Dictatorship Of A Rancorous Minority

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has hardly been supportive of innovations which do not originate from them. There is no dearth of empirical evidence to support his assertion.

It is interesting, however, that even after holding their trademark press conferences to vilify such innovations to move the country forward, they turn round when they take their turn to govern, to destroy them.

Ghanaians are not oblivious to what happened when the flagship programmes under the Kufuor administration were mooted and eventually implemented. They kicked against the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) but milked it so badly that by the time they served out their tenure the scheme was limping and could hardly stand on its feet without support.

Ghanaians now understand the Minority and their political antics. When their party is out of power they see corruption in everything that is initiated by their successors.

They, for instance, see graft in the free SHS programme, One District One Factory and so on because were they to be in charge of the projects, they would have quadrupled the cost to their advantage; that is if they even really undertake the project at all.

Enter the Ghanacard, a major project of the Nana Akufo government and they are all over the place crying foul. For us and discerning Ghanaians, it is another instance of much ado about nothing very much associated with the NDC.

We are pleased to associate ourselves with the position of Gabby Otchere-Darko that for eight years they tried to no avail to roll out a national identification programme at an exorbitant cost to the nation. The mammoth level of incompetence which enveloped the efforts appeared to have provided the impetus for the fleecing spree at the National Identification Authority under their aegis.

Considering the place of a Ghanacard with its sophisticated security features as an effective bulwark against election thievery, the pain in the party which has mastered the art of this game over the years is understandable.

So many things compressed in one card is a big credit to the government which finally rolled it out indeed with a side attraction of instant collection of the card: something the killjoys tried futilely to do.

Were the financial institutions and others which depend on genuine identities of customers in their operations in a position to resist the opposition of the NDC, they would have done so without looking back.

It is not that the NDC is unaware about the advantages of the Ghanacard, they do, but are just sulking as noted in an earlier paragraph because the confusion about a genuine and reliable electoral register has been brought to a close.

Ghana offers the easiest means of acquiring citizenship. Until the Supreme Court ruling debarring holders of the NHIS card from being registered as voters, such persons were going to do so as citizens even though many came from neighbouring countries to acquire same. No wonder ECOWAS citizens could easily walk in and obtain citizenship and return to their bases in Togo, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso returning only when the NDC needed them.

The measures now in place to rectify these loopholes are certainly not in the interest of those who have always relied on such election period foreign contractors; some of them sharing common tongues with some of our compatriots.

Citizenship is not a commodity to be sold on the open market. Laid down procedures must be followed for qualified persons to follow to acquire the birthrights of citizens.

Such hypocrisy on the part of the opposition is laughable and mischievous. They complained about how Ivorians came into the country to register for the NHIS and supported the legislation that debars holders of the card from voting in the country. Today, however, they have changed their position and claiming the Ghanacard should be easily accessed even by unqualified persons.

For mischievous purposes, they keep harping that only those with valid passports or birth certificates will be given Ghanacard ignoring the other conditions of family members testifying to the citizenship of an applicant.

Go NIA, Go Prof Attafuah, Go Ghana.

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