Tuesday,
December 4, 2012
As we inch toward Election Day,
those coming across as desperate are doing desperate things. And they raise
more questions about their own integrity than answers to attract public
goodwill.
The Western Regional branch of
the NPP-funded TESCON has issued a press statement condemning government for
failing to give 10% of the oil revenue to the Western Region as promised before
the 2008 elections. A Dominic Eduah, the Regional TESCON
Coordinator, explained the group’s concerns in that statement (see “Mahama,
where is our 10%?—TESCON,” Ghanaweb, December 4, 2012).
A cursory reading of this statement revealed that it’s just one of the
cheap means by which the NPP and its affiliates seek to create disaffection for
the government. One would have glossed over it but for its striking reminder of
the crude politics that the NPP does, which explains its high level of
desperation.
I am being purposefully snide
here. I mince no words, and will make it clear to these NPP fanatics that their
kind of anachronism doesn’t ensure political victory. It only exposes them to
public ridicule.
Their press statement is not
borne out by any genuine desire to seek the welfare of the Western Region. It
is worse than an attempt to manipulate the sentiments of the people for cheap
political points. Playing on their intelligence by raising this issue of 10% of
revenue from the oil industry and using it for this kind of jaundiced political
rhetoric is amateurish and wayward.
Had they taken the trouble to do
some background checks, they would have realized the futility of this rhetoric
and spent their time more productively on their public outreach.
When that problem cropped up
about two years ago, it couldn’t be resolved expeditiously, apparently because
it immediately assumed partisan political dimensions with the NPP claiming to
be supporting the bid of the Western Region chiefs and blaming the Mills
government for reneging on a promise that then Vice Presidential Candidate,
John Mahama, was alleged to have made to the chiefs.
The delegation of Western Region
chiefs who met with the former President over the issue left the meeting with
an understanding of the enormity of the problem and didn’t mobilize citizens of
the Region for any further demonstration of anger. When Parliament sealed the
matter by not acceding to the chiefs’ demand, the dust settled on it while the
government pursued its development agenda for the Region.
For these TESCON elements to return
to that matter at this time speaks volumes. They are doing so, not because they
have the genuine desire of the Region at heart but because they consider it as
a political goldmine to exploit for the benefit of the NPP. But it is a
misplaced pursuit.
And this is why: Do these TESCON
elements not know how their Akufo-Addo intends to spend revenue from the oil
sector if he wins the elections? He has no consideration of 10% for the Region.
Are they not informed of his
intention to use that revenue to fulfill his promise of a fee-free SHS
education in the country? Do they not know that by spending the money that way,
there will be nothing left to specifically set aside for the Western Region?
Again, have these neophytes sat
down to analyze the Parliamentary proceedings concerning this issue of 10% of
the oil revenue and the agitations that went on at the time the Western Region
chiefs rose up to demand their fair share of the national cake? I wrote
articles on that issue and can tell why the agitation fizzled out the way it
did.
What’s more, these TESCON
elements haven’t even been politically savvy enough to wonder why their
flagbearer hasn’t even bothered to say anything about what specifically he has
up his sleeves for the Western Region in the light of the 10% oil revenue. If,
indeed, it were high on his agenda, why hasn’t he disclosed it? He hasn’t done
so because it is not worth his bother. He has nothing for the Western Region.
But these political novices won’t
analyze issues before rushing out to display their ignorance. They have raised
this issue at this time purposely to incite the electorate in the Western
Region against the government, hoping that it will yield votes for their NPP.
Desperation at its peak, indeed!
But it is not surprising that
these youthful elements are trapped in the NPP’s outmoded approaches to
politicking. They can’t do otherwise but resort to the same outmoded methods
used by their forebears in the “Ma te me ho” era. They have already cultivated
those paralyzing pre-independence habits of mind and adopted the self-same
anachronistic strategies for pursuing their political agenda.
If it is not outright peddling of
lies, downright calumny, or insidious undercutting of their political
opponents, then, it is recourse to vain threats, intimidation, or physical
attacks.
We see them in their true element
every day. Any time they open their mouths to either initiate public discourse
on national issues, they are more inclined toward sowing the seeds of discord.
If they can’t win the argument because they lack cogent facts to support their
claims, they resort to insults and threats to stifle dissension. They are all
over the place, behaving as if anybody owes them any gratitude.
There is no gainsaying the
importance of the Western region to Ghana. The circumstances surrounding the
development problems facing the Region go beyond this narrow scope of 10%.
Indeed, it is pathetic for the
Region to be so neglected, beginning from the era of Nkrumah, an indigene of
the Region through succeeding regimes until Rawlings began changing the
situation with whatever he could do to open up the Region through the rural
electrification project, road construction, and the creation of local-level
administrative structures to speed up development.
The situation hasn’t been
drastically improved, but, at least, there is a clear indication that the
Region hasn’t been completely sidestepped. More still needs to be done, but it
can’t be done only when 10% of the national revenue is specifically allocated
to the Region.
This is where the childishness of
the TESCON elements takes its root from. By harping on this 10% issue and using
it for their narrow politicking, they come across as pitiable pawns in the game
of the sharks in the party who are adept at such manipulation for personal
gains.
Those opposed to any preferential
treatment to the various regions on the basis of the resources they provide for
the country know why. Since not all regions are well endowed, what happens to
those that don’t have resources? Leave them to their fate?
The larger issue is that
regardless of which region provides which resource, the government must ensure
equity in the development of the country, especially if that will curb the
major problems that deepen the people’s plight.
That is why it is ridiculous for
Akufo-Addo to set his eyes on the oil revenue and base all his promises on it.
It seems he is over-estimating the potential of this industry to build castles
in the air. We are told that since it took off, the petroleum sector has
yielded about 400 million Dollars so far.
No one knows what the future
holds and anybody pinning hopes on this oil sector for revenue to fulfill
extravagant promises of the sort that Akufo-Addo is dumping on the electorate
may as well be looking for dung where no cow ever grazed. And that is why those
uninformed youth misusing their youth exuberance and spitting fire at the
touchline should take caution.
Raking up the past over this 10%
issue won’t pave the way for an electoral victory; it will only betray the
ignorance and plain treachery of those doing so. Let Akufo-Addo use the oil revenue
to support his free SHS venture and then turn round to tell the people of the
Western Region that their reward is in heaven.
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