IGP, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare
In this crucial election year the issues are many, mainly political in nature and for which the agenda is set for parochial political gain.
When the tape about the alleged plot to remove the current Inspector General of Police (IGP) popped up, the NDC Minority saw an opportunity to tell Ghanaians that the Akufo-Addo government wanted to remove IGP Dampare because he would stand in the way of the NPP to win the elections.
Many months on, Ghanaians are yet to be apprised of the committee’s findings.
The NDC is engaged in the same propaganda and smear campaign over the scholarship brouhaha.
So at the end of the day, a section of society would dismiss this national concern as mere propaganda by the NDC to paint the NPP and especially Kingsley Agyemang as corrupt.
If the Scholarship Secretariat should put the names of the beneficiaries since its establishment, many of the people would run for cover. Besides the Scholarship Secretariat, the GETFund and the GNPC Foundation also extend support to those desirous of pursuing further education abroad.
Some of our contemporaries, for political reasons would always create the impression that the ruling class is not concerned about their plight.
Where in this world have we heard people decline state sponsorship because they are well to do? The rich in so-called advanced societies take solace in health insurance because it is cost effective.
Our position is simple and, that is, if as a nation we feel strongly about these safety nets, we should not leave the administration to the discretion of the managers. We should craft clear-cut rules to avoid abuse. To us, if the brouhaha about the scandal is because some relations of the political class have benefitted, then the Fourth Estate has sent all of us on a wide goose chase.
If we are mistaken then it behooves the Fourth Estate to convince us about one law that Kingsley Agyemang and his team breached in the exercise of his mandate. If we are so irked by the revelations and we think scholarships must be solely for the needy, then we must come out with the rules.
Again, we are not interested in whether NDC apparatchiks also benefitted in the past. Our worry is about the hypocrisy with which these NDC elements have jumped onto the bandwagon. If the NDC did certain wrongs for which Ghanaians punished them in 2016 and 2020, the NPP should not try to rationalise their action by comparing the NPP to the NDC.
In the conduct of public affairs, NDC is not the example. That exercise would be like the situation where the people are looking for a clean environment, then the comparison is made between the black pot and the silverware.
The NPP must demonstrate its zero tolerance for wrongdoing and, if some exist in our public space, the party must take steps to correct them. The Akufo-Addo government must always be aligned with the aspirations of the people at all times. That way the propaganda and lies will collapse when the facts are made available.
The NDC Minority Spokesman on Mines and Energy, John Jinapor has the opportunity to help Ghanaians to understand the energy issues but politics won’t allow him to speak the truth. To say that President Akufo-Addo is deceiving Ghanaians by relocating the AMERI Power Plant means we paid him as a Deputy Minister for the sector for doing nothing.
Is it not strange that Ghana’s power resources are located mainly in the south and the decision to put one in the middle belt is an attempt to deceive Ghanaians? If also the decision to change the name worries him then we plead with him to shed his foreign mindset.
After all Ghana now owns the plant and decision to name it Kumasi 1 Thermal Power Plant can be said to be forward-looking. AMERI belongs elsewhere, Kumasi 1 Thermal Power Plant is about us and we want to have commanding height over our energy resources. We urge the NDC to change gear going into Election 2024 because so far, the lies and propaganda would not convince the voters to buy into their scary alternative.