John Mahama
Some of us, as a matter of fact, cannot get our heads around as to how and why former President John Dramani Mahama would consider returning to the Presidency given his abysmal performance during his tenure in office.
It is also quite ironic to keep hearing and reading the NDC faithful’s flimsy excuses that the loyalists of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) maliciously lied about NDC’s incompetence and corrupt practices and deceptively pledged juicy, albeit unachievable Manifesto promises which led to their 2016 landslide victory.
With all due respect, with no hidden condescension whatsoever, the teeming supporters of NDC must engage in a carefully considered reflection and accept the painful fact that their dreadful errors in judgement which unfortunately sent Ghana’s economy deeper and deeper into the mire, to some large extent, cost them the power in 2016 election and not the supposedly ‘wicked’ lies put out by their opponents.
The fact, however, remains that the rot in the erstwhile NDC government was as pervasive as the odour of garlic, which led to some diehard supporters emitting their displeasure and threatening to boycott the 2016 election.
I recall vividly how my long-term friend who had witnessed enough of the unpardonable mess in his beloved NDC government decided to walk out of the party.
My pal contended somewhat passionately that he had been defending and promoting the party’s much touted ethos of probity, transparency and accountability for well over twenty three years but lost the zeal to continue, as the sleazes and corruption in President Mahama’s government reached immeasurable proportions.
My friend, however, maintained that the straw that broke the camel’s back was when President Mahama decided to behave as the benevolent Father Christmas and unjustifiably gave away large portions of Ghana’s scarce resources to apologists like Madam Akua Donkor of Ghana Freedom Party (two four wheel drive cars and a luxury bungalow estimated to cost a staggering $470,000) for no work done.
My mate’s beef stemmed from the fact that he had worked his socks off all those years for the party to enjoy power, meanwhile he had nothing to show for his efforts.
My pal was, therefore, incensed that parasitic creatures like Madam Akua Donkor were needlessly being showered with all sorts of melodic gifts.
Unsurprisingly, though, my friend abandoned his role in the NDC prior to the 2016 election and confided in me that he did not even bother to travel to his polling station on the voting day.
In fact, my best mate did not see the urgent need to vote for NDC and President Mahama, given the crass incompetence and the unpardonable corruption.
My pal was, indeed, distraught about the way and manner Mahama was handling Ghana’s economy.
You may believe it or not, in private discussions, my pal would seriously raise concerns about the bribery and corruption scandals such as the infamous Bus branding, the Brazil World Cup, SADA, SUBA, GYEEDA, SSNIT, NCA, MASLOC, the furtive Ford Expedition Vehicle, the Woyome’s 51.2 million dubious judgement debt, the Waterville’s $30 million wrongful payment, the Isofoton’s dubious payment of $325,000, among others.
My mate was, in fact, extremely worried about the GH¢200 million SADA funds spent on trees which were later burnt down and the guinea fowls that miraculously flew to the nearby Burkina Faso.
In fact, a large portion of Ghana’s scarce resources, regrettably, ‘decanted’ into the drains due to the irrevocable mismanagement and the wanton corruption perpetrated by the officials of the erstwhile NDC administration.
But in all these, the loyalists NDC supporters would want discerning Ghanaians into believing that the erstwhile NDC government provided exceptional governance.
Truly, clumsy understanding of patriotism exists in the minds of many Ghanaians who prefer needless praise singing to defending the national interests.
Let us be honest, the good people of Ghana, regrettably, witnessed so much duplicities, unbridled corruption, incompetence, nepotism, cronyism and frequent abuse of power in the erstwhile NDC government, and hence the vast majority of Ghanaians have permanently lost trust in the NDC.
But despite the obvious economic meltdown back then, President Mahama and his apologists kept trumpeting their vague rhetoric , political insobrieties and meaningless slogans like ‘Mahama toaso’, ‘we care for you’, ‘people matter, you matter’ and ‘we are transforming lives’.
Suffice it to stress that the good people of Ghana struggled endlessly to pay their utility bills and could not even afford their children’s school fees.
By K. Badu, UK
k.badu2011@gmail.com