Too much noise already from the Judgement Debt Commission!

Friday, September 27, 2013

Friends, when President Mahama appointed Justice Yaw Apau as the sole Judgement Debt Commissioner, I was quick to find fault with it as a mere administrative hassle that might not help us solve any problem. Why? The judgement debts had already been paid and there was nothing the Sole Commissioner was going to do to retrieve them.

After all, once the beneficiaries were deemed to have qualified for the payments and were duly served, how could anybody go after them many months or years thereafter to demand a refund? And the systemic flaws that permitted those payments are still with us; so, where is the hope that anything fruitful will result from this inquiry?

I was also quick to conclude that Justice Apau won’t accomplish anything to solve the problem. And I haven’t seen anything yet to make me change my stance. Too much noise, no action on any matter so far investigated!!

There is a lot wrong with Ghana’s Missions abroad

Friday, September 27, 2013

My good friends, we have over the years had good cause to complain about the shoddy manner in which our Ghanaian missions abroad deal with Ghanaians living outside the country, especially when it comes to the request for official (travel) documents (passports, especially). And there are many other areas where they are lacking—human/public/working relations, business-mindedness, courtesy, etc.

Just call the Ghana Mission in New York or Washington and hear the irritating response that grates on your ears!! Then, put in a request to hear the annoying answer that is given you!! The staff behave as if working at those Missions places them above all other Ghanaians in every aspect of life. They have no sense of courtesy to display and stand condemned. It’s so in all the Missions. Let someone say otherwise and provide evidence to support it.

In my personal observation of the situation, I am more than persuaded that those working in those missions are not fit to be there because they hardly know how to do things to solve problems that Ghanaians bring to their attention.

Sam Okudzeto to install Akufo-Addo as Ghana’s President?

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Everything about Election 2012 is over for most Ghanaians but not the disappointed, frustrated, and hot-headed NPP activists and sympathizers who continue to make ugly noise just for its own sake. And that ugly noise betrays their deep-seated frustration and ignorance about the dynamics of contemporary Ghanaian politics.

But for purposes of placing their tantrums in their proper perspective, one won’t deem their ugly noise as worth one’s bother. That is why I want to respond to pronouncements made by some of those NPP elements at the forum organized by the Danquah Institute.

Isn’t Akufo-Addo more popular in defeat?

Sunday, September 15, 2013

­­Friends, the number of people “trooping” to Akufo-Addo’s Nima residence to interact with him since the Supreme Court sealed his sad fate is worthy of note.

Here is how the pro-NPP Daily Guide newspaper captured it in today’s edition: “The 2012 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, his running mate Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and NPP National Chairman Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, were on Friday mobbed at the Abbosey Okai Central Mosque in Accra when they turned up at the facility to offer gratitude to God.

The warm reception the trio received was given impetus by the Chief Imam Sheikh Nuhu Sharubutu’s commendation for Nana Akufo-Addo who, he said, deserved prayers.”

Good for him.

So, Afari Gyan resigns and the NPP benefits?

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Friends, at this juncture in our national politics, the chips have fallen in place, but the defeated NPP cabal doesn’t seem to know that reality and is still up and about, raising dust for nothing.

We have heard all the ugly noise that has characterized their dissension against the Supreme Court’s ruling. Unfortunately for them, there is no magic or witchery that can overturn what has been electorally and legally (not to say constitutionally) mandated against their aspirations. Their horses ran out of their stables long ago, and all that they are doing now is just a pointless but remarkable confirmation of their dejection.

Oh, how I wish they would look into their political lives to know that when the Ghanaian electorate rejected them at Election 2008 and repeated it at 2012, they did so with a clean conscience, having examined issues conscientiously to know who would best serve their purposes as the President. They went for the late Atta Mills at Election 2008 and John Dramani Mahama at Election 2012, not William Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (what a mouthful of a name?) on both occasions because Akufo-Addo is not what Mills or Mahama is.  What is difficult about this plain fact to not understand?

NPP politicians now being chased by the wild geese?

Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013

The post-verdict situation in the NPP is a pointer to what lies ahead of the party unless it changes for the better. There is so much fire burning there that one wonders what can settle emotions and help the members redirect their energies to useful deeds for the party’s sake.

Too many of them seem not to know what has hit them, and they are still flexing muscles to fight the wind. Shadow boxing in this sense is a mere dissipation of useful energy. Akufo-Addo has taken events in their stride and earned a measure of goodwill from across the terrain. 

Not so for his lieutenants, especially Obetsebi-Lamptey and Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, who have come to notice with statements either contradicting Akufo-Addo’s stance on the Supreme Court’s verdict or creating misleading impressions that the NPP has already settled on Akufo-Addo as its flagbearer for Election 2016.

Is Akufo-Addo now destroying the NPP?

Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013

The decision by Akufo-Addo to accept (if even grudgingly) the verdict of the Supreme Court slamming shut the door on his ambition to become Ghana’s President is having an unfortunate sequel in his own NPP ranks. Ironic that he who has fought so hard but couldn’t return the NPP to power should now be tagged as rocking the NPP’s boat. Any surprise? Not at all to me.

Nobody needs any special skills for probing into the NPP’s fabric to know how the Supreme Court’s verdict has shaken the elephant family to its very foundation. The shaking has affected fault lines and they are threatening to split open. The chasm/schism may be evident in less than no time if the current happenings change for the worse. Trust me, the little drops of water that are hitting those fault lines will likely become a mighty ocean of trouble for the NPP unless something is done to control the seepage.

Election petition hearing over, no lessons learnt by the NPP camp

Sunday, Sept. 1, 2013

Folks, the hearing of the NPP’s petition brought to the fore many aspects of the NPP leaders and followers’ mindset, posturing, and attitude to Ghanaian politics that either confirms or disproves certain (mis)perceptions of the Danquah-Busia ideology and explains why it is difficult for it to win the 2008 and 2012 elections. Don’t be misled by their recourse to court with all manner of allegations on rigging!

Too many controversies, contradictions, and uncertainties!! First, a fundamental conundrum to lay the basis for my opinion piece. The triumvirate (Danquah-Busia-Dombo) remains questionable to me because the Dombo part is just accessorized for petty political expediency on the basis of exploiting Northern Ghana sentiments whenever necessary. I don’t see it as an integral part to uplift in any critical and honest assessment of the ideological foundation of the NPP. Thus, the dualistic Danquah-Busia remains the big picture of the NPP. Tagging a running mate of Northern Ghana extraction to that tap root won’t change the reality.