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, the DKM Ponzi scam was in full operation. That is nothing but the gospel, undiluted and undeniable truth.
At the peak of the DKM scam, the then First Lady, Madam Lordina Mahama, went to Berekum in the then Brong Ahafo Region and during an interaction with supporters of the NDC at Berekum, this was what the First Lady said, “Unlike the NPP which doesn’t care a hoot about the welfare of the people, the NDC cares for you. That is why we brought the DKM to help traders, farmers, and anybody including the NPP supporters. Am I lying? How many of you have enjoyed the operation of DKM?” Almost everybody raised his or her hand amidst singing and clapping.
Some FM stations carried the story and so the news went viral. When the woman left town, multitudes paid their hard earned moneys to the Pyramid scam, expecting the gain from the deal. In fact, some had to sell their properties to register with the scheme. It was very close to the 2012 General Election and people believed in Madam Lordina. After all, was she not the First Lady of Ghana, she who must be obeyed? Little did the people know that it was a hoax.
Because the DKM operated in the then Brong Ahafo, Northern and Upper Regions, the scammers were able to rope in thousands of unsuspecting Ghanaians. Barely three months after Madam Lordina’s pronouncement, the DKM collapsed like the Pyramid which also cheated people when Rawlings was in power.
History repeated itself under the same NDC, leaving depositors with their fingers fixed between their front teeth. When fingers started pointing to Madam Lordina Mahama and President Mahama, the lady did not come out to deny. It was when the DKM scam became an election issue in 2016 that the NDC communicators shamelessly started defending the First Lady.
The harm had already been done. My, dear and cherish reader, do you see the pictures of Lordina Mahama and Mr. Mahama embossed on huge billboards this year? Have you heard Lordina Mahama campaigning like the way Hajia Samira Bawumia is doing? Madam Lordina Mahama has been cut to size and has been shown her smoothness level through the Professor Kwasi Botwey Report.
The report, which the NDC tried to sweep under the carpet, put much of the blame on the laps of Madam Lordina Mahama, especially her role in the DKM scam for causing the abysmal performance of Mr. Mahama in the 2016 Presidential Election. She hijacked the campaign and made Paa Kwasi Amissah Arthur look like a non-entity in the scheme of affairs of the NDC; that is why Madam is “sitting her somewhere”.
Last week. Mr. Mahama went to Dromankese in the Nkoranza North District in the Bono East Region and told supporters of the NDC that anyone who had his or her money locked up in the DKM Ponzi scheme should go to Dr. Bawumia for their money. His reason was that the owner of the scheme was seen at an NPP rally which Dr. Bawumia attended, and that his information indicated that the DKM owner was sponsoring the campaign of Dr. Bawumia. Habba, Malam John!!
For the four years that Mr. Mahama ruled this country, he never asked Ghanaians who deposited their monies with the scheme to go to Bawumia for their monies only for him to vomit that rot, three months to the 2024 General Election. How childish! Who will believe this infantile antic? And this is a man who continues to call Dr. Bawumia a liar.
In the run-up to the 2012 General Election, Mr. Mahama went to Techiman in the Bono East Region and told his listeners on ASTA FM, a local radio station that, Mr. Kufuor’s NHIS was not the best. According to him, if you ask a poor farmer to renew his or her NHIS premium yearly, many people who will have no money to renew their cards and fall sick would have to die untimely. In his view, when the NDC came to power, his government would introduce a one-time premium of those who register with the NHIS.
For eight years, Ghanaians waited for the one-time payment of the premium and in fact, still waiting. The illusive one-time premium is still illusive. It was a naked lie and Mr. Mahama is still walking with the lie tag fixed firmly on his coat, yet he has the audacity to call somebody a liar.
Nearly one year after Mr. Mahama was “elected” as the flagbearer of the NDC, he is yet to impress me. Whereas Dr. Bawumia is junketing across the length and breadth of the country telling people what he did as the Vice President of Ghana and what he will do as the Executive President of Ghana. Mr. Mahama is going around insulting, lying, mimicking and teasing Dr. Bawumia and President Akufo-Addo.
He has no message except his dream 24-Hour economy. In fact, he has also promised to distribute day old chicks (nkoko nketenkete) and piglets (prako nketenkete) for people to rear and make money. Ebei!
But on a more serious note, who are the handlers of Mr. Mahama? Can’t they whip him into line as far as his campaign message is concerned? Is it that because he is damn rich so he can dance naked like the unchallengeable king? Ah, maybe he is possessed by an unseen powerful deity or under the influence of something else anytime he mounts the political platform.
If he is confused, his handlers should sit him down and train him well before he goes out there to mess around. He continues to be vexation to our spirits. And if it is a matter of desperation, he should be told that he was not created by God to be the president of Ghana till the day he dies. He must be told that what goes around comes around.
If a person who furiously campaigned against the introduction of free SHS comes back barely eight years after the programme has been successfully implemented says if he holds the reins of power he will add private schools to the programme, then psychiatrists have a job to do on the guy. The mistake we do as a nation is that we think anyone who visits the psychiatrist hospital is mad. That is not the case. In other jurisdictions, the country hires a psychiatrist for the president.
The human brain does more than just giving you the ability to think. When something goes wrong with your brain, you can develop loss of memory.
Physician of the utmost fame say excessive alcohol intake for example causes loss of memory. Was he not the one who led the chorus of marching NDC supporters who were singing ‘Free Education 419’?
Has he all too soon forgotten that he told Ghanaians that Nana Addo’s free SHS was a scam and not feasible? Did he not hear Okudzeto Ablakwa telling Ghanaians after the programme was introduced that it will collapse in five years time because the government will not have money to fund the programme?
Does Mr. Mahama still insist that Ghanaians are shortsighted and forgetful? No wonder the sages say if you throw a ball against a wall, it comes back to you. Assallam Allekum, Malam John!!! Full stop.
By Eric Bawah